These penalty actions on 4 coop banks are based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, March 27, 2024: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by separate orders in February, 2024 and March, 2024 imposed a monetary penalty on each of 5 co-operative banks. These actions on these 5 coop banks are based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance, as per the press releases issued by the RBI on March, 27, 2024.
RBI has imposed monetary penalty on Rajapalayam Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Tamil Nadu; Excellent Co-operative Bank Ltd., Mumbai; Standard Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd., Aurangabad; Howrah District Central Co-operative Bank and The Mandi Urban Co-operative Bank
1 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated February 28, 2024, imposed a monetary penalty of Rs75,000/- (Rupees Seventy Five thousand only) on The Rajapalayam Co-operative Urban Bank Ltd., Rajapalayam, Tamil Nadu (the bank) for non-compliance with RBI directions on ‘Board of Directors - UCBs’ read with ‘Loans and advances to directors, their relatives, and firms/concerns in which they are interested’ and ‘Exposure Norms and Statutory / Other Restrictions – UCBs’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI, conferred under the provisions of section 47A (1) (c) read with section 46(4)(i) and section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
The statutory inspection of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2022. Based on supervisory findings of non-compliance with RBI directions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said directions.
After considering the bank’s reply to the notice and oral submissions made by it during the personal hearing, RBI found, inter alia, that the following charges were sustained, warranting imposition of monetary to the extent of non-compliance. The bank had (i) extended loans to the relatives of directors, and (ii) sanctioned loans to nominal members in excess of the prescribed ceiling.
This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. Further, imposition of this monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the bank.
2 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated March 07, 2024, imposed a monetary penalty of Rs1.00 lakh (Rupees One lakh only) on Excellent Co-operative Bank Ltd., Mumbai, Maharashtra (the bank) for contravention of the provisions of section 26A read with section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (BR Act). This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI, conferred under section 47A(1)(c) read with sections 46(4)(i) and 56 of the BR Act.
The statutory inspection of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2023. Based on supervisory findings of non-compliance with statutory provisions/RBI directions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said directions.
After considering the bank’s reply to the notice, RBI found, inter alia, that the charge of not transferring the eligible amount to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund was sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty.
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 with its customers. Further, imposition of this monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the bank.
3 The Reserve Bank of India (RBl) has imposed, by an order dated March 19, 2024, a monetary penalty of Rs50,000/- (Rupees Fifty thousand only) on Standard Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd., Aurangabad (the bank), for contravention of provisions of section 26A read with section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (BR Act). This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI, conferred under the provisions of section 47A(1)(c) read with sections 46(4)(i) and 56 of the BR Act.
The statutory inspection of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2022. Based on supervisory findings of non-compliance with statutory provision/RBI directions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said provisions of the BR Act.
After considering the bank's reply to the notice and oral submissions made by it during the personal hearing, RBI found, inter alia, that the charge of not transferring eligible amount to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund within due date was sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty.
This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. Further, imposition of this monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the bank.
4 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated March 19, 2024, imposed a monetary penalty of Rs1.00 lakh (Rupees One lakh only) on The Howrah District Central Co-operative Bank Ltd., Howrah (the bank) for non-compliance with the directions issued by RBI on ‘Know Your Customer (KYC) Directions, 2016’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI, conferred under section 47A (1) (c) read with sections 46(4) (i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
The statutory inspection of the bank was conducted by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2023. Based on supervisory findings of non-compliance with RBI directions and related correspondence in that regard a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said directions.
After considering the bank’s reply to the notice, additional submissions made by it and oral submissions made during the personal hearing, RBI found, inter alia, that the following charges against the bank were sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty. The bank had (i) failed to undertake periodic updation of KYC of customer accounts, and ii) failed to put in place a system of risk categorisation of accounts.
This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. Further, imposition of this monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the bank.
5 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has by an order dated March 05, 2024 imposed, a monetary penalty of Rs6.00 lakh (Rupees Six lakh only) on The Mandi Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd., Mandi, Himachal Pradesh (the bank) for non-compliance with certain provisions of RBI directions on ‘Placement of Deposits with Other Banks by Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs)’. This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers vested in RBI, conferred under the provisions of section 47A(1)(c) read with sections 46 (4)(i) and 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949.
The select scope inspection of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2022. Based on supervisory findings of non-compliance with RBI directions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said directions.
After considering the bank’s reply to the notice, RBI found, inter alia, that the charge of breaching prudential inter-bank exposure limit on a gross as well as counterparty basis was sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty.
This action is based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. Further, imposition of this monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the bank.
