Interest Rate Arbitrage

Arbitrage, within the context of financial markets, refers to the practice of trading on, and profiting from, a current or expected inconsistency in the pricing of an asset or group of assets. It is, in precise terms, leveraging on the difference between the price or the value of a security in two markets.

Considering the continuous rise of the US $ as compared to INR, Interest Rate Arbitrage is becoming one of the most potent tools used by HNIs, FIIs and NRIs to milk the interest rate difference between the US emerging markets like India

The rising dollar rate versus the rupee has created a lot of arbitraging opportunities. NRIs remit more to earn extra buck for their hard earned money. The basic fundamental here is to borrow money in dollars and lend the same in Indian rupees to gain from the difference in interest rates. The larger the difference, the possibility of earning may be higher.

The FCNR rate for NRI deposits has increased by 125 basis points (Libor+125 basis points) effective from November 23, 2011, thus encouraging NRIs to open deposits in India.

With domestic interest rates hardening even as fixed income returns fall globally , there is a sudden spurt in remittances from non-resident Indians (NRIs) seeking to arbitrage between local and international rates. Indians are borrowing overseas at low rates and are remitting funds in India for investments. As on June 30, total NRI deposits on various banks was pegged at $53 billion. With the rupee depreciating over 18% in the last six months, non-residents are getting more for the dollar than ever before

Banks to offer higher returns on NRI deposits to lure dollars

A runaway currency has pushed the Reserve Bank of India to make interest rates more tempting for NRIs to bring in dollars. As the rupee closed at a new low on Wednesday,RBI allowed banks to offer higher return on dollar as well rupee deposits parked by NRIs. Banks can now give 125 basis points over London Inter-bank Offered Rate, or Libor the benchmark rate in international money markets on foreign currency non-resident accounts against a mark-up of 100 basis points permitted till now.

On non-resident (external) or rupee deposits, the interest rate cap has been raised to 275 basis points over Libor, from 175 bps. “It will help to improve sentiment,” said Parthasarathi Mukherjee, president (treasury and international Banking) at Axis Bank. The six-month Libor is at 0.71%.

Earlier in the day, the rupee fell to a low of Rs 52.37 to the dollar, but recovered to an intraday high of Rs 51.75 on suspected dollar sales by the Reserve Bank of India. But despite intervention and the central bank’s move to lift the $100-m cap on banks for swap, the local currency ended at 52.37.
Such swap transactions, where corporates enter into deals with banks to swap rupee loans to dollar, banks sell dollar in spot market and buy in forward. But the market did not feel that this will help to increase dollar supply. Global stock markets plunged to a six-week low on Wednesday after China’s manufacturing activity in November dropped to a 32-week low, contributing to existing worries about US economic growth and Europe’s debt worries.

Tracking the weakness across markets, India’s key indices hit a two-year low as foreign investors dumped shares, unnerved by the uncertainty in the rupee’s slide which closed at a record low of 52.37 against the dollar. The Sensex dropped 365.45 points, or 2.27%, to end at 15,699.97, but off the day’s low of 15,478.69.

The Nifty fell 105.90 points or 2.20% to close at 4706.45. Brokers said several foreign ETFs, which are facing redemptions at home, were selling aggressively.
Stop-loss triggers at many hedge funds and foreign banks set off after the Nifty fell below 4700 mid-way through the session, precipitating the decline. But for the short-covering later, indices would have ended much lower. Foreign investors sold shares worth Rs 1186.42 on Wednesday, according to provisional data.

“Investors in India are more worried about the domestic events than the issues in the US and Europe. There is a total chaos in the currency market, with no uncertainty about where the rupee is headed,” said Sandip Sabharwal, CEO-portfolio management services of broking firm Prabhudas Lilladher.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday attributed the stock market crash to withdrawal of funds by foreign investors and depreciation of the rupee.

“The rupee’s underlying fundamentals still appear weak to us, especially the absence of yield support at this important moment for the currency. Indeed, there is the outside chance of an onshore USD squeeze being the catalyst which propels USD/INR to the 54.8 technical objective,” said Stewart Newnham and Yee Wai Chong, analysts at Morgan Stanley.

The decline on Wednesday pushed the Nifty below the 200-week moving average of 4776, analysts said. “This is a sign of further weakness in the market as this is a long-term trend indicator,” said AK Prabhakar, senior VP, Anand Rathi Securities. The MSCI Asia Apex fell 2.5% after the indications of weakening in China, the world’s secondlargest economy, came a day after the US cut its Q3 growth figure.

China’s preliminary HSBC manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index fell sharply to 48.0 in November compared with a final reading of 51.0 in October. The euro fell 1% after Belgian newspaper De Standaard said that the planned rescue of Franco-Belgian bank Dexia is unworkable.

The report triggered worries that France’s AAA credit rating may be under threat. Report said the European crisis is making it tough for European banks to access dollar funding in money markets. Euro/dollar cross currency swaps, which measure the cost of swapping euros into dollars, are at the most expensive levels since 2008, according to reports.

Source:- Economic Times

Banks flush with NRI deposits

With the rupee trading above Rs 50 against the dollar, remittances from non-resident Indians are surging. In October, the local currency was trading at around Rs 45. Banks like Kotak Mahindra Bank is witnessing a 40-50% y-o-y growth in remittances, while other smaller banks are seeing their NRI deposits growing by 10-30%. The spike in remittances is also partially attributed to the financial crisis in Europe and political unrest in West Asia.

With the rupee breaching the 50-mark, deposits in dollar accounts such as foreign currency non resident account bank schemes (FCNR) (B) have earned an annualized 40% return. To make it sweeter, such accounts can now be held in freely convertible currency. Currently, currencies designated by the Reserve Bank include dollar, pound sterling, yen, euro, Canadian dollar and Australian dollar.

Kerala-based banks have been the biggest beneficiaries of the remittance windfall. Nearly 21% of the deposit base of Federal Bank is accounted by NRIs. For the second quarter, the bank has seen a 30% growth in NRE (non resident external rupee account) and FCNR accounts. “Nearly 7% of pan Indian remittances come through our bank and the rupee weakening has given a further boost,” says A Surendran, head, international banking, Federal Bank. The bank is expecting a 30% growth in its non resident business this fiscal.
Similarly, the non-resident deposit business of South Indian Bank has grown by 20% for the half year ended September 2011. To top that, many Indian banks had offered a 9% deposit schemes at the beginning of the year and with NRO (non resident ordinary rupee account) rates pegged to domestic rates, banks saw a heavy flows into such accounts. For instance, Tamil Nadu’s Karur Vysya Bank has seen a 12% growth in its NRO deposits quarter-on-quarter this fiscal. “NRIs are resorting to arbitrage on account of a weaker rupee and better interest rates on deposits in India when compared to banks abroad,” says N Venkataraman, managing director and chief executive officer, Karur Vysya Bank.

Importantly, the role of NRIs in the Indian banking system has widened. “They are looking at multiple benefits and not just windfalls from exchange rate fluctuations. This includes opportunities for investment in real estate and mutual funds,” says Praveen Kutty, head, retail and SME banking, Development Credit Bank. DCB has seen a growth of 20% in non-resident deposits q-o-q this fiscal and nearly 10% of the retail deposit base of the bank is accounted by Indians abroad. To cash in on such investment opportunities, South Indian Bank has launched portfolio management services for NRIs in association with Geojit BNP Paribas.

“Unlike the previous generation, many of the present generation living abroad are looking to return to India at some point. They are making investments in apartments and so nearly 50-60% of their savings gets channelized to India,” says N Kamakodi, chairman and managing director, City Union Bank.

It’s also profitable to have NRI customers as the average balance maintained by such customers in savings bank and term deposits is much higher than their domestic counterparts. While average balances in CASA of Indian account holders are Rs 35,000, NRIs tend to park over Rs 1 lakh in NRO and NRE savings accounts.

 
Source:The Times of India

Advantage for NRIs

The Reserve Bank on Wednesday said Indians who have non-resident accounts in the country can now hold them in any currency which is fully convertible.

The move is likely to help NRIs/Persons of India Origin as it will give them more options in the holding of accounts, and lessen the risk from fluctuations in major currencies.

Earlier, FCNR(B) account holders were allowed to hold accounts in only certain currencies such as the Pound Sterling, US dollar, Japanese yen, euro, Canadian dollar and Australian dollar.

“…it has been decided that Authorised Dealer banks in India may be permitted to accept Foreign Currency (Non-Resident) Account (Banks) deposits in any permitted currency.

It may be noted that ‘Permitted currency’ for this purpose would mean a foreign currency which is freely convertible,” RBI said in a notification.“The Committee to Review the Facilities for Individuals under Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 in its Report has recommended that FCNR(B) accounts may be permitted to be opened in any freely convertible currency,” RBI said.

RBI also said that any citizen who was earlier residing in a foreign country can own or transfer property or other assets in that nation if it was acquired during the time of his residence there.

“… a person resident in India is free to hold, own, transfer or invest in foreign currency, foreign security or any immovable property situated outside India if such currency, security or property was acquired, held or owned by such person when he was resident outside India or inherited from a person who was resident outside India,” RBI said.In a clarification issued by it regarding repatriation of income and sale proceeds of assets held abroad by NRIs who have returned to India permanently, RBI said an investor can retain and reinvest the income earned on investments made under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme.The bank said that clarifications are as per relevant sections of the Foreign Exchange Management Act of 1999.

Source: The Hindu

Remit2India’s FXvoucher ‘the power to get EXTRA’ is back

Currency fluctuationshave been one of the prime concerns for NRIs when they look at sending money home. If one looks at the trend of the US$ in the past few months, it has been extremely volatile. From INR 44.5 in Feb’11 to touching highs of INR 49.3 a few days back against 1 US$, the fluctuations impact a NRI. This is true for most currencies and markets around the world. Compare that with the increasing inflation that has gone up from 1.5% – Feb’11 to 3.75% – Sept’11 in the US. The Inflation in India has also peaked to 8.43% in recent time thereby increasing the cost of living. NRIs who remit money to their family back home need to shell out extra, which becomes an expensive affair.The volatile nature of these currencies coupled with increasing inflation makes a NRI anxious to maximize his remittance.
At Remit2India, we understand this concern and to aid it, we have launched the FXvoucher- an assured way to earn EXTRA money. It helps a NRI gain 3 times as much back of the initial investment he makes. This festive season we re-introduce the FXvoucher with improved features and hope our NRI customers make the most of it.

Click here to purchase the FXvoucher

Surge in remittance as rupee hits 2-year low

With the Indian rupee continuing to decline against a dollar-pegged dirham, money transfer companies in the UAE recorded brisk business, with remittance volume surging by 20 pc over the past two weeks. On Wednesday, the rupee ended weaker after dropping to its lowest level in over two years as investors reduced their exposure to risk ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting, where it is expected to unveil steps to revive a flagging US economy.

The partially convertible rupee ended at 13.6 per dirham or 48.325/335 per dollar, 0.58 per cent weaker than Tuesday’s close of 48.05/06 and after touching 48.34 intraday — its weakest since September16, 2009. The rupee has declined almost 10 per cent since it recent peak on July 27 when it was trading at 44 per dollar.

On Wednesday, the rupee opened stronger at 47.99 per dollar and rose to 47.8375 driven primarily on expectation of robust dollar inflows, traders said.

A flagging euro and choppy domestic equities, which slipped 0.2 per cent in volatile trade, added to the rupee’s woes, and market analysts predict that if the eurozone financial issue persists, the Indian currency will cross the two-year low of 48.47 per dollar and head further south to hit 50 per dollar.

In 2010, remittances by the UAE-based migrant workers grew 11 per cent to $10.54 billion from $9.51 billion in 2009. Total expatriate workers’ remittances from the GCC rose to $63.75 billion in 2010 from $60.03 billion in the previous year, according the World Bank, reached $325 billion from $317.23 billion in 2009.

The International Monetary Fund predicted that outward remittances from the GCC, which has over 12 million expatriates, are estimated to reach $74.9 billion in 2011. India, the largest recipient country, in terms of both global and GCC remittances, accounts for roughly 50 per cent of money transferred from the Gulf, estimated to be between $25 and $30 billion in 2010.

Source: GulfNews

RBI relaxes NRI bank account guidelines

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed foreign exchange regulations to make it possible for Indian residents to hold joint accounts with relatives holding foreign currency accounts.

Under revised guidelines, non-resident Indians (NRIs) can open either a non-resident external or a foreign currency non-resident (B) account with their resident close relative on a “former or survivor” basis. The resident close relative shall be eligible to operate the account as a power of attorney holder in accordance with existing instructions during the lifetime of the non-resident relative. At the same time, NRIs have been allowed to include non-resident close relative(s) as a joint holder(s) in their resident bank accounts on ‘former or survivor’ basis. However, such non-resident Indian close relatives shall not be eligible to operate the account during the lifetime of the resident account holder. For the purpose of this regulation close relative would be as the definition of relative in Section 6 of the Companies Act, 1956.

Similarly, changes have been made in the case of exchange earner’s foreign currency account and resident foreign currency accounts (which are held by resident Indians who own foreign exchange). In both cases, joint accounts are allowed with residents who will not be allowed to operate the account during the life time of the account holder. The easing of norms follows suggestions made by a panel to review the facilities for individuals under the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.

Source: Times of India

Remit2India celebrates NRI Family Day

Remit2India, as part of its endeavour to build a bond with the families of NRIs, recently celebrated another chapter of its ‘Remit2India – NRI Family Day’ in Bengaluru. Known for being the pioneer in offering an online money transfer service for NRIs, the Remit2India – NRI Family Day was created as an occasion to celebrate & bond with the families who have their loved ones across the globe. Touted as an evening full of fun & entertainment, the event lived up to the hype with over 300 families in attendance. Held at the Palace Grounds in Bengaluru, it included live performances by Indian Idol star Rehan Khan as well as Bollywood actress Smiley Suri.

Also part of the evening celebrations was a range of activities from free health check-ups, tattoo artists, Tarot card readers, live international video chats etc. The icing on the cake was an elaborate spread of delicacies to suit the different tastes of the family members.

Speaking at the event, Avijit Nanda, President – TimesofMoney said “Every one of us miss not having our loved ones around. The Remit2India NRI Family Day is our way of trying to bridge the physical distance between the NRI & his family in India. We are overwhelmed with the response & really delighted to see the families having such a wonderful time”

The event would be extended to other cities. Key partners for the Bengaluru event include Clarks Exotica, Life Insurance Corporation, Mallya Hospital, Volkswagen, Chromozome Network, Jet Airways & Times Card.

Inheritance of agricultural land by NRIs

Indian Laws governing the investment opportunities by NRIs are governed by Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA), according to which NRIs and PIOs in India (non-resident Indians and Persons of Indian Origin) are prohibited from buying agricultural land in India. Under the general permission granted by Reserve Bank of India, properties other than agricultural land, farm house and plantation property can be acquired by foreign citizen of Indian Origin provided the purchase consideration is met either out of inward remittance in foreign exchange through normal banking channels or out of funds from the purchaser’s NRE (Non Resident External Rupee Account) or FCNR ( Foreign Currency Account) accounts maintained with Indian banks. The reason relating to the prohibition clause, about agricultural land is mainly to protect farmers from foreign conglomerates looking to buying up agricultural land.

Indian NRIs cannot buy agricultural land in India and this is applicable to the whole of India. Approval is required from the Reserve bank of India which one can assume is not easily available and this would depend only on individual circumstances. In addition to that, some State Governments in India have rules that allow only farmers to buy agricultural land in their State and this restricts even Indian citizens from buying agricultural land unless they come from a family of farmers. Therefore, one cannot complain that due to the above prohibition, NRI investment options have been mitigated. On the other hand, NRIs who have acquired foreign citizenship, are sometimes mislead into believing that they cannot continue to hold agricultural land as foreigners cannot hold agricultural land in India. But this is not all encompassing, because Indian NRI’s can continue to hold agricultural land or any other property they own in India provided they had acquired them legally before accepting foreign citizenship. NRIs and Foreign Citizens of Indian Origin cannot acquire agricultural land, even by way of gift. However they can acquire agricultural land by way of inheritance and an agricultural property or land thus acquired can only be sold to a resident in India and not to an NRI.

Just like every cloud has a silver lining, therefore, even if it seems like there are a lot of obstacles involved in the process of inheriting an agricultural land as an NRI, but eventually, the initiative generates one of the biggest advantages eliminating the hurdle of paying any inheritance tax for NRIs. Also, NRIs can sell the inherited agricultural land to a resident Indian, but they will have to pay capital gains tax on the sale proceeds. Once the tax is paid the remaining sale proceeds can be remitted abroad which again should not exceed 1 million USD in any financial year. Therefore, these are a few attributes an NRI must keep in mind while deciding on investment strategies to the best of their suitability. Therefore, the conclusion lies in the fact that, inheritance of agricultural land is not covered by the ban on NRIs, but in fact it is an exception to the rule.

Source:- blogs.siliconindia.com

RBI panel for hassle-free remittance, investment

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)-appointed panel suggested significant liberalisation of forex regulation to allow hassle-free remittances and overseas investments. ”To enable hassle-free remittances by resident individuals, banks may be advised by the RBI not to insist on the submission of form 15 CA/15 CB for any remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS),” the report of the panel headed by former RBI Deputy Governor KJ Udeshi said.

The report of the Committee to Review the Facilities for Individuals under Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999 said over a period of time, the FEMA rules now contain contradictory provisions and there is also a need to make definitions uniform and consistent across FEMA.

The committee is of the considered view that the procedural ‘knots’ in the system need to be untied to enable the present forex liberalisation to be effective and in the absence of untying of these knots, any further forex liberalisation will not be meaningful.

The report also noted that instead of an erstwhile single regulator (the RBI), we now have a multitude of regulators, each interpreting FEMA in his own way.
General permission, it said, may be granted to resident individuals to acquire shares of a foreign company in part or full consideration of professional services rendered to the foreign company or in lieu of Director’s remuneration.
Besides, it suggested, general permission may be granted to resident individuals to acquire qualification shares of an overseas company for holding the post of a director without the existing limitations.

It is to be noted that the committee was set up, following the announcement in Annual Monetary Policy for 2011-12 in May. ”Recognising the need for facilitating genuine foreign exchange transactions by individuals – Residents/Non-resident Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) – under the current regulatory framework of FEMA, Reserve Bank has constituted a Committee under the Chairmanship of KJ Udeshi,” RBI Governor D Subbarao had said in the Annual Monetary Policy for 2011-12.

The objective of the review was to identify areas for streamlining and simplifying the procedure so as to remove the operational impediments and assess the level of efficiency in the functioning of authorised persons, including the infrastructure created by them.

Among other recommendations, Indian resident employees or directors may be permitted to accept shares offered through an ESOP Scheme globally.
It also suggested that the Portfolio Investment Scheme needs to be reviewed in its entirety and there is no need for continuation of the existing scheme.

Source:-Business Standard