The Reserve Bank of India plans to send officers from its regional offices to scrutinise transactions at those branches of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank where an online magazine captured on camera branch staff allegedly offering to convert clients’ black money into white.
A senior regulatory official said the scrutiny of past transactions is to verify the authenticity of the claims made in the undercover operation by Cobrapost.com.
“The RBI is vested with powers to check bank transactions. If there is any wrongdoing then it can even file a first information report,” said the official
Following the alleged expose on money laundering, the central bank is planning to further tighten the risk management and compliance norms for banks.
Meanwhile, shares of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank ended lower by 3.93 per cent, 1.67 per cent and 0.90 per cent respectively on the BSE.
Analysts say shares of the banks were weighed down by the money laundering allegations made by the online magazine.