Under Urjit Patel, the then RBI Governor, the central bank had a habit of making complete about-turns on various issues, including electoral bonds and digital payments, former finance secretary Subash Chandra Garg said in his book titled 'We Also Make Policy: An Insider's Account of How the Finance Ministry Functions.' Citing some instances of about-turns by the then RBI Governor Patel, Garg in his book said, RBI had done so on the electoral bond issue and it had so in case of setting up of Payments Regulatory Board (PRB). RBI also made unilateral decisions like ordering complete data localization for participation in the payment system, Garg wrote in the book which will hit the stands on October 1.
The Union finance ministry will meet CEOs of public sector banks to discuss issues related to cybersecurity in the wake of the Rs 820 crore (Rs 8.2 billion) fraud that hit Kolkata-based UCO Bank last month.
Defending the timing of Yes Bank's moratorium, Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday assured swift resolution to the issues concerning the beleaguered lender. "The resolution (to Yes Bank) will be done very swiftly, it will be done very fast. 30 days which we have given is the outer limit. You will see a very swift action from RBI," Das told reportters in Mumbai.
RBI had a board meeting recently.
The governor made it clear that the RBI is aware of what's happening and acts accordingly, but doesn't make a noise about that, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will meet top executives of asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) on Friday to take stock of the sector. During the meeting, ARCs will also seek clarity from the regulator on bank borrowing. While there is no regulatory ban in place, ARC sources said banks often refuse funding.
The Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-India), the national agency responsible for analysing suspicious financial transactions, has received requests from four more offshore crypto exchanges to operate in India again, said a senior government official familiar with the matter. In the beginning of 2024, India had banned nine crypto exchanges - Binance, Kucoin, Huobi, Kraken, Gate.io, Bitstamp, MEXC Global, Bittrex, and Bitfenix - for non-compliance with anti-laundering law in the country.
The Reserve Bank (RBI) resisted a 'raid' planned by some in the government to extract Rs 2-3 lakh crore from its balance sheet in 2018 to meet populist spending in run-up to general elections, Viral Acharya, who was deputy governor at RBI at that time, has written.
User protection and a proposal for a licensing framework for companies seeking to operate in the cryptocurrency area will be part of an upcoming consultation paper on the sector, said a senior industry executive. Even as specific regulations around crypto are yet to take shape, companies are setting up baseline user protection processes, including a redressal mechanism, fraud detection, regular filing of suspicious transaction reports (STRs), among others.
In a move to strengthen governance in private sector banks and wholly-owned subsidiaries of foreign banks, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday directed them to have at least two wholetime directors. Lenders that do not meet the requirement will have to submit the names for the RBI's approval within four months. Banks need prior approval from the banking regulator for the appointment of wholetime directors.
Duvvuri Subbarao recounts how his tensions with P Chidambaram and Pranab Mukherjee, then finance ministers, over monetary policy spilled over into other issues in the central bank in this excerpt from Who Moved My Interest Rate?, his memoir of his term as Reserve Bank of India governor.
'The BJP lacks a credible mass leader who matches Mamata Banerjee's popularity.' 'Given the division of votes among Opposition parties, the West Bengal government's dole-giving strategy, and the consolidation of the poor, significant sections of scheduled caste groups and Muslim minorities behind the ruling party, it will be difficult to dislodge the Trinamool from power.'
'We found certain banks having lakhs of such accounts with apparently no valid reason.'
Governments that did not respect the central bank's independence would sooner or later incur the wrath of financial markets, ignite economic fire, and come to rue the day they undermined the regulatory institution, Deputy Governor Viral Acharya warned.
'When there is no middle ground possible between the government and the governor, the governor has to go.'
The Reserve Bank on Wednesday said it plans to issue new bank licences around January, "consistent with the highest standards of transparency and diligence."
Policy with regard to the foreign banks is part of his five pillars of reforms, says RBI Governor.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday assured cash-starved Yes Bank depositors that their money is safe and the RBI is working on an early resolution of the issue. "I'm in continuous interaction with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The central bank is fully seized of the matter and has assured they will give a quick resolution. I want to assure every depositor that their money shall be safe. Their monies are safe," Sitharaman told reporters in New Delhi.
India's inclusion in JP Morgan's bond index can channel billions of dollars into India. How will the government securities market handle it?
If indeed we want the board to manage the RBI, probably the government should take a close look at the US Federal Reserve system which has a two-part structure - a central authority in Washington, DC, and a decentralised network of 12 Federal Reserve Banks located throughout the country, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
As deputy governor, Patel headed the RBI panel to draft the monetary policy report, which became the basis of the ongoing reforms at the apex bank
The report contains names of entities eligible for bank licences. It was not immediately known how many applicants have been shortlisted by the high-level advisory panel.
In the Union Budget for Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had held forth on the need for better governance and investor protection in the banking sector. She had proposed certain amendments to the Reserve Bank of India Act (RBI Act), 1934; the Banking Regulation Act (BR Act), 1949; and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970.
'So far as supervision is concerned, there are enough powers but to take action on public sector banks, consultation with the government is needed.'
Patel, 55, who took over as the 24th Governor of the central bank on September 5, 2016, had the shortest tenure since 1992.
'Trust your new governor,' Omkar Goswami advises RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya. 'Just because he is from the IAS and doesn't carry a PhD from a US university does not make him unsuitable for the task.' 'If anything, Das will pour oil on troubled waters, and save the RBI's reputation.'
As many as 80-85 per cent Paytm wallet users will not face any disruption because of regulatory actions, and the remaining users have been advised to link their apps to other banks, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Wednesday. The Reserve Bank of India on January 31 barred Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) from accepting deposits, credit transactions, or top-ups in any customer accounts.
The central board of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has opposed a government move to have control over the central bank's staff-related matters. The proposal to make staff regulations statutory and bring them under the subordinate regulation of Parliament was discussed at RBI's board meeting in Kolkata last week.
Given the pressure from India Inc and the banking fraternity, it is surmised that the portfolio rejig will take place before April.
Khara will replace SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar, whose three-year term comes to an end on October 7.
According to RBI sources, the government -- which appoints deputy governors -- is of the view that it will do away with the practice of reappointment to important posts like chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India, RBI, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development.
With concern on food inflation ebbing with the monsoon progressing well, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is warming up to the idea of a change in stance to "neutral" from "withdrawal of accommodation", according to economists. In his speech on Thursday during the annual event of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry-Indian Banks' Association, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said: "The balance between inflation and growth is well-poised."
A high-level panel led by former RBI governor Bimal Jalan, set up to decide the appropriate capital reserves that the central bank should maintain, on Wednesday finalised its report.
RBI chief banks on 'significant measures' to battle a 'significant crisis'.
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday said the country is at the doorstep of economic revival on the back of accommodative monetary and fiscal policies being pursued by the central bank and the government.
'India's emergence as a top crypto market comes despite a regulatory and tax environment that can be challenging for the industry to navigate.'
'The committee has been constituted. Different government departments and FSDC members are part of it.'
The Reserve Bank released a report on 'Banking Structure in India -- The Way Forward' in August 2013, which covered issues such as consolidation of large-sized banks with a view to have a few global-sized banks and the desirability and practicality of having small, localised banks as preferred vehicles for financial inclusion.
Central banking is a science, not an art, Tamal Bandyopadhyay tells RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.
The board of Zee Telefilms Ltd has recommended 55 per cent dividend for the financial year 2002-03 involving a total payout of about Rs 23 crore (Rs 230 million).