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Banking
Commission takes the road with first meeting in India
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| An exotic background
for discussing documentary credits |
New
Delhi, 11 December 2003
-- The ICC Banking Commission met in India for the first time this week,
with the revision of ICC's rules on documentary credits the top agenda
item.
Said Dieter Kiefer,
Banking Commission chairman: "It is important that we take the Commission
on the road so that those who use ICC banking rules, such as those on
documentary credits and collections, can have an opportunity to participate
in commission debates."
The New Delhi meeting,
attended by more than 150 delegates was the first opportunity for the
commission to have a full-fledged discussion on the revision of UCP 500,
ICC's universally used rules on letters of credit. The revision process,
which got underway early this year, is progressing steadily, but a number
of thorny issues remain to be resolved. Drafting and consulting groups
working on the text will meet throughout 2004.
The Indian delegates
included top figures in Indian banking, among them A.K Purwar, Chairman
of the State Bank of India; Nachiket Mor, Executive Director of ICICI
Bank Ltd; and Sudhakar Gande, Managing Director of Global Trust Bank Ltd.
A keynote speaker was Ms K.J. Udeshi, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI).
Ms Udeshi told delegates
that Indian lending rates were likely to come down once banks adopt the
new benchmark prime lending rate (PLR), which comes into effect from 1
January. She also underlined the importance of the fight against money
laundering, saying t
hat RBI was putting in place a set of rules and regulations,
likely to be ready in April 2004, to combat these practices.
Said ICC Banking Commission
Chairman Kiefer: "We left this conference with the sense that India
is a country on the move and that several Indian banks will soon be world
class players."
The meeting was under
the patronage of ICC India and its President, Onkar S. Kanwar, who is
Chairman and Managing Director of Apollo Tyres Ltd.
ICC
Commission on Banking Technique and Practice
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