SBI electoral bonds: The era of superior earnings growth in state-owned banks in India is set to end, as per brokerage firm Bernstein.  As per the brokerage’s report, a part of which was accessed by Republic Business, the brokerage firm has highlighted that Indian public sector banks may see slower earnings growth as compared to private lenders due to muted deposit growth despite aggressive pricing and lower liquidity buffers than private operators. 

Meanwhile, Bernstein downgraded shares of the State Bank of India to 'market-perform' citing limited upside, and raised its target price for the stock to Rs 780 from Rs 710 on the bank's willingness to improve its capital levels, multiple media reports have said. 

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea filed by the State Bank of India seeking an extension of the deadline to furnish details of electoral bond donors. “SBI is directed to disclose the details by the close of business hours March 12, 2024,” said the top court. 

The apex court rejected a plea by the public sector bank  SBI seeking more time to share details of individuals and companies who bought its controversial electoral bonds to fund political parties. The information sought by the apex court is already available with the bank and the same information should be shared with the Election Commission of India (ECI) "by close of business" on Tuesday, the SC said.

The SC has directed that ECI should compile the information and publish the details on its website by 5 pm on March 15, a five-judge bench of the SC ordered, "We place SBI on notice that we might be inclined to proceed on wilful disobedience of court order if it does not comply with the timeline given today," the court said. On February 15, SC had scrapped the seven-year-old election funding system that allowed individuals and companies to make unlimited and anonymous donations to political parties, calling it "unconstitutional".

SBI shares fall 2% 

The shares of State Bank of India (SBI) fell as much as 2.01 per cent to an intraday low of Rs 772.2 apiece on the National Stock Exchange on Monday, March 11, 2024. This fall in share price comes after the Supreme Court ruled against SBI in the electoral bonds case.