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Facebook Plans to Unveil Cryptocurrency “Libra” on June 18, RBI Waives off Charges on NEFT & RTGS, Cooperative Banks go Digital and Other Top Business News Today

Professor S
Professor of Financial Economics and Part-time Value Investor, Transfin.
Jun 7, 2019 1:30 PM 4 min read
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Professor S
Professor of Financial Economics and Part-time Value Investor, Transfin.
4 min read113 views
Editorial

Explained

RBI waives off charges on NEFT & RTGS. Cooperative banks go digital. Stress on DHFL highlights funding risk in NBFCs, reports Fitch. Facebook plans to unveil cryptocurrency “Libra” on June 18. Wipro’s Executive Chairman to retire after over 50 years, hands company to this son. Blackstone-Embassy JV to acquire Chairman Gehlaut’s stake in IBREL. ShareChat may raise $100m from Twitter and Hillhouse Capital.

 

Moving on to the top Business news today: 

 

 BANKING 


RBI waives off charges on NEFT & RTGS. Cooperative banks go digital.


Waiving Off: RBI is set to remove charges on bank transfers carried out either through National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) or Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS), in an attempt to boost digital transactions in the country. 


The Central Bank also announced that it is setting up a panel to review charges imposed by banks on ATM withdrawals.

 

The announcements were made at the end of the RBI's bi-monthly monetary policy meeting.

 

Staying Relevant: In a bid to stay relevant in the fast changing times, cooperative banks are fast turning to technology, providing a business opportunity for leading information technology service providers. 

More on this here.

 

 DHFL 


Stress on DHFL highlights funding risk in NBFCs, reports Fitch.
 
 
DHFL on Tuesday missed an interest payment. The NBFC is seeking a seven-day grace period to prevent a default. 

 
DHFL has been facing a cash crunch since September last year when IL&FS defaulted on its payment obligations. 

 
 
Be Wary: This becomes a matter of concern considering that NBFC's liquidity is sensitive to market sentiment as their business models rely on short-term wholesale funding, which can dry up fast if market sentiment turns negative. 

 
More on the matter here.
 
 
 
 
 
 INDIABULLS 
 
 
Blackstone-Embassy JV to acquire Chairman Gehlaut’s stake in IBREL.
 
 
Joint Venture: US private equity firm Blackstone and Bengaluru-based property developer Embassy group are set to jointly acquire Indiabulls Group Chairman Sameer Gehlaut’s 39% stake in Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd (IBREL) for around INR2,700cr at an equity valuation of INR7,000cr. 
 
 
The deal will be completed in three transactions with the Blackstone-Embassy duo taking a stake of 15% this week, followed by the purchase of the remainder of the stake over the next six to eight weeks. After this, an open offer will be made to the existing shareholders of IBREL.
 
 
Shift in Focus: This move will see Indiabulls exit the real estate business to focus entirely on financial services.
 
 
Bonus: We understand that video is perhaps the best medium to digest data. Hence…details of the deal here.
 
 
 
 WIPRO 
 

Wipro’s Executive Chairman to retire after over 50 years, hands company to this son.
 
 
Retirement: On June 6, Wipro stated that Azim Premji, the company's Executive Chairman of over 50 years will retire this year after the completion of his term on July 30. His son Rishad Premji will succeed him. 
 
 
Premji, 73, has handled the company since he was 21, turning it from a vegetable oils company into a global IT powerhouse with a revenue of over $8bn and more than 170,000 employees. 
 
 
Philanthropy: Premji is India’s second richest man behind Mukesh Ambani, despite having reportedly donated two-thirds of his wealth to charitable causes.
 
 
Leading By Example: Premji’s employees were all praises for the man, with many of them calling him a source of inspiration, both in business and philanthropy.  He gave full reign and space to his staff, and even acknowledged that it was their decisions that had made the company successful in a letter announcing his retirement.
 
 
 
 TECH 

 
ShareChat may raise $100m from Twitter and Hillhouse Capital. Facebook plans to unveil cryptocurrency “Libra” on June 18.
 
 
New Investors: Indian regional language social platform ShareChat may raise $100m at a valuation of $600m-$650m from new investors, Twitter and investment management firm Hillhouse Capital, backed by other existing investors, including Xiaomi, Shunwei Capital and Morningside Venture Capital.
 
 
As per reports, Twitter is likely to invest more than $50m in ShareChat's part of the deal. 

 
Benefits: ShareChat, a platform that allows users to create, discover, and share content with each other is accessible in 18 languages and had over 8 million daily active users by the end of 2018. With ShareChat’s strength being its popularity in Tier 2 and 3 cities, the investment may help Twitter to further expand its market share in India, beyond the metro cities.

 
Codename “Libra”: Facebook has scheduled a white paper release on June 18to reveal details about its cryptocurrency, Libra. 

 
The launch of “Libra” could unlock a new era of commerce and payments for the social network. It could be used for low or no-fee payments between friends, for remittance of earnings from migrant workers to their families living abroad, as a cheaper alternative to credit cards in traditional e-commerce, and for facilitating micro transactions or tipping of content creators.