Virat Kohli as Uber's brand ambassador: How long will the ride last?

Sometime last year when Virat Kohli announced that he would not endorse a cola brand ever because it went against his lifestyle and principles, he set the cat among the pigeons. As Pepsi’s most high profile brand ambassador in the country, he had in effect turned against his own brand. The company however did not react and the issue was soon relegated to anecdotal status while Kohli continued on his winning spree making himself one of the most sought after faces among brands.

Now he has signed up yet another endorsement contract; this time with Uber (India). This is a first of its kind initiative for Uber. But for the cricketer, who is valued at US $144 million as per the Rise of the Millennials Report, this is his twentieth brand endorsement. Kohli signing yet another brand is hardly news. But it still gets to the headlines because the Indian captain has not been as discreet or as discriminating with his associations as he is with his game.

For instance when he cut himself out of cola major PepsiCo’s endorsement list, he did so publicly. In an interview to a media house he said that he was going to practice what he preached and stick to endorsements that promoted healthy lifestyles. Pepsi did not fit the bill. Endorsing a soft drink appeared out of sync with the Kohli persona. So Brand Kohli decided to go kosher. Pepsi did not react except to indicate that the cola major and Kohli had had a good run and they were satisfied with that. However the truth of the matter is that Kohli had been on a fitness trip for at least 3-4 years prior to dumping Pepsi. Why did it take him so long to dump the brand?

PNB scam: Nirav wants assets back; Delhi HC says case sketchy; top updates

Accused in the Rs 127-billion Punjab national bank (PNB fraud, Nirav Modi might breathe smooth as the Delhi high court on Wednesday called the case towards the absconding diamantaire "sketchy". The court docket also issued a word to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on a plea filed by means of Modi.

The Delhi high court decide stated, "... want to wait to see what the ED has to mention due to the fact Vijay Aggarwal (Nirav Modi's lawyer) himself would not seem to be too positive of the records of the case."
meanwhile, Nirav Modi wants the ED movement of seizing his property and depositing it with the PNB quashed.
Alarmingly, the extent of the unravelling fraud at PNB should upward thrust beyond the nearly $2-billion mark thus far outlined with the aid of the country-owned lender.

Modi, his uncle Mehul Choksi, and others are being investigated by means of a couple of probe companies after the scam recently came to light following a grievance through the PNB that they had allegedly cheated the nationalised financial institution, with the purported involvement of some bank personnel. The ED has registered a cash laundering case towards Nirav Modi, his firms, and others on the premise of a principal Bureau of investigation (CBI) first facts record (FIR).

Rs 114 bn PNB scam: ICAI begins probe to know whether any CA was involved

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), a state-controlled regulator for the sector, has said it is probing whether auditors played a role in perpetrating the alleged $1.77 billion fraud that Punjab National Bank unearthed last week.

The ICAI said on Thursday it has asked the Securities and Exchange Board of India, Punjab National Bank (PNB) and federal investigating agencies to share their findings of the alleged fraud, including anything related to the involvement of any chartered accountants.

The ICAI, which functions under the administrative control of India's Ministry of Corporate Affairs, said it has set up a committee to study the systemic lapses that contributed to the fraud and to suggest remedial measures and improvement.

Separately, the Economic Times newspaper reported that PNB has tapped PwC to conduct a probe into the alleged fraud that would help the bank build a case against jewellers Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi.

PNB officials were not immediately available for comment, while PwC declined to comment on the matter.

PNB fraud: Nirav Modi's Rolls Royce, Porsche seized; top 10 developments

Nirav Modi's luxury cars, including a Rolls Royce Ghost, a Mercedes Benz, and a Porsche Panamera, have been seized by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Rs 114-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case. Further, assets worth almost Rs 1 billion belonging to Modi and Choksi have been frozen by the probe agency.

The ED is also probing 120 shell companies allegedly linked to Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi. Further, the IT department has attached Rs 1.45 billion belonging to Nirav Modi.

Here are the top 10 developments in the banking scam that has gripped the country's financial sector:
1) ED seizes Nirav Modi's Rolls Royce Ghost and other luxury cars: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday said it had frozen mutual funds and shares worth Rs 945.2 million (Rs 94.52 crore) of the Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi groups in connection with the money laundering probe against them in the Rs 114-billion (Rs 11,400-crore) alleged PNB fraud at PNB.
It also seized nine high-end luxury cars of Modi as part of its investigation against him under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

PNB scam: Govt opposes PIL for Nirav Modi extradition; top 10 developments

The matter of absconding businessman Nirav Modi's possible extradition and a probe into the role of the bank's top management in the Rs 114-billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case reached the Supreme Court on Wednesday, with the Centre opposing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking such an action.

Opposing the PIL, Attorney General K K Venugopal told a Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A M Khanwilkar, and Justice D Y Chandrachud that an FIR had already been filed in the multi-billion PNB fraud case and a probe was going on. As Venugopal rose to oppose the PIL, petitioner lawyer Vineet Dhanda urged the Bench to issue a notice to the Centre as the "kingpin of the scam Nirav Modi" had run away with the "common man's savings".

Further, carrying forward with the arrests it made on Tuesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday said that it has arrested a General Manager rank officer of the PNB in connection with the Nirav Modi fraud case. "Rajesh Jindal, who was holding the charge of Brady House Branch Head between August 2009 and May 2011 was arrested on Tuesday night from Mumbai," a CBI official said. It was during Jindal's tenure at the Brady House that the alleged fraud took place, the CBI officer said.

After Nirav Modi scam at PNB, fear of sweetheart deals at other banks too

These are early days in the Nirav Modi saga, but top financial sector officials are not ruling out more such sweetheart deals at other banks, given that the overseas bill discounting business that traders deal in is highly porous.

The present case has surfaced because an innocuous rule change by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in early January forced Punjab National Bank (PNB) to tap Nirav Modi and other importers for more margin money. Another trigger, it would seem, was an alleged query from RBI seeking the bank’s response over one of its officials allegedly demanding favours from Modi’s company in return for issuing the next Letter of Undertaking, or buyer’s credit.

The recent developments have also effectively nixed the bank’s plans to merge any other state-owned bank with itself until the scam fire is doused – and that will take quite some time.
Another associated issue is how two of the bank’s employees continued undisturbed in their perch for so many years.

PNB's Rs 110-bn fraud case isn't out-of-control, says FinMin official

The finance ministry today sought to allay worries over the Rs 113 billion fraud case at Punjab National Bank, saying the case not "out-of-control" and it is taking action in this respect.

"I dont think this is out of control or too big a worry at this point. That is my broad sense," Joint Secretary in Department of Financial Services Lok Rajan said on the sidelines of an event here.

Earlier in the morning Punjab National Bank (PNB) disclosed that it has detected some fraudulent transactions with financial implication of USD 1.171 billion (about Rs 11,334.4 crore) and the matter has been referred to law enforcement agencies for the recovery.

Based on these transactions, other banks appear to have advanced money to these customers abroad, it said.

Punjab National Bank trades firm after QIP launch

Punjab National Bank (PNB) was trading firm, up 1% at Rs 175 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), after state-owned bank announced the opening of the qualified institutions placement (QIP).

The shareholders of the bank at their extra ordinary general meeting (EGM) held on December 4, 2017 approved the raising of common equity tier-I capital of the bank in aggregating not exceeding Rs 5,000 crore including premium by way of FPO (Follow on Public Offer)/ QIP (Qualified Institutional Placement) /Rights Issue/ ESOP (Employees Stock Option Plan) and/ or any other mode or combination(s) thereof, as may be decided by the Board.

PNB said it intends to use the net proceeds of the Issue to augment its CET I capital and for general corporate purposes.

At 11:59 AM; the stock was the largest gainer among Nifty PSU Bank index, which down 0.11% at 3,805 points. The Nifty 50 index was down 0.43% at 10,278 points.

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Key trading ideas: Buy PNB, Berger Paints, BHEL

STOCK MARKET - Few trading ideas by Vaishali Parekh, Research Analyst - Technical Research at Prabhudas Lilladher:

NIFTY VIEW:
Market has been consolidating at the levels of 10,260 and 10,370 for quite some time, however, the support for the day is seen at 10,300 while resistance is seen at 10,390. Nifty has its weekly trend down. It would turn up if it closes above 10,368 at the end of the week.

BUY PNB
CMP: Rs 189.20    
TARGET: Rs 215    
STOP LOSS: Rs 178
The stock has been more or less consolidating after the huge spurt it has produced some weeks back and now looks attractive and poised for a further rally upside with strength and potential and we anticipate it to scale the level of around Rs 216-218 levels in the coming days. The RSI is positive with a trend reversal indicated and with the bias being maintained positive, we recommend a buy in this stock for an upside target of Rs 215 keeping a stop loss of Rs 178.

BUY BERGER PAINTS
CMP: Rs 249.80    
TARGET: Rs 275    
STOP LOSS: Rs 238
The stock has made a higher bottom like pattern in the daily chart and it has been consistently taking support at the 200-DMA which is at 248 levels currently and making a bounce from there on. The stock has been moving in a similar pattern in the past 5-6 months and from here on we anticipate the stock to move again further to scale 275 levels. We recommend a buy in this stock for an upside target of Rs 275 keeping a stop loss of Rs 238.

BUY BHEL  
CMP: Rs 88.65    
TARGET: Rs 97  
STOP LOSS: Rs 85
The stock has corrected well from the peak of 100 to bottom out at around 86 levels to look attractive and potential for further rise in the coming days. The RSI has been roaming in the oversold zone and now has indicated a trend reversal with a buy signal and has signified a positive bias. With decent volume participation witnessed, we recommend a  buy in this  stock for an upside target of 97 keeping a stop loss of 85.

Banks slash rates in New Year gift; SBI leads and PNB, Union Bank follow

Beaking News - The country’s largest bank State Bank of India (SBI) announced a steep interest rate cut in several years on Sunday, by reducing its marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) by 90 basis points (bps) across all maturities. 

With this cut, SBI has passed on benefit of 200 bps since January 2015 to customers, which is more than 175 bps reduction in the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) policy rate cut in the same period. 

The new rates come into force from today. SBI’s one-year MCLR stands reduced to 8% from 8.9%, while the rate on overnight loans is now 7.75%, against 8.65%. 

Banks are flush with funds after the note ban, with Rs 12.4 lakh crore having been deposited with banks till December 10. SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya said, “There is huge liquidity with the bank due to the large flow of deposits. This has driven us to reduce lending rates, which, hopefully, will kickstart credit demand and growth.” 

Two other public sector lenders - Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Union Bank of India - also slashed their MCLR rates on Sunday. Delhi-based PNB cut lending rates by 70 bps, while Mumbai-based Union Bank reduced its MCLR by 65 bps to 90 bps across different tenors. 

Senior bank officers said other lenders would follow suit and reduce loan rates by 50-100 bps to remain competitive. Also, the actual benefit to borrowers will be lesser than the extent of the MCLR cut due to the spread that banks charge over the loans rate.(Read More)