4 banks face action for non-compliance of various RBI directions

Five banks, including ICICI, Yes Bank and Canara Bank, on Tuesday faced a total penalty of Rs 10 crore from the Reserve Bank for non-compliance with various directions. Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and Canara Bank have been penalised by the central bank for not complying with directions on global transaction messaging software Swift, according to regulatory filings by the lenders.

Allahabad Bank was fined for non-compliance of directions with regard to Nostro accounts. A Nostro account is an account that a bank holds in a foreign currency in another bank. According to the regulatory filings, state-owned lender Bank of Baroda was fined Rs 4 crore, while Canara Bank and Allahabad Bank faced a fine of Rs 2 crore each.

The amount of penalty is not material considering the size of the bank, and necessary measures for compliance with the said RBI directions have been taken, Allahabad Bank said in its regulatory filing. ICICI Bank has slapped with a fine of Rs 1 crore for the delay in compliance with directions related to Swift, the lender informed the bourses.

Yes Bank in a BSE filing said that a penalty of Rs 1 crore was imposed on it by RBI for non-compliance to directions on Swift. The RBI has directed lenders to strictly adhere to directions on the Swift system as Punjab National Bank was hit a massive Rs 14,000 crore fraud due to the misuse of the technology platform.

On Monday, six public and private sectors lenders have penalised with a collective fine of Rs 17 crore for the delay in implementation of directions with regard to Swift operations.

(With inputs from agencies.)