Small traders benefit from Banking Amendment Bill

Nwe Delhi: Shares in India's smaller private sector banks gain on hopes the banking amendment bill approved by parliament on December 17 will spark consolidation in the sector.

The bill lays the groundwork for non-banking financial companies to win banking licences, sparking speculation they could look to purchase smaller lenders to expand their footprint in the sector.

"We think there is a high possibility that many of the new banks could consider acquiring older, smaller banks with large distribution networks such as Karnataka Bank, Federal Bank, etc," Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a report.

Dhanlaxmi Bank gains 3.4 Per cent, Karnataka Bank gains 4.3 Per cent while Federal Bank is up 4.4 Per cent.