India Finance Brief

Weakening asset quality is an immediate concern for the banking sector: RBI's Deepak Mohanty
Central Banking
Despite showing "remarkable resilience and stability", the Indian banking sector has room for improvement and needs to take action to head off emerging risks, according to Deepak Mohanty, an Executive Director at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Mohanty highlighted five challenges facing Indian banks, of which, particularly serious was weakening asset quality, which he said was an "immediate concern for the banking sector".

Xpress Money offers free life insurance cover to Indian expats
Economic Times
Xpress Money in association with Union Insurance, one of the leading insurance firms in the Gulf Co-operation Council region, launched remittance industry's first free life insurance for Indian expats working in the region. Designed specifically to suit the blue collared population, this monthly renewable free life insurance scheme, is available to any person remitting money through Xpress Money.

QNB Group gets nod for India subsidiary
Economic Times
The Qatar National Bank (QNB) Group has announced that it has received all regulatory approvals to establish a fully owned subsidiary under the name of QNB (India) Private Limited, which is expected to commence its operations during the third quarter of this fiscal. "QNB (India) will take the role of extending consultancy and advisory services in the field of investment and finance for the Middle East companies that are willing to establish businesses and/or invest in India," the bank said.

City Union Bank to raise Rs 700 cr external fund
Business Standard
City Union Bank (CUB) is planning to raise Rs 600-700 crore from abroad by 2016-17 to meet its growth target. The bank is looking at different options, including the qualified institutional placement route, to raise the fund.