Analysis of the Greek Banking Markets - Free Essay Example

The word bank is derived from the Greek word banque or the Itlian word banco both meaning a bench at which moneylenders and moneychangers used to display their coins and transact their business in the market places. A bank is a profit seeking firm dealing in money and credit. It accepts deposits and keeps it under safe custody. Commercial banks are institutions that primarily accept deposits and extend credit to serve consumer and corporate needs for capital. It creates credit by making advances out of funds received and thus mobilizes the savings in the economy. Under the Banking Regulation Act 1949, banking includes accepting deposits from the public, for the purpose of lending or investment; and repayable on demand or otherwise withdrawable by cheque, draft, order or otherwise. Banks are a kind of depository institution. They play a crucial role in channelizing the savings into the economy and thereby provide scope for the economic growth of the country. Commercial banks and savings banks hold a large share of nations money stock in the form of various types of deposits and provide for their transfer to effect the payments. They lend these funds to consumers and businesses for a full range of purposes. Types of financial assets: Deposits Stocks Debt DEPOSITS: deposits can be made either with banking or non-banking firms. In return, the lender receives a certificate in case of fixed deposits and a checking account in case of savings/ current deposit. Interest is earned on such these savings deposits. STOCKS: Financial assets in the form of stocks represent ownership of the issuing company. This right gives the holder of stocks a share in the firms profits. DEBT: Financial assets in the form of debt create a financial obligation on the borrower to repay back the amount borrowed. The debt instrument is a contract entered into by the borrower of funds with the lender of funds, to repay the amount borrowed after a predetermined period and at a certain rate of interest. If an asset serves as a collateral to the borrowing, then the holder of the debt instrument will have a priority claim on the asset. CORPORATE BANKING: Corporate banks or wholesale banks normally supply capital for business ventures and construction activities on a long term basis. the products provided by these banks to their corporate customers can be broadly classified as: Fund based credit/ commercial credit: requiring immediate outlay of cash such as term loan, working capital loan, export packing credit etc. Non-fund based credit/ fee-based services: only in the absence of fund based credit does non-fund based gets converted into non-fund based. Thus, not requiring any immediate outlay of cash. CREDIT POLICY OF BANKS: The credit policy of a bank guides the lending activities of the bank. It lays down the rules and regulations that guide the sanctioning of loans. The policy is laid down by the top management and deals with the following: Exposure levels Credit risk assessment Credit appraisal standards Documentation standards Delegation of powers Pricing Review and renewal of standards Takeover of advances Besides the above, the policy deals with credit facilities to companies whose directors are in the defaulters list of RBI. The policy also lays down the norms of major and minor deviations and the authority for sanctioning/approving them. The policy also discusses different kinds of advances such as personal loans, export credit, advances to priority sector and maturity period of the banks advances. LENDING ACTIVITY OF THE BANKS Credit is the mainstay for any financial institution particularly banks. Almost 60% of the assets side of the banks balance sheet is credit. Credit management has two facets: Credit appraisal Credit monitoring Credit management is an embodiment of the banks approach to sanctioning, managing and monitoring credit risk with the aim of making the systems and controls effective. Banks are required to monitor the loans and also ensure that the loans do not turn bad. This is done by following the principles of credit management. Basic requirements for lending: Borrowers Constitution: The requirements of the borrower will sometimes be typical depending on the constitution of the borrowers account. The types of customers who happen to be borrowers could be individuals, partnership firms, companies, governments etc. Documentation: As part of the initial exercise during post sanction phase, the bank hass to obtain the details regarding the customer so as to bind him/them legally and enforce the charge. This is possible only if the bank keeps in force the documentation for the loan granted to the customer. Without keeping the proper documents in force, banks would not be in a position to defend their claims against customers in courts of law. But with the proper documentation in force, there will not be any problem in enforcing a claim by the bank against the customer in case of any default in repayment of loan or in the wake of any other legal issues. Credit Monitoring: The post disbursal period is very important for the banker since t he health of the asset is determined during this phase. Banks are required to keep a constant watch on the unit through the loan account after sanctioning the loan in order to ensure that amount sanctioned to the unit is safe, generates income and does not turn out to be sick. This process is termed as Credit Monitoring. The Legal Remedy: In the event of breach of terms, the banker will have the same remedy which is available to any other contracting person as the terms of sanction are enumerated when the banker grants financial facility to its customer under a valid contract. Such a remedy is none other than the enforcement through a competent court of jurisdiction. Credit Information: Specialized institutions known as Credit Information Bureau(CIB) (also known as credit referencing agencies) have been set up to function as a repository of credit information- both current and historical data on existing and potential borrowers. CREDIT APPRAISAL: Credit appraisal refers to the appraisal of the creditworthiness of a prospective borrower in terms of technical, economic, managerial and financial feasibility. Credit appraisal is mainly undertaken by banks in order to ascertain the repaying capacity of the borrower with respect to the installment of loan amount as well as the interest required to be paid on it. The main purpose of carrying out credit appraisal by banks is to keep their risk exposure in check. While lending loan to a prospective borrower there is a possibility that he might default in repaying back the required amount to the bank. Thus, credit appraisal assures the bank that the borrower has the capacity to repay back the money in time. Also, on the basis of the credit appraisal carried out by the banker the bank can change the limits to be sanctioned accordingly i.e. a borrower not having a very good track record might not be sanctioned the desired limits and rather lower limits.