RBI Fines Bandhan Bank For Not Meeting Promoter Shareholding Norms

The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on private sector lender Bandhan Bank Ltd. for not complying with the central bank’s promoter shareholding norms.

The RBI has also imposed a fine of Rs 1 crore on Janata Sahakari Bank and Rs 25 lakh on Jalgaon Peoples Co-operative Bank, it said in a separate statement.

The banking regulator has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1 crore on Bandhan Bank for non-compliance with the guidelines on promoter shareholding contained in "Guidelines for Licensing of New Banks in Private Sector", RBI said in a release.

This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) read with Section 46(4)(i) of The Banking Regulation Act, 1946, taking into account the default committed by the bank in complying with the aforesaid licensing guidelines and conditions, it said.

“This action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank,” the central bank said.

According to RBI’s promoter shareholding guidelines, Bandhan Bank was required to bring down the shareholding of its non-operative financial holding company to 40 percent within three years from the date of commencement of its business.

However, the bank failed to comply with the said licensing guidelines.

RBI said a showcause notice was issued to the bank as to why penalty should not be imposed for non-compliance with the said licensing guidelines.

After considering the reply received from the bank, submissions made by the bank during the personal hearing and the documents submitted by it, RBI came to the conclusion that the bank had failed to comply with the licensing guidelines and decided to impose monetary penalty on the bank, the regulator said.

While announcing Bandhan Bank’s September quarter results last week, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Chandrashekhar Ghosh did not reply to a question on by when and how he would reduce promoters’ stake in the private lender to 40 percent.

On Tuesday, Bandhan Bank shares rose 5.37 percent to Rs 623.50 apiece on the BSE while the benchmark Sensex gained 1.48 percent to end the day at 39,831.84 points.