Central Bank of India opens representative office in Hong Kong

The third largest public sector lender by branches Central Bank of IndiaBSE -4.99 % said it has opened arepresentative office in Hong Kong. The representative office will facilitate the bank to tap the huge business potential in the thriving island city by providing marketing and liaisoning, its chairman and managing director Rajeev Rishi said in a statement.  He said the office will not engage in core banking but will use its local presence to explore business opportunities with the aim of establishing a long-term presence and penetrate the markets...Source >> Economic Times

Four PSU banks (incl Central Bank of India) face scrutiny for fall in agriculture credit

Four public sector banks may come under the finance ministry's scrutiny for reporting a fall in credit to agriculture, designated as a priority sector for lending by the Reserve Bank of India. According to a presentation given by state-run banks to finance minister P Chidambaram on October 22, share of farm loans by Central Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Oriental Bank of CommerceBSE -2.83 % and Punjab National BankBSE -3.18 % fell between 0.24% and 25% year-on-year in the quarter to September. In case of a fall in priority sector lending, banks are mandated to invest more with Rural Infrastructure Development Fund, which could be a drag on their profitability this fiscal. Central Bank of India saw the biggest drop, with loans to agricultural sector declining 25% to Rs 4,555 crore. In the year-ago quarter , the bank had disbursed . 6,048 crore to the sector. 

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Central Bank of India gets Rs.1800 Crores as Capital Infusion

Centre approves Rs.1,800 cr each to Central Bank and IDBI Bank and Rs.1,200 cr to IOB : The Finance Ministry, on Wednesday, announced that it would infuse Rs.14,000 crore capital in various banks this fiscal, including Rs.2,000 crore in State Bank of India and Rs.1,800 crore each in IDBI Bank and Central Bank of India. Apart from the capital support from the government, public sector banks have the headroom to raise Rs.10,000 crore from the market though rights issue, qualified institutional placement (QIP) or follow-on public offer (FPO) without diluting the existing government stake. Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru said the money had been given to enhance equity capital. For the moment, this was good enough to see them through, he added.

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Central Bank signs MoU with NCDEX

Central Bank of India has entered into a memorandum of understanding with NCDEX Spot Exchange (NSPOT), the e-market place for farmers. The objective is to cater to the needs of the farmers, agri processors and market participants. A tri-partite agreement was signed by Central Bank of India, NSPOT and two collateral managers viz. Navjyoti Commodities and Origo Commodities in AP and Karnataka States. Central Bank of India is the first Bank to provide this type of facility to the farmers in these two States. Speaking on the occasion, N. K. Balakrishnan, Field General Manager said the bank’s association with NSPOT will promote easy finance to farmers against their stock and will also bring in transparency and efficiency in lending operations benefiting farmers, traders, SMEs etc.

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Spanco wins Central Bank of India’s mobile banking contract

Technology company Spanco is set to implement mobile banking and mobile commerce related application for Central Bank Of India. The Mumbai-based company has emerged the most qualified bidder, following a technical and financial evaluation by the bank, it said in a press statement. “This win further strengthens our position in the mobile banking and payments space and we wish to further build this into a full services mobile based payments company," said Kaustubh Dhavse Chief Executive Officer of Spanco’s governance unit. Spanco’s revenue model is transaction based; it will earn a fixed fee for every financial and non-financial transaction that happens through the mobile platform.

Source BusinessLine 11th Oct 2013 : Click here

Central Bank of India's Tier I-II bonds downgraded by CRISIL

Rating agency CRISIL has downgraded the tier-I and tier-II bonds ofCentral Bank of India to ‘AA’ from ‘AA+’ on expected weakening of credit profile on the sustained deterioration in asset quality and earnings. 
The Mumbai-based public sector lender is witnessing a sharp and sustained deterioration in asset quality. Its gross non-performing assets (NPA) increased significantly to 6.0 per cent as on June 30, from 1.8 per cent as on March 31, 2011.  The deterioration in the bank’s asset quality is also reflected in its higher-than-industry-average slippages at 5.6 per cent (annualised) for the quarter ended June 30, (3.5 per cent in 2012-13), CRISIL said in a statement

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Central Bank not to raise lending rates now

State-run Central Bank of India (CBI) is not planning to increase its lending rate even though it has been witnessing an uptick in cost of funds following RBI’s liquidity tightening moves, a top official said today.

“Last two months, we have seen an escalation in cost of funds. But whether this is going to result in a change of base rate, I don’t think so as of now,” its new chairman and managing director Rajeev Rishi told reporters. He said the bank may think of raising the base rate or the minimum rate of lending as and when a need arises.

“Our base rate is at 10.25 per cent and I am comfortable as of now,” Rishi said.

Read more >> Click here          Central Bank, Suvidhaa launch a channel card for retailers - Click here

Central Bank of India raises interest rates to 9.50% on high value deposits

Public sector Central Bank of IndiaBSE 4.66 % (CBOI) today said it has raised interest rates on high value deposits by 50 basis points to 9.50 per cent. 

Minimum amount of deposit acceptable under the scheme called 'Cent-Benefit Deposit' is Rs 1 crore and there is no maximum cap, said an official release here.  The scheme will have a tenor of 14 days to 179 days. Targeted at High Net-worth Individuals ( HNI), cash- rich corporates and government departments, there will be no penalty on premature withdrawals under this scheme, it said.

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Have Indian banks gone to the dogs?

As the Indian economy struggles to recover, the banking system is staring at a potential bad-loan crisis : At one Indian bank—Central Bank of India—bad loans exceeded 6% of total advances in the quarter ended 30 June. At six more banks, four of which are majority-owned by the government, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) were above 5% of advances. Gross NPAs of five other banks, all of them in the public sector, made up more than 4% of their loan books in June. After setting aside money to cover the risk of default, net NPAs of Dhanlaxmi Bank Ltd were in excess of 4% in June and those of seven others more than 3%. Net NPAs of State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank, two of India’s largest lenders, were close to 3%.

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Shri Rajeev Rishi takes over as new Chairman & Managing Director, Central Bank of India

As per Government of India Notification dtd 8th July, 2013, Shri Rajeev Rishi has been appointed as Chairman & Managing Director, Central Bank of India with effect from August 1, 2013. Accordingly, today Sri Rajeev Rishi assumed charge as Chairman and Managing Director of our Bank and will remain in service for a period of five years.  Prior to his appointment as Chairman & Managing Director of Central Bank of India Shri Rishi was the Executive Director of Indian Bank since October 2010. 

Before joining Indian Bank, he was the General Manager of Oriental Bank of Commerce with rich experience in banking having worked in various parts of the country such as Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Dehradun, Pune, Mumbai, Ludhiana etc.  He belongs to Chandigarh (UT) and holds degree in BA, LLB.He has served as a Director of Ind Bank Housing Ltd. from June 13, 2011 to June 27, 2013.

Source ... Click here

Soon, women will not need to ‘fish’ for loans - Central Bank of India Launches "Cent Matsya Kanya"

Women engaged in fish retailing can now look to Central Bank of India for credit. The bank is gearing up to launch ‘Cent Matsya Kanya’, a special credit scheme for small fisherwomen.

“Though our intention was to focus on coastal States of Maharashtra, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, the scheme will be implemented throughout India.

“The scheme provides working capital of up to Rs 50,000 to a single woman and up to Rs 2.50 lakh to a group of women under liberal terms,” said the bank’s Chairman and Managing Director M. V. Tanksale.

The scheme is to be unveiled soon. Besides fisherwomen, the bank has also identified women-related activities at various places for extending credit support.

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Message of Sri M V Tanksale, our worthy Chairman and Managing Director on his superannuation day to all Centralites...

Dear Centralites,

Today, when I address this communication to my Dear Centralites, it reminds me to my first communication when I joined this august institution 25 months ago. I appealed all of you to prepare ourselves to rededicate to accomplish 50 months job in 25 months of my tenure and today, as a most satisfying CENTRALITE, I proudly say that all of you have supported me in taking this Bank forward in process of regaining its past glory or better said to get its deserving status.

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Winsome becomes NPA for banks including Central Bank of India

Lenders to troubled diamond jewelry exporter Winsome and Forever Precious Jewellery – both promoted by Jatin Mehta -- has started classifying their Rs 8,000 crore exposure as non-performing asset. These banks have made provisioning for the exposure in the first quarter of the financial year. Punjab National Bank which has an exposure of around Rs 1,650 crore to Winsome has declared the loan as sub-standard and has made about Rs 400 crore provision for it, the bank’s chairman and managing director K R Kamath said while announcing the results.

The consortium of lenders had opened letters of credit (LC) for the purchase of gold. Problem started when the bullion banks, Standard Bank of South Africa, Standard Chartered London, and Scotiabank invoked the LC that the banks have issued for Winsome, after the company failed to pay within 90 days, as agreed at the time of the contract.

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Central Bank Q1 net slides 94% on higher provisions

State-owned lender Central Bank of India  disappointed the street with the first quarter (April-June) net profit plunging 94 percent year-on-year to Rs 22 crore on higher provisions. With this, M V Tanksale, who had joined the bank as on October, 2011; as the chairman and managing director, presented his last quarterly results before he retires by July.

During the quarter, net interest income or the difference between interest earned and paid out, increased 12 percent y-o-y to Rs 1,538 crore . The bank earned a tax refund of Rs 4.62 crore. Without this component, the net profit would have slided 95 percent y-o-y to 17.31 crore. Provisions and contingencies jumped 178.55 percent year-on-year (up 123 percent sequentially) to Rs 983.3 crore during the quarter.

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BunesinessLine News  24.07.2013 >> Click here

Central Bank of India cuts base rate to 10%

Central Bank of India has revised the base rate from existing 10.25% to 10% from July 15.  In view of this revision, the rate of intereston advances linked to base rate will undergo change with effect from July 15.

The interest rate on domestic term deposits for the various buckets has also been revised with effect from July 15. 

After the revision in deposit rate it will range between 6.5 to 9% across various maturities.

Recently Union Bank also reduced the base rate to 10% from 10.25% under all slabs.

Source : Click here

Govt appoints top PSU executives - Mr Rajiv Rishi to Central Bank of India w.e.f 01.08.2013

The government today made three top appointments for public sector financial firms. S K Jain has been appointed as the chairman and managing director of Syndicate Bank, Rajiv Rishi appointed as CMD of Central Bank of India and S B Mainak has been appointed as the MD of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).

SB Mainak, ED-Investments at Life Insurance will take over as the new Managing Director of LIC. Thomas Mathew, who was earlier the Managing Director and then became the interim chairman before SK Roy took over the post, retired last month. Apart from Mainak, LIC has Sushobhan Sarkar as another Managing Director. Mainak will take charge tomorrow. Born in 1956 in Mumbai, Mainak is a Chartered Accounted by qualification. He joined the services of LIC in 1983 as a Direct Recruit under CA batch. He has wide experience in the field of finance, investments and portfolio Management.

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Central Bank of India launches ‘Wonder Card’

The Central Bank of India today rolled out a new debit-cum-credit card, called ‘Wonder Card’, for the benefit of salaried customers in Bihar.

Speaking at a function here after launching the Wonder Card, Central Bank of India Executive Director Malay Mukherjee said the new card will enable a customer to withdraw a fixed amount in excess of his salary to be adjusted against deposit under salary head in the next month.

A Wonder Card holder with a salary of up to Rs 25,000 per month can withdraw an excess amount of Rs 10,000 against his salary amount, while one with Rs 60,000 salary could withdraw Rs 25,000 excess amount, he said, adding, such a card holder with salary of more than Rs 60,000 per month could withdraw up to Rs 60,000.

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At Central Bank, CCTVs to help monitor ‘fishy’ deals too

Central Bank of India has found one more use for the CCTVs in its branches. Besides security, the bank will scan the video recordings for fishy dealings, if any, in the sale of financial products and services.

This move follows an undercover sting operation by online magazine Cobrapost at some of the branches of 30 banks and insurance companies, where officials allegedly offered to convert tax-evaded money into legitimate money.

According to R.K. Goyal, Executive Director, Central Bank of India, “Our bank’s chief security officer will call for video recordings of different branches on sample basis. Almost all our branches have CCTVs (closed circuit TVs).

“After going through the recordings, if the officer finds that something fishy is going on in any of the branches, the matter will be escalated to the top management.

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Central Bank knocks Debts Recovery Tribunal door against DCHL

Central Bank of India has approached the Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in Hyderabad and urged it to recover Rs 50 crore loan it had given to Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd (DCHL) with penal interest.

N Anjaneyulu, the authorised officer of the bank's corporate branch, filed this petition informing the tribunal that the DCHL and its chairman T Venkatram Reddy, vice-chairmen T Vinayak Ravi Reddy and P K Iyer have failed to repay the loan amount despite several reminders. DCHL had availed a working capital loan of Rs 50 crore on September 29, 2011, and its chairman and vice-chairmen stood as personal guarantors for the same and the short term loan was to have been repaid within 364 days, the petitioner said.

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New banks to herald next growth phase for existing ones: Uday Kotak

Uday Kotak

As dozens of banking licence aspirants line up before RBI, eminent bankerUday Kotak has said the entry of new players could herald a new round of growth for the existing players with increased pace of competition for talent as well as customers.

"As I look back at the time when we became a bank in 2003, our private sector peers had a major takeoff in the period post 2003. I hope the potential entry of new banks is a tipping point for our next round of growth," Kotak Mahindra Bank's chief has said. 

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