ING Groep NV will become a mainly European bank following the dramatic overhaul of its business announced Monday, which includes spinning off its insurance activities and raising €7.5 billion in a rights issue, Dow Jones reported. "ING will be a dominant mortgage, savings and commercial bank in the Benelux and other parts of Europe, but also will keep its presence in growing Asian markets like India and Thailand," Chief Executive Jan Hommen told reporters. As part of a plan to satisfy E.U.

India’s central bank took the first step toward withdrawing its record monetary stimulus as inflation pressures build, ordering lenders to keep more cash in government bonds, Bloomberg reported. Stocks fell the most in two months after the statement spurred speculation the Reserve Bank of India will boost borrowing costs by year-end, eroding corporate profits. Today’s shift also signals intensifying global concern about consumer and asset-price increases, with Norway tomorrow forecast to follow Australia in raising rates this month.

India’s Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee announced plans to borrow a record 4.51 trillion rupees ($93 billion) to fund budget spending on roads, power and aid for the poor, Bloomberg reported. Stocks, bonds and the currency slumped. Unveiling the budget for the year to March 2010, Mukherjee said India’s fiscal deficit is expected to widen to a 16-year high of 6.8 percent of gross domestic product from a revised 6 percent. Indirect taxes will be streamlined through a goods and services tax, he said in his speech in New Delhi today.

India’s Economic Survey today prescribed a new bankruptcy law for ensuring speedy disposal of insolvency petitions, the Business Standard reported on a Press Trust of India story. At present, the country does not have any separate bankruptcy law. But, the provisions of bankruptcy are included in the Companies Act, 1956.

Beijing is diversifying its overseas investments and pressing U.S. officials for an "exit strategy" from the ultra-loose fiscal and monetary policies that China fears will eventually inflate away the value of its U.S. bond holdings and fell the dollar. But China's pragmatic policymakers also know there is no practical alternative to the dollar as the world's main reserve currency.

The European Commission said on Friday that it had launched an in-depth investigation into the restructuring of Belgian-French financial group Dexia, Reuters reported. The Commission said in a statement it intended to make sure the restructuring plan would guarantee the long-term viability of the group, hit hard by the financial crisis. But the executive arm of the 27-nation European Union also authorised guarantees worth $16.9 billion from the Belgian and French governments to aid in the sale of FSA, the bank's U.S. subsidiary.

Australia’s ailing car industry has taken another blow, with Albury manufacturer Drivetrain International Systems falling into receivership with debts of $30 million to $40 million, SmartCompany.com.au reported. Production has been suspended for a week, with the company’s 400 workers stood down. Receivers and manager Stephen Longley from PricewaterhouseCooopers will assess the company’s financial position and attempt to sell the business as a going concern. Production is expected to resume next week in a reduced form.

The Bombay High Court has rejected an application made by IDBI Bank and ICICI Bank seeking appointment of a court receiver to oversee the administration of Maytas Infra, India Infoline reported. The report stated that Maytas is carrying out 62 infrastructure projects and has Rs40.45 billion debt outstanding, in term loans and working capital facilities from various banks. Maytas' financial health and its ability to complete the ongoing projects is crucial for the banks, report adds. On February 9, a HC judge had refused to grant ad-interim relief sought by the two banks.

India's capital markets regulator Monday said it has received a request from the board of Satyam Computer Services Ltd. to ease rules relating to open offer pricing. Such a change, if granted, could pave the way for a takeover of the software exporter, The Wall Street Journal reported. The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India told reporters that SEBI recognizes that there is a need to amend pricing norms for open offers to suit all situations.

Satyam Computer Services Ltd. said it can keep operating in the wake of revelations its former chairman faked results--but it is strapped for cash and its investigation into the true state of its finances is being hampered by the absence of the chief financial officer, who has tendered his resignation. The chairman of the Securities & Exchange Board of India said officials from the markets regulator started arriving at Satyam Thursday to begin their probe, The Wall Street Journal reported.