Crisis-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank's takeover by the Unity Small Finance Bank (USFBL) came into effect on Tuesday, with the government notifying the scheme of amalgamation. PMC Bank branches will operate as USFBL branches from Tuesday onwards, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a statement on Tuesday. The takeover comes into force little over two years after the RBI superseded the board of the PMC Bank after financial irregularities came to light.
Mired in corruption, politics and with a history of suicides by its hapless depositors, PMC Bank's revival is a challenge very different from Yes Bank and LVB, both for the regulator and the rescuer, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
There will be different ways of returning the money, depending on the profile of the depositors and the amount, predicts Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Suitors for Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC Bank) may have to infuse additional capital of nearly Rs 750 crore so that the payout per depositor is more than the Rs 5 lakh sum assured by the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC). The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also slotted its board meeting on March 19 in Mumbai - a fortnight short of the current deadline to find a resolution for the beleaguered bank and the moratorium placed on it comes to an end. Sources close to the PMC Bank transaction said that the central bank wants the suitors "to go the extra mile so that depositors can get more than the Rs 5 lakh insured by the DICGC". This is also to ensure that the new owners of the bank - who are to be issued a small finance bank (SFB) licence - are serious and have deep pockets.
The Reserve Bank on Friday extended the regulatory restrictions on Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank by another six months till December 2021 to enable the completion of its takeover by Centrum Financial Services. Paving the way for takeover of the crisis-ridden bank, the RBI had earlier in the month granted in-principle approval to Centrum Financial Services to set up a small finance bank (SFB). "Taking into account the time required for completion of various activities involved in the process...the validity of the ...Directive dated September 23, 2019, as modified from time to time, has been extended for a further period from July 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, subject to review," the RBI said in a notification.
'Put the assets of PMC Bank and the personal assets of the HDIL promoters and head of PMC Bank in an escrow account and ring-fence it from the ad hoc action of the revenue departments and creditors,' recommends Debashis Basu.
PMC Bank depositors have spent the last one year holding protests, meeting politicians, writing to various authorities in an effort to get their hard-earned money back.
Paving the way for takeover of crisis-ridden Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC), the Reserve Bank of India on Friday granted in-principle approval to the Centrum Financial Services to set up a small finance bank. Centrum Financial Services was one of the applicants for takeover of the PMC Bank. "This 'in-principle' approval has been accorded in specific pursuance to the Centrum Financial Services Limited's offer dated February 1, 2021, in response to the expression of interest notification (November 3, 2020) published by the PMC Bank Ltd," the RBI said in a statement.
The restrictions on Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank has been extended for another three months till the end of March next year. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has extended the restrictions as further action on the draft scheme for the takeover of the crisis-hit bank by the Delhi-based Unity Small Finance Bank (USFB) is in process. The central bank had prepared a draft scheme of amalgamation and the same was placed in the public domain on November 22 as part of seeking suggestions and objections, if any, from members, depositors and other creditors of PMC Bank and USFB.
While Waryam Singh was a non-executive director at HDIL, he is listed as one of the promoters of the company and had relations, including shareholding, with several other entities controlled by the Wadhawans, the HDIL founders.
A delegation of account-holders went to Sion police station in central Mumbai and submitted the complaint against officials of the bank on which the RBI has imposed operational restrictions. The delegation in its complaint alleged that at least 14 people, including the PMC Bank's chairman and all its directors, were involved in misappropriation of funds of the account-holders.
the three investors that have submitted their final bids are not commercial banks. Among the three, one is a non-banking financial company. Another distinctive feature of the revival is that PMC may lose its cooperative bank characteristic after its reconstruction.
The ED wants to question Varsha Raut with regard to "receipt" of some funds that were allegedly siphoned from the bank, official sources claimed.
Only when the RBI inspection started on September 19 did they realise that their game was up and one of them had sent a letter to the central bank, leading to the RBI crackdown, report Anup Roy and Subrata Panda.
Property of Rs 3,500 crore belonging to the company was seized by the EOW, a police official said.
The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Bombay high court order directing sale of bankrupt Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) to ensure the repayment of dues of crisis-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank. A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobe and justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant took note of the appeal of the Reserve Bank of India against the Bombay high court order.
They had gathered at Maharashtra government's Sahyadri Guest House nearby when they were stopped while moving towards Varsha, the official said.
Crisis-hit HDIL on Tuesday said that loans taken from banks including Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank were in normal course of business after providing adequate security cover and that it is ready to discuss with the bank to protect the interest of depositors.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said, "We are not inclined to entertain this petition under Article 32 (writ jurisdiction). Petitioner can approach the high court concerned for appropriate relief."
The EOW suspects a nexus between some of the accused and HDIL, whose mammoth loan defaults are said to have caused a liquidity crisis at the bank, leading to appointment of administrator by RBI and restrictions on withdrawal of funds.
Fraud-hit Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank on Tuesday invited expression of interest (EoI) from potential investors for investment or equity participation in the bank for its reconstruction. Subsequent to commencement of the normal day-to-day operations, it will be open for the investors to convert the bank into a small finance bank by making an application to the RBI, the lender said.
With the latest relaxation on withdrawal, more than 84 per cent of the depositors of the bank will be able to withdraw their entire account balance, the RBI said.
Customers of stressed Punjab & Maharashtra Co-Operative Bank (PMC Bank) will not get up to Rs 5 lakh insurance cover in the first lot as the multi-state co-operative bank is under the resolution process. Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) in the first lot will pay customers of 20 stressed banks except PMC Bank. For the first lot, the mandatory 90 days period concludes on November 30.
A key accused in the infamous PMC bank scam of Maharashtra was caught in Bihar while trying to sneak into Nepal, an immigration official said here on Thursday.
Sanjay Gulati, a resident of suburban Oshiwara, went to a protest march held outside a city court on Monday morning and had been under stress because of his deposit being stuck.
Police FIR reveals the bank had replaced 44 loan accounts of HDIL with 21,049 fictitious loan accounts. These 21,049 were actually not created in the core banking solution of the bank, but were mere entities in the advances master indent submitted to RBI for conducting its inspection for the year ended March 2018.
The Reserve Bank Officers Cooperative Credit Society, which caters to the credit needs of RBI officers posted all over India, has a fixed deposit of Rs 105 crore in the bank on which the RBI has placed various curbs for six months following revelations of irregularities.
'What is critical today in India is confidence of depositors.' 'If you have these kinds of problems spreading like this, the confidence level of a lot of people in the system gets shaken.'
This is the fifth increase in withdrawal limit since the bank was placed under its direct control with an administrator on September 23. Since then as many as nine depositors have lost their lives including a 74-year-old man from Thane on Monday.
The draft amalgamation scheme of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank with Unity Small Finance Bank (SFB) allowed quick relief to depositors with savings of up to Rs 5 lakh, but a long wait for those who had their nest egg with the scam-tainted bank. If the scheme gets approved, 96 per cent (or 880,000 of 924,000) depositors will get their full money straightaway after PMC is merged with Unity SFB. According to the draft scheme, retail investors may get up to Rs 5 lakh from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) instantly, and then some more in phases till they can recall their full deposits after 10 years.
Shiv Sena member of Parliament Sanjay Raut on Tuesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party was using central agencies to topple the Maharashtra government by targeting the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders and their family members.
The crisis at the bank is attributed to loans made to realty player Housing Development Infrastructure Ltd, which were allegedly hidden from regulators' scrutiny, turning non-performing assets.
Joy Thomas stated that one large account -- HDIL -- was the sole reason for the present crisis that led to the regulatory action on Tuesday when Reserve Bank of India superseded its management and placed it under an administrator for the next six months.
As per the RBI directions to PMC Bank, withdrawals have been capped at Rs 1,000 per account and the bank is not allowed to make any fresh loans.
In the aftermath of the PMC Bank mess which was in the RBI's highest rating of 'A' category, trustworthiness of these ratings may be up for a review.
The revised ceiling will be within the Rs 10 lakh mark.
Inching closer to resolving the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank issue, the Reserve Bank on Monday came out with a draft scheme for takeover of the crisis-hit bank by the Delhi-based Unity Small Finance Bank (USFB). The draft scheme of amalgamation envisages takeover of the assets and liabilities of PMC Bank, including deposits, by USFB, thus giving a greater degree of protection for the depositors, the RBI said. In September 2019, the RBI had superseded the board of PMC Bank and placed it under regulatory restrictions, including cap on withdrawals by its customers, after detection of certain financial irregularities, hiding and misreporting of loans given to real estate developer HDIL.
Explaining the modus operandi of the case, the FIR said HDIL promoters allegedly colluded with the bank management, to draw loans from the bank's Bhandup branch. Despite non-payment, the bank officials did not classify the loans as NPA and intentionally hid the information about the same from RBI.
With this relaxation more than 77 per cent of the depositors will be able to withdraw their entire account balance.
Nirmala Sitharaman said in Lok Sabha that in case of medical emergencies, marriages and other crisis situations, a depositor of the Maharashtra-based PMC Bank can withdraw up to Rs 1 lakh by invoking the 'hardship provisions' of the RBI.
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