Chinese banks have agreed to refinance Pakistan with USD 2.3 billion worth of funds on Thursday amid a forex reserve shortage in the country. This move comes at a time when Pakistan is trying to refurbish its economy to avail of funds from the International Monetary Fund(IMF).&nbsp;

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Good News: The terms and conditions for refinancing of RMB 15 billion deposit by Chinese banks (about US$ 2.3 billion) have been agreed. Inflow is expected shortly after some routine approvals from both sides. This will help shore up our foreign exchange reserves.
— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) <a href="https://twitter.com/MiftahIsmail/status/1532345648137531393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 2, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Last week, &nbsp;the Shehbaz Sharif government in Pakistan raised fuel and electricity prices, which is a key IMF demand for releasing funds. The government decided to hike the electricity prices by PKR 7, and petrol and diesel by PKR 30 per litre in order to stabilize the country’s economy amid a deepening political crisis.

The Pakistani government is expected to make a fiscal adjustment of around 2.5 per cent of GDP, by increasing the revenue and decreasing the expenditure in the next budget. The agreement on payout will only be made after the next IMF compliant budget, as indicated by Pakistan Finance Minister Miftah Ismail.

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Prices of petrol, High Speed Diesel and Light Diesel Oil are to be increased by Rs 30 per litre from June 3, 2022. Price of Kerosene to be increased by Rs 26.38 from June 3, 2022.
— Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) <a href="https://twitter.com/MiftahIsmail/status/1532415495621976064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 2, 2022</a></blockquote>
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It is a tough decision to implement such a budget for the Shehbaz Sharif government, as it could affect their party’s performance in the general assembly elections scheduled for next year.

Former Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan’s government had also applied for a bailout package from IMF but had failed to meet loan conditions. Mr Khan was ousted from the position in April 2022, on grounds of mismanagement through a no-confidence motion.

It has become a regular feature of the Pakistani economy to receive funds and bailout packages from China, but this raises geopolitical security concerns for India as Pakistan, one of its neighbouring countries succumbs to the Chinese ‘debt-trap policy.’

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Chinese banks have agreed to refinance Pakistan with USD 2.3 billion worth of funds on Thursday amid a forex reserve shortage in the country. This move comes at a time when Pakistan is trying to refurbish its economy to avail of funds from the International Monetary Fund(IMF).

Chinese banks have agreed to refinance Pakistan with USD 2.3 billion worth of funds on Thursday amid a forex reserve shortage in the country. This move comes at a time when Pakistan is trying to refurbish its economy to avail of funds from the International Monetary Fund(IMF). Good News: The terms and conditions for refinancing of RMB 15 billion deposit by Chinese banks (about US$ 2.3 billion) have been agreed. Inflow is expected shortly after some routine approvals from both sides. This will help shore up our foreign exchange reserves. — Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) June 2, 2022 × Last week, the Shehbaz Sharif government in Pakistan raised fuel and electricity prices, which is a key IMF demand for releasing funds. The government decided to hike the electricity prices by PKR 7, and petrol and diesel by PKR 30 per litre in order to stabilize the country’s economy amid a deepening political crisis. The Pakistani government is expected to make a fiscal adjustment of around 2.5 per cent of GDP, by increasing the revenue and decreasing the expenditure in the next budget. The agreement on payout will only be made after the next IMF compliant budget, as indicated by Pakistan Finance Minister Miftah Ismail. Prices of petrol, High Speed Diesel and Light Diesel Oil are to be increased by Rs 30 per litre from June 3, 2022. Price of Kerosene to be increased by Rs 26.38 from June 3, 2022. — Miftah Ismail (@MiftahIsmail) June 2, 2022 × It is a tough decision to implement such a budget for the Shehbaz Sharif government, as it could affect their party’s performance in the general assembly elections scheduled for next year. Former Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan’s government had also applied for a bailout package from IMF but had failed to meet loan conditions. Mr Khan was ousted from the position in April 2022, on grounds of mismanagement through a no-confidence motion. It has become a regular feature of the Pakistani economy to receive funds and bailout packages from China, but this raises geopolitical security concerns for India as Pakistan, one of its neighbouring countries succumbs to the Chinese ‘debt-trap policy.’ WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

China's $2.3 billion refinancing for Pakistan

India's second largest company the largest private lender HDFC bank has brought its biggest shareholder HDFC in a 40 billion deal now. How will consumers, customers and entities benefit after these amalgamations, find out in this next report.

HDFC merger worth $40 billion will create India's second largest firm

Sri Lanka's financial crisis is intensifying as country grapples with fast depleting foreign currency reserves but Sri Lankan capital bank asserts that country is not on the verge of a debt free fault. Central bank assures that it has taken necessary measures to secure alternative foreign exchange inflows.

Sri Lanka Central Bank: Not on verge of sovereign default

Citizens in Switzerland can save their time and use it later by depositing it in banks. The concept, called Time Bank, is an old-age support programme set by the Swiss Ministry.

Swiss citizens can now 'deposit their time' in bank, here's how

After getting into the gifting spirit of Christmas on December 25 by mistakenly transferring a total of £130 million ($175 million) to its customers, UK’s bank Santander is trying to recover the amount.&nbsp;

The customers of the bank were in for a big surprise when the credit occurred. &nbsp;

In a statement published on Thursday, Santander said that the total amount was split over 75,000 transactions for around 2,000 corporate and commercial customers. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/in-a-first-maori-scribe-with-facial-tattoo-presents-news-at-primetime-in-new-zealand-441324" hreflang="en">In a first, Māori scribe with facial tattoo presents news at primetime in New Zealand</a>

"We're sorry that due to a technical issue, some payments from our corporate clients were incorrectly duplicated on the recipients' accounts," reads the statement. &nbsp;

"None of our clients were at any point left out of pocket as a result and we will be working hard with many banks across the UK to recover the duplicated transactions over the coming days." &nbsp;

The duplicated payments have been blamed on a scheduling issue by the bank. The issue has been "quickly identified and rectified," said the bank. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/uk-falls-short-of-self-testing-kits-amid-coronavirus-wave-441245" hreflang="en">UK falls short of self-testing kits amid coronavirus wave</a>

These transactions included both regular and one-off payments, which could have included supplier payments or wages, the statement added. &nbsp;

The bank is currently working to recover the funds from recipient banks with the help of "bank error recovery process," said the statement. It also has processes in place to seek funds’ recovery, which have been deposited due to error, directly from the recipients. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

After getting into the gifting spirit of Christmas on December 25 by mistakenly transferring a total of £130 million ($175 million) to its customers, UK’s bank Santander is trying to recover the amount.

After getting into the gifting spirit of Christmas on December 25 by mistakenly transferring a total of £130 million ($175 million) to its customers, UK’s bank Santander is trying to recover the amount. The customers of the bank were in for a big surprise when the credit occurred. In a statement published on Thursday, Santander said that the total amount was split over 75,000 transactions for around 2,000 corporate and commercial customers. Also Read: In a first, Māori scribe with facial tattoo presents news at primetime in New Zealand "We're sorry that due to a technical issue, some payments from our corporate clients were incorrectly duplicated on the recipients' accounts," reads the statement. "None of our clients were at any point left out of pocket as a result and we will be working hard with many banks across the UK to recover the duplicated transactions over the coming days." The duplicated payments have been blamed on a scheduling issue by the bank. The issue has been "quickly identified and rectified," said the bank. Also Read: UK falls short of self-testing kits amid coronavirus wave These transactions included both regular and one-off payments, which could have included supplier payments or wages, the statement added. The bank is currently working to recover the funds from recipient banks with the help of "bank error recovery process," said the statement. It also has processes in place to seek funds’ recovery, which have been deposited due to error, directly from the recipients. (With inputs from agencies)

Christmas blunder: UK bank mistakenly transfers $175 mn to customers, now wants it back

The request for information seemed mundane enough — the kind of thing bank regulators put out occasionally in the course of their duties.

Its intent, though, was anything but.

On Thursday, two board members of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced a notice seeking public comment on the subject of bank mergers. The notice wasn’t actually on the FDIC’s own website. Soon afterward, the FDIC issued a statement that it had not approved any such request.

The standoff was a small sign of a bigger rift brewing at the FDIC, which has a hand in overseeing all U.S. banks but focuses closely on the smallest ones. The chair of the FDIC, Jelena McWilliams, is a Republican and a Trump appointee — one of the few remaining in an alphabet soup of federal bank regulators that includes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The others on the FDIC board — including Martin J. Gruenberg, a longtime member of the FDIC board, and Rohit Chopra, the newly confirmed director of the consumer bureau — are Democrats. And by posting a notice Thursday without McWilliams' approval, they took a step to assert their power over the organization she leads.

Their ultimate goal, experts say, is to paint McWilliams' resistance to posting the notice as justification for gaining control of the board and potentially even removing her.

“This is the first shot across the bow, seeing what the chairman’s response might be,” said Todd Phillips, a director at the progressive think tank the Center for American Progress, who has argued that Democrats should take control of the FDIC’s board away from McWilliams. “If they do end up being victorious on this issue, I think we’ll see the progressive directors throwing their weight around to move the FDIC in a direction that it hasn’t been in the past few years.”

On Thursday and Friday, progressives took pains to emphasize that the FDIC’s move was not simply a power grab and that they really did care about bank mergers.

“The FDIC has a responsibility to make sure that banking markets are healthy and competitive,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chair of the Senate Banking Committee. He endorsed the board’s move.

The FDIC is governed by a five-member board whose members serve six-year terms. Its political makeup is supposed to generally allow input from both parties. At any time, a fully seated board will consist of two Republicans, two Democrats and a chair appointed by the president for a five-year term. One of the five seats is currently empty; the others are held by McWilliams, Gruenberg, Chopra and another bank regulator, the acting comptroller of the currency, Michael Hsu, also a Democrat.

Under McWilliams, the FDIC has adhered to Republican ideological lines on topics such as climate change and a general tendency to let banks take on more risk while holding less capital in reserve. If she left, the FDIC would very likely embrace President Joe Biden’s agenda, which involves shifting the federal government’s stance on big issues like climate change and income inequality.

In December 2020, after Biden was declared the winner of the presidential election, McWilliams rushed through a change to an FDIC rule governing certain bank deposits. She circulated the final version of the proposal at midnight on the day before the board had to vote on it. Once Biden was able to make appointments to the FDIC board, the rule would not have had the votes to succeed.

And in late October, she abstained from a vote on adopting a report on the risks climate change poses to the U.S. financial system by the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a body composed of the heads of various financial regulators that was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. McWilliams said she did not think the oversight council’s staff had been given enough time to research and write the report. But her decision was widely viewed as an indication that she would continue to remain loyal to Republicans.

The FDIC board members’ internal disagreement spilled into public view Thursday afternoon after Gruenberg, Chopra and Hsu voted over email to produce a request for public comment on the subject of bank mergers — and then posted their notice on the website of the consumer bureau, which Chopra runs.

“Although there has been a significant amount of consolidation in the banking sector over the last thirty years, fueled in large part by mergers and acquisitions, there has not been a significant review of the implementation of the Bank Merger Act by the agencies in that time,” the board members wrote at the beginning of their request.

The trio argued that the FDIC had contributed to the overall instability of the banking system when, in 2008 and 2009, it encouraged regional banks to buy up smaller institutions that had failed as a result of the global financial crisis.

Then came the fireworks. The FDIC’s public affairs office, which McWilliams controls, released a statement:

“Earlier today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) posted on its website a document, purportedly approved by the FDIC, requesting comment on bank mergers,” the statement, which was not attributed to any person, said. “No such document has been approved by the FDIC.”

For several weeks, McWilliams and her staff had been privately trying to counteract Chopra and Gruenberg, according to two people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly. After learning of the effort to create a bank mergers public information request, McWilliams proposed an alternative text for the document, the people said, which the other board members quickly rejected.

When the voting process for the proposal began in late November, McWilliams did not vote, claiming that the process had violated procedure and no vote would be valid, the people said.

On Thursday, senior FDIC officials said they would not complete the process needed to make the information request official. They said the move by the two Democrats did not follow proper procedure and was therefore invalid.

Gruenberg disagreed.

“It is clear under the statute that the majority of the FDIC board of directors has authority to place items on the agenda for Board meetings and, alternatively, to circulate and act on notational votes, to implement actions of the board,” he said in a statement emailed to journalists Thursday. “No individual member of the Board may override the authority of the majority.”

An OCC spokesperson declined to speak directly about the vote, saying only that Hsu wanted to “work collaboratively with other regulators” on bank merger issues.

The two people familiar with the matter said that Chopra and Gruenberg would most likely have to sue McWilliams if they want to advance the matter further.

Hours after the two statements came out, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, the highest-ranking Republican member of the Senate Banking Committee, called the move a “failed, publicity-seeking attempted coup.”

Another Republican on the committee, Mike Crapo of Idaho, said in a post on Twitter on Friday that the progressive board members’ actions were “illegitimate.”

Norbert Michel, a director at the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, said it was not clear that McWilliams' refusal to go along with the bank merger information request would even count as justification for firing her.

“The statute, in terms of getting her out, and getting her staff out, says you have to have no confidence that she will implement what she’s required to implement,” Michel said. The current situation did not count because it was not a directive from Biden, he said. Not even the Financial Stability Oversight Council climate report, Michel said, contained enough concrete policy prescriptions to make it count as something McWilliams was refusing to carry out.

The request for information seemed mundane enough — the kind of thing bank regulators put out occasionally in the course of their duties. Its intent, though, was anything but.

The request for information seemed mundane enough — the kind of thing bank regulators put out occasionally in the course of their duties. Its intent, though, was anything but. On Thursday, two board members of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced a notice seeking public comment on the subject of bank mergers. The notice wasn’t actually on the FDIC’s own website. Soon afterward, the FDIC issued a statement that it had not approved any such request. The standoff was a small sign of a bigger rift brewing at the FDIC, which has a hand in overseeing all U.S. banks but focuses closely on the smallest ones. The chair of the FDIC, Jelena McWilliams, is a Republican and a Trump appointee — one of the few remaining in an alphabet soup of federal bank regulators that includes the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The others on the FDIC board — including Martin J. Gruenberg, a longtime member of the FDIC board, and Rohit Chopra, the newly confirmed director of the consumer bureau — are Democrats. And by posting a notice Thursday without McWilliams' approval, they took a step to assert their power over the organization she leads. Their ultimate goal, experts say, is to paint McWilliams' resistance to posting the notice as justification for gaining control of the board and potentially even removing her. “This is the first shot across the bow, seeing what the chairman’s response might be,” said Todd Phillips, a director at the progressive think tank the Center for American Progress, who has argued that Democrats should take control of the FDIC’s board away from McWilliams. “If they do end up being victorious on this issue, I think we’ll see the progressive directors throwing their weight around to move the FDIC in a direction that it hasn’t been in the past few years.” On Thursday and Friday, progressives took pains to emphasize that the FDIC’s move was not simply a power grab and that they really did care about bank mergers. “The FDIC has a responsibility to make sure that banking markets are healthy and competitive,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chair of the Senate Banking Committee. He endorsed the board’s move. The FDIC is governed by a five-member board whose members serve six-year terms. Its political makeup is supposed to generally allow input from both parties. At any time, a fully seated board will consist of two Republicans, two Democrats and a chair appointed by the president for a five-year term. One of the five seats is currently empty; the others are held by McWilliams, Gruenberg, Chopra and another bank regulator, the acting comptroller of the currency, Michael Hsu, also a Democrat. Under McWilliams, the FDIC has adhered to Republican ideological lines on topics such as climate change and a general tendency to let banks take on more risk while holding less capital in reserve. If she left, the FDIC would very likely embrace President Joe Biden’s agenda, which involves shifting the federal government’s stance on big issues like climate change and income inequality. In December 2020, after Biden was declared the winner of the presidential election, McWilliams rushed through a change to an FDIC rule governing certain bank deposits. She circulated the final version of the proposal at midnight on the day before the board had to vote on it. Once Biden was able to make appointments to the FDIC board, the rule would not have had the votes to succeed. And in late October, she abstained from a vote on adopting a report on the risks climate change poses to the U.S. financial system by the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a body composed of the heads of various financial regulators that was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. McWilliams said she did not think the oversight council’s staff had been given enough time to research and write the report. But her decision was widely viewed as an indication that she would continue to remain loyal to Republicans. The FDIC board members’ internal disagreement spilled into public view Thursday afternoon after Gruenberg, Chopra and Hsu voted over email to produce a request for public comment on the subject of bank mergers — and then posted their notice on the website of the consumer bureau, which Chopra runs. “Although there has been a significant amount of consolidation in the banking sector over the last thirty years, fueled in large part by mergers and acquisitions, there has not been a significant review of the implementation of the Bank Merger Act by the agencies in that time,” the board members wrote at the beginning of their request. The trio argued that the FDIC had contributed to the overall instability of the banking system when, in 2008 and 2009, it encouraged regional banks to buy up smaller institutions that had failed as a result of the global financial crisis. Then came the fireworks. The FDIC’s public affairs office, which McWilliams controls, released a statement: “Earlier today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) posted on its website a document, purportedly approved by the FDIC, requesting comment on bank mergers,” the statement, which was not attributed to any person, said. “No such document has been approved by the FDIC.” For several weeks, McWilliams and her staff had been privately trying to counteract Chopra and Gruenberg, according to two people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly. After learning of the effort to create a bank mergers public information request, McWilliams proposed an alternative text for the document, the people said, which the other board members quickly rejected. When the voting process for the proposal began in late November, McWilliams did not vote, claiming that the process had violated procedure and no vote would be valid, the people said. On Thursday, senior FDIC officials said they would not complete the process needed to make the information request official. They said the move by the two Democrats did not follow proper procedure and was therefore invalid. Gruenberg disagreed. “It is clear under the statute that the majority of the FDIC board of directors has authority to place items on the agenda for Board meetings and, alternatively, to circulate and act on notational votes, to implement actions of the board,” he said in a statement emailed to journalists Thursday. “No individual member of the Board may override the authority of the majority.” An OCC spokesperson declined to speak directly about the vote, saying only that Hsu wanted to “work collaboratively with other regulators” on bank merger issues. The two people familiar with the matter said that Chopra and Gruenberg would most likely have to sue McWilliams if they want to advance the matter further. Hours after the two statements came out, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, the highest-ranking Republican member of the Senate Banking Committee, called the move a “failed, publicity-seeking attempted coup.” Another Republican on the committee, Mike Crapo of Idaho, said in a post on Twitter on Friday that the progressive board members’ actions were “illegitimate.” Norbert Michel, a director at the libertarian think tank the Cato Institute, said it was not clear that McWilliams' refusal to go along with the bank merger information request would even count as justification for firing her. “The statute, in terms of getting her out, and getting her staff out, says you have to have no confidence that she will implement what she’s required to implement,” Michel said. The current situation did not count because it was not a directive from Biden, he said. Not even the Financial Stability Oversight Council climate report, Michel said, contained enough concrete policy prescriptions to make it count as something McWilliams was refusing to carry out.

How bank regulators are trying to oust a Trump holdover

Australian banking giant Westpac has admitted that it violated&nbsp;law. Westpac was slapped with six lawsuits by regulators over mistreatment of customers including charging dead people.

Subject to court approval, the bank will pay USD 81 million in penalties. It will also pay USD 57 million as compensation to customers.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Australia's corporate watchdog, said that Westpac needed to urgently improve its "poor compliance culture".

Investigation had found that Westpac charged USD 7 million to more than 11,000 dead customers over the period of 10 years.

The regulator also said that the bank made thousands of customers pay twice by selling them duplicate insurance policies.

It was also revealed that 25,000 customers had been charged USD 5 million in fees. Adequate revelation was not made in case of these fees.

This is not the first time Westpac has had to cough up penalties. Last year in September, Westpac agreed to pay USD 930 million for breaching Australia's anti-money laundering laws.

Australian banking giant Westpac has admitted that it violated law. Westpac was slapped with six lawsuits by regulators over mistreatment of customers including charging dead people.

Australian banking giant Westpac has admitted that it violated law. Westpac was slapped with six lawsuits by regulators over mistreatment of customers including charging dead people. Subject to court approval, the bank will pay USD 81 million in penalties. It will also pay USD 57 million as compensation to customers. Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Australia's corporate watchdog, said that Westpac needed to urgently improve its "poor compliance culture". Investigation had found that Westpac charged USD 7 million to more than 11,000 dead customers over the period of 10 years. The regulator also said that the bank made thousands of customers pay twice by selling them duplicate insurance policies. It was also revealed that 25,000 customers had been charged USD 5 million in fees. Adequate revelation was not made in case of these fees. This is not the first time Westpac has had to cough up penalties. Last year in September, Westpac agreed to pay USD 930 million for breaching Australia's anti-money laundering laws.

Australian bank Westpac fined for charging dead people

Israel announced on Tuesday that it approved registration as West Bank residents for some 4,000 Palestinians who have been living for years in the Israeli-occupied territory without official status.

The decision affects 2,800 former inhabitants of the Gaza Strip who left the enclave after Hamas Islamist militants seized it in internal Palestinian fighting in 2007, Israel's COGAT liaison office to the Palestinians said.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/jaishankar-calls-on-israeli-prez-pm-discusses-bilateral-relations-422302">Jaishankar calls on Israeli Prez, PM; discusses bilateral relations</a>

Some 1,200 other Palestinians, among them undocumented spouses and children of West Bank residents, will also receive official standing.

Inclusion in the Palestinian Population Registry, which Israel controls, will enable the group to receive identification cards. The documentation will enable passage through Israeli military checkpoints in the West Bank, an area captured in a 1967 war.

Israel describes the roadblocks, condemned by Palestinians and rights groups as restricting freedom of movement, as a security necessity.

On Twitter, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said he approved the 4,000 residency registrations as a humanitarian gesture and "as part of my policy to strengthen the economy and improve the lives of Palestinians" in the West Bank.

Hussein Al Sheikh, a senior official of the Palestinian Authority (PA) that exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, said on Twitter that the 4,000 "obtained their right to citizenship" and would receive identification cards.

Under interim peace deals in the 1990s that established the PA, the Palestinian side was given the right, with prior approval by Israel, to grant permanent residency in the West Bank and Gaza to spouses and children of Palestinian residents. The accords did not specify any family reunification figures.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/israel-reports-subvariant-of-delta-coronavirus-strain-422283">Israel reports subvariant of Delta coronavirus strain</a>

Rights groups that examine Israeli activities in the occupied territories said a quota system was put into effect, with the number of reunification requests to be considered annually by Israel rising to 4,000 in the year 2000.

Israel froze the process at the start of a Palestinian uprising in September 2000. It granted some 32,000 reunification requests in 2008 and 2009, but has largely suspended approvals, save for a smattering of humanitarian cases, since then.

Gantz gave the new approvals some seven weeks after holding talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah. It was the highest-level meeting between Abbas and an Israeli minister to be made public since Israel's new government was formed in June.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a far-right politician, opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, a divisive issue his cross-partisan government is unlikely to pursue. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014.

Israel announced on Tuesday that it approved registration as West Bank residents for some 4,000 Palestinians who have been living for years in the Israeli-occupied territory without official status.

Israel announced on Tuesday that it approved registration as West Bank residents for some 4,000 Palestinians who have been living for years in the Israeli-occupied territory without official status. The decision affects 2,800 former inhabitants of the Gaza Strip who left the enclave after Hamas Islamist militants seized it in internal Palestinian fighting in 2007, Israel's COGAT liaison office to the Palestinians said. Also Read | Jaishankar calls on Israeli Prez, PM; discusses bilateral relations Some 1,200 other Palestinians, among them undocumented spouses and children of West Bank residents, will also receive official standing. Inclusion in the Palestinian Population Registry, which Israel controls, will enable the group to receive identification cards. The documentation will enable passage through Israeli military checkpoints in the West Bank, an area captured in a 1967 war. Israel describes the roadblocks, condemned by Palestinians and rights groups as restricting freedom of movement, as a security necessity. On Twitter, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said he approved the 4,000 residency registrations as a humanitarian gesture and "as part of my policy to strengthen the economy and improve the lives of Palestinians" in the West Bank. Hussein Al Sheikh, a senior official of the Palestinian Authority (PA) that exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, said on Twitter that the 4,000 "obtained their right to citizenship" and would receive identification cards. Under interim peace deals in the 1990s that established the PA, the Palestinian side was given the right, with prior approval by Israel, to grant permanent residency in the West Bank and Gaza to spouses and children of Palestinian residents. The accords did not specify any family reunification figures. Also Read | Israel reports subvariant of Delta coronavirus strain Rights groups that examine Israeli activities in the occupied territories said a quota system was put into effect, with the number of reunification requests to be considered annually by Israel rising to 4,000 in the year 2000. Israel froze the process at the start of a Palestinian uprising in September 2000. It granted some 32,000 reunification requests in 2008 and 2009, but has largely suspended approvals, save for a smattering of humanitarian cases, since then. Gantz gave the new approvals some seven weeks after holding talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah. It was the highest-level meeting between Abbas and an Israeli minister to be made public since Israel's new government was formed in June. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, a far-right politician, opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, a divisive issue his cross-partisan government is unlikely to pursue. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014.

Israel approves West Bank residency for 4,000 undocumented Palestinians

China's central bank on Friday broke its silence over Evergrande's debt troubles as it said that the risk of spillover from the property giant to the financial sector was "controllable," state media reported.

Local authorities are "carrying out risk disposal and resolution work in accordance with the principles of rule of law and marketisation," People’s Bank of China official Zou Lan said at a briefing, according to an outlet of the Xinhua state news agency.

Zou's comments came amid growing concern that the cash crunch at Evergrande, which is struggling with more than $300 billion in liabilities, could lead to contagion for the Chinese economy.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/evergrande-investors-in-dark-as-no-news-on-interest-payment-emerges-415591">Also read |&nbsp;Evergrande investors in dark as no news on interest payment emerges</a>

Evergrande's liabilities make it the most indebted property firm in the world. The debts stretch into hundreds of billions of dollars, which makes it equal to 2 per cent of Chinese GDP.&nbsp;

Shares in Evergrande have plunged 80 per cent so far this year, while its property services unit has dropped 43 per cent as the group scrambles to raise funds to pay its many lenders and suppliers.

"In recent years, the company has been poorly managed, and was unable to operate cautiously in accordance with changes in the market situation," Zou said.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/hong-kong-stock-exchange-halts-trading-of-evergrande-shares-418036">Also read |&nbsp;Hong Kong Stock Exchange halts trading of Evergrande shares</a>

He added, "Instead, it blindly diversified and expanded, causing the serious deterioration of operating and financial indicators, and eventually an explosion of risk."

China's central bank on Friday broke its silence over Evergrande's debt troubles as it said that the risk of spillover from the property giant to the financial sector was "controllable," state media reported.

China's central bank on Friday broke its silence over Evergrande's debt troubles as it said that the risk of spillover from the property giant to the financial sector was "controllable," state media reported. Local authorities are "carrying out risk disposal and resolution work in accordance with the principles of rule of law and marketisation," People’s Bank of China official Zou Lan said at a briefing, according to an outlet of the Xinhua state news agency. Zou's comments came amid growing concern that the cash crunch at Evergrande, which is struggling with more than $300 billion in liabilities, could lead to contagion for the Chinese economy. Also read | Evergrande investors in dark as no news on interest payment emerges Evergrande's liabilities make it the most indebted property firm in the world. The debts stretch into hundreds of billions of dollars, which makes it equal to 2 per cent of Chinese GDP. Shares in Evergrande have plunged 80 per cent so far this year, while its property services unit has dropped 43 per cent as the group scrambles to raise funds to pay its many lenders and suppliers. "In recent years, the company has been poorly managed, and was unable to operate cautiously in accordance with changes in the market situation," Zou said. Also read | Hong Kong Stock Exchange halts trading of Evergrande shares He added, "Instead, it blindly diversified and expanded, causing the serious deterioration of operating and financial indicators, and eventually an explosion of risk."

Evergrande risks 'controllable', says China's central bank

The UK is now being termed as the bank scam capital of the world with a massive surge in the incidents of online scams.&nbsp;

In the first six months of 2021, an amount of 1 billion dollars was&nbsp;stolen. The bank scams in the UK have gone up by 30 per cent since last year.&nbsp;

UK's super fast payment infrastructure is being blamed for this surge as it makes money transfers less secure. Also, there is weak policing of fraud-related crimes.&nbsp;

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People of the UK are also being seen as easy targets because of their language. The wide use of the English language has made the UK an ideal testbed for such scams.&nbsp;

The scammers target victims using this language. The targets are found through the internet by buying badges of leaked personal data from the dark net.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/uk-18-year-old-afghan-refugee-stabbed-to-death-in-london-420669">Also read |&nbsp;UK: 18-year-old Afghan refugee stabbed to death in London</a>

A 2019 exposed the system in the UK as it analysed 400 corruption and money laundering cases.&nbsp;The survey revealed that nearly 600 businesses, institutions and individuals in the UK help in laundering money for the corrupt.

The total amount came down to over 400 billion dollars.&nbsp;

It was further revealed that 118 luxury goods and services firms, 81 law firms, 86 banks and financial institutions, and 62 accountancy firms have been involved in such acts.&nbsp;

Even the Educational institutions accepted suspicious funds. A total of 178 such institutions took more than 5 million dollars.&nbsp;

Some of these institutions include the Charterhouse Square School, Harrow School, University College London, and the University of St. Andrews.&nbsp;

Reports reveal that more than 42,000 properties are owned by offshore companies.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/californias-alisal-fire-continues-to-burn-14500-acres-420718">Also read |&nbsp;California's Alisal fire continues to burn 14,500-acres</a>

Money launderers have found a new home in London as for years now, the UK has allowed criminals to get away with stealing. Indian businessman Vijay Malya defaulted on loans worth 1 billion dollars. While India has been trying to extradite him, he seems to have found a new home in the UK.&nbsp;

Luxury properties in London have become a way for the corrupt to hide their cash. Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif's children, who have set up three offshore companies owned at least six upscale properties. In 2017, after he resigned following the Panama Papers verdict, he found a home in London to avoid his jail time.&nbsp;

The UK is now being termed as the bank scam capital of the world with a massive surge in the incidents of online scams. In the first six months of 2021, an amount of 1 billion dollars was stolen.

The UK is now being termed as the bank scam capital of the world with a massive surge in the incidents of online scams. In the first six months of 2021, an amount of 1 billion dollars was stolen. The bank scams in the UK have gone up by 30 per cent since last year. UK's super fast payment infrastructure is being blamed for this surge as it makes money transfers less secure. Also, there is weak policing of fraud-related crimes. × People of the UK are also being seen as easy targets because of their language. The wide use of the English language has made the UK an ideal testbed for such scams. The scammers target victims using this language. The targets are found through the internet by buying badges of leaked personal data from the dark net. Also read | UK: 18-year-old Afghan refugee stabbed to death in London A 2019 exposed the system in the UK as it analysed 400 corruption and money laundering cases. The survey revealed that nearly 600 businesses, institutions and individuals in the UK help in laundering money for the corrupt. The total amount came down to over 400 billion dollars. It was further revealed that 118 luxury goods and services firms, 81 law firms, 86 banks and financial institutions, and 62 accountancy firms have been involved in such acts. Even the Educational institutions accepted suspicious funds. A total of 178 such institutions took more than 5 million dollars. Some of these institutions include the Charterhouse Square School, Harrow School, University College London, and the University of St. Andrews. Reports reveal that more than 42,000 properties are owned by offshore companies. Also read | California's Alisal fire continues to burn 14,500-acres Money launderers have found a new home in London as for years now, the UK has allowed criminals to get away with stealing. Indian businessman Vijay Malya defaulted on loans worth 1 billion dollars. While India has been trying to extradite him, he seems to have found a new home in the UK. Luxury properties in London have become a way for the corrupt to hide their cash. Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif's children, who have set up three offshore companies owned at least six upscale properties. In 2017, after he resigned following the Panama Papers verdict, he found a home in London to avoid his jail time.

UK now being termed as the bank scam capital of the world, here is why

Amid worsening economic conditions post-Taliban takeover, the Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) on Sunday said that all private companies would be allowed to withdraw USD 25,000 from their bank account once a month.

A statement from DAB received by Pajhwok Afghan News said that all private companies were permitted to withdraw the amount of cash from today onwards.

The statement said that foreign currency representatives could give USD 25,000 or its Afghanis equivalent to private companies once in four weeks.

This comes as the Taliban took control of the strife-torn country about a month ago and banking services were shut.

A few days after the collapse of Kabul, banks allowed withdrawal of only USD 200 or 20,000 Afghanis from accounts once a week.

Amid worsening economic conditions post-Taliban takeover, the Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) on Sunday said that all private companies would be allowed to withdraw USD 25,000 from their bank account once a month.

Amid worsening economic conditions post-Taliban takeover, the Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) on Sunday said that all private companies would be allowed to withdraw USD 25,000 from their bank account once a month. A statement from DAB received by Pajhwok Afghan News said that all private companies were permitted to withdraw the amount of cash from today onwards. The statement said that foreign currency representatives could give USD 25,000 or its Afghanis equivalent to private companies once in four weeks. This comes as the Taliban took control of the strife-torn country about a month ago and banking services were shut. A few days after the collapse of Kabul, banks allowed withdrawal of only USD 200 or 20,000 Afghanis from accounts once a week.

Da Afghanistan Bank permits private companies to withdraw USD 25,000 a month

According to reports, scandal-hit Credit Suisse is considering centralising the management of its bankers to the world's wealthy, reversing a regional structure put in place six years ago, as Swiss bank looks for ways to tighten controls and improve operations.

World Business Watch: Scandal-hit Credit Suisse considers creating single private bank

Soaring temperatures sent Israelis to beaches across the country on Sunday (May 17) with many violating the coronavirus restrictions. Some areas in the country and Israeli-occupied West Bank exceeded 40 degrees Celsius in the country's first seasonal heatwave.

People flock to beaches as Israel, West Bank bake in heatwave

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced three months moratorium on EMIs after the lockdown in India. Banks have now issued clarification on EMI relief.

India: Banks issue clarification on EMI relief

Yes Bank, India’s fifth-largest private sector lender, was placed under a moratorium with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) taking over from its board for 30 days and imposing limits on withdrawals to protect depositors. The central bank said, was necessary because of a serious deterioration in Yes Bank’s financial position and that it would swiftly work on a revival plan.

Government places Yes Bank placed under moratorium

The Reserve Bank of India’s has decided to put a moratorium on Yes Bank on Thursday for a period of thirty days. Withdrawals by depositors have been restricted, and mutual funds have begun writing off the value of the Yes Bank debt securities they hold. Watch report:

WION Wallet: RBI moves to restructure YES Bank by placing it under moratorium | Yes Bank Moratorium

Bank Employees Association on Tuesday participated in a one day strike against the central government`s proposal of merger of 10 government banks into four.

Protestors raised slogans and held placards which read `Stop attack on job and job security` and `strengthen public sector`.&nbsp;

"Today as per the call given by our apex organization All India Bank Employees Association and Bank India Federation we are observing a day-long strike against the proposed mergers of Government on August 30," Ajay Kumar, General Secretary Bank of Baroda Employees Union told ANI.

"We are not only opposing the proposal of merger but also demanding the recovery of bad loans to a tune of Rs 10 lakh crores accumulated throughout the country, defaulted by big corporate houses. We are also demanding higher recruitment and strengthening the banking sector," Ajay Kumar, General Secretary Bank of Baroda Employees Union told ANI.

"We are also opposing on behalf of the customers to wave off the heavy charges levied upon them by virtue of minimum balance charges, cash handling charges or whatsoever it maybe," he added.

Charylu, President of Dena Bank Union while speaking to ANI said, "We are participating in this strike. We are against the government policies towards employees and customers. We also demand the removal of extra charges levied on transactions by the customers. These charges are reducing our customers. We also want the wage revision to be considered by the government as well as higher recruitment in banks."&nbsp;

The protestors claimed that the strike is being successfully conducted all over India against the central government`s proposal of merger of banks.&nbsp;

Bank Employees Association on Tuesday participated in a one day strike against the central government`s proposal of merger of 10 government banks into four. Protestors raised slogans and held placards which read `Stop attack on job and job security` and `strengthen public sector`.

Bank Employees Association on Tuesday participated in a one day strike against the central government`s proposal of merger of 10 government banks into four. Protestors raised slogans and held placards which read `Stop attack on job and job security` and `strengthen public sector`. "Today as per the call given by our apex organization All India Bank Employees Association and Bank India Federation we are observing a day-long strike against the proposed mergers of Government on August 30," Ajay Kumar, General Secretary Bank of Baroda Employees Union told ANI. "We are not only opposing the proposal of merger but also demanding the recovery of bad loans to a tune of Rs 10 lakh crores accumulated throughout the country, defaulted by big corporate houses. We are also demanding higher recruitment and strengthening the banking sector," Ajay Kumar, General Secretary Bank of Baroda Employees Union told ANI. "We are also opposing on behalf of the customers to wave off the heavy charges levied upon them by virtue of minimum balance charges, cash handling charges or whatsoever it maybe," he added. Charylu, President of Dena Bank Union while speaking to ANI said, "We are participating in this strike. We are against the government policies towards employees and customers. We also demand the removal of extra charges levied on transactions by the customers. These charges are reducing our customers. We also want the wage revision to be considered by the government as well as higher recruitment in banks." The protestors claimed that the strike is being successfully conducted all over India against the central government`s proposal of merger of banks.

Hyderabad: Bank Employees Association hold strike against bank merger policy

In a relief for Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank customers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday increased the withdrawal limit from Rs 1,000 to 10,000.

"The relaxation has been granted to reduce the hardship of depositors. The RBI is closely monitoring the position and will continue to take further steps as are necessary to safeguard the interest of depositors," it said in a statement.

On Monday, the <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/rbi-restricts-activities-of-pmc-bank-due-to-heightened-risks-251703">central bank had restricted activities of PMC Bank</a> for six months. It capped the withdrawals at Rs 1,000 per account and asked the bank to not grant or renew any loans and advances, make any investment or incur any liability, including borrowal of funds and acceptance of fresh deposits.

The crackdown caused panic among depositors. However, the RBI said the directions were necessitated on account of major financial irregularities, failure of internal control and systems of the bank and wrong or under-reporting of its exposures under various off-site surveillance reports.

"Other terms and conditions of the directive will remain unchanged. With the above relaxation, more than 60 per cent of the bank depositors will be able to withdraw their entire account balance," it said in a statement.

The RBI has sacked the bank`s board of directors under sub-sections 1 and 2 of section 36 AAA read with section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act 1949.

An administrator has been appointed to take charge. PMC Bank is a multi-state scheduled urban cooperative bank with operations in Maharashtra, New Delhi, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. With a network of 137 branches, it ranks among the top 10 cooperative banks in the country. 
&nbsp;

In a relief for Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank customers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday increased the withdrawal limit from Rs 1,000 to 10,000.

In a relief for Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank customers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday increased the withdrawal limit from Rs 1,000 to 10,000. "The relaxation has been granted to reduce the hardship of depositors. The RBI is closely monitoring the position and will continue to take further steps as are necessary to safeguard the interest of depositors," it said in a statement. On Monday, the central bank had restricted activities of PMC Bank for six months. It capped the withdrawals at Rs 1,000 per account and asked the bank to not grant or renew any loans and advances, make any investment or incur any liability, including borrowal of funds and acceptance of fresh deposits. The crackdown caused panic among depositors. However, the RBI said the directions were necessitated on account of major financial irregularities, failure of internal control and systems of the bank and wrong or under-reporting of its exposures under various off-site surveillance reports. "Other terms and conditions of the directive will remain unchanged. With the above relaxation, more than 60 per cent of the bank depositors will be able to withdraw their entire account balance," it said in a statement. The RBI has sacked the bank`s board of directors under sub-sections 1 and 2 of section 36 AAA read with section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act 1949. An administrator has been appointed to take charge. PMC Bank is a multi-state scheduled urban cooperative bank with operations in Maharashtra, New Delhi, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. With a network of 137 branches, it ranks among the top 10 cooperative banks in the country.

RBI increases withdrawal limit from Rs 1,000 to 10,000 for PMC Bank customers

Sri Lanka's main financial regulator Tuesday ordered local and foreign banks to slash lending rates in an unprecedented move as the economy struggled to recover from the Easter attacks.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka said it ordered all commercial banks to reduce lending rates by a minimum of 200 basis points within three weeks.

It comes weeks after the government complained that lending rates had not kept pace with sharply lower deposit rates that fell by over 250 basis points since the April attacks, when hundreds were killed in suicide bombings.

Banking experts said it was the first time since the inception of the central bank in 1950 that it had resorted to imposing a mandatory ceiling on lending rates.

Average lending rates are currently around 13 to 15 per cent, while the country's inflation had slowed to 2.2 per cent in July.

Last month the Central Bank cut its main lending rate for the second time in three months, hoping to help the struggling economy.

The Central Bank said the rate at which it lent to commercial banks was reduced by 50 basis points to 8.0 percent and added that the 50-basis-point cut in May had not translated into cheaper credit for consumers.

Sri Lanka's economic growth slowed to 3.2 per cent last year, but it had been expected to pick up in 2019 -- until the devastating attacks by a homegrown jihadist group.

The finance ministry expects growth to be around 3.00 to 3.5 per cent this year as the tourism sector made a faster than expected recovery after the Easter bombings.

Revenues from tourism -- one of the country's biggest incomes -- were expected by the finance ministry to plunge $1.5 billion this year because of cancellations by foreign tourists after the bombings, but the industry anticipates a much smaller drop.

The International Monetary Fund released a delayed loan installment to Sri Lanka following the bombings, helping government efforts to stabilise the economy. 
&nbsp;

Sri Lanka's main financial regulator Tuesday ordered local and foreign banks to slash lending rates in an unprecedented move as the economy struggled to recover from the Easter attacks.

Sri Lanka's main financial regulator Tuesday ordered local and foreign banks to slash lending rates in an unprecedented move as the economy struggled to recover from the Easter attacks. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka said it ordered all commercial banks to reduce lending rates by a minimum of 200 basis points within three weeks. It comes weeks after the government complained that lending rates had not kept pace with sharply lower deposit rates that fell by over 250 basis points since the April attacks, when hundreds were killed in suicide bombings. Banking experts said it was the first time since the inception of the central bank in 1950 that it had resorted to imposing a mandatory ceiling on lending rates. Average lending rates are currently around 13 to 15 per cent, while the country's inflation had slowed to 2.2 per cent in July. Last month the Central Bank cut its main lending rate for the second time in three months, hoping to help the struggling economy. The Central Bank said the rate at which it lent to commercial banks was reduced by 50 basis points to 8.0 percent and added that the 50-basis-point cut in May had not translated into cheaper credit for consumers. Sri Lanka's economic growth slowed to 3.2 per cent last year, but it had been expected to pick up in 2019 -- until the devastating attacks by a homegrown jihadist group. The finance ministry expects growth to be around 3.00 to 3.5 per cent this year as the tourism sector made a faster than expected recovery after the Easter bombings. Revenues from tourism -- one of the country's biggest incomes -- were expected by the finance ministry to plunge $1.5 billion this year because of cancellations by foreign tourists after the bombings, but the industry anticipates a much smaller drop. The International Monetary Fund released a delayed loan installment to Sri Lanka following the bombings, helping government efforts to stabilise the economy.

Sri Lanka forces lending rate cuts on all banks

Britain's bailed-out <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/rbs-to-appoint-alison-rose-as-ceo-in-coming-weeks-report-242063">Royal Bank of Scotland</a> (RBS) on Friday appointed a long-serving banker Alison Rose as its Chief Executive, making her the first female boss of a major UK lender.

Rose, currently the Deputy Head of both NatWest Holdings and the bank's commercial and private banking, business, will replace Ross McEwan on November 1, the company said in a statement.

"I am delighted that we have appointed Alison as our new CEO", said RBS Chairman Howard Davies.

"She brings extensive experience and a track record of success from her previous roles at the bank", he added.

Rose, who has worked at the Edinburgh-based giant for 27 years, takes the helm amid a period of heightened global turmoil that includes Brexit, the US-China trade war, and faltering economic growth.

"This is an exciting time as we enter a new chapter for this bank", she said in the statement.

"Our industry is facing a series of challenges; from the ongoing economic and political uncertainty to shifts in the behaviour and expectations of our customers, driven by rapid advances in technology... It will be my priority to make sure we are ready to meet these challenges", she added.

McEwan will step down on October 31 after holding the top job since 2013, having steered it through a steady recovery following a government bailout during the 2008 global financial crisis.

The New Zealander is leaving RBS to become the Chief Executive at National Australia Bank.

RBS is still 62 per cent owned by the government after receiving the world's biggest banking bailout during the crisis.

Britain's bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) on Friday appointed a long-serving banker Alison Rose as its Chief Executive, making her the first female boss of a major UK lender.

Britain's bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) on Friday appointed a long-serving banker Alison Rose as its Chief Executive, making her the first female boss of a major UK lender. Rose, currently the Deputy Head of both NatWest Holdings and the bank's commercial and private banking, business, will replace Ross McEwan on November 1, the company said in a statement. "I am delighted that we have appointed Alison as our new CEO", said RBS Chairman Howard Davies. "She brings extensive experience and a track record of success from her previous roles at the bank", he added. Rose, who has worked at the Edinburgh-based giant for 27 years, takes the helm amid a period of heightened global turmoil that includes Brexit, the US-China trade war, and faltering economic growth. "This is an exciting time as we enter a new chapter for this bank", she said in the statement. "Our industry is facing a series of challenges; from the ongoing economic and political uncertainty to shifts in the behaviour and expectations of our customers, driven by rapid advances in technology... It will be my priority to make sure we are ready to meet these challenges", she added. McEwan will step down on October 31 after holding the top job since 2013, having steered it through a steady recovery following a government bailout during the 2008 global financial crisis. The New Zealander is leaving RBS to become the Chief Executive at National Australia Bank. RBS is still 62 per cent owned by the government after receiving the world's biggest banking bailout during the crisis.

Royal Bank of Scotland names Alison Rose as Chief Executive

The <a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/fixing-weak-growth-is-highest-priority-rbi-policy-minutes-244660">Reserve Bank of India</a> on Thursday released its annual report wherein it stated that the number of frauds reported by banks has shot up by 15 per cent in the financial 2018-19 on a year-on-year basis.&nbsp;

The amount involved in such frauds rose by 73.8 per cent, though mostly related to occurrences in earlier years.&nbsp;The banking sector reported 6,801 frauds involving Rs 71,542.93 crore in the financial year 2018-19 as opposed to 5,916 cases involving Rs 41,167.04 crore reported in the previous financial year.

"The average lag between the date of occurrence and its detection by banks was 22 months," while the "average lag for large frauds, i.e. Rs 1 billion and above, amounting to Rs 522 billion reported during 2018-19, was 55 months," the top bank stated in its report which was uploaded on its website.&nbsp;

The bulk of frauds reported in 2018-19 come from bank groups PSBs that constitute the largest market share in bank lending, followed by private sector banks and foreign banks.&nbsp;

"The Reserve Bank would coordinate with various agencies including Ministry of Corporate Affairs to examine the feasibility of interlinking various databases and information systems to improve the system of fraud monitoring and take necessary corrective regulatory and supervisory action," it said.

The RBI, in its report, also enumerated ways to improve the fraud risk management framework for banks.

- It proposed to revise the master directions on frauds to incorporate new instructions in the light of experience gained.

- Conduct workshops on frauds for the bankers based on comprehensive reviews, to sensitise them on fraud prevention, prompt/ accurate reporting and follow up action.

- Create a more user-friendly fraud registry and improve the current system of fraud analytics.

The RBI also proposed to create a mechanism "for sharing of fraud-related information among UCBs on similar lines of CFR that is in place for commercial banks."

It said that the move will "enable the sharing of information on frauds in a timely and uniform manner across the sector".

The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday released its annual report wherein it stated that the number of frauds reported by banks has shot up by 15 per cent in the financial 2018-19 on a year-on-year basis.

The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday released its annual report wherein it stated that the number of frauds reported by banks has shot up by 15 per cent in the financial 2018-19 on a year-on-year basis. The amount involved in such frauds rose by 73.8 per cent, though mostly related to occurrences in earlier years. The banking sector reported 6,801 frauds involving Rs 71,542.93 crore in the financial year 2018-19 as opposed to 5,916 cases involving Rs 41,167.04 crore reported in the previous financial year. "The average lag between the date of occurrence and its detection by banks was 22 months," while the "average lag for large frauds, i.e. Rs 1 billion and above, amounting to Rs 522 billion reported during 2018-19, was 55 months," the top bank stated in its report which was uploaded on its website. The bulk of frauds reported in 2018-19 come from bank groups PSBs that constitute the largest market share in bank lending, followed by private sector banks and foreign banks. "The Reserve Bank would coordinate with various agencies including Ministry of Corporate Affairs to examine the feasibility of interlinking various databases and information systems to improve the system of fraud monitoring and take necessary corrective regulatory and supervisory action," it said. The RBI, in its report, also enumerated ways to improve the fraud risk management framework for banks. - It proposed to revise the master directions on frauds to incorporate new instructions in the light of experience gained. - Conduct workshops on frauds for the bankers based on comprehensive reviews, to sensitise them on fraud prevention, prompt/ accurate reporting and follow up action. - Create a more user-friendly fraud registry and improve the current system of fraud analytics. The RBI also proposed to create a mechanism "for sharing of fraud-related information among UCBs on similar lines of CFR that is in place for commercial banks." It said that the move will "enable the sharing of information on frauds in a timely and uniform manner across the sector".

Bank frauds climb 74% to Rs 71,543 Crore In FY19: RBI annual report

China's central bank unveiled a key interest rate reform on Saturday to help steer borrowing costs lower for companies and support a slowing economy that has been hurt by a trade war with the United States.

China's central bank unveiled a key interest rate reform on Saturday to help steer borrowing costs lower for companies and support a slowing economy that has been hurt by a trade war with the United States. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said it will improve the mechanism used to establish the loan prime rate (LPR) from this month, in a move to further lower real interest rates for companies as part of broader market reforms. Analysts say the move, which came after data that showed weaker than expected growth in July and followed a cabinet announcement on Friday, underscores the government's attempts to use reforms to support a slowing economy. "By reforming and improving the formation mechanism of LPR, we will be able to use market-based reform methods to help lower real lending rates," the PBOC said in a statement published on its website. The central bank will "deepen market-based interest rate reform, improve the efficiency of interest rate transmission, and lower financing costs of the real economy," it said. Chinese banks' new LPR quotations will be based on rates of open market operations, and the national interbank funding centre will be authorised to publish the rate from August 20, the PBOC said. It added the rate will be published every month on the 20th, effective this month. Banks must set rates on new loans by mainly referring to the LPR and use LPR as the benchmark for setting floating lending rates, the PBOC said, adding that banks will be barred from setting any implicit floor on lending rates in a coordinated way. The central bank said five-year and longer tenors will be added to the existing one-year LPR, which will help banks set rates on long-term loans such as mortgages. China will add eight small banks, including two foreign-funded banks, to the existing 10 nation-wide banks that will be allowed to submit LPR quotations, the central bank said. The move followed pledges from China's State Council on Friday that the country will rely on market-based reform measures to help lower real interest rates for companies. The central bank said that it will strengthen its supervision on banks' rate quotations and punish banks for irregularities that disrupt the market order. The central bank will incorporate the LPR application into its macro-prudential assessment (MPA) to urge banks to use LPR pricing. SHARPER SLOWDOWN This week's data broadly showed China's economy stumbled more sharply than expected at the start of the third quarter, as the intensifying trade war with the United States took a heavier toll on businesses and consumers. Second-quarter economic growth slowed to a near 30-year low. Tang Jianwei, an economist at Bank of Communications in Shanghai, said the reform could be seen as a guided rate cut as PBOC can guide rates of its open market operations, which will be closely followed by the LPR. "The tool (LPR quotation reform) equals to a guided rate cut, and is only pushed out by the PBOC at crucial moments," said Dai Zhifeng, an analyst with Zhongtai Securities Co. The central bank has pledged to gradually unify two interest rate "tracks" - its market-based rates developed in recent years and its benchmark bank deposit and lending rates. Analysts say the new LPR rate will be lower than the current level, but they are divided over the scope of reductions on borrowing costs for firms. To free up funds for lending and to accommodate local government project financing, most analysts still expect the central bank will cut banks' reserve requirement ratios (RRR) further in the coming months, on top of six reductions since early 2018. Sources have told Reuters that more aggressive action such as interest rate cuts are a last resort, as it could fuel a sharper build-up in debt. In July, central bank head Yi Gang said China would keep its benchmark deposit rate for a relatively long time but would phase out its benchmark lending rate in the push to unify the benchmark lending rate and market-based rates. China's banks currently price their loans based on the benchmark lending rate that has been kept unchanged since October 2015, hampering the central bank's efforts to lower borrowing costs. The PBOC launched the LPR in 2013 to reflect rates that banks charge their best clients. But the LPR has been reacting little to market demand and supply, with the one-year rate currently at 4.31 per cent, versus benchmark one-year lending rate of 4.35 per cent. China's short-term money market rates have been falling more quickly in recent months due to the central bank's cash injections.

China unveils rate reform to steer funding costs lower for firms

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/three-time-delhi-chief-minister-sheila-dikshit-cremated-with-state-honours-at-nigam-bodh-ghat-237451">Three-time Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit cremated with State Honours at Nigam Bodh Ghat</a>

Dikshit's mortal remains were taken to the Congress headquarters from her residence in South Delhi this morning from where hundreds joined the procession to Nigam Bodh Ghat where she was cremated this afternoon.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/chandrayaan-2-to-perform-15-maneuvers-countdown-for-the-launch-begins-237462">Chandrayaan-2 to perform 15 maneuvers, countdown for the launch begins</a>

The&nbsp;Chandrayaan-2&nbsp;will perform 15 crucial maneuvers in the days to come, said Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Sivan on Sunday. The&nbsp;countdown for the launch of Chandrayaan-2, India's second lunar exploration mission after Chandrayaan-1, begins Sunday evening.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/hong-kong-on-security-alert-as-thousands-march-in-fresh-wave-of-protests-237449">Hong Kong on security alert as thousands march in fresh wave of protests</a>

Tens of thousands marched in sweltering heat in Hong Kong&nbsp;on Sunday as anti-government protests show no sign of let-up, with anger over an extradition bill morphing into a fresh front against what many see as an erosion of freedoms by Beijing.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/world-bank-may-fund-priority-sectors-other-than-amaravati-project-237469">World Bank may fund priority sectors other than Amaravati project</a>

The Andhra Pradesh government on Sunday said that The World Bank has given positive indications towards compensating the dropped $300 million&nbsp;loan for developing capital city of Amaravati&nbsp;and moving the aid to other important sectors.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/imran-khan-meets-pakistan-businessmen-during-us-visit-237467">Imran Khan meets Pakistan businessmen during US visit</a>

The businessmen called on Khan at the Pakistan Embassy in the US capital, according to Geo News.

Three-time Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit cremated with State Honours at Nigam Bodh Ghat Dikshit's mortal remains were taken to the Congress headquarters from her residence in South Delhi this morning from where hundreds joined the procession to Nigam Bodh Ghat where she was cremated this afternoon.

Three-time Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit cremated with State Honours at Nigam Bodh Ghat Dikshit's mortal remains were taken to the Congress headquarters from her residence in South Delhi this morning from where hundreds joined the procession to Nigam Bodh Ghat where she was cremated this afternoon. Chandrayaan-2 to perform 15 maneuvers, countdown for the launch begins The Chandrayaan-2 will perform 15 crucial maneuvers in the days to come, said Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief K Sivan on Sunday. The countdown for the launch of Chandrayaan-2, India's second lunar exploration mission after Chandrayaan-1, begins Sunday evening. Hong Kong on security alert as thousands march in fresh wave of protests Tens of thousands marched in sweltering heat in Hong Kong on Sunday as anti-government protests show no sign of let-up, with anger over an extradition bill morphing into a fresh front against what many see as an erosion of freedoms by Beijing. World Bank may fund priority sectors other than Amaravati project The Andhra Pradesh government on Sunday said that The World Bank has given positive indications towards compensating the dropped $300 million loan for developing capital city of Amaravati and moving the aid to other important sectors. Imran Khan meets Pakistan businessmen during US visit The businessmen called on Khan at the Pakistan Embassy in the US capital, according to Geo News.

News brief: Big stories of the day

Deutsche Finally takes a Restructuring call. Bank aims to reduce $19b billion through restructuring

Deutsche Finally takes a Restructuring call

The BSE Sensex ended 157 points higher Wednesday, driven by gains in metal, power and financial stocks ahead of June derivatives expiry.

Extending its gains for the second session, the 30-share index settled 157.14 points or 0.40 per cent, higher at 39,592.08. The index hit an intra-day high of 39,674.22 and a low of 39,319.64.

The broader NSE Nifty too rose 51.10 points, or 0.43 per cent, to finish at 11,847.55. During the day, the index touched a high of 11,871.85 and a low of 11,757.55.

Vedanta was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 4.40 per cent. PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, Yes Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Auto too ended up to 4.12 per cent higher.

On the other hand, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, Maruti, TCS and HDFC were among the top losers, shedding up to 1.12 per cent.

Buying interest was seen in metal, power, healthcare, capital goods and financial counters ahead of the expiry of June futures and options (F&amp;O) contracts scheduled for Thursday, traders said.

Domestic investors are also hoping for positive news on the trade front in the backdrop of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, traders added.

According to experts, equities witnessed gains after positive momentum was triggered in the domestic stock market on reports of swift monsoon progress in the country.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee was appreciated 22 paise to 69.13 against the US dollar intra-day.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.17 per cent to USD 65.03 per barrel.

Globally, while bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended on a mixed note, equity markets in Europe were trading in the green in early deals.

The BSE Sensex ended 157 points higher Wednesday, driven by gains in metal, power and financial stocks ahead of June derivatives expiry. Extending its gains for the second session, the 30-share index settled 157.

The BSE Sensex ended 157 points higher Wednesday, driven by gains in metal, power and financial stocks ahead of June derivatives expiry. Extending its gains for the second session, the 30-share index settled 157.14 points or 0.40 per cent, higher at 39,592.08. The index hit an intra-day high of 39,674.22 and a low of 39,319.64. The broader NSE Nifty too rose 51.10 points, or 0.43 per cent, to finish at 11,847.55. During the day, the index touched a high of 11,871.85 and a low of 11,757.55. Vedanta was the biggest gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 4.40 per cent. PowerGrid, Sun Pharma, Yes Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank and Bajaj Auto too ended up to 4.12 per cent higher. On the other hand, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, Tech Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, Maruti, TCS and HDFC were among the top losers, shedding up to 1.12 per cent. Buying interest was seen in metal, power, healthcare, capital goods and financial counters ahead of the expiry of June futures and options (F&O) contracts scheduled for Thursday, traders said. Domestic investors are also hoping for positive news on the trade front in the backdrop of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, traders added. According to experts, equities witnessed gains after positive momentum was triggered in the domestic stock market on reports of swift monsoon progress in the country. On the currency front, the Indian rupee was appreciated 22 paise to 69.13 against the US dollar intra-day. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 1.17 per cent to USD 65.03 per barrel. Globally, while bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul ended on a mixed note, equity markets in Europe were trading in the green in early deals.

Sensex closes 157 points higher, Nifty near 11,850 as metal, bank stocks rally

In a move that may lead to lower home, auto and other loan EMIs, the<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/reserve-bank-cuts-rates-lowers-gdp-growth-forecast-to-7-in-fy20-224861"> RBI Thursday cut interest rates for the third time this year</a> by 25 basis points to their lowest level in nine years and signalled more easing as it looked to support an economy growing at the slowest pace since the BJP first came to power in 2014.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut the repo rate to 5.75 per cent and reverse repo rate to 5.50 per cent and expected banks to transmit these to home, auto and other loan borrowers faster.

With all the six members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voting unanimously for a rate cut and switching of its stance to "accommodative" from neutral, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the shift in the stance meant that an increase in interest rates is "off the table."

He wanted banks to expedite the transmission of the current reduction in rates as well as similar ones that happened in February and April.

In three back-to-back bi-monthly monetary policies, the RBI has lowered interest rates by 75 basis points (0.75 percentage point).

With India's GDP growth slipping to a five-year low of 5.8 per cent in the January-March quarter - the first instance of growth falling below China's in last few quarters, the RBI lowered its growth forecast for the economy to 7 per cent from the April view of 7.2 per cent for the 2019-20 April-March fiscal year. 
"Growth impulses have weakened significantly," the RBI said in the monetary policy statement.

The reduction in interest rate will help boost credit growth, helping arrest the slowdown in the economy ahead of the new Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presenting Modi-2.0 government's first budget next month that is widely expected to announce measures to generate jobs and revive the economy.

While inflation remained below its medium-term target to give "scope" to the MPC "to accommodate growth concerns by supporting efforts to boost aggregate demand", the RBI marginally raised its retail inflation outlook for the first half of 2019-20 to a range of 3-3.1 per cent from 2.9-3 per cent that it had outlined in last monetary policy in April, due to a broad-based pickup in food prices.

It, however, slightly trimmed its inflation outlook for the second half of the year to 3.4-3.7 per cent from its earlier projection of 3.5-3.8 per cent.

"The headline inflation trajectory remains below the target mandated to the MPC even after taking into account the expected transmission of the past two policy rate cuts. Hence, there is scope for the MPC to accommodate growth concerns by supporting efforts to boost aggregate demand, and in particular, reinvigorate private investment activity, while remaining consistent with its flexible inflation targeting mandate," the MPC said.

RBI's medium-term inflation target is 4 per cent.

"A sharp slowdown in investment activity along with a continuing moderation in private consumption growth is a matter of concern," it said.

With the 0.25 percentage point cut Thursday, the repo rate, at which the central bank lends to the system, comes down to 5.75 per cent, as was widely expected. Earlier, the repo rate was at 5.75 per cent in July 2010.

Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 5.50 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.0 per cent.

MPC noted that political stability, high capacity utilisation, buoyant stock markets, an uptick in business expectations in the second quarter and financial flows are positive from a growth perspective.

It made its disappointment clear at the transmission of rate cuts, saying the weighted average lending rate has gone down by only 0.21 per cent, while the same for older loans has increased 0.04 per cent, as against policy rate cuts of 0.50 percentage point.

The central bank also announced doing away with charges on fund transfers through RTGS and NEFT routes to boost digital transactions and asked banks to pass on the benefits to customers.

In a move that may lead to lower home, auto and other loan EMIs, the RBI Thursday cut interest rates for the third time this year by 25 basis points to their lowest level in nine years and signalled more easing as it looked to support an economy growing at the slowest pace since the BJP first came to power in 2014.

In a move that may lead to lower home, auto and other loan EMIs, the RBI Thursday cut interest rates for the third time this year by 25 basis points to their lowest level in nine years and signalled more easing as it looked to support an economy growing at the slowest pace since the BJP first came to power in 2014. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut the repo rate to 5.75 per cent and reverse repo rate to 5.50 per cent and expected banks to transmit these to home, auto and other loan borrowers faster. With all the six members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voting unanimously for a rate cut and switching of its stance to "accommodative" from neutral, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the shift in the stance meant that an increase in interest rates is "off the table." He wanted banks to expedite the transmission of the current reduction in rates as well as similar ones that happened in February and April. In three back-to-back bi-monthly monetary policies, the RBI has lowered interest rates by 75 basis points (0.75 percentage point). With India's GDP growth slipping to a five-year low of 5.8 per cent in the January-March quarter - the first instance of growth falling below China's in last few quarters, the RBI lowered its growth forecast for the economy to 7 per cent from the April view of 7.2 per cent for the 2019-20 April-March fiscal year. "Growth impulses have weakened significantly," the RBI said in the monetary policy statement. The reduction in interest rate will help boost credit growth, helping arrest the slowdown in the economy ahead of the new Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presenting Modi-2.0 government's first budget next month that is widely expected to announce measures to generate jobs and revive the economy. While inflation remained below its medium-term target to give "scope" to the MPC "to accommodate growth concerns by supporting efforts to boost aggregate demand", the RBI marginally raised its retail inflation outlook for the first half of 2019-20 to a range of 3-3.1 per cent from 2.9-3 per cent that it had outlined in last monetary policy in April, due to a broad-based pickup in food prices. It, however, slightly trimmed its inflation outlook for the second half of the year to 3.4-3.7 per cent from its earlier projection of 3.5-3.8 per cent. "The headline inflation trajectory remains below the target mandated to the MPC even after taking into account the expected transmission of the past two policy rate cuts. Hence, there is scope for the MPC to accommodate growth concerns by supporting efforts to boost aggregate demand, and in particular, reinvigorate private investment activity, while remaining consistent with its flexible inflation targeting mandate," the MPC said. RBI's medium-term inflation target is 4 per cent. "A sharp slowdown in investment activity along with a continuing moderation in private consumption growth is a matter of concern," it said. With the 0.25 percentage point cut Thursday, the repo rate, at which the central bank lends to the system, comes down to 5.75 per cent, as was widely expected. Earlier, the repo rate was at 5.75 per cent in July 2010. Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the LAF stands adjusted to 5.50 per cent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 6.0 per cent. MPC noted that political stability, high capacity utilisation, buoyant stock markets, an uptick in business expectations in the second quarter and financial flows are positive from a growth perspective. It made its disappointment clear at the transmission of rate cuts, saying the weighted average lending rate has gone down by only 0.21 per cent, while the same for older loans has increased 0.04 per cent, as against policy rate cuts of 0.50 percentage point. The central bank also announced doing away with charges on fund transfers through RTGS and NEFT routes to boost digital transactions and asked banks to pass on the benefits to customers.

RBI cuts interest rates to 9-year low, expects banks to quickly lower home, auto loan EMIs

Police in Sao Paulo state shot and killed 10 assailants who were preparing to simultaneously blow up automated bank teller machines at two branches early on Thursday, authorities said.

Sao Paulo state's Public Security Secretariat said in a statement that about 25 suspects were involved in the attempts to blow up the machines to get at the cash inside, a common type of crime in Brazil.

One of the banks was located next to a police station.

One police commander told the TV Globo network the criminal group was "prepared for war" and, aside from arriving in five armoured cars, were armed with high-calibre rifles and body armour.

Police arrived at the banks and confronted the assailants, who fled and led police on a rolling shootout through the city of Guararema, located about 60 kilometres east of central metropolitan Sao Paulo.

The suspects broke into a home at one point and held the residents hostage, "but police managed to free them," the note from the secretariat read, without providing more details.

No police were injured during the operation. It was not clear if any suspects were in custody.

Police commander Mario Silva told the Globo TV that the criminal group was under surveillance, and that "we already knew they were going to carry out an attack in this area."

"We did not know exactly where the attack would take place," Silva said. "But we increased police forces in the area over the past 24 hours."

Police in Sao Paulo state shot and killed 10 assailants who were preparing to simultaneously blow up automated bank teller machines at two branches early on Thursday, authorities said.

Police in Sao Paulo state shot and killed 10 assailants who were preparing to simultaneously blow up automated bank teller machines at two branches early on Thursday, authorities said. Sao Paulo state's Public Security Secretariat said in a statement that about 25 suspects were involved in the attempts to blow up the machines to get at the cash inside, a common type of crime in Brazil. One of the banks was located next to a police station. One police commander told the TV Globo network the criminal group was "prepared for war" and, aside from arriving in five armoured cars, were armed with high-calibre rifles and body armour. Police arrived at the banks and confronted the assailants, who fled and led police on a rolling shootout through the city of Guararema, located about 60 kilometres east of central metropolitan Sao Paulo. The suspects broke into a home at one point and held the residents hostage, "but police managed to free them," the note from the secretariat read, without providing more details. No police were injured during the operation. It was not clear if any suspects were in custody. Police commander Mario Silva told the Globo TV that the criminal group was under surveillance, and that "we already knew they were going to carry out an attack in this area." "We did not know exactly where the attack would take place," Silva said. "But we increased police forces in the area over the past 24 hours."

Brazil police kill 10 suspects who tried to blow up bank ATMs

The BSE Sensex zoomed 342 points and the NSE Nifty reclaimed the 10,800 marks Monday, driven by IT and financial stocks, amid heavy foreign and domestic fund inflows.

The 30-share index ended 341.90 points, or 0.95 per cent, at 36,213.38; while the broader Nifty soared 88.45 points, or 0.82 per cent, to conclude the session at 10,880.10 after shuttling between 10,887.10 and 10,788.05.

The Sensex had shed 27 points in Friday's trade.

Covering up of short positions by speculators ahead of February derivatives expiry on Thursday also added to the momentum, brokers said.

Besides, other Asian markets scaling a five-month high and a higher opening of European shares after US President Donald Trump announced the extension of the March 1 deadline for increasing tariff on import of Chinese products, as talks between the two sides were making "substantial progress", too boosted investor sentiment here.

Sentiments also got a lift after the GST Council at its meeting on Sunday slashed tax rates on under-construction housing properties to 5 per cent without the input tax credit, from the existing 12 per cent, brokers said.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack include Yes Bank, TCS, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, Vedanta, Hero MotoCorp, ITC, Bajaj Finance, M&amp;M and Tata Steel, surging up to 3.24 per cent.

On the other hand, Coal India, SBI, Kotak Bank, Asian Paints, L&amp;T, ONGC, PowerGrid and RIL fell up to 0.37 per cent.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 6,311.01 crore, while DIIs made purchases of Rs 838.88 crore on Friday, provisional data showed.&nbsp;

The BSE Sensex zoomed 342 points and the NSE Nifty reclaimed the 10,800 marks Monday, driven by IT and financial stocks, amid heavy foreign and domestic fund inflows.

The BSE Sensex zoomed 342 points and the NSE Nifty reclaimed the 10,800 marks Monday, driven by IT and financial stocks, amid heavy foreign and domestic fund inflows. The 30-share index ended 341.90 points, or 0.95 per cent, at 36,213.38; while the broader Nifty soared 88.45 points, or 0.82 per cent, to conclude the session at 10,880.10 after shuttling between 10,887.10 and 10,788.05. The Sensex had shed 27 points in Friday's trade. Covering up of short positions by speculators ahead of February derivatives expiry on Thursday also added to the momentum, brokers said. Besides, other Asian markets scaling a five-month high and a higher opening of European shares after US President Donald Trump announced the extension of the March 1 deadline for increasing tariff on import of Chinese products, as talks between the two sides were making "substantial progress", too boosted investor sentiment here. Sentiments also got a lift after the GST Council at its meeting on Sunday slashed tax rates on under-construction housing properties to 5 per cent without the input tax credit, from the existing 12 per cent, brokers said. Top gainers in the Sensex pack include Yes Bank, TCS, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, HCL Tech, Bharti Airtel, HDFC, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, Vedanta, Hero MotoCorp, ITC, Bajaj Finance, M&M and Tata Steel, surging up to 3.24 per cent. On the other hand, Coal India, SBI, Kotak Bank, Asian Paints, L&T, ONGC, PowerGrid and RIL fell up to 0.37 per cent. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 6,311.01 crore, while DIIs made purchases of Rs 838.88 crore on Friday, provisional data showed.

Sensex rallies 342 points, Nifty tops 10,800; IT, bank stocks soar

The BSE Sensex dropped over 200 points, ending in the negative terrain for the fourth straight session Tuesday, as investors intensified selling towards the fag end of the day, even as global cues remained positive.

Realty, IT, FMCG and banking counters witnessed heavy selling ahead of the index of the release of industrial production (IIP) data for December and consumer price inflation (CPI) numbers for January.

Indices failed to hold on to opening gains as profit-taking re-emerged in the later part of the session, wiping off initial gains, with the BSE Sensex settling 241.41 points, or 0.66 per cent, down at 36,153.62 points. The gauge had lost 580 points in the previous three sessions.

The broader Nifty finished at 10,831.40, down 57.40 points, or 0.53 per cent.

Top losers included Hero MotoCorp, HDFC, SBI, Infosys, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, ONGC, Bajaj Auto and IndusInd Bank, falling up to 2.63 per cent.

On the other hand, Sun Pharma, Coal India, Tata Steel, NTPC, Asian Paints, Vedanta, M&amp;M and RIL were the gainers, rising up to 2 per cent.

"The market closed the session with cuts of over half a per cent amid weak global cues and ahead of inflation and industrial output data," said Paras Bothra, President, Equity Research, Ashika Group.

"The underlying sentiment of the markets remained cautious as another round of US-China trade talks began with working-level talks in Beijing and US congressional negotiators reached an agreement in principle to fund the government and avoid another shutdown ahead of a Friday midnight deadline," he added.

Sectorally, the BSE realty index emerged as the worst performer by falling 1.29 per cent, followed by IT index shedding 0.94 per cent, teck (0.90 per cent), bankex (0.81 per cent), FMCG (0.73 per cent), auto (0.51 per cent), PSU (0.31 per cent), capital goods (0.19 per cent), power (0.08 per cent), consumer durables (0.07 per cent) and oil and gas (0.06 per cent).

While metal, healthcare and infrastructure indices ended higher up to 1.65 per cent.

In the broader markets, the small-cap index fell 0.43 per cent, and mid-caps shed 0.06 per cent.

Tepid earnings by some more companies and foreign fund outflows also dampened trading sentiments, brokers said.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 125.05 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 232.55 crore Monday, provisional data showed.

In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei climbed 2.61 per cent, Korea's Kospi was up 0.45 per cent, Taiwan index gained 0.93 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index edged 0.68 per cent higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng too up 0.10 per cent.

European markets traded higher in their early deals. Frankfurt's DAX gained 0.99 per cent, Paris CAC 40 rose 0.72 per cent and London's FTSE was up 0.33 per cent.

The BSE Sensex dropped over 200 points, ending in the negative terrain for the fourth straight session Tuesday, as investors intensified selling towards the fag end of the day, even as global cues remained positive.

The BSE Sensex dropped over 200 points, ending in the negative terrain for the fourth straight session Tuesday, as investors intensified selling towards the fag end of the day, even as global cues remained positive. Realty, IT, FMCG and banking counters witnessed heavy selling ahead of the index of the release of industrial production (IIP) data for December and consumer price inflation (CPI) numbers for January. Indices failed to hold on to opening gains as profit-taking re-emerged in the later part of the session, wiping off initial gains, with the BSE Sensex settling 241.41 points, or 0.66 per cent, down at 36,153.62 points. The gauge had lost 580 points in the previous three sessions. The broader Nifty finished at 10,831.40, down 57.40 points, or 0.53 per cent. Top losers included Hero MotoCorp, HDFC, SBI, Infosys, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, ONGC, Bajaj Auto and IndusInd Bank, falling up to 2.63 per cent. On the other hand, Sun Pharma, Coal India, Tata Steel, NTPC, Asian Paints, Vedanta, M&M and RIL were the gainers, rising up to 2 per cent. "The market closed the session with cuts of over half a per cent amid weak global cues and ahead of inflation and industrial output data," said Paras Bothra, President, Equity Research, Ashika Group. "The underlying sentiment of the markets remained cautious as another round of US-China trade talks began with working-level talks in Beijing and US congressional negotiators reached an agreement in principle to fund the government and avoid another shutdown ahead of a Friday midnight deadline," he added. Sectorally, the BSE realty index emerged as the worst performer by falling 1.29 per cent, followed by IT index shedding 0.94 per cent, teck (0.90 per cent), bankex (0.81 per cent), FMCG (0.73 per cent), auto (0.51 per cent), PSU (0.31 per cent), capital goods (0.19 per cent), power (0.08 per cent), consumer durables (0.07 per cent) and oil and gas (0.06 per cent). While metal, healthcare and infrastructure indices ended higher up to 1.65 per cent. In the broader markets, the small-cap index fell 0.43 per cent, and mid-caps shed 0.06 per cent. Tepid earnings by some more companies and foreign fund outflows also dampened trading sentiments, brokers said. On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 125.05 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 232.55 crore Monday, provisional data showed. In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei climbed 2.61 per cent, Korea's Kospi was up 0.45 per cent, Taiwan index gained 0.93 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index edged 0.68 per cent higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng too up 0.10 per cent. European markets traded higher in their early deals. Frankfurt's DAX gained 0.99 per cent, Paris CAC 40 rose 0.72 per cent and London's FTSE was up 0.33 per cent.

Sensex drops 241 points ahead of macro data releases; bank, IT stocks crack

The BSE benchmark Sensex Monday fell over 100 points tracking selloff in banking, auto and metal stocks amid mixed cues from global markets.

The 30-share index was trading 109.53 points, or 0.30 per cent, lower at 36,359.90.

Similarly, the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 31.75 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 10,861.90.

On Friday, however, key indices finished with robust gains Friday after the government made a big populist push in its final budget before elections, even as some investors fretted about the fiscal impact of farm sops and tax rebates.

The BSE Sensex had climbed 212.74 points, or 0.59 per cent, to finish at 36,469.43, while the broader NSE Nifty rose 62.70 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 10,893.65.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack include ONGC, RIL, HCL Tech, Vedanta, HUL, Coal India, HDFC Bank, HDFC, TCS and Infosys, rising up to 2.39 per cent. 
On the other hand, Yes Bank, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, M&amp;M, PowerGrid and Tata Motors were the top losers, falling up to 3.15 per cent.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 1,315.89 crore Friday, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 5.07 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.30 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.02 per cent, and Japan's Nikkei gained 0.53 per cent; while Kospi slipped 0.06 per cent in early trade.

On Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.26 per cent higher on Friday.

The rupee, meanwhile, depreciated 37 paise against US dollar to 71.64.

The benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.16 per cent to USD 62.65 per barrel.

The BSE benchmark Sensex Monday fell over 100 points tracking selloff in banking, auto and metal stocks amid mixed cues from global markets. The 30-share index was trading 109.

The BSE benchmark Sensex Monday fell over 100 points tracking selloff in banking, auto and metal stocks amid mixed cues from global markets. The 30-share index was trading 109.53 points, or 0.30 per cent, lower at 36,359.90. Similarly, the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 31.75 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 10,861.90. On Friday, however, key indices finished with robust gains Friday after the government made a big populist push in its final budget before elections, even as some investors fretted about the fiscal impact of farm sops and tax rebates. The BSE Sensex had climbed 212.74 points, or 0.59 per cent, to finish at 36,469.43, while the broader NSE Nifty rose 62.70 points, or 0.58 per cent, to 10,893.65. Top gainers in the Sensex pack include ONGC, RIL, HCL Tech, Vedanta, HUL, Coal India, HDFC Bank, HDFC, TCS and Infosys, rising up to 2.39 per cent. On the other hand, Yes Bank, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank, M&M, PowerGrid and Tata Motors were the top losers, falling up to 3.15 per cent. On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 1,315.89 crore Friday, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 5.07 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed. Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.30 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.02 per cent, and Japan's Nikkei gained 0.53 per cent; while Kospi slipped 0.06 per cent in early trade. On Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.26 per cent higher on Friday. The rupee, meanwhile, depreciated 37 paise against US dollar to 71.64. The benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.16 per cent to USD 62.65 per barrel.

Sensex drops over 100 points; bank, auto stocks fall

ICICI Bank sacks Chandra Kochhar

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