PNB offer for nursing staff in Kerala

Punjab National Bank has introduced a special salary package for nursing staff of private hospitals in Kerala. It will be a zero-charge, zero-balance account which can be operated in any of the bank's branches.

Mr K. V. Rajesh, Deputy General Manager and Circle Head, said in a statement that there is a provision for giving one month's salary advance in the form of overdraft for the account holders. RTGS and NEFT transactions are provided free of cost. The bank will provide free STM/Debit card and internet account also. There is a provision for issuance of add-on debit cards in the same account for the use of family members of the account holders.

The bank will also give free SMS alert and mobile banking facilities. The bank also offers interest concessions on car and housing loans in comparison to the general customers.

PNB board to meet on pref allotment to LIC

Punjab National Bank’s board of directors will on February 22 consider issue of equity shares to LIC of India on preferential basis.

PNB to hire 775 management trainees/officers

Punjab National Bank is recruiting management trainees in the junior management grade (JMG) scale I/ probationary officers to fill up about 775 vacancies across the country.

The bank has specified that candidates with a minimum of 60 per cent marks in their graduation and a total weighted standard score of 138 in the common written examination conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) are eligible to apply.

The bank has said that only those candidates who rank sufficiently high in the order of merit shall be called for a Personal interview. The interview will be for 100 marks and the minimum required for qualifying for the interview is 40 marks.

The tentative period of the interview will be between April and May 2012.

The minimum age requirement is 20 years while the maximum is 28 years. Applications have been invited online and are open from January 30. The last date for registeration of online applications is February 12, 2012.

PNB waiting for IRDA nod on Metlife stake

Awaiting regulatory approval for its proposed acquisition of a 30 per cent stake in insurance company Metlife, Punjab National Bank (PNB) has said it will not disclose the rationale behind the move or the financial details until IRDA gives its nod.

“We are waiting regulatory approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) for the deal and unless that comes through, we will not disclose the details and strategy,” said Mr K R Kamath, Chairman and Managing Director, PNB on the sidelines of the 100-year celebrations of the bank’s operations in the eastern region.

Mr Kamath said PNB does not foresee any hurdles in the way of the deal, which was announced five months ago, and would unveil the transaction details after approvals were in place.

If the proposed deal goes through, PNB would become the largest shareholder in the insurance company.

Speaking about overseas expansion, Mr Kamath said the bank is awaiting approval from the Canadian authorities for setting up a subsidiary in that country, besides the regulator’s nod in Oslo, Norway.

“We have applied with Reserve Bank of India for Maldives and after receiving positive feedback from a survey, we will soon move to our regulator to foray into Bangladesh,” he said.

PNB identifies five countries for possible foray

Banking major Punjab National Bank (PNB) is looking to further expand its overseas presence and has identified at least five countries for possible entry in the coming days.

Maldives, Singapore, Brazil, South Africa and Bangladesh are the five countries that the bank has identified for overseas foray, Mr K. R. Kamath, Chairman and Managing Director, PNB, told Business Line here.

“Our board has cleared the bank's entry into Maldives. We are also looking at Singapore and Bangladesh. Surveys have also been done for countries like South Africa and Brazil,” Mr Kamath said.

He also said that the bank would be interested in converting its representative office in Sydney into a branch or a subsidiary. PNB had in September last opened a representative office in Sydney, which was the tenth overseas destination for the bank.

PNB has already received regulatory approval from the Reserve Bank of India for opening a subsidiary in Canada. It is still awaiting the nod of Canadian regulatory authorities for opening a subsidiary in that country.

The bank has subsidiaries in London and Bhutan, besides many branches in Dubai, Hong Kong and Kabul. It also has a joint venture in Nepal.

krsrivats@thehindu.co.in

Ensure rotation of officials in sensitive posts: CVC to banks

Concerned with instances of alleged irregularities in public sector banks, the Central Vigilance Commission has directed them to ensure timely rotation of officials working in sensitive posts to check corruption and avoid “vested interest“.

The anti-corruption watchdog has also told the Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs) of the banks to strictly comply with its orders and to furnish an action taken report in this regard every month.

It said that all CVOs were asked to identify the sensitive posts which were prone to corruption and to ensure that “officials posted on sensitive posts are rotated every two/three years to avoid vested interest“.

The CVC noted that its earlier instructions in this regard were not being strictly followed which is a matter of “serious concern“.

“The Commission would once again emphasise that periodical rotation of officials holding sensitive posts/jobs especially at senior levels need to be ensured,” the Commission said in a recent directive to the CVOs of public sector banks.

“As such, officials should not be retained in the same place/position for unduly long periods in the guise of indispensability etc. by the Management of Public Sector Banks,” it said while directing the banks to “specifically mention the action taken report indicating the number of officials rotated/transferred in the Bank in the monthly report of CVOs to the Commission“.

The move assume significance as the CVC while dealing with a case pertaining to a public sector bank recently noticed that a high ranking official, who was associated with procurements etc, was posted in the department for an unduly long period which is against the spirit of the Commission’s guidelines.

CVC officials said that its directive also stands for central government departments and public sector units.

According to the probity watchdog’s latest monthly report for October 2011, major penalty was recommended against 53 officials of the public sector banks including Syndicate Bank, Canara Bank and Punjab National bank for their alleged involvement in corrupt practices.

PNB launches current account campaign

Punjab National Bank (PNB) has launched a new scheme — PNB Smart Banking Current Account — as part of its improved offering to current account customers.

The bank has decided to run a campaign beginning January 2 till end-March this year to increase awareness of this new scheme, which comes in four variants.

The variants are PNB Silver, PNB Gold, PNB Diamond and PNB Platinum and they are customised to the needs of different customer segments, a release issued by the bank said.

7 PSU banks, LIC, IICL to partner to boost infrastructure projects

India's top seven public sector banks, Life Insurance Corporation of India, and India Infrastructure Company Ltd are planning to join forces to give a fillip to large infrastructure projects.

State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, Bank of India, Union Bank of India and IDBI Bank, the country's largest life insurance company (LIC) and the Government-owned non-banking finance company (IIFCL) are working out the modalities of undertaking joint appraisal and co-financing of infrastructure projects.

This consortium of nine State-owned financial intermediaries will constitute a committee of senior officials to consider the viability of large infrastructure projects (entailing a capital expenditure of Rs 1,000 crore or more).

Pact for financing modalities

A memorandum of understanding to formalise the joint infrastructure project financing arrangement is in the works.

The move to stitch together a grand alliance to put big infrastructure project proposals on the fast track comes at a time when inadequate infrastructure in segments such as roads, ports, airports, railways, power, oil and gas pipelines, irrigation, and water supply and sanitation is proving to be a constraint on growth, say bankers.

“Currently, a project developer or his debt arranger has to go to each bank and financial institution to get his project vetted and get loan sanctioned.

Hence, it takes a long time to achieve financial closure.

This delays commencement of the project.

Single point of contact

“Once this consortium of banks, LIC and IIFCL begins joint operations, project developers can look forward to a single point of contact for loan appraisal and sanction. So, projects can be quick off the blocks,” said a senior executive with a State-owned bank.

The combined balance-sheet strength of the above mentioned entities will ensure that large viable infrastructure projects will be fast-tracked.

Besides interest income, they can also earn a decent fee income.

Currently, the project developer pays fee to debt arrangers for helping tie up funds.

According to the Planning Commission's Draft Approach Paper for the 12th Plan (2012-2017), special attention needs to be paid to the financing needs of private sector investment in infrastructure.

The Paper has assessed that infrastructure investment will need to increase from about eight per cent of gross domestic product in the base year (2011-12) of the Plan to about 10 per cent of GDP in 2016-17.

Investment in infrastructure

The total investment in infrastructure would have to be over $1 trillion (Rs 53 lakh crore at the current exchange rate) during the 12th Plan.

A significant part of the supportive framework to enable manufacturing to expand rapidly in line with both domestic and overseas demand is the rolling out of adequate physical infrastructure support including electric power, railways, roads and ports, the Paper said.

According to the latest Reserve Bank of India data, infrastructure credit accounted for 14.11 per cent (or Rs 5,79,968 crore) of the non-food credit of Rs 41,10,331 crore as on November 18, 2011.

kram@thehindu.co.in

Government to interview executive directors for bank CMD post on January 12

MUMBAI: The appointments committee is slated to interview candidates for the CMD post at government owned banks on January 12. Earlier the interviews were fixed on January 4.

The appointment's committee includes D K Mittal, secretary, department of financial services and deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India Anand Sinha among others.

Ten executive directors of public sector banks will be considered for CMD post at six banks.

These candidates include S.S. Mundra from Union Bank of India, R V Iyer and Rajiv Dubey from Central Bank of India, Ashwini Kumar of Corporation Bank, Archana Bhargava from Canara Bank, V Kannan from Oriental bank of Commerce, Rajeev Rishi from Indian Bank, Rakesh Sethi from Punjab National Bank A K Datt of Dena Bank and Ms Subhalakshmi Panse of Vijaya Bank.

The candidates are being selected to fill vacancies in fiscal year 2012-13 in Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Dena Bank, Allahabad Bank and United Bank of India.

Sources from the industry say that on January 13 the appointments committee will interview 42 general managers for the executive directors post.

Source: EconomicTimes

Sebi cracks down further on IPOs fraud

Capital market regulator Sebi is reviewing the process for initial public offerings (IPOs), its chairman said on Thursday, a day after it banned seven small companies from fund-raising for what it said were IPO rule violations.

We are currently reviewing the entire IPO process, including shortening the timeline for the entire process, U.K. Sinha said.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said on Wednesday a probe revealed a fraud in IPOs, inadequate documentation and due diligence and possible trading violations on the day of listing.

The IPOs were launched between July and November and had raised about 4.5 billion rupees ($84 million).

It also banned the directors of the seven companies from dealing in the securities market and told some of the merchant bankers they would not be able to handle new capital issues until further notice.

We are happy that Sebi has taken such a bold step, which is an unprecedented action, Sageraj Bariya, managing partner of research house Equitorials, wrote in a note. Sebi might be slightly late but it is definitely better than never.

Shares in the companies -- PG Electroplast, Brooks Laboratories, RDB Rasayans, Taksheel Solutions, Tijaria Polypipes, Onelife Capital Advisors and Bharatiya Global Infomedia -- fell 5-17 percent on Thursday in a Mumbai market that was down 1 percent.

Some of the companies could not be reached for comment, while others did not return calls.

Five of the companies have lost 90 percent or more of their value from their peaks, while PG Electroplast is down 70 percent and OneLife Capital has lost about a third.

The companies and merchant bankers have 21 days to respond to the Sebi order.

MERCHANT BANKS UNDER SCANNER

We will be representing our case to the regulator ... within the time that has been specified, Sanjay Dewan, associate director at Almondz Global, told Reuters over the telephone from Delhi.

The merchant banker, along with PNB Investments, the investment banking arm of state-run Punjab National Bank , D&A Financial, Artherstone Capital, Chartered Capital and Onelife Capital Advisors have been barred from taking new assignments, Sebi said.

Officials at PNB Investments and Onelife Capital were not available for comment, while calls to the other merchant bankers were unanswered.

Sebi, over the last 6-9 months, has been highlighting to the merchant banking community that you have to do very serious due diligence, Sinha told the news channel.

We are trying to hold them responsible ... and I hope by this method a pressure will be built on future issuers, he said. ($1 = 53.3 rupees)

Source: Financial Express

SBI, Dena Bank up interest rates for NRE deposits

State Bank of India on Tuesday hiked interest rates on Non-Resident (External) Rupee term deposits by up to 5.74 percentage points.

Following the revision in NRE deposit rates by India's largest bank, other public sector and private sector banks are expected to follow suit.

Beginning January 1, India's largest bank will pay a uniform 9.25 per cent interest on NRE deposits (below Rs 1 crore) of all maturities. It has also increased the highest tenor for NRE term deposits from 5 years to 10 years.

Currently, retail NRE term deposits in the 1 year to less 2 years maturity bucket fetches 3.82 per cent interest; 2 years to less than 3 years (3.51 per cent); 3 years to less than 5 years and 5 years (3.64 per cent each).

In a statement, the bank said no interest is payable if the deposit is withdrawn before one year. In other cases of premature withdrawal, the interest paid will be 0.5 per cent below the rate applicable for the period the deposit has remained with the bank or 0.5 per cent below the contracted rate, whichever is lower.

Dena Bank too hiked the interest rate on NRE term deposits to 9.60 per cent for one year maturity and 9.25 per cent for maturity period ranging from above 1 year and up to 3 years.

The bank said:-

In terms of returns, NRIs will find NRE deposits beneficial. We plan to double our NRI deposit base to Rs 600 crore by March-end 2012,” said Mr SK Jain, General Manager, Dena Bank. He explained that if a NRI opens an NRE deposit at the current rupee-dollar exchange rate of 53 to the dollar (he gets more rupees for his dollar) and one year down the line, say, the domestic currency appreciates to 49 (he pays less rupees to buy dollars for repatriation) then he gains not only in terms of interest but also in terms of favourable currency movement.

On Monday, Punjab National Bank said it will increase the interest rate on NRE term deposit to 9.25 per cent for period ranging from 1 year to 5 Years with effect from January 1.

NRE Rupee deposits accounted for around 48 per cent (or $25 billion) of the total Non-Resident Indian deposits of $52 billion as on October-end 2011.

NRE account can be in the form of savings, current, recurring or fixed deposit accounts. Such accounts can be opened only by the non-resident himself and not through the holder of the power of attorney.

Balances held in the NRE account are freely repatriable. Further, accrued interest income and balances held in NRE accounts are exempt from Income tax and Wealth tax, respectively.

Loans up to Rs 1 crore can be extended against security of funds held in NRE Account either to the depositors or third parties. Such accounts can be operated through power of attorney in favour of residents for the limited purpose of withdrawal of local payments or remittances through normal banking channels to the account holder himself.

Govt to interview 10 EDs for banks CMD post on January 4

MUMBAI: The appointments committee will interview executive directors of ten public sector banks on January 4, 2012 for CMD post in six banks.

The ten candidates called for the interview include S.S. Mundra from Union Bank of India, R V Iyer and Rajiv Dubey from Central Bank of India, Ashwini Kumar of Corporation Bank, Archana Bhargava from Canara Bank, V Kannan from Oriental bank of Commerce, Ravi Chatterjee from Syndicate Bank, Rajeev Rishi from Indian Bank, Ashwani Kumar from Corporation Bank and Rakesh Sethi from Punjab National Bank.

The candidates are being selected to fill vacancies in fiscal year 2012-13 in Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Dena Bank, Allahabad Bank and United bank of India.

Meanwhile, the government has yet to issue notification for the post of executive director in bank like Indian Overseas Bank and Andhra Bank, Even as the candidates names have been cleared.

Source: EconomicTimes

Punjab National Bank raises NRE deposit rates to 9.25 per cent

MUMBAI: The second largest public sector lender Punjab National Bank today increased the interest rates on NRE term deposits ranging one to five year period to 9.25 percent. The rates will be effective from January 1, the bank said in a filing to the BSE.

Last week, many other banks HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, Federal Bank, Allahabad Bank and Dhanlaxmi Bank among others had steeply increased the interest rates on select maturities of NRE deposits.

HDFC Bank increased the interest rates on NRE deposits of Rs one crore and above with a maturity of one to two year to nine percent against 3.82 percent earlier. It has, however, left the NRO deposit rates unchanged.

The state-run Allahabad Bank has also raised its NRE deposits up to 7.5 percent. The Kolkata-based bank will now offer 7.5 percent for one to two years tenor (against 3.82 percent earlier), 7 percent on deposits of two to three years (from 3.51 percent), and 6.75 percent for those above three years (from 3.64 percent).

Also, the Kochi-based Federal Bank and Laxmivilas Bank have also increased its interest rates on NRE deposits for various slabs in order to attract non-resident deposits. Another private sector lender IndusInd Bank also increased pricing 9.25 percent among the state-run banks Dena Bank offers the highest pricing at 9.6 percent. Similarly, Yes Bank came out with a 15 month-and-15 days to 16-month NRE deposit offer, promising depositors 9.60 percent interest.

Source: EconomicTimes

PNB appointed lead bank for Pathankot and Fazilka

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank assigned to state sector lender Punjab National Bank the responsibility of being the lead bank in newly created districts of Pathankot and Fazilka in Punjab.

"It has been decided to assign the lead bank responsibility of the two new districts viz Pathankot and Fazilka to Punjab National Bank," the Reserve Bank of India said in a statement.

The two new districts were created by the Punjab government in July this year.

While Pathankot was carved out of the Gurdaspur district, Fazilka has been carved out from the Ferozepur district.

"The lead bank responsibility of existing Gurdaspur district and Ferozepur district will continue to be with Punjab National Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce, respectively," the RBI added.

Source: EconomicTimes

PNB installs Cash Deposit Machine in Ernakulam

To help customers speed up their transactions without waiting in the queue, Punjab National Bank has installed the first Cash Deposit Machine in Kerala at its Market Road Branch in Ernakulam district. Mr K.V. Rajesh, the Bank Circle Head, said the machine would accept currency notes in three denominations — Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, and customers can make up to two deposits through the machine in a day. The customer's account will be credited instantly and a receipt will be issued.

This is a customer-friendly machine and can be handled easily by the customers, he said. The Cash Deposit Machine would check the authenticity of the currency notes deposited before accepting the machine. The bank also launched a gift scheme for its ATM/Debit card holders. There are two types of gift schemes — one through manual response of the card users and automatic rewards for those who use the cards for shopping, utility bill payments and booking of various types of tickets.

Government clears creation of new ED slot in public sector banks

KOLKATA: Large state-run lenders like Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank will get a third executive director (ED) on their board from next April, while smaller banks like Dena or United Bank will get their second ED.

The government has just cleared the Khandelwal Committee's recommendation to this end, two chief executives at state-run banks said. Banks with more than Rs 3 lakh crore business are considered as large entities.

The government has created the new slot in six large banks and said the third executive directors will be responsible for human resource development and technology.

Bank of India, Canara Bank, Central Bank of India and Union Bank of India are dubbed as large banks and will benefit from this move. This is in step with the director-HR position that exists in public sector undertakings like ONGC, Indian Oil, HPCL or BPCL.

"Creation of the ED position for HRD is an important step in the banking industry as this will help in bringing human resource development under board's direct attention," said AK Khandelwal, who headed the HR reform panel and submitted a series of recommendations in June 2010.

The government has also created a second executive director's position in five small banks having a business of less than Rs 1.5 lakh crore. Bank of Maharashtra, Dena Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, United Bank of India and Vijaya Bank fall in this category and their second ED will also be responsible for HRD and technology. All these banks have one ED at their top deck at present.

Source: EconomicTimes

PNB sponsors Vocational Rehabilitation Centre

As part of its CSR activities, Punjab National Bank has sponsored the Vocational Rehabilitation Centre at the Ernakulam General Hospital.

The District Collector, Mr Sheik Pareeth, inaugurated the centre at a function held at the General Hospital Conference Hall. The centre aims to help those patients who have undergone limb replacement and allied treatment at the General Hospital to earn their livelihood without depending on others. The bank will supply raw materials to the centre for the manufacture of soaps, soap solution, phenyl and paper files . Special hands-on training for manufacturing the items will be given to the patients.

Speaking on the occasion, the District Collector lauded the initiative of the bank and assured all support from the district administration in this regard. This will definitely help uplift the economically and socially backward segment of the society, he said.

The bank's Circle Head, Mr K. V. Rajesh, said the bank will also sponsor the day's food for the inmates of the hospital. The bank has also installed two big clocks at the hospital for the benefit of the public. The bank had earlier supplied medicines to the cancer patients of Ernakulam General Hospital.

Explaining the various CSR activities undertaken by the bank , he pointed out that the bank, as part of 117{+t}{+h} year, has adopted 117 villages in the country, which includes the Chennam Pallipuram village of Alappuzha district. The bank has distributed tricycles to the disabled, wheel chairs, drip stands, autoclave electrical, walkers, television set and water cooler to the beneficiaries of the Palliative Care Centre and Cancer Care Centre of the village.

The bank also caters to the various needs of the inmates of ‘Sai Niketan Orphanage,' Ernakulam, and the ‘Home for Disabled Women' at Thevara every month. It had earmarked Rs 60 crore every year for CSR activities, he added.

The bank has been adjudged ‘CSR Bank 2011' by the Government of India.

PNB's total business set to cross Rs 6 lakh cr by this year

The total business of Punjab National Bank (PNB) is set to cross Rs 6 lakh crore in the third quarter ending December 31, 2011.

The bank had reached a total business of Rs 5.90 lakh crore at the end of the second quarter, showing a year-on-year growth of 22.5 per cent. The deposits grew by 25 per cent to Rs 3.41 lakh crore and the advances by 19.3 per cent to Rs 2.49 lakh crore.

The bank's deposits are expected to grow by 21-22 per cent and credit by 19-20 per cent, year-on-year, by the end of the current financial year and this will be around two per cent more than the average industry growth rate, according to Mr K.R. Kamath, Chairman and Managing Director.

Saving fund campaign

He said here on Monday that the bank was awaiting regulatory approvals for acquiring 30 per cent stake in MetLife India Ltd. It had already entered into a corporate agency arrangement with the life insurance major and started selling policies through its branches.

Mr Kamath said that the bank had launched a ‘saving fund campaign' from August 1 to September 30 this year and opened 20.60 lakh saving fund accounts during the period. It had also unveiled a ‘special agriculture credit campaign' from October 15 to November 30 to boost direct agriculture advances.

Biz growth in Kerala

The bank's total business in Kerala grew by around 30 per cent, year-on-year, to cross Rs 7,000 crore as on December 2. The deposits recorded a growth of 36 per cent to Rs 3,600 crore, while the advances grew by more than 24 per cent to Rs 3,400 crore. The credit-deposit ratio of the bank in the State stood at 91.25 per cent.

PNB is opening a new branch in the Kozhikode circle on Tuesday, taking the total number of branches in the circle to 81 and in the State to 141. As part of the saving fund campaign, a total of 40,604 accounts were also opened in the State during the August-September period.

Under the financial inclusion programme, the bank has been allotted eight villages in Kerala, out which all the six villages in Kozhikode circle have achieved the goal.

vinoottan@thehindu.co.in

PNB's total business in Kerala crosses Rs 7000 crore

The total business of Punjab National Bank in Kerala has crossed Rs 7000 crore, registering a y-o-y growth of around 30 per cent as on December 2, 2011, a top official of the bank said today.

Talking to reporters here, K R Kamath, Chairman and Managing Director, Punjab National Bank, said the deposits crossed Rs 3600 crore, registering a y-oy growth of around 36 per cent while advances touched Rs 3400 crore, registering a y-o-y growth of over 24 per cent. CD ratio in the state stood at 91.25 per cent as on December 2, 2011.

Fourteen more new branches will be opened before next December in the state, he said, adding three branches will be in Kozhikode circle and the rest in Ernakulam circle.

Kozhikode circle of the bank comprises six districts including Kozhikode, Wayanadu, Palakkad, malappuram, Kasargod and Kannur. The cirlce has 81 branches out of which six branches are rural, 59 semi-urban and 16 urban branches, he said.

Source: EconomicTimes

Bank branch for ‘Gen Next'

Punjab National Bank appears to be going all out to woo young customers. It has launched a ‘Gen Next' branch in Lucknow. This branch will be equipped with WiFi services, cafeteria, book corner as well as several gadgets.

The branch will have an ATM, a pass book printing machine and a cheque and cash deposit machine. It will have a scanner facility for customers who wish to submit their loan application online. The bank plans to establish five such branches throughout the country over the next year.