Business
Western Alliance CEO says alleged loan fraud is ‘incredibly frustrating’ but isolated issue
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Western Alliance, one of the regional banks at the center of concerns over loans made to non-bank financial players, said Wednesday it believes the loan that sparked last week’s selloff is an isolated case.
The bank reported third-quarter earnings Tuesday afternoon and noted it had set aside $30 million in reserves for possible losses on a $98 million loan made to the Cantor Group. Last week, Western Alliance disclosed that it had sued the borrowers behind the Cantor Group for alleged fraud related to the collateral for the loans.
“While incredibly frustrating, we believe this is a one-off issue in our note finance business and have adjusted our onboarding and ongoing portfolio monitoring practices,” Western Alliance CEO Kenneth Vecchione told analysts on Wednesday.
Shares of Western Alliance rose almost 2% in midday trading.
Regional banks are getting a reprieve this week after Western Alliance and Zions, which also had exposure to the alleged loan fraud, reported results that didn’t include any new loan meltdowns. Each of the banks posted rising hauls from net interest income on lower funding costs, while some of their metrics around credit quality actually improved from previous quarters.
The Cantor Group episode forced Western Alliance to review other loans in its note finance portfolio, Vecchione said Wednesday.
“Today we have reverified titles and liens for all notes greater than $10 million and have found no irregularities,” he said.
Analysts grilled Vecchione during the Wednesday call for more details around the bank’s loan collateral and lending to non-depository financial institutions, or NDFIs.
“What are you doing to validate your collateral and safeguard against future frauds?” Autonomous Research analyst Casey Haire asked. “It just seems like as long as you’re not afraid to go to jail, it seems easy to double pledge collateral.”
Besides the recent review, Western Alliance periodically checks collateral to make sure the bank is still in a position to collect if the loan sours, executives said. Much of the bank’s NDFI book is tied to residential mortgages, which Western Alliance considers low-risk, they added.
‘Can’t unsee’
Western Alliance is also exposed to another recent blowup, the bankruptcy of the auto parts maker First Brands.
But in this case, a loan facility made to a fund managed by a subsidiary of the investment bank Jefferies “remains current, and we continue to receive principal and interest payments as modeled,” said Vecchione.
While this week’s reassurances have calmed markets for now, the sharp selloff in regionals last week is leaving a lasting mark on the industry. Shares of both Western Alliance and Zions plunged on Thursday after the banks disclosed problems with the Cantor Group.
Investors are ready to hit “sell” on any signs that the losses aren’t isolated, and share gains for the group will be capped for the foreseeable future because of these worries, said Timur Braziler, who covers mid-cap banks for Wells Fargo. He cut his recommendation on Western Alliance to “sell” on September 29.
“You can’t unsee these events,” Braziler said in an interview. “The timer for any kind of sustainable outperformance within the regional group has gotten reset once again.”
Mumbai: Indian stock markets opened sharply lower on Tuesday as investors booked profits after the recent rally.
Sentiment weakened further after reports suggested that US President Donald Trump may consider imposing new tariffs on Indian rice, raising fresh worries about unresolved trade issues between Washington and New Delhi.
The Sensex slipped 380 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 84,723 in early trade. The Nifty also moved in the same direction, falling 124 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 25,837.
“On the technical front, the Nifty now holds immediate support in the 25,800–25,850 range, while resistance is seen around 26,100–26,150, where repeated intra-day rejection highlights strong overhead supply,” experts said.
“A decisive breakout above this area will be essential for the index to regain upward momentum, while a sustained move below support may extend the ongoing consolidation,” they added.
The tone in the market remained cautious as major heavyweight stocks came under pressure.
Several blue-chip companies led the decline on the Sensex. Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, Trent, Eternal, Reliance Industries, TCS, Ultratech Cement, Tata Steel, M&M, Tata Motors PV, HCL Tech, and BEL were among the top laggards, with losses of up to 2.5 per cent.
Only Hindustan Unilever and Bharti Airtel managed to stay in positive territory on the 30-share index.
The weakness was visible across the broader market as well. The Nifty MidCap index dropped 0.64 per cent, while the Nifty SmallCap index was down 0.61 per cent.
Sector-wise, the Nifty IT and Metal indices were among the worst performers, slipping 0.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively.
The Nifty Auto index also fell 0.8 per cent, while the Realty index declined 0.6 per cent.
Analysts said that the market mood turned cautious as global trade concerns resurfaced, prompting investors to trim their positions and wait for further clarity.
Business
Musk’s Starlink lists premium satcom prices for India, then pulls them back saying ‘glitch’ made ‘dummy test data’ visible – The Times of India
NEW DELHI: Elon Musk’s Starlink on Monday announced inaugural prices for its satellite venture in India and, as expected, these were many times more than a regular high-speed broadband connection that is currently being provided by terrestrial providers such as Airtel and Reliance Jio.The company put a Rs 8,600 monthly tariff for its satcom services in India, with a hefty additional Rs 34,000 as one-time charge for the requisite hardware.However, as its premium pricing started to create hectic chatter on social media, especially when it’s still some time before it can launch services as the govt continues work on satcom spectrum allocation and its charges, the company withdrew the announcement from its website, blaming a “glitch” for making “dummy test data visible. “The Starlink India website is not live, service pricing for customers in India has not yet been announced, and we are not taking orders from customers in India. There was a config glitch that briefly made dummy test data visible, but those numbers do not reflect what the cost of Starlink service will be in India,” Lauren Dreyer, VP of Starlink Business Operations, said on X. “The glitch was quickly fixed. We’re eager to connect the people of India with Starlink’s high-speed internet, and our teams are focused on obtaining final government approvals to turn service (and the website) on,” she said.Earlier in the day, the company said its India services will “work in all weather” with an “over 99.9% uptime”. It promised that the services are easy to initiate. “Just plug in and start using,” the company said, while promising to provide “unlimited data” and a 30-day trial period.However, the prices – if true – would be a far cry to the dirt-cheap tariffs that Indian internet consumers are used to.On mobile phones, the price per GB of data is less than Rs 10, and monthly packages are under Rs 400 for unlimited 5G mobile data, for example on Airtel. For home broadband on optical fibre, the Sunil Mittal-led company charges just Rs 499 per for a connection which comes with a speed of 40MBPS. Not only this, at Rs 599 per month, they also offer 29 OTT streaming services. The installation charges for home broadband are just Rs 1,500 on Airtel, which itself is an advance payment and can be adjusted in future payments.On the other hand, Reliance Jio’s up to 30 MBPS speed entry-level plan for home broadband costs Rs 399 (excluding GST), with a one-time installation charge of Rs 2,500 (of which Rs 1,500 is refundable security).For Starlink, these are early days and despite giving out the consumer prices (though withdrawn now), the company is not in a position to talk about when it will begin services. This is because there is still no clarity on when the spectrum for satellite communications will be provided by the govt.There are currently discussions, and differences of opinion, between regulator Trai and the department of telecom (DoT) — the nodal ministry on communications matters — regarding the charges that satcom companies need to pay to the govt. Until these issues are resolved, there is no chance of a satcom service beginning consumer services in the country.Starlink, however, is in the process of doing the groundwork for beginning services. It has started hiring in India before services begin commercially while also starting work on setting up the requisite ground infrastructure. Also, it needs to get a final approval from the law-enforcement agencies regarding its infrastructure, including mandated interception and data privacy rules, before beginning any commercial operation.It is believed that while having an aspiration to build its business in India’s urban centres, Starlink will initially find higher takers in rural and mobile unserved areas, apart from specialised use cases in strategic areas such as defence, mining, maritime, and enterprises.
Last Updated:
After RBI cut the repo rate to 5.25 percent, HDFC Bank, PNB, Bank of Baroda, Indian Bank, Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra reduced lending rates, easing EMIs for borrowers.
RBI MPC Meeting 2025: Repo Rate Cut Today Latest News
After the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to 5.25% in its December MPC meeting, several major banks have begun reducing their lending rates. This will directly ease the burden on borrowers tied to MCLR, RLLR, RBLR and other benchmark-linked loans.
With these revisions, many existing customers can expect either lower EMIs or, depending on their loan agreement, a shorter repayment tenure.
HDFC Bank trims MCLR
HDFC Bank has lowered its Marginal Cost of Funds-based Lending Rates (MCLR) by up to 5 basis points across different loan tenures.
New MCLR range: 8.30% to 8.55%
Earlier range: 8.35% to 8.60%
This will benefit borrowers whose home or other retail loans are linked to MCLR.
PNB reduces RLLR
Punjab National Bank (PNB) has cut its Repo Linked Lending Rate (RLLR) from 8.35% to 8.10%, including the 10 bps BSP.
The new rate is effective from December 6, 2025, following the RBI’s repo rate cut.
The bank confirmed the update through its filing on the BSE website.
Bank of Baroda lowers BRLLR
Bank of Baroda has revised its Benchmark Retail Loan Lending Rate (BRLLR) to 7.90%, down from 8.15%.
This reduction will offer slight but meaningful relief to borrowers servicing retail loans.
Indian Bank cuts RLLR
Indian Bank has dropped its repo-linked benchmark lending rate from 8.20% to 7.95%, effective December 6, 2025.
The new rate will apply across the bank’s loan portfolio.
Bank of India revises RBLR
Bank of India has reduced its Repo Based Lending Rate (RBLR) from 8.35% to 8.10%, effective December 5, 2025.
The bank said the revision follows the RBI’s downward adjustment in the repo rate.
Bank of Maharashtra cuts home & auto loan rates
Bank of Maharashtra has gone a step further by cutting both home and car loan rates.
Home loan: reduced from 7.35% to 7.10%
Car loan: reduced from 7.70% to 7.45%
The bank has also waived all processing fees, reducing the upfront cost for new borrowers.
Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google. December 09, 2025, 06:30 IST
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