RBI withdraws permission to open Bandhan Bank new branches, freezes chief's pay

Kolkata, Sep 28 : Private-lender Bandhan Bank on Friday said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) withdrew its general permission to open new branches and froze the remuneration of the lender's MD and CEO Chandra Shekhar Ghosh till further notice as it failed to comply with a licensing condition.

"RBI has communicated to us that since the Bank was not able to bring down the shareholding of Non Operative Financial Holding Company (NOFHC) to 40 per cent, as required under the licensing condition, general permission to open new branches stands withdrawn and the Bank can open branches with prior approval of RBI and the remuneration of the MD & CEO of the Bank stands frozen at the existing level, till further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 a regulatory filing.

The Bank is taking necessary steps to comply with the licensing condition to bring down the shareholding of NOFHC in the Bank to 40 per cent and shall continue to engage with the RBI in this regard, it added.