The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on July 28 penalised four cooperative banks in the Northeast for violating Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines.
The regulator fined Manipur-based The Moirang Primary Co-operative Bank Rs 1 lakh for violating KYC norms. It imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 50,000 each on Assam-based The Gauhati Co-operative Urban Bank and Mangaldai Nagar Samabai Bank and Meghalaya-based Tura Urban Co-operative Bank for non-compliance of KYC rules.
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All the four actions were based on deficiencies in regulatory compliance and not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers, the RBI said.
The RBI has been tightening its grip on regulated entities, especially cooperative banks, to ensure corporate governance practices and regulations are followed. This is largely to protect depositors’ interests and to ensure financial stability.
On July 20, an RBI committee recommended a four-tier regulatory framework for urban cooperative banks (UCBs) based on the size of deposits and their area of operations.
The bankruptcy of erstwhile Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC) had prompted the regulator to announce tighter regulations for these lenders.
The RBI on July 25 penalised three cooperative banks for not complying with certain regulatory norms.