Financial Institutions

Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI): It is regulatory authority of stock exchanges and protects investors from Fraudulent dealings. It was established in April 1988 and awarded statutory status by Act of parliament in 1992.

Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA) : It is apex body formed under Sec.4 of IRDA Act 1999 to  protect the interests of the policyholders to regulate promote and ensure orderly growth of the insurance industry in India

Financial Stability & Development Council : This is the apex financial regulator of our country. Headed by Finance Minister, it coordinates and regulates to four financial regulators of the country i.e. RBI,SEBI,IRDA and PFRDA to ensure that all of them operate and function in harmony to promote the growth and stability of Indian Economy.

Indian Banks Association (IBA) : It is the official association of all the banks operating in India. It acts as a bridge between banks on one hand and government and staff unions on the other. Presetly Mr. K.R. Kamath, CMD of Punjab National Bank is Chairman of IBA.

Non Banking Financial Company (NBFC): These are companies which have functions similar to banking like accepting deposits and making loans. However they do not have license for banking, although they are regulated by RBI.

Deposit Insurance & Credit Guarantee Corp.(DI&CGC) : It is a wholly owned subsidiary of RBI which provides an insurance cover of Rs.1lakh per depositor per bank in case of bank failure.It also provides guarantee of repayment amount in default of small loans given by banks.

Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC):  ECGC is a Govt. body which provides export credit insurance facilities to exporters and banks in India. It encourages Indian exporters by giving them credit insurance covers.

Banking Codes and Standards Board of India: It is a industry watch dog set up by RBI to monitor and assess the compliance with codes and minimum standards of service to individual customers, as prescribed by the RBI.

Credit Information Report: A Credit Information Report is a factual record of a borrower’s credit payment history compiled from information received from different credit grantors. Its purpose is to help credit grantors make informed lending decisions-quickly and objectively.

General Awareness Practice Questions for SBI PO Exam

1.    Recently “Ship of Theseus' named the best film in National Film Awards. Who among the following is the director of the film?

(1) Saurabh Shukla                                               
(2) Anand Gandhi

(3)  Aida El-Kashef                                               
(4)  Hansal Mehta

(5) None of the above

2.    Recently Book “Crusader or Conspirator? Coalgate and other Truths” is in news. Who among the following is the author of the book?

(1) Sanjay Baru                             
(2) Rajiv Pillai

(3) PC Parekh                               
(4) Yashwant Sinha

(5) Pullock Chatterjee

3.    According to RBI Guidelines, what fractions of the branches are mandatory to opened in rural areas by newly licensed banks?

(1) 15                                 (2) 25

(3) 35                                 (4) 45

(5) None of these

4.    Lee Kun-hee, who is facing an arrest warrant in a 4.1million dollar cheating case is chairman of ____?

(1) Nokia                           (2) Samsung

(3) LG                                (4) IBM

(5) None of these

5.    Consider the following statements with respect to the recently granted banking license by the Reserve Bank of India?

(A) RBI grant banking license to infrastructure financier IDFC Ltd and micro lender Bandhan Financial Services Ltd to start new banks.

(B) This approval will be valid for 18 months, during which the two companies will have to comply with rules stipulated by RBI.

(C) Chandra Shekhar Ghosh is the Chairman of IDFC Ltd and Rajiv B Lall is the Chairman of Bandhan Financial Services Ltd

Which of the above statements is/are correct in this context?

 (1) Only A  & B                                          
(2) Only B & C

(3) Only A & C                                         
(4) All the above

(5) None of these

6.    Recently who among the following has been appointed as the new Finance Secretary?

(1) Sumit Bose                              
(2) Vijay Seshadri

(3) Arvind Mayaram                     
(4) V.K. Murthy

(5) None of these

7.    Vijay Seshadri wins the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for his work ____?

(1) 2 states                                               
(2) The Goldfinch, 

(3) 3 Sections                                
(4) 11 Attacks

(5) None of these

8.    Which of the following countries  was formally accepted as a new member by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in a ministerial conference held in Bali recently?

(1) Uganda                                
(2) Yemen                   
(3) Romania

(4) South Sudan                
(5) None of these 

9.    Examine the following with respect to Exchange Earner’s Foreign Currency Account (EEFC):

(A) It is a facility provided to the foreign exchange earner (individual or company)

(B) The account holders are entitled to get only 50 percent of their foreign exchange earnings  credited to the account

(C) It can be held only in the form of a current with no interest payable ion it

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

(1) All the above                
(2) Only A

(3) Only B                         
(4) Only A & C
(5) Only B & C

10.  A bank draft can be issued by a bank accepting cash provided the amount does not exceed?

(1) Rs 25,000                    
(2) Rs 50,000

(3) Rs 75,000                    
(4) Rs 10,000

(5) None of these

11.  Banks have strict regulations to protect themselves as well as their customers and if these regulations are violated, banks levy penalty on the violator. Which one of the following will not be considered a bad money practice?

(1) Frequent ATM pin request

(2) Not updating change in personal and residential details

(3) Using Non-bank ATM machines more frequently

(4) Withdrawing over the minimum balance limit

(5) All the above

12.  Consider the following with respect to the much talked about health insurance cover, Obamacare, which came into effect recently in the US.

(A) Under the scheme, it is now compulsory for the people who have health cover

(B) Those who cannot afford the cover will get help from the state

(C) Those who remain without any insurance will be fined

Which of the above statements is true?

(1) Only A                         
(2) Only B

(3) Only C                         
(4) Only A & B
(5) All A, B & C

  

Answers:

1	2	7	3
2	3	8	2
3	2	9	4
4	2	10	2
5	1	11	5
6	3	12	5

Important Details about Nationalized Banks in India

Sl.NO	Name of the Bank	Chairman	Head Office	Year of Commencement
1	Allahabad Bank	Shubhalakshmi Panse	Kolkata	1865
2	Andhra Bank	B.A. Prabhakara	Hyderabad	20th November, 1923
3	Bank of Baroda	S.S. Mundra	Baroda (Vadodara)	20th July, 1908
4	Bank of India	V R Iyer	Mumbai	7th September, 1906
5	Bank of Maharashtra	Narendra Singh	Pune	1935
6	Canara Bank	Rajiv Kishore Dubey	Bangalore	1906
7	Central Bank of India	Shri. Rajeev Rishi	Mumbai	21 December, 1911
8	Corporation Bank	Shri S.R. Bansal	Mangalore	1906
9	Indian Bank	T.M. Bhasin	Chennai	1907
10	Indian Overseas Bank	Shri M. Narendra	Chennai	February 10th, 1937
11	Oriental Bank of Commerce	Shri S.L. Bansal	New Delhi	February 19th, 1943
12	Punjab National Bank	Shri K.R Kamath	New Delhi	1895
13	Punjab & Sind Bank	SH. Devinder Singh	New Delhi	1908
14	Syndicate Bank	Shri Sudhir Kumar Jain	Mani pal	1925
15	UCO Bank	Shri Arun Kaul	Mumbai	6th January, 1943
16	Union Bank of India	Shri D. Sarkar	Kolkata	11th November, 1919
17	United Bank of India	Ms. Archana Bhargava	Kolkata	1950
18	Vijaya Bank	Shri. H.S. Upendra Kamath	Bangalore	1931
19	IDBI bank	Mr. M.S. Raghavan	Mumbai	July, 1964
20	Dena Bank	Shri. Ashwani Kumar	Mumbai	1938
21	ECGC	Shri N Shankar	Mumbai	30th July, 1957