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Purpose The disclosures in banks have become a matter of grave concern, especially post 2008 world financial crisis. The issue further gets exacerbated because disclosers in banks are part of the III pillar of BASEL-II floated in 1999, and despite that, banks face challenges in this regard. Ownership concentration (OC) is a point of discussion because it may affect banks’ corporate governance and transparency and disclosures (T&D) issues. This study aims to determine how OC affects the transparency in the banks. Design/methodology/approach A T&D index is built into the study covering all the relevant contemporary issues regarding disclosures in banks. The panel data specification is used to find out the association of components of the OC on the T&D practices in the banks. Bank data of 34 banks are gathered for four years for the study. Findings It is found that except for retail investors, other classes of OC are not concerned with the disclosures in the banks even though substantial financial and non-financial interests are at stake concerning them. The study’s findings suggest framing policies and regulations considering the accountability of promoters and institutional investors for ensuring disclosures in banks. Research limitations/implications A few proxies to measure T&D found in the literature have not been used in the study. Similarly, the definition of promoter’s class of investors can be improved. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other study builds T&D for banks and examines their impact because of the ownership classes (as used by the current study). This study is unique in this aspect.

Purpose This study aims to analyze the volatility spillover effects of crude oil, gold price, interest rate (yield) and the exchange rate (USD (United States Dollar)/INR (Indian National Rupee)) on inflation volatility in India.Design/methodology/approach This study uses the multivariate Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedasticity (GARCH) models (Baba, Engle, Kraft and Kroner [BEKK]-GARCH and dynamic conditional correlation [DCC]-GARCH) to examine the volatility spillover effect of macroeconomic indicators and strategic commodities on inflation in India. The monthly data are collected from January 2000 till December 2020 for the crude oil price, gold price, interest rate (5-year Indian bond yield), exchange rate (USD/INR) and inflation (wholesale price index [WPI] and consumer price index [CPI]).Findings In BEKK-GARCH, the results reveal that crude oil price volatility has a long time spillover effect on inflation (WPI). Furthermore, no significant short-term volatility effect exists from crude oil market to inflation (WPI). However, the short-term volatility effect exists from crude oil to inflation while considering CPI as inflation. Gold price volatility has a bidirectional and negative spillover effect on inflation in the case of WPI. However, there is no price volatility spillover effect from gold to inflation in the case of CPI. The price volatility in the exchange rate also has a negative spillover effect on inflation (but only on CPI). Furthermore, volatility of interest rates has no spillover effect on inflation in WPI or CPI. In DCC-GARCH, a short-term volatility impact from all four macroeconomic indicators to inflation is found. Only crude oil and exchange rate have long-term volatility effect on inflation (CPI).Practical implications In an economy, inflation management is an essential task. The findings of the current study can be beneficial in this endeavor. The knowledge of the volatility spillover effect of all the four markets undertaken in the study can be significantly helpful in inflation management, especially for inflation-targeting policy.Originality/value It is observed that no other study has addressed this issue. We do not find any other research which studies the volatility spillover effect of gold, crude oil, interest rate and exchange rate on the inflation volatility. The current study is novel with a significant contribution to the vast knowledge in this context.

Banks are facing varied issues worldwide. The existing set of performance measures of banks lack a cohesive and concerted approach for adequate fulfilment of the purpose. This study proposes a holistic view of the bank performance, which includes profitability, risk-taking (non-performing asset [NPA]), and regulation. It has been observed that Indian banks fare miserably in this litmus test of comprehensive performance measure. The meanest of the expectation that NPA should be affected by the regulatory mechanism is found surprisingly missing in the Indian banks. The existing literature has not taken a holistic view of bank performance, and therefore, the findings of this study provide enough impetus to all the stakeholders of the banks to respond. Policy makers and regulatory bodies can redirect both the banking governance and regulation so that the basic tenet of comprehensive bank performance expectations, as raised in this study, are met reasonably.

Financial technology is a powerful tool in financial infrastructure, used to strengthen and smooth the delivery of financial services into the broader space. Financial technology involves software, applications, and other technologies designed to improve and automate traditional forms of financial services for businesses established in different areas. The authors aimed to explore the impact of financial technology on the digital literacy rate in India, by utilizing the poverty score as a moderating variable. The panel data analysis (PDA) has been employed in the current study. Data from 29 states and two union territories (UTs) of India were considered for three financial years, i.e., 2017–2018 to 2019–2020. The study’s findings reveal that Kisan Credit Cards (KCCs), both in terms of numbers and amount, are positively associated with the literacy rate. However, ATMs are negatively significant in association with literacy rate. Furthermore, the study’s empirical results show that KCCs and ATMs positively impact literacy when interacting with poverty scores. The study’s findings bring noteworthy implications for the government and other officials to understand the situation at the ground level of Indian states and UTs while forming new rules and policies for society’s betterment, particularly in finance and digital literacy. Additionally, the findings imply that ordinary people living in urban and rural areas of India should take advantage of financial technology and get motivated towards digital literacy.