New
Delhi: The Indian government has introduced a Bill
in the Lok Sabha that seeks to stipulate minimum capital
requirements for all banking segments, laying down procedures
for the merger of non-banking finance companies with banks
and allowing banking companies to issue preference shares.
The
Bill also proposes freezing all regulatory exemptions
currently enjoyed by cooperative banks under the Banking
Regulation Act, thereby bringing the regulation of the
sector at par with that of commercial banks.
The
Banking Regulation (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions
Bill, 2003, also proposes to empower the Reserve Bank
of India to remove the chairman of a cooperative banking
society and to supersede the board of a banking company
or banking cooperative society.
The
Bill, which was introduced by Finance Minister Jaswant
Singh, was partly prompted by the recommendations of the
Joint Parliamentary Committee that had desired a level-playing
regulatory field for commercial banks and cooperative
banks.
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