Espresso: Reserve Bank of India to pilot digital currency

RBI to pilot digital currency

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is evaluating the launch of general purpose central bank digital currencies (CBDC), said T Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor, RBI, on Thursday.

“RBI is working towards a phased implementation strategy,” Sankar said, at a webinar organised by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. The central bank is examining use cases that can be implemented with little or no disruption.

CBDC pilots in wholesale and retail banking segments are a possibility in the near future, he added.

Akamai experiences outage

Global content delivery network Akamai reported a service disruption for up to an hour on Thursday, caused by a bug in its Edge DNS (domain name system).

A DNS directs browsers to websites. The issue led to an outage, impacting several websites and apps globally. “A software configuration update triggered a bug in the DNS system,” Akamai said in a social media post.

“This caused a disruption impacting availability of some customer websites. Upon rolling back the software configuration update, the services resumed normal operations,” the company said.

Visa acquires Currencycloud

Financial services company Visa will acquire Currencycloud, a global platform that enables banks and fintechs to provide foreign exchange solutions for cross-border payments, for £700 million ($965 million).

Visa already owns a stake in the startup that offers a cloud-based platform, which is operational in 500 banks and 180 countries. Currencycloud is headquartered in the United Kingdom.

This is VISA’s second major fintech acquisition after it bought Swedish startup Tink last month for $2.1 billion. With Currencycloud, the payments company can grow its foreign exchange capabilities, and improve its “transparency, speed and simplicity when making or receiving international payments,” said Colleen Ostrowski, Visa’s Global Treasurer, in a statement.

Sterlite Technologies to acquire Clearcomm

Digital network solutions company Sterlite Technologies (STL) will acquire Clearcomm Group, a network integration company in the United Kingdom.

“The acquisition is a step towards expanding Sterlite’s network integration services globally,” Sterlite Technologies said in a stock exchange filing. Clearcomm enables the company to enter the UK and European markets.

Sterlite will first buy out 80 percent of the share capital (subject to customary pre-closing conditions) valuing Clearcomm at £15.5 million ($21.3 million). The balance 20 percent will be acquired in 2023.

“With the addition of Clearcomm’s network integration expertise to STL’s optical connectivity and data centre integration capabilities, we are uniquely positioned to help our customers deliver the most advanced, deep-fiberised digital networks,” said Anand Agarwal, Group CEO, Sterlite Technologies, in the stock exchange filing.

V-Mart acquires Unlimited stores

V-Mart Retail has agreed to acquire the Unlimited chain of 74 stores, which was run by Arvind Lifestyle Brands Limited at its book value, with an estimated outlay of about Rs 150 crore at closing.

It excludes certain contingent payments based on milestones achieved in these stores over the next few years, post the acquisition, according to a stock exchange filing.

The acquisition enables V-Mart to enter markets in the southern and western parts of India. “We have been opening around 50 stores every year, and look forward to maintaining this growth trajectory,” said Lalit Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of V-Mart Retail.

Q1 results: Ultratech, Wockhardt

Ultratech Cement reported a total income of Rs 12,034 crore in the first quarter of fiscal year 2022, a sequential fall of 16.8 percent. Its profit dropped 4 percent to Rs 1,700 crore in the same period.

“The economy was hit by an unexpectedly virulent second wave, which also marginally impacted cement demand,” Ultratech said in a stock exchange filing.

Healthcare company Wockhardt’s revenue rose 34.6 percent sequentially to Rs 861.20 crore in the quarter ended June 2021. Its loss for the quarter narrowed to Rs 6.58 crore, from Rs 106.84 crore in the previous quarter. Compared to the June quarter last year, the company’s revenue rose 42 percent.