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COVER
STORY
Future
of ABN Amro
-- Raghupathi Karanamu
The
proposed merger of ABN Amro with Barclays seems to be having
too many complications to be completed easily and soon. This
article explores the proposed deal between Barclays and ABN
Amro. It then highlights a few developments that seem to have
a bearing on the direction of the outcome of the proposed
merger.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
REGULATION
Financial
System Stability : Asian Perspectives
-- Katuri Nageswara Rao
Majority of the Asian nations face the challenges of rising
international interest rates and the global turnaround in
the credit cycle, risks from rising oil prices and increasing
inflationary pressures and risks from global financial imbalances
while managing financial stability. While Singapore follows
a successful forex reserve management model through a diversified
portfolio, China wishes to invest partly in high-yielding
assets, from its surging forex reserves.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
REGULATION
Cross-border
Supervision : The Genesis and Basel II
-- S K KAR
As
per Core Principle for Effective Banking Supervision (No.
25) issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS)
on home-host relationships, cross-border consolidated supervision
requires cooperation and information exchange between home
supervisors and the various other supervisors involved, primarily
host banking supervisors. Banking supervisors must require
the local operations of foreign banks to be conducted under
the same standards as those required of domestic institutions.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
STRATEGY
Inflation
: An Opportunity and Challenge for Indian Banking
-- S N Ghosal
With the rising level of inflation and the consecutive
rise in the interest rate there is excessive money supply.
To channelize this money supply there have to be strategies
like enhancing capital formation in the agriculture sector
and expanding micro credit. Banks can device innovative financial
instruments with tax shelters to garner the invertibral funds
of the rich.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
STRATEGY
Looking
beyond deposits : The Bank CEOs' Vision 2020?
-- T N Rama Kumar
The
intermediation role of commercial banks is in for a radical
change. There could be less dependence on loans as securitization
provides for sale of loans. Likewise, hybrid capital instruments,
long-term and short-term deposits from overseas and ECB funds
could make deposits less important.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
STRATEGY
Pricing
of Banking Products in a Changing Economic Scenario
-- B K Swain
Pricing of products and services is a key variable in
customer retention as well as customer attraction. It is a
major challenge for banks on how to infuse the concept of
`addition to shareholder value' and it is to be embedded in
the cost of their products and services offered.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
PRODUCTS
Tapping
Full Potential of SMEs
-- P Radhakrishnan
The
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector is poised to absorb
substantial bank credit in the future. But there are certain
challenges like absence of credit information systems, inadequacy
of the collateral, higher cost of follow-up, etc. Banks should
consider channel financing as a viable option.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
PRODUCTS
Reverse
Mortgage : A Novel Financial Product for Senior Citizens
-- Rajendra Singh
Reverse Mortgage is a novel product that suits senior
citizens as they can avail themselves of a monthly income
against the mortgage of their house while remaining the owner
and the occupant. If a borrower survives beyond 15 years,
he will stop getting monthly payments, but will continue to
live in the house till he dies.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
SCENARIO
Alternative
Banking : The Emerging Trend
-- Vikas Shrotriya
A bank is a storehouse of money. Traditional banking needs
the customer to be physically present at the bank for various
banking operations. With the changes taking place in society,
economy and technology, it is becoming more and more difficult
for the customers to be physically present at the bank for
various banking operations during the normal banking hours.
This has given way to alternative banking. It peculiarly implies
banking through physical absenteeism. Alternative banking
has many advantages over the traditional banking. This article
discusses some aspects of alternative banking.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
MICROFINANCE
Financial
Inclusion : The Practical Aspects
-- T V Balakrishnan
Financial inclusion is a highly desirable goal in the
Indian context. Banks need to strengthen infrastructure to
effectively reach out to the poor. They have to create an
awareness among the poor and then take action with the consent
of other agencies.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
CASE
STUDY
ATM
- A User-friendly Mechanism or Not : A Survey
-- S Banumathy, S Karpagam
The
most visible and perhaps the most revolutionary element of
the virtual banking revolution is the cash machine or the
Automated Teller Machine (ATM). The introduction of ATM service
has come to change the entire gamut of the way the banking
and financial services are operated in the world. ATMs are
known for their speed and convenience giving 24-hour access
to bank customers to operate their bank account in the physical
environment with the help of machines. They have given an
edge to the banks and financial institutions in efficiently
carrying out their operations. They provide the advantage
of accessing the account of the customers anytime anywhere.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
BOOK
REVIEW
Retail
Lending, Credit Monitoring, Documentation & Recovery Management
: Concept & Practice
-- Author: D D Mukherjee Reviewed by Dilip Dasgupta
Due
to extended periods of liquidity overhanging prevailing up
till now, retail bankers have been chasing lending targets.
Gone are the days when borrowers used to chase bankers. Now,
with several sharply chiseled retail lending schemes, with
several credit providers and multiple platforms to promote
such schemes, borrowers never had it so good. However, boom
periods are always followed by a period of downturn in the
relative levels of economic activities and it is then that
the weaknesses in the sanction, credit monitoring, documentation,
etc., come to the fore. Those banks, which have put in sound
systems in place in the above areas and observe robust recovery
management practices, have less problems when compared to
other lenders. This book provides the much-needed guidance
and practical insights into these processes and fills up an
existing void.
© 2007 IUP . All Rights Reserved
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