- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has withdrawn its general permission to open new branches of Kolkata based private-lender Bandhan Bank as it failed to comply with a licensing condition.
- RBI has also frozen the remuneration of the lender’s MD and CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh till further notice.
- The Bank was not able to bring down the shareholding of Non Operative Financial Holding Company (NOFHC) to 40 percent.
- Bandhan Financial Holdings Ltd (BFHL), the promoting entity of Bandhan Bank, owned by Bandhan Financial Services Ltd (BFSL) currently stands at around 82 percent.
- According to RBI’s new banking licensing norms, any bank offering “universal” services will have to bring down the promoter holding to 40 percent in three years from the date of commencement of business.
- Bandhan Bank, which was the first instance in the country of a microfinance entity transforming in to a universal bank, completed three years of operations this August.
