Securities market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has taken credit rating agencies to task after a spate of fiascos wherein a rating agency downgraded a certain paper from BBB+ to BB+ and finally D all within a span of month. In another case the credit rating agency suspended ratings on a certain stock citing non-availability of sufficient information. Interestingly, in both the cases the companies have been called out for debt servicing issues in the wake of the NPA process at major Indian banks.

The Department of Post (DoP) is all set to launch its payments bank by September this year after receiving the in-principle approval from the RBI to launch the same in August last year. With over 154,000 post offices of which 130,000 are operating in rural pockets of the country the new bank is expected to be a sure winner on account of the distribution strength. No wonder that some of the world's top 50 banks including Barclays of England, Deutsche Bank of Germany, Citi Bank of USA and the World Bank wanted to link themselves with the postal department for a piece of the action.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed that commercial banks need to institute a Board-approved Cyber Security Policy no later than September 30, in a bid to address the growing number of cyber threats and reported incidents of cyber crime in the banking industry. The RBI set the rules in a letter to bank chief executives this month, with Regional Rural Banks exempt from the change. The use of technology in banks, already an "integral part" of operational strategy, has gained further momentum, hence the need for such guidelines, the RBI said.

Last week, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) issued a new scheme for evaluating risk in online insurance. Aimed at providing consistent development of the industry and ensuring proper risk management, the scheme is focused on the business model and operations of internet insurance companies. Companies offering life insurance, financial insurance, and other insurance areas are all covered by the new supervisory scheme. The review will take place in three steps, carried out over the course of five months.

Xiaomi has entered the finance industry, following in the steps of Chinese tech titans Alibaba and Tencent. On June 13th, Xiaomi, whose traditional strength is in the smartphone business, joined hands with Chinese conglomerates New Hope Group and Chengdu Hongqi Chain Co. to establish the New Hope Bank in the Western Chinese province of Sichuan.

India’s insurance sector is worth $60 billion and has established some solid regulatory models that helped spawn an entire web and mobile driven industry. The main insurance regulator, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), played a proactive role by setting boundaries early on in the sector, such as clearly distinguishing between insurance brokers and web aggregators.

The Islamic banking system, where neither the borrowers nor depositors are paid or pay any interest, is set to launch in India. It will completely function under the tenets of sharia law, where the bank doesn’t charge interest but the customers share a part of profit or loss of the bank. The idea is to encourage the economic and social development of the region the bank is based in.

As the 'India stack' becomes mainstream, what will banking look like in the future?

Even with over 40 Acts directly or indirectly pertaining to pertaining to insolvency and bankruptcy, banks in India are still under tremendous pressure due to rising non-performing assets (NPAs). Multiple agencies are involved in handling these situations, with overlapping jurisdictions that creates complexities and delays.

For nearly 30 years, India’s double taxation avoidance agreement (DTAA) with Mauritius came in handy for investors to route money through ‘shell’ companies based out of the island nation. These investors saved on capital gains tax liabilities in Mauritius which does not impose these taxes on off-shore entities. A similar treaty exists with Singapore. As a consequence, India receives half of its FDI from just two countries: Mauritius (34%) and Singapore (16%).