Many districts lack banking presence despite high level of economic activities: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Addressing banking industry lobby grouping Indian Banks’ Association, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asked lenders to augment efforts of deepening presence

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on September 26 said many districts in the country lack banking presence despite high level of economic activity taking place in those areas.

Addressing banking industry lobby grouping Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), Ms. Sitharaman asked lenders to augment efforts of deepening presence.

Giving the lenders the option to decide which place requires banking presence through a brick-and-mortar model and where a step-down presence would help, Ms. Sitharaman made it clear that she is not against digitalisation and efforts.

She said the banks’ books are much cleaner now and this will help the government as the recapitalisation requirements go down.

The Finance Minister also said the upcoming National Asset Reconstruction Company should not be called a “bad bank” as it is called in the U.S.

Banks need to be nimble and understand every unit’s need to achieve the $400 billion exports target, she said.

Clearwater Analytics Prices IPO Of 30 Mln Shares At $18/shr

Clearwater Analytics Holdings, Inc. (CWAN), a provider of SaaS-based investment accounting, on Friday has announced the pricing of the initial public offering of its 30 million shares at $18 per share.

The shares are expected to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on September 24, under the symbol “CWAN”. The IPO is expected to close on September 28.

The Boise-based company has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 4.5 million shares at the IPO price.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC are the lead bookrunners of the offering.

Ruh-Roh! Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s ‘Scooby-Doo’ Stunt Did Not Go Well

Conspiracy theory-endorsing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) turned to the cartoon “Scooby-Doo” to try to trash the Green New Deal on the House floor on Wednesday, and critics couldn’t believe the stunt wasn’t a parody.

“This is a simple meme that you would find on the internet but this meme is very real,” said Greene, pointing to a poster held up by an aide of character Fred Jones unmasking a baddie who turns out to be the emblem of the Chinese Communist Party.

“The Green New Deal, surprise, serves China and China only,” added Greene, who’s become something of a celebrity on the right for her peddling of racist and anti-science conspiracies and unswerving devotion to ex-President Donald Trump.

Greene’s aide then held up a meme of Chinese President Xi Jinping appearing to say, “I own Joe Biden.”

“Congress is no longer serious with people like this,” responded Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a fierce critic of the Trump administration.

Others agreed:

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European Economics Preview: UK Public Sector Finance Data Due

Public sector finances data from the UK is due on Tuesday, headlining a light day for the European economic news.

At 2.00 am ET, the Office for National Statistics releases UK public sector finance data for August. The budget deficit is seen at GBP 15.6 billion versus GBP 10.4 billion in July.

In the meantime, Swiss foreign trade data is due for August.

At 3.30 am ET, Riksbank is set to announce its interest rate decision. The bank is expected to hold its key rate at zero percent. Also, Sweden unemployment data is due.

At 6.00 am ET, the Confederation of British Industry releases UK Industrial Trends survey results. The order book balance is seen at 15 percent in September versus 18 percent in August.

At 8.00 am ET, Hungary’s central bank announces its interest rate decision. Economists expect the bank to hike its key rate to 1.75 percent from 1.50 percent.

Rolls-Royce agrees sale of Spanish unit ITP for $2 billion

LONDON (Reuters) – Rolls-Royce said it agreed to sell its Spanish unit ITP Aero to a consortium led by Bain Capital Private Equity for 1.7 billion euros ($2.0 billion), helping the British engineering company hit its 2 billion pound target for its disposal programme.

($1 = 0.8537 euros)

NordicTrack-owner iFIT targets valuation of nearly $7 billion in U.S. IPO

(Reuters) – IFIT Health & Fitness Inc, owner of the NordicTrack fitness brand, is looking to raise as much as $646.15 million through a U.S. initial public offering, valuing the company at $6.61 billion, according to a regulatory filing on Monday.

BlackBerry Q2 adjusted earnings Beat Estimates

Below are the earnings highlights for BlackBerry (BB):

-Earnings: -$144 million in Q2 vs. -$23 million in the same period last year.
-EPS: -$0.25 in Q2 vs. -$0.04 in the same period last year.
-Analysts projected -$0.07 per share
-Revenue: $175 million in Q2 vs. $259 million in the same period last year.

HNA's Hainan Airlines, other units to receive $5.9 bln in strategic investment – sources

BEIJING, Sept 27 (Reuters) – China’s HNA Group will receive strategic investment of 38 billion yuan ($5.88 billion)after its restructuring which will go to eleven of its entities including its flagship carrier Hainan Airlines, two sources said on Monday.

Gu Gang, the group’s party secretary and leader of the government-led working group addressing HNA’s liquidity issues, disclosed the investment at a meeting of its creditors, the two sources who were familiar with the meeting’s discussions told Reuters. He did not elaborate on where the investment was coming from.