| Act now to avoid blunders at banks
IT WAS a bad week for the banks. Consumer watchdog the Office of Fair Trading announced an in-depth investigation into current accounts; City policemen at the Financial Services Authority ordered new refunds for credit insurance; the banks' clearing service admitted failing to pay hundreds of thousands of salaries on time; and hackers have stolen the credit and debit card details of 45 million TK Maxx customers. So how will consumers know if they are caught up in any of these developments, and what should they be doing to protect their bank accounts and financial arrangements? .
Increased provisioning to cost banks Rs 4000 cr
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its third-quarter review of the monetary policy for 2006-07 (refers to financial year, April 1 to March 31), has increased the provisioning requirements for scheduled commercial banks (SCBs or banks) from 1% to 2%; the increase applies to banks exposure in the standard assets category towards the real estate sector, outstanding credit card receivables, loans and advances qualifying as capital market exposure, and personal loans. Further, the provisioning requirement for banks exposures in the standard assets category to the non-deposit-taking systemically important non-banking financial companies (NBFCs-ND_SI) was increased to 2% from 0.4%. The increase in provisioning requirements would have a significant impact on banks profitability if the entire enhanced provisioning quantum were to be borne by banks in 2006-07.
today's focus: personal finance Should I co-sign a loan for my son ...
Co-signing a loan for your child is one way to help him or her establish credit, but it also can expose you to having to repay the loan, and possibly late charges, legal fees and penalties, if he or she defaults. Let members of the Financial Planning Association of Greater Indiana help you sort out the details. Visit the group's Web site at www.fpagrindiana.org. .
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