Wall Street Fin inducts Sudip on Board

MUMBAI: Wall Street Finance today announced its un-audited financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2008. The performance highlights are:

 

• Operational Review for the Quarter ended September 30, 2008

 

• Total income of Rs. 929.45 lakhs, against Rs. 713.78 lakhs in the corresponding period, an increase of  30.22 per cent

 

• Net profit of Rs. 24.67 lakhs, against Rs. 9.73 lakhs in the corresponding period, an increase of 153.55 per cent

 

The Company also inducted Mr. Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Director & CEO, Reliance Money,Mr. S. P. Talwar, Retired Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India and Mr. Rajnikant Patel,Ex-Executive Director & CEO, Bombay Stock Exchange on its Board.

 

“We are very pleased with this strategic tie-up with Reliance Money Express.  We strongly believe that this tie-up will help us build on synergies and propel our recently launched Investment Services further,” said Mr. Areef Patel, Vice Chairman, Wall Street Finance Ltd.

 

“I am pleased to join the Wall Street Finance Board.  We are confident that this association will capitalise on the strength of both Reliance Money Express and Wall Street Finance, paving the way for a new chapter in the financial services sector in the country,” said Mr. Bandyopadhyay, newly inducted Director of Wall Street Finance.

 

Wall Street Finance Ltd. (WSFL) was set-up in 1986 as a Public Limited Company and is today a leader in Foreign Exchange and Money Remittance services in the country. The Company has a market capitalisation of approximately Rs. 40 crore and a 3-year dividend track record.  It is the only deposit-taking NBFC (D) that also has an Authorised Dealer-II licence. This prestigious licence has been issued to the Company based on its 15-year-old track record in the field of foreign exchange as well as strict compliance policies adopted by the Company. This has now opened a large market for the Company, in the field of foreign exchange, which was earlier restricted to banks. The Company is now able to offer Outward Remittance Services for a wide range of activities. To capitalise on the huge opportunity in both Inward and Outward Remittance, WSFL is expanding its network by opening more branches across the country. 

 

The Company is one of the principal agents of Western Union Money Transfer and operates over 3500 locations for Money Transfer.  It has now got into Investment Services as a distributor of various Wealth Management Products of Reliance ADAG.

CII for interest rate cut

NEW DELHI: A day after the RBI announced its Mid Term Review of the Monetary Policy, CII has come out with a set of recommendations aimed at bringing the focus back on growth.
 
Mr Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, commenting on the current situation in the economy, said that there are five symptomatic issues, which are the crux of the problem facing Indian economy today. These are: (1) Inadequate liquidity, (2) High cost of capital, (3) Non- availability of credit, (4) Instability in foreign exchange markets and (5) Low levels of confidence. All these five are interlinked. We are already seeing the impact of these on the manufacturing sector and soon we are likely to see its impact on other sectors too, particularly in the services sector.
 
The CII release went on to say that in the last two weeks in a display of great agility and responsiveness the Government and the RBI have brought in a number of measures to infuse greater liquidity into the system, cut repo rate and checked the slipping rupee. All of these were in CII’s suggestions to bolster the economy and are very welcome initiatives. However, to bring the focus back on growth and instill the lost confidence in the economic system, CII has come out with a set of 11 suggestions, in the broad areas of liquidity and interest rates; foreign exchange management; credit flow and impetus to growth; and communication aimed at building confidence.
 
The CII recommendations:
 
In the area of Domestic liquidity and interest rates, it is necessary to further reduce repo rate by at least 50 bps and in CRR by 150 bps to ensure adequate liquidity and reasonable cost of funding. In addition, there is requirement for provisioning of liquidity to Mutual Fund and NBFC sectors, to enable orderly operation of financial markets. This is very important in view of the redemption pressure created risk that may be faced, particularly by the Mutual Fund sector, said the release. In addition, CII has also asked for the government to guarantee all bank deposits for a two-year period, to maintain depositor confidence in the banking sector.
 
Expressing deep concern about the steadily depreciating Rupee against the US Dollar, CII has made four specific suggestions, which include focused exchange rate management to prevent volatility without reducing rupee liquidity; relaxation of FDI norms to attract foreign capital; utilization of foreign exchange reserves for meeting critical foreign currency needs; and removal of the cap on NRE and FCNR(B) deposits.
 
The key problem that industry is facing today is the drying up of credit in the system, said the release, and for this purpose, CII has suggested a special corpus for lending to SMEs; in addition to speedy release of government funds for various projects to ensure timely implementation and generation of economic activity; and fast tracking of all infrastructure projects to spur investments and growth through inter-sectoral linkages.
 
Even while the fundamentals of the economy are strong at the present moment, the mood in industry and markets have swung downwards owing to a huge deficiency in confidence. Therefore, CII has particularly stressed on the need for building confidence in the system, through a joint effort of the Government, the RBI and Industry.

RBI inflation target: 5%

 

MUMBAI: The reserve Bank of India has not made any change in the repo rate.

In his mid-year review of the Bank’s annual policy, Governor D. Subbarao said RBI’s endeavour would be to bring down the inflation to a “tolerable” 5%.

 

Highlights of the review:

• Bank Rate, Repo Rate and Reverse Repo Rate kept unchanged.

• The flexibility to conduct overnight repo or longer term repo including the right to accept or reject tender(s) under the LAF, wholly or partially, is retained.

• CRR kept unchanged at 6.5 per cent.

• GDP growth forecast for 2008-09 revised to a range of 7.5-8.0 per cent.

• Keeping in view the supply management measures taken by the Government and the lagged demand response to the monetary policy measures taken by the Reserve Bank, it has been decided to maintain the earlier projection of inflation of 7.0 per cent by end-March 2009 for policy purposes.

• It will be the Reserve Bank’s endeavour to bring down inflation to a tolerable level of below 5 per cent at the earliest, while aiming for convergence with the global average inflation of around 3.0 per cent over the medium-term.

• It is necessary to moderate the rate of money supply to 17 per cent in 2008-09.

• Based on the above overall assessment of the macroeconomic situation, the stance of monetary policy for the rest of 2008-09 will be as follows:

·     Ensure a monetary and interest rate environment that optimally balances the objectives of financial stability, price stability and well-anchored inflation expectations, and growth;

·     Continue with the policy of active demand management of liquidity through appropriate use of all instruments including the CRR, open market operations (OMO), the MSS and the LAF to maintain orderly conditions in financial markets;

·     In the context of the uncertain and unsettled global situation and its indirect impact on the domestic economy in general and the financial markets in particular, closely and continuously monitor the situation and respond swiftly and effectively to developments, employing both conventional and unconventional measures;

·     Emphasise credit quality and credit delivery, in particular, for employment-intensive sectors, while pursuing financial inclusion.

For details: http://rbi.org.in/scripts/Annualpolicy.aspx

 

EMI facility on fuel bills for aviation industry

No more sackings by airlines!

NEW DELHI: In view of the financial crisis being faced by the Indian airlines industry, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Praful Patel today met the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Shri Murli Deora. Senior officials of Ministry of Civil Aviation, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the oil PSUs and representatives of the airlines industry were also present.

It was decided at the meeting that:

• A 90 days credit period will be given by the oil companies to the airline companies up to 31 March, 2009 following which the situation will be reviewed to pay their credit.

• The airlines industry can pay their present cumulative outstanding credit in 6 monthly installments by 31 March, 2009.

• The ATF prices will be revised every 15 days to be at par with the world market prices. This is in view of the fluctuation prices of crude oil in the international market.

In view of the support extended to the airline industry by the Government and the oil PSUs, the airlines were asked to refrain from any retrenchment of staff. At the meeting it was also clarified that the national carrier Air India was not laying of any employee. The CMD, NACIL assured that the company had no plan of retrenchment of any of their employees.

The Indian airline industry representatives have expressed their satisfaction to the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Minister for Civil Aviation for their initiative in providing relief to the sector.

India will emerger stronger: PM

 

TOKYO: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today said that India would emerge stronger from the current “great turbulence in the world economy”.

 

“The short-term outlook is somewhat cloudy but I am confident that the Indian economy has the resilience to sustain its growth momentum in the medium run. We hope to build on India’s many inherent strengths as an emerging market economy that is now ready for rapid and sustained growth,” he said addressing the Business Luncheon hosted by Nippon Keidanren in Tokyo today.

 

“Over the past four years, we have averaged 9% GDP growth per year.  It looks like  slowing down in the current year because of conditions in the global economy. But, once normalcy returns, we can and we are determined to regain the 9% growth trajectory.  We have a tradition of a high rate of domestic savings averaging 35% of our GDP. This is like most Asian countries, and we also have a strong and a dynamic private sector,” he said. 

 

Speaking on “India-Japan Economic Relations  in the 21st Century”, the Prime Minister said: “We meet at a time of great turbulence in the world economy. The international financial crisis, which still continues, has revealed the extra-ordinary vulnerability of the global financial system even in the industrialized world. The crisis has choked credit flows and predictably spilled over to the stock market. We have to prevent the liquidity crisis from becoming a crisis of confidence in the international monetary and financial system.” 

 

He pointed out that the Governments and central banks of the major economies have taken strong and even innovative steps to deal with the crisis. The global nature of the crisis calls for a coordinated global response. Developing countries like India are also affected by the crisis and have to be part of the solution. “We cannot afford to risk the gains we have made in the last few years. Nor do we wish to remain vulnerable to infirmities in international surveillance, supervision and regulatory mechanisms in the future,” he said.  

 

The government has taken several measures in India in the last few weeks to ensure adequate liquidity and confidence in our financial system. The fundamentals of Indian economy have been and continue to be strong.  The country’s banking system is well capitalized. “But, we have experienced a shrinking of liquidity and we are responding by injecting additional liquidity to ensure that the rhythm of economic activity is not disrupted. The Reserve Bank of India stands ready to respond quickly to address the emerging needs of our economy,” Dr Singh said.

Rs 20 lakh cr to go into infrastructure in India

  
CHENNAI: Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways,T.R. Baalu has said that the Union Government is committed to improve the infrastructure of the country to meet the growing needs of the economy.

Presiding over the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ennore Port Ltd and Nissan Motor (India) Pvt Ltd for export of Cars through Ennore Port in Chennai today, Mr Baalu said that the country’s economy is poised to take a great leap and to give the economy a big boost, Government has planned to give an impetus to infrastructure development.

He said that over Rs. 20,00,000 crore (20 lakh crore) would be invested during the five years of 11th five year plan for the infrastructure development out of a total investment of over Rs. 36,00,000 crore (36 lakh crore) which is 56.4% of the total investment.

Thiru Baalu said that the Department of Shipping has launched the National Maritime Development Policy (NMDP), which has put the port sector in India in an overdrive mode during the past 4 years. He said that the capacity of major ports stood at 384.5 million tonnes in March 2004 and it has leaped forward to 532 million tonnes as on March 2008, representing a 36% growth in capacity in the last four years. Likewise, the traffic through the major ports went up from 344.79 million tonnes in 2003-04 to 519.23 million tonnes in 2007-08, registering an impressive growth of 51%, the Minister added.

He informed that the NMDP comprises of 387 projects involving a total investment of Rs.1,00,339 crores (approximately US $ 21 billion). Out of this, Rs.55,804 crores (approximately US $ 12 billion) is for the Port sector and the balance Rs.44,535 crores (approximately US $ 9 billion) is for the Shipping and Inland Waterway Transport sectors with the target of completion by 2011-12. Thiru Baalu said that Tamil Nadu’s Gross State Domestic Product (GDP) for 2007 is estimated at Rs.2,75,000 crore which comes to 9.50% per year and which is in line with the national growth of 9.08%. He said that keeping in view the pace of development in the State in last few years, as also the glorious maritime history, a total of Rs.13,284 crores has been allocated by the Department of Shipping, Government of India to Tamil Nadu for the development of the three major ports, namely, Ennore, Chennai and Tuticorin. This translates to around 23.80% of the total NMDP investments. Of this, Ennore Port’s share at Rs.6,466 crores alone is nearly half of that for Tamil Nadu at 11.59% of the NMPD allocation for the 12 Major Ports.

Commending the performance of the Ennore Port, which is the first corporate port of the country, the Minister said that though youngest, the Port has embarked on the ambitious programme under Phase-I of the NMDP to develop various projects at an estimated cost of Rs.2,700 crore. The total investment by private partners through the BOT projects is around Rs.1100 crore and apart from this, the Ennore Port is investing Rs.300 crore in connectivity and harbour deepening projects, the Minister informed.

He also commended the Ennore Port for taking up the major initiative to facilitate export of Cars in pursuit of which, the EPL and Nissan Motor (India) have signed an MOU today. He hoped that the project would be completed on time and the export of cars would commence immediately after commissioning of the Nissan’s upcoming Car Plant at Oragadam, near Chennai.

Thiru Baalu added that Ennore Port along with Chennai Port would be a catalyst in making Chennai the Detroit of Asia by facilitating seamless exports and imports, and it would be the Engine of industrial and economic development of not only Tamil Nadu but also its hinterland in the other Southern States. (PIB)

Indian posts go gold!

Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology A. Raja (centre)

NEW DELHI:Your hunt for gold may end here! Indian Post Offices have started selling 24 carat gold coins from today.

The sale will be available in over 100 India Post outlets in Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat in the pilot phase. The gold coins are in the popular denomination of half gram, one gram, 5 grams and 8 grams. The prices of these coins will be competitive based on the prevailing prices of gold.

Launching the service in Delhi, Communications and IT Minister A. Raja directed the Department of Post to take the gold coins to rural post offices so that the benefit goes to the common man. He announced that the sale will gradually extend based on public response. He said, during Phase-II of the project, Post Offices will be selling gold coins with India Post logo.

India Post has launched this pioneering venture in association with World Gold Council and Reliance Money. World Gold Council will help market the Swiss Medallions supplied by Reliance Money, making it available to Indian consumers through Post offices in a convenient and cost effective manner. The gold coins will be packed in a sealed cover with the certification from Valcambi, Switzerland. It has the benefits like internationally recognized certification, low risk of duplication, quality packaging, product standardization, numbering and assayer certificate.

Mr Raja observed that the Post office, known for its trust and reliability, will serve as an ideal location for the people to buy quality gold coins. He said, India Post will continue to maximize the network, by making the post office a one stop shop for communication, distribution and retail solutions. Mr. Raja said, the time has come for India Post to boldly venture into new services that will make the Post office as the hub for various businesses.

Gold is the latest addition to a range of retail activity that India Post has already taken up. India Post has been selling various products under Retail Post category and there is sustained growth in the revenue from these activities. Post Office sells UPSC applications and university applications, it retails Darjeeling Tea in West Bengal, it markets Aloe Vera products in Gujarat and it takes orders for distribution of Prasadams of various temples in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Apart from enhancing the revenue of the Department, this will enable India Post to usher in a new image of India Post as a modern and relevant organization to the public in all areas of life.

The Minister of State for Communications & IT, Mr. Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, who was the guest of honour at the launch ceremony, declared that this pilot project on the sale of gold coins would be a beginning of many more such retail services that India Post will undertake. He said, the venture reinforces India Post’s dedicated service to the ordinary Indian.

Speaking on World Gold Council’s association with India Post, Mr. Ajay Mitra, Managing Director of the Council, said, “Retailing gold through India Post is a ground-breaking initiative in the Indian investment sector and one of its kind in the world”. Mr. Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Director and CEO, Reliance Money, said, “We want to take the culture of structured investments in gold to the masses through India Post and provide gold at impeccable quality, quantity and price points”.

Reliance Money on HK Exchange Board

• 

  sudip-bandyopadhya

  First Indian firm to acquire a stake in an international exchange

• Becomes the second largest shareholder in HKMEx
• Reliance Money to get a seat on the HKMEx board

Mumbai, October 14, 2008: Reliance Money, part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, has acquired a 15 per cent stake in Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange (HKMEx).  With this holding, Reliance Money becomes the second-largest shareholder in the commodity exchange and will have a board membership.  Reliance Money is the first Indian firm to acquire a stake in an international exchange.

“Even as Asia has emerged as a key market for global commodities, the region does not have a strong commodity exchange.  We believe that our deal with HKMEx will help us capitalise on the growing demand for commodities in this region,” said Mr. Sudip Bandyopadhyay, Director and CEO, Reliance Money.

Reliance Money has recently received approval from the FMC and Ministry of Consumer Affairs for acquiring 10 per cent stake in domestic National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India.  It plans to up this stake to 26 per cent.

“We plan to build synergies between both the exchanges thereby leveraging on the growth potential of commodity trading in India, China and the rest of Asia,” added Mr. Bandyopadhyay. 

HKMEx proposes to start trading in the first quarter of 2009 and will kick-start its operations by offering dollar-denominated oil contracts. It would also diversify into other commodities going forward. 

About Reliance Money www.reliancemoney.com), a part of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group is a comprehensive financial services and solution provider, providing customers with access to Equity, Equity and Commodity Derivatives, Portfolio Management Services, Wealth Management Services, Mutual Funds, IPOs, Life and General Insurance and Gold Coins.  Customers can also avail Loans, Credit Card, Money Transfer and Money Changing services.

The largest broking house in India with 2.7 million customers and a wide network of over 10,000 outlets and 20,000 touch points in 5,000+ locations.  Reliance Money endeavors to change the way investors transact in financial markets and avails financial services.  The average daily volume on the stock exchanges is           Rs. 4,000 crores, representing approximately 4% of the total stock exchange volume.

Reliance Capital is one of India’s leading and fastest growing private sector financial services companies, and ranks among the top 3 private sector financial services and banking groups, in terms of net worth.  

About Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange
www.hkmerc.com
 
Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange (“HKMEx”) has been founded on June 25, 2008 with the objective of bridging the international commodities markets with China through an efficient and transparent pricing platform for end-users and the global trading community.   The company was founded on the conviction that state of the art trading systems would be built from Internet-enabled, secure platform.  With the electronic trading platform on commodities, HKMEx allows customers to trade tailor-made contracts, hedge pricing risks in china and across the region, lower transactions costs and increase participation by Chinese commodities traders.  HKMEx operates from its Hong Kong headquarters and trading is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2009.

Dont panic, banish fear: Chidambaram

NEW DELHI, October 13, 2008: Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram today declared that “we must banish fear”.

 

Making a statement on the ongoing crisis in the financial markets, Mr Chidambaram said: We must remain confident and respond to the situation in a cool and mature manner. We must banish fear. Especially, depositors have nothing to fear because their deposits in banks are safe.”

 

He said: “Investors must take informed decisions. Before you sell, you must remember that for every seller there is a buyer. You must ask yourself why the buyer is buying in these times of perceived uncertainty and, therefore, ask yourself the further question whether there is a need to act in haste or in panic. In my view, there is no reason at all to act in haste or to give room for panic.”

 

“If all the players in the economy remain confident and take informed decisions, I have no doubt that the Indian economy will weather the current storm and emerge stronger.,” he said.

 

Pointing out that “this is a time of uncertainty,” he said: “Yet, even in a time of uncertainty there are some facts that cannot be – and ought not to be – ignored.”

 

The Indian economy continues to grow at a satisfactory rate. As recently as last week, the IMF’s research department (Mr. Oliver Blanchard) noted that “the Indian economy would continue to do well despite the impact of the global liquidity crunch.” As per projections made by the IMF, India is expected to post a GDP growth of 7.9 per cent during the current fiscal year.

 

The stock market indices are important indicators, but they are not the only indicators of the health of the Indian economy. The ratio of investment to GDP remains high at over 35 per cent at the end of the first quarter of 2008-09. The monsoon has been normal; the Kharif crop (especially rice and cotton) has been good; farmers are sowing their fields; and the prospects for the Rabi crop are bright. Factories continue to produce goods and the services sector is growing at a brisk rate, he said.

 

“Crude oil and commodity prices have declined sharply. This is expected to have a beneficial effect on inflation.

 

“The root cause of the present uncertainty is liquidity and not any dramatic change in the fundamentals of the economy. According to RBI figures, as on 26th September, 2008, non-food credit increased, year-on-year, by 24.8 per cent. Between April and 26th September, non-food credit grew by 7.8 per cent. Time and demand deposits with banks grew, year-on-year, by 18.8 per cent and, between April and 26th September by 7.2 per cent. I am happy that depositors continue to repose their confidence in the health of our banking system.

 

“Nevertheless, liquidity was found to be inadequate and, consequently, lenders were unwilling to take risks. Some lenders and investors faced redemption pressures leading to a sale of assets, especially stocks. The markets that are bearing the brunt of the problem are the capital market and the money market and, to an extent, the foreign exchange market. These problems can be overcome if adequate liquidity is infused into the system.

 

“Accordingly, RBI has taken measures that have infused an additional Rs.60,000 crore into the financial system. The LAF also provides liquidity and, as on 10th October, 2008, Rs.91,500 crore had been accessed by banks through the LAF window. We believe that these steps should ease the liquidity situation and the flow of credit should become smoother, relieving the pressures that had built up in the last two weeks.

 

“Government, RBI and SEBI have been in close consultation with each other during the weekend. I have spoken to the Governor, RBI and Chairman, SEBI several times in the last two days. We are coordinating our actions. We are watching the situation carefully and we will respond swiftly according to the needs of the situation. We are working on more measures that will infuse liquidity, make credit intermediation smoother, and increase the confidence of depositors and investors. We hope to be able to announce them shortly.

 

“Our banks are ready and willing to provide credit. Suitable advisories are being issued to the banks.

 

Over the weekend, the US, UK, Euro zone and Australian authorities have announced a number of measures to stabilize the financial system. The Australian capital market and three of the East Asian capital markets have opened on a bright note this morning. I expect that our capital market will also take its cue from these positive developments.”

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