Bank Strike Disrupts India’s Public Sector Banking: UFBU unions hit operations on Sept. 11, closing or partially closing many public bank branches and disrupting cash deposits/withdrawals, cheque clearance and admin work, while UPI and internet banking largely kept running; unions want a five-day workweek plus wage and pension fixes, with escalation planned for late September and beyond. Liquidity Surge Puts RBI in the Driver’s Seat: India’s money market surplus jumped past Rs 11 lakh crore after $136bn FCNR(B) inflows, prompting RBI to drain cash via VRRR, overnight repos/SDF and FX swaps, as bankers warn of “abnormal lending” risk. Tokenised Bonds Pilot Moves Ahead in India: SEBI’s “Demat 2.0” tokenised corporate bond pilot cleared three deals worth ₹1,025 crore, using DLT for issuance and settlement while aiming to speed up post-issuance servicing. AI Moves Deeper Into Financial Services: OpenAI launched a ChatGPT version for banks and investment firms using licensed market data (S&P, LSEG, Moody’s, PitchBook and others) and built for analyst workflows; Ripple also expanded governed AI agents inside its $1bn treasury platform with human authorization. Card Surcharges End in Australia: From Oct 1, card purchase surcharges are set to disappear, but banks may offset costs through higher fees and fewer perks. HDFC Bank Wins Bahrain AT1 Claims: Bahrain’s court rejected two more Credit Suisse AT1 bond mis-selling cases against HDFC Bank, ordering investors to bear costs. Goldman Sachs Opens Bellevue Engineering Hub: The firm opened a Bellevue office focused on AI and cloud transformation, adding a dedicated engineering footprint for 125+ staff.