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  Axis Bank may have cleaned up its bad loans and reoriented the business, but it has a long way to go in terms of market share and dominance in various segments, says chief executive Amitabh Chaudhry. The Reserve Bank of India would only tighten and not loosen regulations given the threats from technology and weak lending practices, Chaudhry tells ET. Edited excerpts:   Interest rates are debated widely and even two members of the Monetary Policy Committee are voting for a cut. How do you see this? I think the pause will continue for some time. The RBI has actually floated a balloon looking at an 8% GDP growth rate. They believe that if 8% GDP growth can be delivered, they would like to attack inflation and get it down to 4%. And if that is the case, then why will they cut rates? So, I don't see any reason why cutting rates would happen in a hurry. And once you're down the path of cutting rates, you don't want to kind of go back up. So, you have to be sure that when you st

  “Why should we say that once you are listed you can never leave. This isn’t Hotel California. This is a rich, vibrant market. We welcome people, but if for some reason they need to exit, they must be able to” Sebi chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch said this week. And why shouldn't we all agree with this very welcome statement. Over the years, our capital markets have undergone a substantial evolution and transformation. This evolution encompasses technological advancements, regulatory changes, as well as the expansion of market depth and engagement. The maturity of a market is exemplified by the smooth entry and exit experience it provides to investors and issuers alike. This week not only did we overcome a 17 year wait to get into the World Cup final, but we also overcame a waiting period of 19 years to gain freedom from RBB mechanism for delisting of a company. In our views of January 2020 titled ‘Our expectations from Budget 2020’, we had advocated for the removal of RBB process f

Individuals, companies and other taxpayers have to file income tax returns (ITRs) every financial year to inform the government of the income earned by them and the tax they have paid on this income.While taxpayers have to file their tax returns within a deadline to avoid paying a penalty and to avoid losing certain income tax benefits, the last date or the due date for filing ITR varies depending on the category of the taxpayer. For instance, salaried individuals and other taxpayers whose accounts are not required to be audited must file ITRs by July 31. Similarly, taxpayers whose books of accounts are required to be audited (but transfer pricing not applicable) must file their ITR by October 31. Source: RSM India. *Report under section 92E is required to be submitted when a taxpayer has undertaken international transactions during the relevant financial year. The biggest consequence of missing the deadline to file an income tax return is the levy of penalty. Apart from paying a late

  The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday updated its "guidance note" on operational risk management for the financial sector, and also extended it to the NBFCs, including housing finance companies. The 2005 'Guidance Note on Management of Operational Risk' covered only commercial banks.The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said an operational disruption can threaten the viability of a regulated entity (RE), impact its customers and other market participants, and ultimately have an impact on financial stability. It can result from man-made causes, Information Technology (IT) threats, geopolitical conflicts, business disruptions, internal/external frauds, execution/delivery errors, third-party dependencies, or natural causes. The latest 'Guidance Note on Operational Risk Management and Operational Resilience' aligns with the RBI's regulatory guidance with the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) Principles, the central bank said. The guidance note intends t

Sebi board on Tuesday decided to amend norms governing mutual funds, whereby asset management companies (AMCs) need to put in place an "institutional mechanism" for identification and deterrence of potential market abuse, including front-running and fraudulent transactions in securities. The mechanism should consist of enhanced surveillance systems, internal control procedures, and escalation processes to identify, monitor and address specific types of misconduct, including front running, insider trading, and misuse of sensitive information, Sebi said in a statement issued after the conclusion of the board meeting. With a view to address the issues faced by venture capital funds (VCFs) registered under the erstwhile VCF norms with respect to their inability to fully liquidate the investments of their schemes within the tenure of the scheme, the Sebi's board has approved a proposal to provide an option to such VCFs to migrate into AIF (Alternative Investment Fund) rules an

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cautioned banks about gold loan disbursals being made through fintech startups, according to people familiar with the matter. The central bank has flagged “concerns with the evaluation process” by these banks and fintechs, especially in cases where the gold is sourced through field agents of companies, one of the persons said. “The regulator has verbally expressed its concerns to a set of banks regarding this and asked them to take corrective actions immediately,” said another person. Rupeek, IndiaGold and Oro Money are a few of the major players that source gold loans for banks. Cautioned banks are in conversations with fintech firms for fixing these issues and could explore pausing business temporarily to ensure complete compliance, the people said. ‘Possible Overvaluation’ Sumit Maniyar, cofounder of Rupeek, which is backed by Peak XV Partners and Accel, said he has not received any communication from his company’s banking partners on this. “RBI h

Traditionally, all mutual funds, including passive funds, were restricted from investing more than 25 per cent  of their assets in companies belonging to the same group as the fund manager (called the sponsor group). This rule aimed to prevent conflicts of interest and ensure diversification within mutual funds. Passive funds, unlike actively managed funds, track a specific index. Their goal is to mirror the performance of that index as closely as possible. Some sectoral or thematic indexes (focusing on specific sectors or themes) might have a high weighting (importance) for companies within the sponsor group. This weighting could exceed the 25 per cent limit imposed on traditional mutual funds.As a result, passive funds were often unable to perfectly replicate the target index, potentially leading to tracking errors and a slight underperformance compared to the benchmark. For example, ABC Nifty 50 Index Fund cannot invest more than 25% of its NAV in ABC Bank and ABC Life Insurance des