RBI imposes ₹58.9 crore fine on ICICI Bank

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a penalty of ₹58.9 crore on ICICI Bank Ltd, the country’s largest private sector lender, for failing to adhere to its directives regarding the sale of securities from the held-to-maturity, or HTM, portfolio.

“The RBI has imposed through an order dated March 26, 2018, a monetary penalty of ₹589 million (or ₹58.9 crore) on ICICI Bank Ltd (the bank) for non-compliance with directions issued by RBI on direct sale of securities from its held-to-maturity portfolio and specified disclosure in this regard,” the central bank said on Thursday.

“This action is based on the deficiencies in regulatory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers,” the central bank’s statement added. Banks hold debt securities in three categories, including held-to-maturity, available-for-sale (AFS) and held-for-trading (HFT).

Securities acquired with the intention of being held till maturity are classified under HTM.

If the value of sales of securities from HTM category exceeds 5% of the HTM investments, banks are required to disclose in the audited annual financial statements the market value of the HTM investments and indicate the excess of book value over market value.