Page 21 - Banking Finance July 2022

ing segment," says Aarti Khanna, its plus advances) at Rs. 71,573 crore in lative preference shares and equity
Founder and CEO Askcred.com. FY22, now has an MD spearheading warrants, directing them to continue
Operations (Arti A Patil) and another in making provisions to the tune of 20%
The increase in limits is even higher
charge of Business (Abhijit V Prabhu). for such exposures.
increase for RCBs. For rural co-opera-
tive banks, the limit has been increased "...In line with the prevailing RBI (Re- The banking regulator came up with
from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 50 lakh for RCBs serve Bank of India) norms, the Bank these rules in the wake of the bankruptcy
with assessed net worth less than Rs approached RBI four months prior to of the corruption-ridden Punjab &
100 crore; and from Rs 30 lakh to Rs the expiry of the (five-year) term of Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC) in
75 lakh for other RCBs. RBI will issue a office of the then MD, for appointment September 2019 and the subsequent
detailed circular separately. of new Managing Director. merger of the cooperative bank with
Unity Small Finance Bank, which came
"Taking into account the increase in "To enable focused attention to as-
into effect from January 25, 2022.
housing prices since the limits were last pects of Business and Operations, a
revised and considering the customer need was felt to appoint two Manag- Earlier, similar directions were issued
needs, it has been decided to increase ing Directors for looking after these after the board of the largest coopera-
the existing limits on individual housing verticals," Saraswat Bank said in its tive bank was superseded by the RBI
loans by cooperative banks," said the annual report. and the subsequent circulars on these
statement from RBI. matters issued on April 20, 2020 and
The appointment of Patil and Prabhu
on January 25, 2022.
as MDs is with effect from April 1,
Saraswat Bank now has 2022. Patil and Prabhu were Chief Gen- "UCBs shall continue to make provi-
eral Managers, heading the Bank's sions on inter-bank exposures arising
two MDs to manage Busi-
Treasury and Retail Banking verticals, from outstanding uninsured deposits,
ness and Operations respectively, prior to their elevation as as under the April 20, 2020 circular
Introducing a new kind of MDs. until the actual allotment of PNCPS
(Perpetual Non-Cumulative Preference
organisational structure in the urban
co-operative banking sector, Saraswat Shares)/equity warrants," the RBI said.
RBI asks UCBs to make
Co-operative Bank has created two It also said the new norms are appli-
higher provisions for inter-
Managing Director (MD) positions fol- cable for all Urban Cooperative Banks
lowing the retirement of Smita bank exposures (UCBs) and are in force with immedi-
Sandhane as MD on March 31, 2022. ate effect.
The Reserve Bank issued fresh provi-
India's biggest urban co-operative bank, sioning norms for urban cooperative The RBI said the new circular has been
which reported about 7 per cent year- banks' inter-bank exposure as well as warranted by the fact that UCBs have
on-year growth in total business (depos- valuation of their perpetual non-cumu- met the conditions already laid out.

Indians' funds in Swiss banks jump 50% to over Rs.30K crore
Funds parked by Indian individuals and firms in Swiss banks, including through India-based branches and other finan-
cial institutions, jumped to a 14-year-high of 3.83 billion Swiss francs (over Rs 30,500 crore) in 2021 on a sharp surge
in holdings via securities and similar instruments while customer deposits rose as well, annual data from Switzerland's
central bank showed. The rise in aggregate funds of Indian clients with Swiss banks, from 2.55 billion Swiss francs (Rs
20,700 crore) at the end of 2020, marks the second consecutive year of increase.

Besides, the money held in Indian customers' savings or deposit accounts rose to a seven-year high of about Rs 4,800
crore, reversing a two-year declining trend. The total amount of CHF 3,831.91 million, described by the SNB as 'total
liabilities' of Swiss banks or 'amounts due to' their Indian clients at the end of 2021, included CHF 602.03 million in
customer deposits (up from CHF 504 million at 2020-end), CHF 1,225 million held via other banks (up from CHF 383
million), and CHF 3 million through fiduciaries or trusts (up from CHF 2 million). The highest component of CHF 2,002
million (up from CHF 1,665 million) was 'other amounts due to customers' in form of bonds, securities and various
other financial instruments.

BANKING FINANCE | JULY | 2022 | 21