The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) panel, in its latest report has stated that the government should cut its holding in public sector banks to below 50 percent. Criticizing the way in which the lenders are currently being governed, the panel has said that governance at the 26 Public Sector Banks (PSBs) suffers due to several ‘externally imposed constraints’ like dual regulation by the Finance Ministry and RBI and external vigilance by agencies like the CVC and CAG among others.
The panel further highlighted that if the Government reduces its stake to less than 50 percent, together with certain other executive measures, all these external constraints would disappear. Further, the move would also benefit the government as it would continue to be the dominant shareholder and create a condition for its banks to compete more successfully. The Panel report further added that the government should repeal the present Bank Nationalisation Acts of the 1970 and 1980, together with the SBI Act and the SBI (Subsidiary Banks) Act, and all banks should be incorporated under the Companies Act. Further, the report added that bank Investment Company should be constituted where the government holding in all the banks should be transferred. The panel also recommended the government to take some radical reforms to improve the selection process for directors in the state run banks.
Further, the panel also recommended expanding single investor shareholding caps to beyond the current practice by making a new category of investors called 'authorised bank investors' (ABI). As per the panel report, ABI should be permitted a 20 percent equity stake without regulatory approval or 15 percent if it also has a seat on the bank board. All other financial investors should be permitted to invest up to 10 percent in banks.
Indian banking industry is the most dominant segment of the country’s financial sector and plays an important role in the economic development of the country. Banks help to boost economic growth by allocating savings to investments that have potential to yield higher returns.
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