COVER
STORY
The
European Union Banking
- - Katuri Nageswara Rao
European
nations preferred Peace, Prosperity, and Cooperation
to Wars and Conflicts that ravaged their past and decided
to form the European Union. In 1992, the EU made the
historic decision to go for a single currency named
Euro. Euro became the virtual currency in 1999 and a
real currency on January 1, 2002, when Euro Notes and
Coins replaced national currencies in 12 of the 15 countries
of the European Union. Banking sector remains predominant
in financial intermediation in the EU. In terms of GDP,
bank assets reached 280% and Credit to GDP ratio stood
at 120% in 2003.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
SCENARIO
Banking
in the Twenty-first Century
- - BR Parthasarathi
Banks
need to do more home work to become winners in the twenty-first
century. Those who can change the competitive rules,
develop new, innovative and customized products and
services will be the winners. A customer-driven orientation,
strong and consistent leadership, strong shared values
etc., can take a bank to the leading position. Banks
need to boldly face hurdles like lack of information
sharing, ineffective control etc.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
SCENARIO
Most
Effective Banks of the World
- - Yash Paul Pahuja
The
article deals with the 10 most effective banks of the
world. The Bank of America is the best performer and
Credit Agricole is the worst performer among them. It
analyses the banks in terms of net interest margin,
cost to income ratio, return on average income, apart
from discussing other parameters like revenues of the
banks within their countries.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
RISK
MANAGEMENT
Operational
Risk Management in Banks: More Capital or Control?
- - Padmalatha Suresh
Operational
Risk (OR) management has got its due attention recently.
The management of operational risk requires more intuitive
power because there are several instances which cause
higher losses even though their frequency is too low.
While capital is important for any unexpected operational
shocks, extremely vital for operational risk is avoidance
management.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
M&AS
Bank
Mergers in India Need Vision and Innovation
- - SN Ghosal
A
debate is going on with regard to the merits of consolidation
in the Indian banking industry. Too many mergers may
end up in value destruction rather than value addition.
There is a need for a clear vision among regulator,
government and banks vis-à-vis what they want to achieve
through consolidation, i.e., strong muscles, greater
size (balance sheet size/geographical size), a talent
pool of professionals, reduced expenses level etc. Looking
at the history of mergers in Indian banking industry,
it cannot be said that those mergers were for growth.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
PRODUCTS
Selling
Third-party Products: Emerging Opportunities for PSBs
- - Shyamji Mehrotra
Selling third-party products, a fee-based activity,
is an emerging opportunity for Public Sector Banks to
leverage their vast geographic presence and improve
the profitability. The major challenge is lack of skills
to understand the products and to market them. Due to
sheer size of market for these products, insurance and
securities firms also want to tap this route for their
growth.
©2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
CASE
IN FOCUS
Standard
Chartered Bank: Making a Headway in South Korea
- - Tirthankar Roy
The
recent 100% acquisition of Korea First Bank (KFB) by
Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) enabled the SCB to establish
its presence in Korea. KFB is Korea's seventh largest
bank in terms of market share. KFB has a strong presence
in the local market. This Korean Won (KRW) 3.4 tn (US$3.3
bn)acquisition is the largest foreign direct investment
into Korea. It will help the SCB leverage its global
network and benefit from the growing market in the world.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
CUSTOMER
SERVICE
Customer
Service in Commercial Banks in the New Era
- - N Vijaya Ratnam and V Suguna Kumari
Banks
are facing many hurdles in the new era of deregulation
and ever increasing competition. To fight these problems
efficiently, banks should focus on customer satisfaction.
It can be achieved through providing customized products,
innovative ways of delivery etc. Apart from this, banks
should prepare customer relationship strategies that
include bifurcation of business operations, effective
management of complaints, service as a brand etc.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
CREDIT
MANAGEMENT
Improving
Recovery Climate of Banks' Dues Through SARFAESI Act
2002
- - Rajendra Singh
NPAs
of any bank tell its credit risk, asset quality and
efficiency of resources allocation. Hence, it's necessary
for the bank to reduce its NPAs size. Securitization
Act and Corporate Debt Restructuring are helping the
banks to curtail the NPAs to a significant level.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
STRATEGY
Knowledge
Management: A Strategic HRM Tool for Better Productivity
in Banks
- - AK Mohanty
Knowledge
Management (KM) is nowadays an integral part of every
organization's strategy and banks are no exception.
New private sector banks are vastly using skilled manpower
to create new delivery channels, produce innovative
products, become leaders in the industry and maximize
the stakeholders' value. Public sector and old private
sector banks can use the KM tool to increase their productivity
and compete effectively in the ever changing world.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
STRATEGY
The
Mechanical Touch: Are Banks Losing Personal Touch?
- - NM Shanthi
Banks
have been upgrading technology day by day and delivering
the products and services through various innovative
channels like ATM, Internet banking, Mobile banking
etc. But what the banks are forgetting is the personal
touch that can develop long-term relationship with customers.
Small banks can take the benefit of this because they
cannot be compared with bigger banks in terms of implementation
of technology. It is in the interest of bigger banks
that they should use judicious mix of technology and
personal touch for long-term viability.
© 2005 IUP. All Rights Reserved
BOOK
REVIEW
Undue
Influence
- - Charles R Geisst
The
book presents a panoramic view of the long-standing
confrontation between the politicians and financial
professionals on how the financial system of the US
should be run and regulated. In this book, the reader
is introduced, decade-by-decade, to the financial institutions
and powerful individuals that have fought for an environment
that suits the specific purposes. In the process, the
reader becomes familiar with political institutions
and the leadership who have made continued effort to
balance the financial safety of the investors with ambitions
of the financial elite of the US.
© 2005 Charles R Geisst. All Rights Reserved. The IUP holds the copyright for the Book Review. |
