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Eye on consolidation of lenders, Banks Board Bureau holds first meet
The seven-member Banks Board Bureau (BBB) held its first meeting on Friday to discuss reforms in the banking sector, including consolidation of public sector banks and fund-raising plans.
The seven-member Banks Board Bureau (BBB) held its first meeting on Friday to discuss reforms in the banking sector, including consolidation of public sector banks and fund-raising plans.
Formed to improve the governance of public sector banks (PSBs), the autonomous body will recommend management and board-level selection of banks to professionalise their administration, and develop strategies and capital-raising plans without government interference.
Launched on April 1 this year, the BBB held its meeting at the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) Mumbai central office in the presence of RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, deputy governor SS Mundra and minister of state for finance Jayant Sinha.
Posting two pictures along with the BBB members on Twitter, Sinha said: “Excellent discussions at the Bank Board Bureau meeting today!”
Chaired by former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai, the BBB is a seven (part-time) member team, including Roopa Kudwa, former CEO of Crisil, Anil Khandelwal, former CMD, Bank of Baroda, and HN Sinor, former Joint MD, ICICI Bank and former chief of Indian Banks’ Association and Association of Mutual Funds in India.
In 2007, Rai, a Kerala-cadre IAS officer, had stood up against the UPA government’s farm loan waivers scheme, stating it would harm loan discipline and impair lending climate.
The BBB, originally proposed by the PJ Nayak Committee, will also serve as the precursor to a ‘bank holding company’, Finance minister Arun Jaitley had said in the budget. A bank holding company is likely to be a quasi-independent company that will hold all of the government’s stakes in public sector banks, and oversee their operations.
