The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today warned of imprisonment upto a maximum of five years and a fine of upto Rs five lakh if any finance company accepts deposits from public without registering itself as a non-banking finance company (NBFC) with the central bank. The department of surveillance of the RBI issued an advertisement in leading dailies here that only registered NBFCs would be permitted to undertake the business and those not complying with the said directive could be imprisoned for a term not less than one year and a maximum of five years. The notice also said that the fine could range between a minimum of Rs one lakh and maximum of Rs five lakh.

BankAm net up78 per cent : The net profit of the Bank of America has spurted by 78 per cent to Rs 94.4 crore for the year ended 1996-97. The growth in profit has been fuelled mainly by high disbursals of loans. Advances registered a 45 per cent growth at Rs 2,942.58 crore during the year. The bank's deposits have gone up by 64 per cent to Rs 1231.54 crore. BankAm has seen a drop in its exchange operations to Rs 37.93 crore from Rs 39.83 crore previous year. The investments have gone up to Rs 1319.63 crore from Rs 749.07 crore last year. The bank has not recorded any non-performing assets for the second consecutive year. Its capital adequacy ratio fell slightly to 8.37 per cent.

Exim Bank raises $ 50 m loan: Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has raised a foreign currency loan of US$ 50 million. The loan, arranged by the Singapore branch of The Fuji Bank Ltd and Tokyo-Mitsubishi International (HK) Ltd of Hongkong, is for 7 years with a put option on fifth anniversary and carries interest rate of LIBOR + 0.575 per cent per annum. The deal generated tremendous response and was oversubscribed to the extent of US$ 135 million. Exim Bank retained funds at the original level of US$ 50 million. The funds raised through this loan facility will be used to finance Exim Bank's on-lending operations.

Asia Pacific banned from raising deposits:The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday prohibited Asia Pacific Investment Trust Ltd from accepting deposits from any person in any form, whether by way of fresh deposits or renewals or otherwise, with immediate effect. The Hyderbad-based company has also been directed not to sell, transfer, create charge or mortgage or deal in any manner with its property and assets except for the purpose of repayment of deposits on maturity without prior written permission of the RBI, for a period of six months.

Amex posts Rs 40.78 crore net: American Express Bank has posted a net profit of Rs 40.78 crore for the year ended 1996-97, registering a growth of 15 per cent compared to the previous year. A major chunk of the profits came from exchange operations at Rs 52.96 crore against the previous year's Rs 2.12 crore. Profit from sale of investments increased to Rs 93.12 crore against Rs 52.96 crore recorded last year. Advances by the bank was down at Rs 1076.68 crore against Rs 1306.64 crore compared to the previous year, a drop of 17 per cent.

ANZ Grinlays' net up 60 per cent: ANZ Grinlays Bank Ltd has recorded a 60 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 94.37 crore for the year ended 1996-97. The advances by the bank have gone up by 17.83 per cent to Rs 4298.47 crore, while the deposits grew by 18.73 per cent to Rs 6211.13 crore. The NPA of the bank was 0.28 per cent of the net advance. Income frominterest went up to Rs 935.40 crore from Rs 719.91 crore the previous year.

BoB chief on Visa board: The chairman and managing director of the Bank of Baroda, K Kannan, has been appointed as a member of the Asia-Pacific board of directors for Visa International. Kannan replaces JV Shetty. Repo rate lowered: The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday lowered the repo rate to 3.60 per cent from 3.90 per cent awarded at the previous auction held on Monday. The RBI accepted 9 bids totalling Rs 5,020 crore.Trade deficit : India's trade deficit increased by 19.86 per cent in dollar terms during 1996-97 as compared to the deficit during 1995-96, the latest monthly economic indicator issued by the commerce ministry says. The trade deficit at the end of the fiscal year on March 31 was $5,442 million against a deficit of $4,540 million in 1995-96. The increase in deficit was far less considering a rise of 95 per cent during 1995-96 against the deficit of $2,324 million during 1994-95.

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