After overseas pension pools and foreign portfolio funds, it’s now sovereign wealth funds that find India an irresistible investment destination. Governmentpromoted investment funds of various countries have invested close to Rs 14,850 crore during the eight-year period beginning 2000, according to a report released by the United States Government Accountability Office. Sovereign wealth funds are typically state-owned investment funds that have a global invesment horizon and are sometimes owned by central banks of countries.   more »

A recent RBI (Reserve Bank of India) Report shows that India private banks continued to expand their contingent liabilities, or off-balance sheet exposures, in line with the trend seen in recent years. Contingent liabilities of banks in India increased nearly 88.44% to Rs. 144.3 trillion in 2007-08 as more companies rushed to hedge their foreign exchange contracts to tide over the volatility in currency markets. This is over and above the 80.2% growth in off-balance sheet exposures seen in 2006-07.As a consequence of this significant rise in contingent liabilities, the total off-balance sheet exposure of private banks in India at the end of March 2008 was more than three times the size of their consolidated balance sheet.HDFC Bank, one of the most reputed and admired private banks in India, leads the pack with an exposure of 445% of total assets, followed closely by Yes Bank, one of the smallest private banks at 405% of total assets. In contrast, the largest bank, the PSU State Bank of India, has been the most conservative with its contingent liability exposure at 92% of total assets.   more »