As part of its fund raising plans, Union Bank of India is all set to raise Rs 300 crore in its upper tier.

The bank is expected to make a declaration on this in the coming days.

The bonds will carry a coupon rate of about 11 percent.

Recently, the banking institution finished raising additional capital to the extent of Rs 2 billion by issue of Hybrid Tier I Capital, Perpetual Bonds with a rate of about 11.15 percent.

The bonds are ranked as `AA+ / Stable` by CRISIL & `LAA` with Stable outlook by ICRA.

Mr. M V Nair, chairman and MD, stated, “This is a part of our plan to raise Rs 1,000 crore. We will be raising another Rs 500 crore lower tier capital by the month-end.”

Mumbai, Sept 10 : The new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, Dr. Duvvuri Subbarao, has said India''s inflation rate is showing some signs of moderation but, it is still too early to conclude whether it represents a discernable trend.

Subbarao, who took over from Y. V. Reddy on Friday revealed this at his first news conference on Tuesday.

Singapore - The Qatar National Bank has upgraded its Singapore operations from a representative office to a branch offering a range of commercial services and products, the bank said Wednesday.

Qatar's biggest bank and the first from the country to operate in Singapore said in a statement that it would offer such services as project finance, trade finance, fixed deposits, current accounts and corporate loans.

The branch was established as "emerging opportunities will boost the business trade between Qatar, Singapore and other Asian countries," the statement said.

Leading financial services group in Asia, DBS Bank, has announced the opening of its branch in Bangalore, five months after getting sanction from the RBI, to expand its footprints across the country.

The bank will stretch its products and services to multinational corporations, public sector undertakings, blue-chip corporates, SMEs and individual customers in the city.

Washington - In potentially the largest financial bailout in US history, the rescue of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was necessary to shore up an economy going through one of its worst crises since the Great Depression, US officials argued.

The decision to place Fannie and Freddie in conservatorship represents the government's most significant intervention to date in the struggling mortgage industry. A series of dramatic steps by the Federal Reserve to provide fresh capital have not been enough to keep the two lenders afloat.

London  - Banking shares led a strong rally on European markets Monday, following the announcement that the United States government would bail out the embattled mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In London, Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) was the strongest performer, gaining 13 per cent to 310.25 pence, followed by a rise of 26.25 cents for Royal Bank of Scotland and 37.5 cents for Barclays.

In Frankfurt the DAX index of the 30 top German shares clawed back much of last week's losses, with banking stocks leading the way.

Deutsche Bank was up 8 per cent to above 61 euros (87 dollars). All 30 shares benefited from the positive sentiment.