Indian bank HDFC Bank’s subsidiary HDB Financial is raising $300 million in overseas loans. It is going to be the unit’s first-ever syndicated overseas loan and marks a shift in business strategy. According to a source close to the developments, the firm is trying to diversify its source of borrowing.

Reports suggest that the loan is going to mature in three years, and it is going to be priced 133 basis points higher than the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). LIBOR is an international standard for such loans. The source also added that HDB Financial has also started its syndication program, and it is going to conclude soon.

HDB Financial is being assisted by the State Bank of India, HSBC and the Bank of Baroda in its quest to raise this loan. That being said, dealers have revealed that even on a fully hedged basis, the loan should be on parity with domestic borrowings. Earlier on in March this year, it had been reported that HDB was going to sell its shares to raise $1.4 billion.

2019 has been a tough year for Non-Bank Financial Companies (NBFC) due to defaults from one of the biggest companies in the industry, IL&FS. It has resulted in many of the companies in the sector to seek foreign loans.

The rating agency CRISIL has prepared a note on HDB back on August 21 and stated that the company might be looking to expand into other services. The note stated, “HDB Financial has emerged as one of the larger players in the retail financing space, over the past few years. HDB Financial is now expanding into consumer durable financing, digital products loans, and other related segments.”

Members of The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and those outside it are meeting in Vienna, Austria, today to finalize further cuts in the production of oil. It is believed that Saudi Arabia, the most powerful member of OPEC and Russia, the most influential nation outside the body, is going to lead the talks.

Saudi Arabia is primarily leading the move, and according to reports, the other members of OPEC have already agreed with the cuts yesterday. Sources suggest that production could be cut by as much as 500,000 barrels per day, and it is a measure that is going to be in place up until March next year.

While it is true that production cuts were expected, the quantum of cuts has left many analysts stunned. The move is aimed at stabilizing the price of oil, and it is expected to be finalized today post discussions with non-OPEC partners like Russia, among others. As the news broke, oil prices started rallying as well in the latest trading sessions.

Stephen Brennock, an oil analyst with PVM Associates, stated that the potential cuts had left the market a bit confused. He said, “It is fair to say that this agreement has left market players with mixed feelings.” He went on to explain his position in the note. He added,

On the one hand, the extent of these extra supply curbs surprised to the upside. On the other hand, there is concern that there was no mention of an extension to cuts beyond the current March 2020 deadline.

At one point, it was not clear whether the OPEC members had managed to agree with the cuts on Thursday after a joint press conference was canceled. It has emerged that Saudi Arabia, which has cuts if production, has asked nations like Nigeria and Iraq from overproducing.

Managing director and chairperson of E-finance, Ibrahim Sarhan, said yesterday that the firm had launched three new subsidiaries. The move is aimed at further expanding the company’s footprint considerably.

The three new subsidiaries are e-cards, Khalis, and e-aswaq. With a capital of EGP 150 million, e-Card is a smart solutions company while Khalis will be involved in digital payments. e-Aswaq, on the other hand, will be a digital platform. Sarhan stated that the decision to split up these companies was aimed at serving customers better and also at meeting the expansion goals of E-finance.

E-finance is the only way for Egyptians to access digital payments, and the company believes that such a move will only help in expanding access. The company has invested as much as EGP 600 million and believes that E-finance has the capability of bringing in financial inclusion to Egypt in a big way.

The company is also going to boost its employee strength to 1000, which is twice the current figure. Sarhan also stated that some of the major projects completed by E-finance over the years had a major influence on the financial network of the Egyptian government. He also stressed that the company has the readiness to flag off a range of other projects as well when necessary.

South Korea’s state-owned trade insurance firm, Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-Sure), has announced that it has reached an agreement to offer financial support worth $3 billion to the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).

The move is part of South Korea’s efforts to further strengthen its ties with the top oil companies in the United Arab Emirates. Under the terms of the deal, ADNOC will be provided with insurance facilities for all its overseas projects by the K-Sure. The agreement is going to run for three years. It has also helped the oil company in getting loans from leading lenders like Citibank and Bank of China.

The South Korean insurer said, “K-Sure became the only South Korean financial organization which clinched a strategic alliance with the ADNOC.” The financing deal makes it the biggest one that has been offered by K-Sure thus far this year. It is a significant deal for K-Sure as well because ADNOC is the biggest oil firm in the UAE and controls as much as 95% of the oil reserves in the country.

American start-up Robinhood announced that it has decided to withdraw its application to become a federally insured bank. The application had been submitted earlier in 2019. The company has revealed that it withdrew the application voluntarily. The California based startup offers commission-less crypto and stock trading services to its users.

However, the move from Robinhood does illustrate the difficulties faced by startups when it tries to disrupt the financial system. A Robinhood spokesperson said,

“Robinhood will continue to focus on increasing participation in the financial system and challenging the industry to better serve everyone. We appreciate the efforts and collaboration of all the parties we worked with throughout this process.”

While it is true that this is a major setback for Robinhood and the wider Fintech industry, it should be noted that the industry has the capability of offering a wide range of products. The products in question can compete with the biggest names in banking without regulatory approval, as well.

However, to accomplish that, the company would need to have a partner bank. That being said, it is important to mention that a source, which is familiar with the matter, stated that the withdrawal does not signal a change in Robinhood’s aims.

The Groupe Nduom Bank Liberia Limited has recently confirmed its association with the National Association of Foreign Exchange Bureaus of Liberia on a partnership agreement. The GN Bank is one of the most prosperous new banks and is expected to work on its financial, promotional activities through this partnership with NAFEBOL.

The agreement came through on the 26th of November at the head office of Bank (GN Bank) Liberia Limited on Broad Street. The NAFEBOL’s leadership and the personnel of the GN bank were the prime witnesses to this event.

We know how much people use this service for the transaction. We are glad to have entered this partnership with the belief that it will benefit both institutions,

said Madam Rhonda R. VonBallmoos, the bank Deputy Managing Director of Client Services and administration.

Now, you can transfer money to all GN Bank mobile money users using the Bank’s account,

says the agreement

The agreement also says that the association is to be working as a partner with GN Bank’s mobile money as long as the bank finds it profitable to proceed with the partnership.

We are here to support you, as we expect you to support us and our doors will keep open for you. We believe that this partnership will have a lot coming out of it for both institutions. Again, we want your services to reach to the common people,

Madam VonBallmoos said.

She also emphasized plans under development to ensure the decentralization of the program to 15 different countries. That is intended to expand the user base that comes under the service. She requested the users to register by dialing *545# with the GN bank.

Nicely Sayeh, the NAFEBOL President, announced that the association would put it’s best endeavors to sustain the agreement with the bank.

Me. Sayeh said that

We know that GN bank will see greater results from the exercise. We believe that with GN Bank, our businesses will grow faster than what it used to be. We appreciate the partnership and hope to work with you for years to come.

He asserted that The GN Bank plans to make the division available to all. They will only act as agents for the bank by dealing with their customers, while the bank will settle them back. They are to serve people as bank representatives, and the bank will ensure the gains in return.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has announced its annual compliance and enforcement results for the year 2019 on November 26, 2019. As per the results, the Commission has managed to pull in more than 1.3 billion dollars in restitution, penalties, and disgorgement for the term that began on October 1, 2018, and ended on September 30, 2019.

The results also brought a few high-profile cases to limelight including those charged with spoofing, manipulation, as well as the illegal usage of consumer funds during the said fiscal year.

What is important to note is that the rate of penalties this year is 39% up from the last year. If that was not interesting enough, 2019’s penalty figures are the 4^th highest in the Commission’s history so far.

The results also highlighted that the CFTC took a total of 69 enforcement actions this year. This figure was 67 in the previous year. Out of this total, only 4 cases did not fall into the charges of spoofing, commodities fraud, or manipulative conduct. According to the Commission, they have pursued what they call complex and significant litigations this year in diverse cases.

Apart from that, the reports also pointed out that the CFTC was able to secure enforceable commitments to high-end cases via landmark settlements. These cases spanned the whole spectrum of the market space. Some of the misconduct examples include spoofing, manipulation in benchmark rates, and retail fraud involving digital currencies.

The report also presents several enforcement actions against several crypto schemes, which the Commission considers as their key milestone during the year.

Initiatives for whistleblowers

The report has also thrown lights on the initiatives taken by the Division of Enforcement of CFTC to support their whistleblowers’ programs. Such programs help ensure support and streamlining of investigations through rewards and encouragement of tipsters. Many of the US regulatory organizations, including the SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) and CFTC, employ such programs.

Interestingly, this year, the Commission has issued five whistleblower awards, worth around 15 million dollars in total, which is quite low as compared to the previous term. Last year, 75 million dollars were handed out in total five awards to tipsters with the largest one being of 30 million dollars.

No slowing down

The report also noted that the CFTC is going to continue its enforcement activities with the same vigor in the new financial year as well, without slowing down.

In a recent visit to New Delhi, the president of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, said that he wants Sri Lanka to be a Neutral Country that will work with all the countries peacefully, including India. He is the newly elected president of Sri Lanka who has no intention to harm the interests of India or any other country.

According to Gotabaya, Sri Lanka will work as a friendly country with India without giving any problems to India. His country should not be involved in the power struggles of superpowers because the country is quite small, and they cannot handle such balancing acts.

Gotabaya said that he wanted to work with India and China closely without any concerns and issues. He knows the concerns and matters of India and he will not engage in any of the activities that can threaten the security of India and harm the people. He continued that the Indian Ocean is the main sea path to pass the country from east to west and it plays a significant role in geopolitics these days. He wants this sea path to be free and there should be no control of any country on this path.

In the period 2005 to 2015, the relation between Sri Lanka and China was purely commercial. He wants other countries to invest, like India, Japan, Australia, Singapore, etc. He promised to develop an investment-friendly environment in Sri Lanka.

Gotabaya committed that the previous president Maithripala Sirisena made a mistake by providing Hambantota port to China on lease for 99 years. According to him, the deal should be renegotiated because it is fine to provide a small loan for investment but not an economic harbor. He does not want to involve in the military and geopolitical matters of the country as they only want investments to help them.