Banking, Financial and Economic Awareness

1. 3-member advisory panel appointed for DHFL

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has appointed a three-member panel comprising of Rajiv Lall(Non-Executive Chairman of IDFC First Bank), N S Kannan (MD & Chief Executive of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance) and N S Venkatesh (mutual funds’ association AMFI’s Chief Executive) to advise the administrator of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL).
• Due to the governance issues and liquidity crisis leading to defaults by the company, the RBI took over the board of DHFL and appointed R Subramaniakumar, former MD & CEOof Indian Overseas Bank, as the administrator.
• The panel is appointed to advise the administrator before finalizing the resolution plan.

2. First-ever Prosperity & Inclusion City Seal and Awards (PICSA) released

• The first-ever Prosperity & Inclusion City Seal and Awards (PICSA) Index has been released in Bilbao, Basque Country in northern Spain.
• The index is commissioned by Basque institutions and compiled by D&L Partners.
• The index ranks 113 cities across the world based on three pillars of inclusivity- prosperity, social inclusion and spatial inclusion.
• Zurich (Switzerland), Vienna (Austria), and Copenhagen (Denmark) secured the top 3 positions in the index.
• Bangalore (83) is India’s highest-ranked city in the index, followed by Delhi (101) and Mumbai (107).
• The host city of the index, Bilbao, is placed inthe 20^th position.

3. SEBI raised the minimum investment limit in PMS to Rs. 50 lakh

• The minimum investment limit in Portfolio Management Services (PMS) has been raised from Rs. 25 lakh to Rs. 50 lakh by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
• The net worth requirement for PMS has also been increased from Rs. 2 crore to Rs. 5 crore.
• Portfolio Management Services (PMS):
  • These are the services provided by the expert Portfolio managers for investing in stocks, fixed income, structured products, cash and other securities. The managers handle the money on behalf of clients, similar to mutual funds.
  • In this, one owns individual securities rather than units of the fund as in case of mutual fund investment.

4. Muthoot Finance to buy IDBI AML and IDBI MF Trustee Company Ltd

• Muthoot Finance has signed a definitive agreement to take over IDBI Asset Management Limited and IDBI MF Trustee Company Ltd worth Rs 215 crore to enter into the asset management company segment.
• Muthoot Finance:
  • It is known to be the largest gold finance company in the world.
  • Headquarters: Kochi
  • Founder: M George Muthoot