Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Banking News on Rating of Banks

Fitch downgrades Canara Bank's viability rating
Viability ratings are designed to be internationally comparable and represent Fitch?s view on the intrinsic creditworthiness of an issuer
BS Reporter / Mumbai Nov 23, 2012, 00:12 IST

Rating agency Fitch today downgraded the viability rating of public sector lenderCanara Bank . It, however, affirmed the long-term issuer default rating of State Bank of India , Bank of Baroda , Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank at ‘ BBB- ’.

Canara Bank’s viability rating was cut a notch to ‘BB+’ due to concern on the bank’s asset quality and higher cost of deposits. According to Fitch, these factors are likely to hit Canara Bank’s growth and market share. “Canara Bank has higher risk concentration in the troubled infrastructure sector, including state electricity boards, and a weaker funding profile,” Fitch said.

Viability ratings are designed to be internationally comparable and represent Fitch’s view on the intrinsic creditworthiness of an issuer. Together with the agency’s support ratings framework, it is a key component of a bank’s issuer default rating. Viability ratings also represent the capacity of a bank to maintain current operations and avoid failure, the latter indicated by extraordinary and company specific-measures becoming necessary to protect against a bank default.

As on September 30, Canara Bank’s non-performing assets (NPAs) in the large industries segment stood at Rs 1,462 crore, against Rs 522 crore a year earlier. Total NPAs rose from Rs 3,838 crore to Rs 5,610 crore, while the bank’s gross NPA ratio stood at 2.58 per cent as on September 30, against 1.75 per cent a year earlier.

For the quarter ended September, the bank recorded debt recast of large advances of Rs 6,500 crore. Overall restructuring stood at about Rs 15,000 crore. The bank’s net profit stood at Rs 661 crore, a fall of 22.44 per cent compared to the year-ago period, primarily due to higher provisioning towards bad loans. Fitch said among public sector banks, the potential for further loan restructuring was highest in the case of Canara Bank.

High cost of deposits was another concern for the Bangalore-based lender. Fitch said while most public sector banks had seen a rise in per-branch low-cost deposits, this wasn’t the case with Canara Bank. The bank’s net interest margin shrunk to 2.35 per cent in the quarter ended September, compared with 2.51 per cent in the year-ago period.

Fitch said the outlook on the issuer default ratings of the four banks was negative, which mirrored India’s rating outlook. “The issuer default ratings of the four government banks are driven by a high probability of extraordinary government support if required, given their high systemic importance. These banks account for about 32 per cent of the system assets and deposits, backed by a pan-India franchise of about 27,000 branches as of the financial year ended March (a little over 33,000, including State Bank of India’s five associate banks),” Fitch said.

At Canara Bank, the post of chairman and managing director has been vacant for more than a month, following the retirement of former chairman and managing director S Raman.


My Views Expressed sometime Ago


Result for the Quarter ended June 2012 announced by the largest state run bank called State Bank of India is now out and the result is enough to point out in what direction SBI is moving and what is the hidden truth of other smaller banks coming under public sector. When the result of largest bank is deteriorating quarter after quarter, what will be the fate of other banks, one can imagine. Those who are highly positive minded, they can still imagine of good future. Result is given in brief below.

SBI's non-performing assets (NPA) rose sharply to 4.99 percent as on June 30, 2012 raising concerns over the bank's asset quality. The bank's gross non-performing assets were at 3.52 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2011-12 financial year.

At the end of the last financial year bank's non-performing assets was 4.44 percent.

Increase in non-performing loans led to a sharp drop in the company's share price. Share price of SBI slumped by 4.03 percent to Rs.1, 892.45 at the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) after the announcement of the first quarter financial results.

For me at least, result announced by SBI is not astonishing. Person like O P Bhatt and CEOs of other big banks enjoyed a lot during their tenure as Bank head and befooled the regulating agencies. After their retirement from their respective banks only, the bitter truth is slowly coming out on the surface. Similar type growth in bad assets is reported by other top banks which were considered as leading banks in the corridor of MOF and RBI when their CEO were preaching sermons to others and offering costly gifts on all inaugural functions. Gross NPA of SBI has reached the level of 5% and very soon it will touch the level of 10% and more and there is no doubt to me that other banks will also follow the suit as soon as they fully expose the hidden bad assets.

It is ridiculous that the reason for rise in NPA given by chief of the bank is adverse monsoon and global recession. Bad monsoon likely to be this year or global recession likely to affect economy this year cannot affect the repayment of loans given to SME sector five to ten years ago. As a matter of fact all hidden NPA is slowly coming out and in any case none of existing bad asset is due to bad monsoon or draught or due to global recession.

In the past CEO of all state run banks cheated with MOF, RBI, Investors and the customers by concealing bad assets, by making inadequate provision for bad assets  by  reducing provisions on even terminal benefits like pension and gratuity and finally  by inflating profits and distributing dividends to Government of India and investors .Fraud and manipulation are deep rooted in officials sitted on top post and concocting false story of progress and development is not unusual in India.

Even Government of India talking of fiscal crisis does not hesitate in allowing large scale waiver of loan, subsidy to rich corporate and now free mobiles to attract voters in the fold of Congress party.



Banks need to raise $20-30 billion in next 5 years for Basel lII

Economic Times 03.05.12     MUMBAI: Banks will need to raise $ 20 to 30 bn over the next five years to meet the new capital accord norm- Basel lII, according to analyst reports.Macquarie Equities Research on its report on Indian banks said, "We expect a deluge of equity capital raising over the next 5 years on account of Basel III"

The Basel III accord requires banks to have higher share of core capital - which is equity and reserves. It also suggest phasing our ineligible capital such has subordinate debts. RBI in draft guideline has proposed that banks would be required to have raise its tier I capital of 9.5% by 2017. According to aPrabhudas Liladhar report the tier I capital of Indian banks now stands at 6%.

"Migration to Basel III guideline is likely to push up capital needs by another US$20-30 bn, as it would increase the core equity requirement from 4.5% now to 8% which would including the capital conservation buffer) by fiscal year 2017," according to Credit Suisse report.

Macquarie Equities Research has said that the capital required is more for growth than meeting solvency requirements. "As banks gear up for Basel III beginning 2013 to achieve a common equity ratio of 8% and a CAR of 11.5% over the next five years, assuming an 18% CAGR of loan growth, we expect the banking system in India to raise a minimum of US $ 30bn of equity capital, posing significant dilution risk." said the Macquarie report.

Credit Suisse report also points out that the transition to Basel III may moderate return on equity of the banks. It would moderate by "200-300 bps for PSU banks and 100 bp for private sector banks" said the report.

Pressure on Indian banks' asset quality

PUNE: Ratings agency and business consulting firm Crisil has said the increased loan restructuring and non-performing assets (NPAs) in the banking sector will impact the asset quality of Indian banks in the year 2012-13.
According to Crisil estimates, a sizeable proportion of the restructuring will comprise large-ticket corporate exposures and the total restructured loans will account for 3.5 per cent of the total advances of the banks as at March 2013.
Crisil said the total amount of loans that are likely to be restructured by banks over 2011-12 and 2012-13 is estimated at nearly Rs 2.0 trillion. Furthermore, banks' gross NPAs are set to increase to 3.2 per cent by March 2013, from 2.9 per cent as at December 2011.
The large quantum of restructuring reflects the prevailing stress on corporate India's credit quality because of lower profitability, weak demand, and tight liquidity, Crisil said.
Crisil believes that sectors with large debt are particularly vulnerable to restructuring. Nearly 30 per cent of the restructuring is expected in the power sector while the other susceptible sectors include aviation, construction, engineering, steel, textiles, and telecom infrastructure.
Ramraj Pai, President, Crisil Ratings, said "The nature of current restructuring is qualitatively different from that in 2008-09 and 2009-10. The loans restructured earlier were smaller and represented small and medium enterprise (SME) accounts. In the current phase, the loans being restructured are large corporate exposures; over two-thirds of the loans restructured till December 2011 had ticket size of over Rs 10 billion, reflecting a high level of concentration."
Such large quantum of restructuring will help restrict the increase in banks' reported NPAs - the gross NPAs are expected to marginally increase to 3.2 per cent as at March 2013 from 2.9 per cent as at December 2011. The increase in NPAs reflects the expectation of slippages in the agriculture and SME portfolios. However, any significant reduction in estimated GDP growth of 7 per cent for 2012-13 could lead to further increase in gross NPAs to 3.5 per cent by March 2013. Given the large ticket size of the restructured loans, slippages of even 20 per cent, similar to that witnessed in the past, could lead to further increase in gross NPAs by over 50 basis points over the medium term.


S&P cuts rating outlook of SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank


New Delhi: India's top 10 banks, including the SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank on Wednesday suffered a collateral damage following the Standard and Poor's lowering the country's sovereign rating outlook.

The global agency downgraded the rating outlook of these banks, stating the move reflects "the outlook on the sovereign credit rating on India".

While it is only the outlook which has been lowered at the moment, the S&P warned that the banks' ratings can also be revised downward if similar steps are taken for sovereign rating.

Other lenders included in the latest rating outlook revision are, Axis Bank, Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Indian Bank, Syndicate Bank and Union Bank of India.

Besides, the Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd (IDFC) is also impacted by the rating action.

Experts feel that the S&P's move will not significantly impact the cost of resource mobilisation of the Indian banks since they raise bulk of the money from the domestic sources.

Justifying the move, it said, "S&P does not rate Indian banks above the rating on the sovereign because of the direct and indirect influence that the sovereign in distress would have on banks' operations including ability to service foreign currency obligations."

It said the banks get influenced if the country's sovereign rating itself is affected because they are subject to government policy and regulation and they invest a significant portion of their funds in state securities. The banks are also majority owned by the government.

"We could revise the outlook to stable if we take a similar action on the sovereign rating," it said.

However, the S&P risk assessment on the country's banking industry remains unchanged. 

S&P cuts India’s outlook to negative


NEW DELHI, 
April 25, 2012
Global agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) on Wednesday lowered India’s rating outlook to negative and warned of a downgrade in two years if there is no improvement in the fiscal situation and the political climate continues to worsen.
The lowering of outlook from stable (BBB+) to negative (BBB-) is expected to make external commercial borrowings expensive for Indian Inc. It may also have implications for the capital market.
“The outlook revision reflects our view of at least a one-in-three likelihood of a downgrade if the external position continues to deteriorate, growth prospects diminish or progress on fiscal reforms remains slow in a weakened political setting” said S & P’s credit analyst Takahira Ogawa in a statement.
BBB- is the lowest investment grade rating.
Commenting on the rating action, Jagannadham Thunuguntla, strategist and head of research at SMC Global Securities, said “Indian (new) sovereign rating is just one step away from junk bond status...Somehow I feel the dream of India growth story is coming to an end.”
The negative outlook, the rating agency further said, signals likelihood of the downgrade of India’s sovereign within the next 24 months. “A downgrade is likely if the country’s economic growth prospects is dim, its external position deteriorates, its political climate worsens, or fiscal reforms slow,” it said.
The lowering of rating outlook comes despite Finance Ministry pitching for an upgrade at the recent round of meetings between the officials and representatives of the S&P.

Bank employees brush aside reform proposals, threaten stir

              


 All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), the largest conglomerate of bank officials in the country, has denounced the reform proposed by the Government in banking sector and the recommendations made by the Khandelwal Committee.
The association has threatened to take to roads if the modifications in existing norms of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and Bank Nationalisation Act, 1969 are altered with.
Addressing a Press conference on Sunday, general secretary of AIBEA CH Venkatachalam, ahead of the two-day conference organised in Ranchi to highlight the issues related to credit disbursal, debt recovery, outsourcing, bad loans and method adopted for efficiency evaluation of bank employees, said that the inherent purpose of banking services had been diluted.
“Banks are dealing with public money and the money should be given in safe hands. Its utilisation should be done in national interest and more loans should be given to the priority sector. The Government is willing to bring a Bill in the current Session of Parliament to adopt proposed reforms that would reduce Government’s accountability and responsibility. Only the ownership would remain with the Government and it will lose actual control,” said Venkatachalam.
The association is susceptible to allowing foreign capital into the banking sector and allotting more voting rights to them. They think that opening the flood gate would permit higher degree of foreign money into banking sector that would reduce attention from welfare schemes and loans to farmers. “The foreign investors would vanish once economic crisis arise leaving the customers cheated,” he added.
The AIBEA is also opposed to outsourcing banking activities and condemns the concept of business correspondents.
“The Government is just taking banking and not the banks to the rural areas. It is very difficult to ascertain whether the banking correspondent is doing his job and delivering the services to the needy or not. It is the reason why more number of farmers has been going out of the banking services leaving them dependent on traditional money lenders,” said Rajan Nagar, president of the association.
Criticising the performance based remuneration, the officials said that recovery of loans was not in their hands and also the flow of customers can vary from one locality to the other. “Government should also better its debt recovery policy and should make it more stringent. Big corporate houses have taken loan worth crores of rupees and even interest on the loan is not paid. It is a bad loan and wrong policies are encouraging the tendency,” said Venkatachalam.
He also expressed anguish over poor development of Jharkhand and called for more intensive banking services in the State to improve credit deposit ratio. Threatening to stall banking services in the country, the Association said that Centre went ahead with its reform agenda and the recommendations of the Committee as proposed.

LEADERS OF OFFICERS ASSOCIATION ARE WORKING HAND IN GLOVE WITH MANAGEMENT AND MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND HENCE THEY ARE SLEEPING , they are least bothered of rise in bad assets , or exploitation of officers 

Union leaders who are supposed to be protectors of officers have become exploiters of officers and this is why they think-------------------------------------LET THE BANK BE DAMAGED,LET THE FUTURE OF OFFICERS BE SPOILT, LET THE WAGE REVISION BE MINIMUM AND        WHAT NOT , 

BUT   PERSONAL WEALTH of leaders of OFFICERS association IS  AT LEAST should be GROWING without any resistance

SBI officials, others to be charged for cheating bank of Rs 30 cr

A Delhi court has passed an order for framing of charges against a senior official of the State Bank of India (SBI) and 10 others for allegedly using forged documents to cheat the bank's Industrial Finance Branch to the tune of Rs 30.5 crores in the matter of credit facilities.
Terming the loss caused to the bank as "mammoth", Special CBI Judge Manoj Jain said that charges of cheating, forgery, using forged documents, criminal conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and abuse of official position under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) were made out against the 11 accused.
"I am of the considered opinion that there existed a criminal conspiracy amongst all accused, the object of which was to cheat the bank.
"Forged bills and invoices were prepared. Bogus companies were floated. Pecuniary advantage was showered on A9 (AGM of SBI) and A10 (Manager/Credit Officer of SBI) and they abused their official position to assist their co-accused. The loss to the bank is mammoth," the judge said.
Mani Kant Tula (AGM, SBI), Parveen Kumar Gupta (Manager, SBI), Hindustan Polychm Pvt Ltd (HPPL), its alleged directors Sangeeta Shah, Padamakar Kumar Srivastava, Padma Gill, along with its other employees Hemant Kumar Senapati, Anil Kumar Sukumara Panicker, Musafir Prasad, were among the 11 accused who were charge sheeted by the CBI in the case.
The other co-accused included one Prem Shankar Jha and Arvind Rai C Shah (ex-employee of Union Bank of India).
As per the CBI, HPPL, which was engaged in export and import had obtained credit facilities from Industrial Finance branch of SBI and then diverted the same to 20 bogus companies floated by it and its directors, which existed only on paper, by opening letters of credit (LoC) in favour of these entities.
On the role played by the SBI officials in the case, the CBI had said that both of them abused their official position as public servants by sanctioning release of credit facilities in favour of the accused company HPPL and gave undue monetary advantage to it causing a loss to the tune of Rs 30.5 crore to the bank.
Counsel for the accused, on the other hand, had contended that charge cannot be framed only on the basis of suspicion and added that for the purposes of inferring conspiracy there has to be a meeting of minds which is lacking in the present case.
The court, however, observed "keeping in mind the material on record, documents and statements of witnesses and the legal scenario, I am of the view that all accused persons are liable to be charged for offences under sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using forged documents as genuine) of IPC read with sections of the PCA".
"Let charges be framed accordingly," the court said.

Stop Wastage and Loot of Public Money  and  Give Bank Officers / Employees Their Due Share  in Xth BPS

by
             R K Singhal [ rajendrakumarsinghal @rediffmail.com ;      rkumarsinghal@rediffmail.com  ]

1.    Whether UFBU should submit any agenda for Xth BPS?.

2.    Demand Implementation of   VIth pay commission for Bank Officers/Employees or Appoint Retired eminent Judge as head of pay commission to decide the wages of theBank employees & Officers

3.    Updating pension as done of Central/State Govt. employees/removal of ceiling on family pension (Please Note that the pension of Bank employees retired on or after 01.01.1986 was also updated on 01.11.1193 when the pension settlement was singed for the first time).

4.    Undoing of the past mistake of UFBU.

(a)  Refund of incremental cost of pension with interest  which was recovered illegally from the  PF optees  since 01.11.1997, refund  revised incremental cost from 01.11.2002 &  refund revised incremental cost from 01.11.2007.

(b)  Refund of incremental cost of pension which was recovered illegally by violating the pension regulation 1995  from the  pension optee  since 01.11.1997, refund revised incremental cost from 01.11.2002 &  refund revised incremental cost from 01.11.2007.

(c)   If any reader has any doubt/question about the recovery of incremental cost of pension from employees w.e.f. from 01.11.1997, please read the attachedcircular issued by AIBOC leadership which explicitly clarify how the PF optees have been forced to contributed toward the shortfall in the pension kitty for which they were not beneficiaryand similarly pension optees were forced to meet the short fall in pension kitty in gross violation of pension regulations. Please note that none of the highest official of the Banking Industry has authority to violate the law passed by the parliament.


5.    Stop Loot/ Cheating of New Pension  Scheme Funds of  employees who are covered under New Pension Scheme joined on after 01.04.2010.

6.    Medical facilities to retired employees on the lines of central Govt/ /State Govt. Is there any Corporate Social Responsibility of Bank Management towards there own retired Bank employees?

7.    Stop Corporate Crimes Committed by Bank Management/Govt.of India / RBI/ CAs / Trustees of Pension Funds Trust, on Bank employees Pension fund (retirement funds) and initiate steps to punish the wrong doing Corporate Crimes:
(a)  SBI  transferred  Rs 7927.41 crs from General reserve to Pension Fund  as on 31.03.2011. Central Statutory Auditors clearly certified that this amount arisen because inadequate  funds were transferred in the previous years.
(b)  The CMDs of PSB have not deposited 10% statutory contribution every month and agreed incremental cost of pension was not deposited leading to shortfall in pension fund. It is diversion of employees retirement funds to boost the profits and claim incentive of Rs 8 lacs from the Bank on the basis of falsified balance sheet. The amount involved is more than one lac crores which has been laundered  since 01.11.1997.
(c)  RBI though observed about the crime committed by the Bank Management during AFIR (Annual Financial Inspection Report of Each Bank) but allowed the loot of retirement funds and its distribution as dividend to share holders and allowed incentive to CMDs on the basis of falsified balance sheet. RBI took no steps to stop money laundering of retirement funds.
(d)   GOI nominee on each Board allowed this fraud and failed to protect the financial stability of the Banking system.

8.    Stop the loot of Public Money in the garb of Corporate Debt Restructuring of KingFisher /AI Airlines/ Real Estate   Borrowers, Telecom Scamasters Accounts / Money laundering and maintaining secrecy of these crimes under RTI (The Bankers are denied fare/equitable  wage revision).?

9.    Insist that Bank interest should be free in the hands of depositors as in the case of dividend yield on shares (Why discrimination with Bank Depositors).

10. Big depositors paid 9% for 7- 180 days but small depositor paid 7% for same duration by SBI  w.e.f.01.03.2012? Another fraud to boost the balance sheet size to earn incentive of Rs 8 lacs.


http://www.allbankingsolutions.com/Wage-Revision/Xth-Bipartite-Settlement/Agenda-for-xth-BPS-April2012-Singhal.htm

Bad loans spark bank downgrades
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Bad-loans-spark-bank-downgrades/articleshow/12565322.cms


7 Apr, 2012, 0712 hrs ISTMayur ShettyTNN
MUMBAI: Distressed borrowers are taking a toll on the credit profiles of Indian banks with almost half a dozen lenders being downgraded by rating agencies in recent weeks. Given that most public sector banks have similar credit profiles, analysts tracking the banking sector are asking, "Who's next?"

In the past fortnight, rating agency ICRA has downgraded Central Bank of India, Oriental Bank of Commerce and Union Bank of India, citing rising bad loans and the high value of restructured loans.

Some time earlier in 2012, Moody's had lowered its credit opinion on Syndicate Bank, Union Bank and Bank of India, again citing rising bad loans.

In a report after the Budget, Mahrukh Adajania of Standard Chartered said that all public sector banks have asset quality issues in the form of huge restructuring pipelines, which are more or less in the same proportion.

According to the report, Allahabad Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India and Union Bank have restructured loans ranging from 3.5% to 5.9%.

Although they are not classified as defaults, restructured loans are an indicator of the extent of borrowers who find it difficult to meet payment schedules. The report states that the recent Union Budget and higher crude prices makes the operating environment challenging for banks as these two factors have lowered the probability of a rate cut in the near future.

However, private equity firm Avendus Capital has taken a contrarian view. "Even with an assumption of a 20% delinquency in restructured loans, along with the current forecasts for a rise in gross NPAs (non-performing assets), the overall asset quality of public sector banks would stabilize within two years. It would also stay superior to the current status of European banks," a recent Avendus report said.

Explaining UCO Bank's downgrade, ICRA said that the bank's gross NPAs rose from 2.57% to 3.49 % as of December, 2011. It also cited the high level of restructured advances at around 6% of loans and relatively high exposure to weak sectors like state electricity boards, distribution companies and aviation sector.

Similarly, in the case of Oriental Bank of Commerce, the level of gross NPAs had risen from 1.95 % to 2.92% with restructured loans touching 4.84%. In the case of Central Bank, restructured loans were at a high of 7.4% of advances as of December, 2011 with gross NPAs touching 3.69%.

In the private sector, Fitch Ratings has downgraded Dhanlaxmi Bank and also placed the bank under rating watch. "The action follows a net loss of Rs 36.87 crore for Q3FY12, and there could be potential further losses," the rating agency said.

Moody's lowers Union Bank rating

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the ratings of Union Bank of India by one notch.
The rating action considers that the bank's weaker financial metrics have pushed it into a lower standalone rating band, said Ms Beatrice Woo, Vice-President and Senior Credit Officer, Moody's.
In this regard, the agency, in particular, referred to the bank's high level of troubled assets, but low provision coverage.
Among the revised ratings, which carry stable outlooks are: Bank financial strength to ‘D' from ‘D+'; global local currency deposit to ‘Baa3/Prime-3' from ‘Baa2/Prime-2'; and foreign currency senior MTN programme to ‘(P)Baa3' from ‘(P)Baa2'.
The foreign currency long-term/short deposit ratings of ‘Baa3/Prime-3' are unaffected and carry stable outlooks.
“Notwithstanding our expectation that UBI's capital ratios will soon be boosted by a capital infusion, we view its loss-absorption cushion to be comparatively modest when considering its deteriorating asset quality and expected growth.


PSU banks may be asked to shut down loss-making branches

PTI     New Delhi   April 9, 2012  
The government may ask public sector banks to either relocate or shut down loss-making branchesas part of rationalisation process.

"This is a part of an ongoing dialogue not only banks but insurance companies. If there are loss-making branches then we need to re-look at it why they are there. If that needs working out a business strategy, may be relocating it, may be scaling down of staff all the needs to be looked at," Financial Services Secretary D K Mittal said, when asked if the government has asked banks to submit report on loss-making branches.

"Ultimately branches have been to be set up to earn. If they (loss-making branches) have been there for sometime say 12 months, then I think there is case to re-look at it," he said on the sidelines of CII event in New Delhi.

There are about 87,000 branches of public sector banks across the country.

Rising interest rate and slowdown in economy has impacted the repayment capacity of borrowers, especially small and medium enterprises leading to rise in NPA of banks.

The non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks have risen to Rs 1.27 lakh crore till December 2011. Of this public sector banks' gross bad debt jumped over 51 per cent to a whopping Rs 1.03 lakh crore in 2011.

The gross NPAs of public sector banks has increased from Rs 68,597.09 crore at December 2010 end, to Rs 103,891.27 crore as on December 2011










RBI asks banks to improve NPA management
Press Trust Of India
Mumbai, March 29, 2012


The Reserve Bank on Thursday asked banks to improve their ability to manage stressed assets, but said there was nothing alarming about an unexpected rise in the non-performing assets (NPA) levels this fiscal.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/BusinessBankingInsurance/RBI-asks-banks-to-improve-NPA-management/Article1-832498.aspx
"Concerns (on NPA) are there. ----------------------------------------------------

The country's largest lender SBI had reported record gross NPAs in Q3 at Rs 40,080 crore and saw an 87.5% spike in its provisioning. But private lenders are better off.
The total NPAs in the system are set to top 3% of the total assets this fiscal, against a 2.3% last fiscal at Rs 98,000 crore.
But what's worrying the regulator is the an over 300% spike in corporate debt recast this fiscal, which has already touched Rs 76,251, against Rs 25054 crore in the previous fiscal. This makes the overall CDR asset in the system to over Rs 1.9 trillion.
There are many critical sectors that are looking for CDRs. The textile companies are seeking Rs 1 lakh crore worth of debts.
The discoms are also in bad shape with their debts touching nearly Rs 80,000 crore while many have recently gone for CDRs.
The deputy governor also said the central bank is concerned about the banks selling insurance products through the bancassurance channel, but did not specify the reasons.
Since most of the banks have insurance subsidiaries, they promote selling their annuity and other insurance products through their own channels, which will enable them to have a captive customer base.



Zee News
Banks' NPA at Rs 1.27 trillion till Dec
Last Updated: Friday, March 30, 2012, 18:06
http://zeenews.india.com/business/news/finance/banks-npa-at-rs-1-27-trillion-till-dec_44963.html
The non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks have risen to Rs 1.27 lakh crore till December last year, Parliament was informed on Friday.

Bank's bad loans stood at Rs 94,084 crore in 2010-11, Rs 81,813 crore in 2009-10 and Rs 68,220 crore in 2008-09, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the Lok Sabha in a reply.

"Main reasons for increase in NPAs of banks are due to switch over to System-Based Identification on NPAs, increase in interest rates and lower economic growth during 2011 impacting the repayment capacity of borrowers, especially small and medium enterprises," Mukherjee said.

He said the government and RBI have over the years taken various steps to improve the financial health of banks, reduce bad loans, improve asset quality and for creating a good recovery climate.

RBI has issued guidelines for prevention of slippages, corporate debt restructuring and other restricting schemes.

In a separate written reply to the house, Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said a total of Rs 2,481 crore in 1.12 crore accounts was lying as unclaimed deposits with the banks as of December, 2011.

However, RBI has directed all banks to be more pro-active in finding whereabouts of the account holders who have remained inoperative over the years, he added.

RBI has also asked banks to put details of these account holders on their websites as well as to ensure that the amount reaches the genuine claimants.

Also, RBI reported Rs 1,567 lakh loss in 1,184 cases due to defects in ATM machines in last four calendar years, Meena said in another written reply. 

PTI 

First Published: Friday, March 30, 2012, 18:06

Macquarie Research calls the bluff on Indian banks
Business Standard / Mar 28, 2012, 00:34 IST
In spite of sustained weakness in the macro-climate with rising non-performing assets (NPAs), asset restructuring and weak credit growth outlook, few voices have been raised on the long-term (two-year) outlook for Indian banks.
Macquarie Research, however, has called for a structural de-rating of the sector, citing the impact of these factors and tightening financial inclusion requirements on profitability and return ratios. Basel-III implementation from January 1, 2013 will lower leverage ratios for the sector and increase appetite for capital in five years, which in turn will increase the risk of dilution, significantly in this period.


 Stocks are currently trading at above 10-year averages on the back of a opaque book. The 20 per cent re-rating from recent lows more than adequately factors a 100 bps cut in benchmark rates and aggressive rate cuts are unlikely considering the fiscal and inflation dynamics,” the report states. The brokerage adds that its top pick is HDFC Bank with no other ‘outperform’ in the banking space, having downgraded ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and YES Bank to Neutral from ‘outperform’ on account of valuations. It has all ‘underperforms’ in the PSU banking space. Basel-III will require banks to achieve a common equity ratio of eight per cent and capital adequacy ratio of 11.5 per cent over the next five years. This means Indian banks will need to raise at least $30billion, assuming 18 per cent compounded annual growth rate for loans in this period, mainly to fund the projected growth.


Also, RBI has specified a minimum Tier-I leverage ratio of five per cent which isn’t specified currently. Indian banks maintain a capital adequacy ratio of nine per cent and Tier-I capital ratio of six per cent with no specified common equity limit at present. The average Tier-I capital ratio of Indian banks is 10 per cent with more than 85 per cent of it comprising common equity and about half the banks meet the Basel-II requirements already. The issue according to Macquarie is once growth picks up, it will compound the common equity requirements increasing the appetite for capital.
The brokerage has factored in a 10-15 per cent equity dilution for most banks in FY14 estimates which will be the first full year of the beginning phase of Basel-III implementation. Asset quality pressures are not going to abate with stress on the agriculture portfolio as well corporate and SME loans. Macquarie expects ‘stressed assets as a proportion of networth to rise to over 50 per cent by FY13.
For PSU banks this number will likely be over 90 per cent.’ Credit costs are expected to touch a 10-year high of 90 bps for PSU banks even as they increase by 25 bps for private banks. The report states ‘Non performing loans (NPL) provisioning coverage ratios including stressed assets (as well as a 10 per cent coverage on restructured assets) stand at low levels of 23 per cent for PSUs. Even on a reported basis, NPL coverage ratios are at 45 per cent for PSUs compared to regional peers whose coverage ratio is over 150per cent on an average.
Macquarie expects return ratios to reduce structurally as earnings ‘witness pressure from all components of return on assets namely: net interest income (slower loan growth and pressure on margins), higher operating cost mainly for PSU banks, increase in credit cost due to structural problems in some segments of infrastructure, deteriorating credit behaviour in agriculture and increased slippages from mid-corporate segments given higher interest rates and slowing economy.
Private banks are expected to feel the impact of priority sector lending norms which will tell on margins and profitability as well as asset quality. PSU banks earnings growth is expected to decelerate in FY12 as they post sluggish growth of 11-12 per cent for FY13/14. Private sector banks earnings growth momentum is likely to moderate considerably (an average growth of about 15 per cent over FY12-14E).


Extracts from a Macquarie report: “Indian banks: After the high, comes the hangover”, dated March 20




Strengthen NPA database: RBI
Press Trust Of India / Mumbai Mar 22, 2012, 00:33 IST


http://business-standard.com/india/news/strengthen-npa-database-rbi/468643/

Reserve Bank of India has said there was a need to strengthen the database non-performing assets (NPA) through more effective utilisation of the existing data systems of banks. ".... The need to strengthen the database on areas like regional and sectoral distribution of non-performing assets through more effective utilisation of the existing data systems of banks," the RBI said in a notification on Wednesday. Recently, in a conference (Annual Statistics Conference 2012) held at Chandigarh, the RBI deliberated on issues in coverage of banking data, need for its improvement and develop micro-level, granular and consistent data to enhance its utility in policy making.


http://banking-news-update.blogspot.in/2012/03/bank-unions-plan-agitations-from-mid.html 

The United Forum of Bank Unions has decided to hold protests in April on some issues confronting the banking industry.

Speaking to Business Line here on Thursday, Mr C. H. Venkatachalam, Convenor of UFBU (United Forum of Bank Unions), said that recommendations of Khandelwal Committee, proposing amendments to the laws relating to the banking sector, and outsourcing of banking activities will be the focus areas for the agitations.

The UFBU, which met in Mangalore, has decided to undertake agitations across the country from mid-April. They will be in the form of badge-wearing, demonstrations, delegations, dharna, and so on.

“If the Government does not respond to our demands, UFBU may think of an all-India strike. If necessary, all-India strike will be organised in May,” he said.

He termed the Khandelwal Committee report as an attack on the trade union rights, on collective bargaining, and on service conditions of the employees and officers.

Profit criteria


The report recommends bank-level wage revision based on profitability than industry-level wage revision. Wage revision should be work-related and not profit-related. Profit alone cannot be the criteria for fixing wages, he said.

Stating that the Central Government is continuing the agenda of banking reforms, he said in Budget 2012-13 there is a mention about the Government proceeding with the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill. The objective is to amend the Banking Regulation Act and the Banking Companies Acquisition Act.

This is aimed at liberalising and deregulating these two laws to give more freedom for private capital, both in private and public sector banks.

If amended, private banks will become more vulnerable for either some corporate takeover or foreign takeover. With amendments, the policies of public sector banks (PSBs) will tend to become corporate, he said.

The increased involvement of the corporate sector in the management of banks will lead them to focus on profits rather than meeting social obligations.

These are not good for the country where the banks deal with public money, Mr Venkatachalam said.

Opposing the outsourcing of banking activities, he said it is risky with regard to jobs and job security.


Moody`s downgrades Union Bank of India`s ratings 
Source: IRIS (19-MAR-12)
http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/storyShow.php?fileR=20120319140831717&dir=2012%2F03%2F19
Moody`s Investors Service has downgraded by one notch the ratings for Union Bank of India (UBI).

`The rating action considers that UBI`s (Q,N,C,F)weaker financial metrics in particular, its high level of troubled assets, but low provisioncoverage have pushed the bank into a lower standalone rating band,`` says Beatrice Woo, a Moody`s vice president and seniorCredit Officer.
``Notwithstanding our expectation that UBI`s capital ratios will soon be boosted by a capital infusion, we view its loss-absorption cushion to be comparatively modest when considering its deteriorating asset quality and expected growth. In the current difficult operating environment, we expect further weakening in asset quality and lower profitability. When balancing these factors and its overallfranchise value, the revised rating ranks UBI more appropriately against other Moody`s-rated Indian mid-sized public-sector banks (PSB),`` says Woo.
On the asset quality front, UBI`s non-performing assets (NPA), as of Dec. 31, 2011, rose to a near 2.5-year high of 3.33% of loans and Rs 52.1 billion on an absolute basis. In addition, restructured assets accounted for 5.53% of the bank`s loans, significantly above Moody`s estimated 4.2% for the system, and with the uptrend showing no signs of reversing. Although part of the NPA increase was attributable to system-based recognition a situation faced by many Indian banks. Moody`s expects further deterioration in asset quality against a backdrop of a slowing economy and high interest rates. Therefore, UBI`s potential credit costs could increase above trend in the near-term, while Moody`s also notes that the bank`s provision coverage declined to 63.1% in December 2011 from 70.2% a year earlier.

As for capital, Moody`s notes that UBI reported a Tier 1 capital ratio of 7.98% as of 31 December 2011, slightly below the 8% that the Indian government has committed to maintaining for PSB and lower than its peers. The system Tier 1 ratio averaged 9.60%. By the end of March 2012, the bank expects to receive Rs10 billion in new capital from the government. But most importantly, even this increase in Tier 1 capital ratio does not provide sufficient cushion to absorb the potentially higher credit costs emanating from UBI`s deteriorating asset quality or to support rapid growth while remaining within the Ba1 rating band (standalone BFSR rating).

In determining UBI`s stand-alone BFSR, Moody`s assessed the bank`s capital after incorporating expected losses in its risk assets using scenario analysis. This approach is consistent with Moody`s ``Calibrating Bank Ratings in the Context of the Global Financial Crisis`` (February 2009) and the assumptions in ``Stress Testing Indian Banks` Asset Quality`` (January 2009).

Under a highly adverse scenario, which assumed a gross NPA ratio of 12.0%, UBI`s economic solvency would be only moderately positive. To put this into context, the bank`s ability to withstand potential losses is only comparable to that of Ba2-rated Indian banks.

Therefore, its standalone rating could be further downgraded if asset quality and capital ratios continued to deteriorate at the same pace as in the past year. In addition, if its Tier 1 capital base demonstrated declining economic solvency, after incorporating expected losses, such that it fell below 1%, a level for a D- rated bank.
Given this rating downgrade and the continued difficult operating environment for banks in India, the likelihood of an upward rating action is unlikely over the next 12 to 18 months.

Finally, the global local currency deposit and foreign currency debt ratings were also downgraded due to the lower standalone rating. Nonetheless, Moody`s maintains its assessment that the probability of systemic support for UBI, if needed, remains very high, and results in a two-notch uplift in its global local currency deposit rating from its standalone rating. This view is predicated on UBI`s position as the seventh largest PSB in India`s domestic banking landscape, and its close relationship with the government, via the latter`s 57.07% holding, and as evidenced by the bank`s receipt of repeated capital infusions. 

Shares of the company declined Rs 11.35, or 4.94%, to trade at Rs 218.50. The total volume of shares traded was 90,576 at the BSE (2.03 p.m., Monday).

-- Is Integrity and Quality of Rating Agencies beyond Doubt?


Can anyone say that the people who rate any financial institutes and banks are absolutely honest and performing their work of assessment honestly ?

No , Not at all.


Time has come when the integrity of rating agencies have to be tested to ascertain whether goo rating given to some banks are only due to the fact that clever officials of these clever banks have managed the rating in their favour by offering costly gifts to key persons of Rating Agencies? 

In India even ISO certificates are purchased by gifting officials of ISO certification agencies , No Objections from Pollution Control Department is obtained by bribing officials and so on ....

Crisil downgrades PNB Home's rating

ET Bureau Feb 11, 2010, 04.52am IST
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-02-11/news/27579297_1_pnb-housing-punjab-national-bank-destimoney-enterprises

MUMBAI: Punjab National Bank's plans to make Destimoney, a 49% stakeholder in its home finance arm, has resulted in the HFC losing its triple A status although the deal would result in a capital infusion. Crisil has downgraded PNB Home Finance, citing the stake sale as a reason.

In December, PNB sold a 26% stake in PNB Home Finance to Destimoney Enterprises. Destimoney was earlier called Dawnay Day when it entered India in 2006. Two years later, it was acquired by private equity firm New Silk route in 2008 and renamed Destimoney.

Moody's lowers Central Bank's rating to ‘negative'Large exposure to stressed sectors pushes NPAs to 2-year high

Moody's Investors Service has revised Central Bank of India's ratings outlook to ‘negative' from ‘stable' due to the bank's modest capital, weak asset quality and large exposure to troubled industries.
“We view the bank as being more vulnerable than its similarly-rated peers (D-), given its relatively riskier loan book, which includes a high proportion of loans to troubled industries, such as the power sector,” says Ms Beatrice Woo, Vice-President and Senior Credit Officer, Moody's, in a statement.
Central Bank reported a Tier 1 capital ratio of 7.77 per cent as of December 31, 2011, below the 8 per cent Tier 1 ratio that the Government wants public sector banks to maintain, said a Moody's statement.
The public sector bank's Tier 1 is lower than its peers; the system Tier 1 ratio average reaching 9.60 per cent, it added.
On the asset quality front, the bank's non-performing assets (NPA), as of December 31, 2011, reached a two-year high of 3.7 per cent of loans, and Rs 4,920 crore on an absolute basis.
In addition, restructured assets accounted for 7.4 per cent of loans, significantly above the estimated system average of 4.2 per cent, said Moody's.

INFRASTRUCTURE LOANS

The rating agency has assessed that the country's sixth largest public sector bank has larger exposures to stressed sectors than the system average.
For example, infrastructure loans represented 21 per cent of loans against 15 per cent for the system. Within infrastructure, loans to the power sector accounted for 14 per cent.
The agency noted that the bank's provision coverage declined to 48.1 per cent in December 2011 from 70.3 per cent a year earlier.

Nagpur, Mar 1, 2012 (PTIThe Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) here hasbooked six persons including a Deputy General Manager of Union bank, his two senior colleagues and three city businessmen for allegedly cheating the Bank to the tune of Rs 10 crore, CBI sources said today.
The officers working in a city branch of Union Bank have been charged for sanctioning aloan of Rs 10 crore to three partners of a firm for electronic gadgets business based onforged documents. The loan amount was later used for buying real estate and repayment of which was not made.
Vivek Palod, Vijay Singh and Ravi Kumar Kedia were the partners of the firm that took loan which was sanctioned by Deputy General
Manager of Union Bank S G S Pawar after the documents submitted by the firm were cleared by Assistant General Manager Govind Rajan and Chief Manager V K Kolte.
The three partners allegedly furnished forged documents which were cleared by the bank officers. Later, the three partners of the firm procured real estate and stoppedrepayment of loan, CBI officer SP Thomas Joh told PTI.
CBI registered offences against three partners and three bank officers on February 24 and started investigation. A CBI team yesterday raided the residential premises of all six accused and recovered some files pertaining to the loan.
Interestingly, Deputy General Manager Pawar was due to retire yesterday and a farewell function was organised when CBI team reached there, CBI sources said.




Moody's downgrades Bank of India by one notch

Moody's Investor Service on Wednesday downgraded ratings on Bank of India's debt programmes by one notch, citing an accelerated pace of asset quality deterioration, stressed core capital levels and increased pressure on profitability.

Slowing economic growth in India, high interest rates and inflation will continue to adversely impact repayment capacity of the bank's corporate borrowers, Moody's said on Wednesday.

"Moody's expects that it will be difficult for BOI to significantly improve its relatively weak asset quality over the next 12-18 months," it said.

Moody's revised its "Bank Financial Strength Rating" to D from D+ on a scale of A to E. India's sovereign rating is Baa3.

However, it affirmed the outlook on the debt and deposit ratings at stable.

Shares of the bank extended their fall to more than 3 percent after the downgrade but recouped some losses after a senior executive said the lender does not expect a deterioration in asset quality.

Bank of India expects bad loans in the financial year ending in March 2012 to be lower than the previous year, Executive Director N. Seshadri told CNBC TV18.

The bank's non-performing loans rose to 2.74 percent by December-end from 2.23 percent in March 2011, while its net income dropped 14 percent. Moody's said the bank's return on risk weighted assets fell to 1.03 percent in the nine months to Dec. 31 from 1.51 percent a year ago.

"Such figures compare weakly with its peers and indicate a vulnerability in the bank's already stressed capital buffers," Moody's said.

The bank's core tier 1 capital stood at 7 percent at March 2011, which is weaker than peers. Other big state lenders have an average tier-I ratio of around 9 percent.

The bank's high exposure to Indian government securities and the government's role in providing management support for state banks has been factored in the downgrade, Moody's said.

In October, Moody's downgraded the standalone rating for State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, sending its shares to their lowest level in 2 years.

A month later, it downgraded its outlook for India's banking system to "negative" from "stable" on concerns about asset quality and profitability.

At 3:04 p.m. (0934 GMT) Bank of India shares, which have a market capitalisation of $3.9 billion, were down 0.67 percent at 349.9 rupees in a flat Mumbai market.

The revised ratings are: --(P)Baa3 for foreign currency senior unsecured debt program -- Baa3 for foreign currency senior unsecured debt -- (P)Ba1 for foreign currency subordinated debt program -- Ba1 for foreign currency subordinated debt -- (P)Ba2 for foreign currency junior subordinated debt program -- Ba3 for hybrid tier 1 debt (preferred stock non-cumulative) *(P) is a provisional rating.



Banks' asset quality to worsen further, says Icra

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/banking/finance/banking/Banks-asset-quality-to-worsen-further-says-Icra/articleshow/12099143.cms

MUMBAI: Rating agency Icra today said it expects the asset quality of banks to deteriorate further given the rising proportion of restructured loans and fundamental issues in certain sectors.

"Icra anticipates a further deterioration in the quality of banks' credit portfolio due to structural weaknesses in certain sectors and an increasing proportion of restructured loans," the agency said in a report.

A slew of lenders, including the State Bank, have seen considerable spike in their non-performing assets or restructured books on the back of high interest rates, coupled with slackening economic growth.

The Reserve Bank, which has been maintaining that it is not a systemic issue, has made its concerns clear and had a meeting with top bankers yesterday on theNPA issue.

According to Icra, the gross NPA ratios of state-run banks was stable at 2.4 per cent for the first half of the fiscal, while the same number for the SBI Group rose to 4.3 per cent from 4 per cent.

Meanwhile, Icra said banks are unlikely to cut lending rates soon as their cost of funds will continue to be elevated over the next two quarters given the significant share of fixed-rate, medium-term resources they have mobilised in the recent past.

"Elevated level of loan loss provisions would also constrain banks from reducing the lending yields without unduly impacting their profitability," it said.

http://www.mydigitalfc.com/news/subbarao-wants-govt-put-limit-public-debt-639

Subbarao wants govt to put a limit to public debt

Tags: News

Says beyond inflexion point, deficit can militate against growth

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor D Subbarao on Wednesday proposed to the government to put a cap on the public debt. If the government “borrows and squanders that money away on unproductive current expenditure”, both fiscal sustainability and growth would bejeopardised, he said, delivering a keynote address at the second International Research Conference — 2012, organised in Mumbai, attended by central bankers, economists and policy makers around the globe.

He warned the government that huge public debt will force the central bank to complying meekly to the fiscal dominance and overriding the central bank’s need to focus on a stable monetary environment. India’s public debt is currently estimated to be 65 per cent of GDP, one of the highest among emerging econo­mies.

“In the case of sovereign debt, there is an inflexion point beyond which fiscal deficits militate against growth. Government borrowing is not bad per se, but excessive borrowing is. There is therefore a need to cap total public debt as a proportion of GDP,” said the governor. Besides, the RBI governor has highlighted the importance of enhanced spending to improve human and social capital, and physical infrastructure.

Large government borrowing, he said, gives little choice to central banks. There is often only a thin line, and the interpretation of the motivation for outright Open Market Operations (OMOs, or buying back government bonds from the market to support the liquidity needs of the government) could vary depending on the circumstances. If central banks do not conduct OMOs, it will loose control over financial stability and if they conduct OMOs, they risk loosing control over price stability, he added.

“But at times, OMOs could be motivated by the objective of providing liquidity to support government borrowing or of reducing the yield on treasury bonds to enhance debt sustainability. It then becomes a case of acquiescence (comply passively) in fiscal.”

He also raised concerns on whether monetary policy of central governments around the world is becoming hostage to fiscal compulsion. In India, the question has been whether the OMOs conducted by the RBI to manage systemic liquidity are acting as a disincentive for fiscal discipline. The questions are being raised whether central banks around the world are forced beyond their comfort zone to subordinate the monetary policy stance to government’s fiscal stance.

At the heart of these concerns is whether monetary policy is once again becoming hostage to fiscal compulsions. The specifics of the debate vary but the basic issues are similar. In the US, the debate is over the trade-off between short-term fiscal stimulus and long-term fiscal consolidation. In the euro area, the question is about the shared benefits of a monetary union without the shared responsibilities of a fiscal union.

Subir Gokarn, deputy governor, RBI, said, “When inflation goes beyond the threshold of 4 to 6 per cent, then it becomes inimical to growth and the monetary stance shifts to inflation control.”




Four more banks classify Kingfisher loans as NPA







IOB net down 53% on loan restructuring

2 comments:

Danendra Jain said...

Four five months ago , rating of topmost bank SBI was downgraded, now rating of another top bank called as Bank of India has been downgraded and ICRA has warned that NPA in government banks will go up and so on..

Governor Mr. Suba Rao and Dy governor Mr. Chakravorty has expressed concerned on rising trend in NPA , Finance Minister has cautioned banks who inflate profits by concealing NPA and then Intelligence report against public sector banks has been submitted to PM Mr. Manmohan Singh ...
Inspite of all erosion in the system, fall in profits , rise in bad assets , top bankers still claim that their banks are safe, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,Million dollar question is how long lame excuses will help in putting carpet on misdeeds of top ranked officers and deficiencies of legal system ? Gradually bitter truth is getting exposed, malady is coming on surface and slowly picture of main villain will emerge..........................Wait for a few quarters more, .................. Financials of banks if not manipulated, and if systems are not tapered by technocrats and if CA team and investigating RBI team act honestly, all truth will precipitate sooner or later.

PRADEEP GOYAL.ADVOCATE. said...

WE DONT FIND OUR BANKs name in the list of downgradation of the RATING.
REASON WE MAY BE TRYING TO SHOW THE NPAs NOT EXACTLY TO THE EXTENT THESE MAY BE.
but it is a hard fact that WE ARE IN FIRST THREE POSITIONS OF BANKERS WHO HAVE RESTRUCTURED THE LOANS TO THE EXTENT OF 4% TO 5% & MAY BE EVEN MORE.
LET US WAIT FOR MARCH 2013.OR SOME MORE TIME.FACTS WILL BE SOON BEFORE ALL OF US.