Banking Awareness of 27, 28 and 29 December 2021

Topic: Appointments

1. Atul Kumar appointed as new MD & CEO of Punjab National Bank.

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Atul Kumar Goel as MD & CEO of Punjab National Bank (PNB).
• He will serve as PNB chief until December 31, 2024. He will serve as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in PNB.
• He will replace Mallikarjuna Rao. He was given a three-month extension that will end on January 31, 2022.
• Banks Board Bureau (BBB) has recommended the name of Atul Kumar Goel as MD & CEO of Punjab National Bank (PNB).
• Soma Sankara Prasad is appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in UCO Bank.
• He will serve as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in UCO Bank till May 31, 2023.

Topic: Banking System

2. Department of e-Governance, Government of Karnataka partners with NPCI and SBI.

• Department of e-Governance, Government of Karnataka has partnered with NPCI and State Bank of India (SBI) for enabling and implementing e-RUPI for students.
• e-RUPI is a cashless and contactless payment solution. It will be used to make sure a leak-proof delivery of education fees of eligible students.
• E-vouchers will be delivered to the mobiles of eligible students. The voucher codes can be received on the feature phone also.
• Students can redeem e-RUPI voucher at the identified colleges/institutes for fees payment.

Topic: RBI

3. Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2020-21 released by RBI.

• Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2020-21 has been released by RBI.
• In the report, the performance of banking sector including co-operative banks, and non-banking financial institutions during 2020-21 and 2021-22 is provided.
• The report says during 2020-21, the consolidated balance sheet of scheduled commercial banks expanded in size.
• As per the report, deposits grew by 10.1% at end-September 2021 as compared with 11.0% a year ago.
• The report shows strengthening of capital to risk weighted assets (CRAR) ratio of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) from 14.8% at end-March 2020 to 16.3% at end-March 2021 and further to 16.6% at end-September 2021.
• As per the report, gross non-performing assets (GNPA) ratio of SCBs declined from 8.2% at end-March 2020 to 7.3% at end-March 2021 and further to 6.9% at end-September 2021.
• According to the report, return on assets (RoA) of SCBs improved from 0.2% at end-March 2020 to 0.7% at end-March 2021.
• The asset quality of banks may deteriorate in future as incipient stress remains in the form of increased proportion of restructured advances (RSA).
• Within banks’ standard assets, the share of RSA has increased from 0.8% as of end-March 2021 to 1.8% of end September 2021.
• Special mention accounts-2 (SMA-2) ratio has risen across bank groups. In SMA-2, principal or interest payment is overdue for 61-90 days.
• As per the report, the amount involved in frauds in various banking operations based on the date of occurrence declined to ₹1,38,422 crore in FY21 against ₹1,85,468 crore in FY20.
• The number of cases of fraud also declined to 7,363 in FY21 against 8,703 in FY20.

Topic: RBI

4. RBI’s directions for PMC Bank extended till March 2022.

• RBI has extended the validity of its directions for Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank from January 1, 2022 to March 31, 2022.
• RBI said that action about the sanction of amalgamation of PMC Bank with Unity Small Finance Bank Ltd. (USFB) is in process.
• The draft scheme for the amalgamation of the bank was issued by RBI on November 22, 2021. RBI invited suggestions and objections on the scheme till December 10, 2021.
• PMC Bank is under RBI directions with effect from the close of business on September 23, 2019.

Topic: Banking System

5. IndusInd bank launches ‘green fixed deposits’.

• The launch of ‘green fixed deposits’ has been announced by IndusInd Bank.
• Under green fixed deposits, deposit proceeds will be used to finance projects and firms supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Green fixed deposits will be offered to both retail and corporate customers.
• IndusInd Bank and NPCI have partnered to offer real-time cross-border remittances to India using UPI IDs.
• IndusInd Bank has become the first Indian bank to go live on UPI for Cross Border Payments/NRI Remittances.
• Under the partnership, the bank’s Money Transfer Operator (MTO) partners will use IndusInd Bank channel to connect with NPCI’s UPI payment systems for validation and cross-border payment settlement into beneficiary accounts.

Topic: Regulatory Bodies/Financial Institutions

6. SEBI tightens norms for winding up Mutual Fund (MF) schemes.

• Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has tightened norms for winding up Mutual Fund (MF) schemes.
• Mutual Funds will not be able to wind up schemes unless the unitholders give their consent through a voting process.
• MF trustees will have to obtain consent for winding-up by a simple majority of the unitholders present and voting on the basis of one vote per unit.
• MF trustees will have to publish the voting results within 45 days of the publication of notice of circumstances leading to the winding up.
• SEBI has also imposed a cap on the number of shares that the pre-IPO investors can sell in an issue.
• SEBI has also lowered the time period for filing settlement applications by entities to 60 days from the date of receiving show-cause notice.
• The time period for submission of revised settlement terms form, after the Internal Committee (IC), will be rationalised to 15 days.
• SEBI has said that the appointment and reappointment of directors who fail to get elected once can now happen only with the approval of shareholders.

Topic: Taxation

7. India imposed anti-dumping duty on five Chinese products.

• India has imposed anti-dumping duty on five Chinese products for five years.
• India imposed an anti-dumping duty to protect local manufacturers from cheap imports.
• The duty has been imposed on products of aluminum, Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) component R-32, silicone sealant, sodium hydrosulfite, and hydrofluorocarbon mixtures.
• According to the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), products have been exported to the Indian markets at below normal value.
• CBIC has also imposed a duty on a vehicle component – axle for trailers to protect domestic manufacturers from cheap imports.
• India has also imposed a duty on imports of calcined gypsum powder from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Iran for five years.
• Finance Ministry has also imposed anti-dumping duty on imports of décor paper from China.

Topic: Indian Economy/Financial Market

8. Consumer Protection (Direct Selling) Rules, 2021 notified by centre.

• Consumer Protection (Direct Selling) Rules, 2021 has been notified by centre.
• These Rules shall be applicable to all goods and services brought or sold through direct selling and all models of direct selling.
• These Rules shall also be applicable to all direct selling entities offering goods and services to consumers in India and all forms of unfair trade practices across all models of direct selling.
• Furthermore, the notified rules shall apply to a direct selling entity that is not established in India but offers goods or services to consumers in India.
• Existing direct selling entities must comply with these rules within ninety days from the date of publication of these rules in the Official Gazette.
• The direct sellers and direct selling entities using e-commerce platforms for sale shall comply with requirements of the Consumer Protection (e-Commerce) Rules, 2020.
• Both direct selling entity, as well as direct sellers, are prohibited from promoting Pyramid Scheme or money circulation scheme.
• State Government must set up a mechanism to monitor or supervise the activities of direct sellers and direct selling entities.

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