Page 12 - Banking Finance November 2022

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Centre raises rates on Swamy: Probe RBI officials with them. The regulator has sought
this information from these NCD issu-
some small saving plans for banking frauds
ers since listing agreements require
Amid rising inflation and higher fixed The Supreme Court agreed to hear the them to transfer all unclaimed
deposit rates, the finance ministry an- plea of BJP leader Subramanian Swamy amounts lying with them for more
nounced an increase of up to 30 basis seeking probe and prosecution of err- than seven years to the government's
points in interest rates on certain small ing RBI officials for their commission Investor Education & Protection Fund
savings products for the next quarter, and omission in various banking frauds (IEPF), officials said.
marking the first increase in nine quar- done by corporate honchos like Vijay
There have been instances of issuance
ters. Mallya and Nirav Modi.
of NCDs by registered entities, which
While rates on public provident fund, A bench of Justices B R Gavai and B V do not qualify as a company under the
the most popular small savings Nagarathna issued notice to the RBI Companies Act, 2013. Recently, Sebi
scheme, has been left unchanged, and CBI seeking their response on the received representations from certain
plea of Swamy who alleged that the
Kisan Vikas Patras and Senior Citizens entities that since they do not qualify
role of not a single RBI official was
Savings Schemes & PO deposits with a as a company, they are not required to
maturity of 2 and 3 years will see a probed by agencies in various scams transfer unclaimed funds to the IEPF.
running into Rs 3 lakh crore. He sub-
revision.
mitted that RBI's nominee is always
The finance ministry announced an in- Cheque bounce: Govt
there in the board of directors in a
crease of up to 30 basis points in inter-
bank and it is their job to keep a close mulls debits in other ac-
est rates on certain small savings prod-
watch on grant of loans of high counts
ucts for the next quarter. Amid falling
amount.
The finance ministry is mulling several
rates, the Centre had left small savings
steps like dipping into other accounts
rates unchanged due to high inflation
SEBI seeks info on un-
and the need to ensure stability amid of a cheque issuer and prohibition of
the Covid-19 pandemic. claimed funds opening of new accounts of offenders
to effectively deal with cheque bounce
Some of the changes seem to have Markets regulator Sebi has asked issu-
cases.
been guided by how banks have re- ers of all the listed non-convertible
sponded to the hike in policy rates by debentures (NCDs), entities that do not These suggestions were made at a
qualify as a 'company' under the laws, high-level meeting recently called by
the RBI with further increase expected
to disclose the quantum of unclaimed the ministry to deal with the rising in-
after a meeting of the monetary policy
committee. interest, dividend and principal lying cidence of cheque bounce cases that

12 | 2022 | NOVEMBER | BANKING FINANCE