India

The bank will open in October.

The banking system was standing on its head, we just put it back on its feet says Mohammad Yunus, founder of Grameen bank, Bangladeshi Economist, Banker and Nobel peace prize winner in his TED talk, talking about the microfinance industry. The subcontinent has now forced the system not just to stand on its feet, but also to start walking. The Indian microfinance industry has come a long way.

Expansion will see 20 branches by 2018.

India’s bid to boost lending allows corporations to open banks.

Layoffs part of the bank’s plan to wind down its retail and commercial operations in India.

Banks will need significant amounts of capital to meet Basel III norms.

RBS will be laying-off some of its 1,000 employees  as it winds down retail and commercial business in India.

Its aim is to reduce financial barriers in order to create a more conducive environment for companies.

Dispersing cash in a country as large as India has traditionally been hugely problematic due to the way the financial services infrastructure has developed in the country. In effect, the inability to service low value customers due to a systemic cost problem with the industry (driven by both regulation and staff unions who have opposed many measures to increase efficiency in the past, including ATMs) has resulted in a very urban-centric distribution coverage by the industry.

The growth potential for Bangladesh's Islamic finance industry is enormous, and coupled with a steadily growing economy and financial reforms. With support from the Bangladesh government, financial regulators and the central bank, Bangladesh can be poised to become the next hub for Islamic finance in Asia and on a global scale, the world Islamic scholars opined in the International Islamic Finance Roadshow held recently in Bangladesh.

The IIFL group is making a pitch for letting brokerages undertake banking business.

HSBC has been directed by a consumer forum to pay Rs 25,000 as compensation to a former credit card holder.

CIMB Niaga reported 33 percent surge in net profits in 2012.

 

Lakshmi Vilas Bank posted a 10.4 percent jump in net profits for the third quarter ending December 31, 2012.

China’s big banks benefit from the smallness of Indian banks.