RBI bars Bandhan Bank from opening new branches

The Reserve Bank has restrained Bandhan Bank from opening new branches and also ordered freezing of remuneration of its CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh for not meeting the licensing conditions, the newly-launched bank said Friday.

The bank, on its part, said it is taking steps to comply with licensing condition to bring down the shareholding of Non Operative Financial Holding Company (NOFHC) in the bank to 40 per cent.

"RBI has communicated to us that since the bank was not able to bring down the shareholding of NOFHC to 40 per cent...General permission to open new branches stands withdrawn and the bank can open branches with prior approval of RBI and the remuneration of the MD & CEO of the Bank stands frozen at the existing level, till further notice," it said in filing to stock exchanges.

"The bank said it is taking steps to comply with licensing condition to bring down the shareholding of NOFHC in the Bank to 40 percent and shall continue to engage with RBI in this behalf," Bandhan Bank said.

As per the bank's website, it has 937 branches in parts of the country. The Bandhan, a MFI, was given conditional approval by the RBI for setting up universal bank in April 2014. The bank operational in 2015.

Headquartered in Kolkata, Bandhan, which started as a micro-finance company in 2001, received banking licence by Reserve Bank of India in 2014. 

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Besides Bandhan, the RBI had also given the banking licence to IDFC. Bank's shares closed at Rs 565 apiece on BSE, down 0.78 per cent.