RBI proposes to lower the ceiling on bank’s lending to a single corporate group

30 Mar 2015 Evaluate

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its discussion paper on ‘Large Exposures Framework and Enhancing Credit Supply through Market Mechanism' has proposed to lower the ceiling on how much a bank can lend to a single corporate group, in a move to curb risks in the banking sector at a time when NPAs (non-performing assets) in the banking sector are on the rise. According to the central bank, Indian banks on an average have Tier I and Tier II capital in the ratio of 70:30.

Under the proposal of the RBI, banks can lend up to 25 per cent of their core capital to a single corporate group, while currently, they have been given flexibility, with riders though, to lend up to 55 per cent of their core capital to a single corporate group. Through its new proposal the RBI also wants to align its lending caps to companies with the 25 per cent norm set by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, which comes into effect from January 1, 2019.

The central bank also said that it would consider setting a minimum percentage of capital requirements that companies must raise from corporate bond and commercial paper markets, saying the corporate sector had become too dependent on banks for their financial needs. It further added that it is important to have alternate sources of funding for the corporate sector, both to finance growth, de-risk the balance sheets of banks and also to strengthen balance sheets of investors as well as issuers.

In its discussion paper the RBI has proposed that large corporate borrowers enjoying working capital (fund-based) limits above a certain threshold from the banking system should necessarily meet a minimum prescribed percentage of their working capital requirements from the commercial paper market and this percentage could be progressively increased.

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