Which of the following information is/are TRUE with respect to the changes made by the Reserve Bank of India in relation to the Small Finance Banks ?

I.The Reserve Bank has raised the minimum capital requirement for small finance banks to Rs 200 crore and permitted Payments Bank to upgrade as SFBs.

II.Issuing the revised guidelines, the Reserve Bank notified that for Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) desirous of voluntarily transiting into SFBs, the initial requirement of net worth would be at Rs 100 crore, which will have to be increased to Rs 200 crore within three years from the date of commencement of business.

III.Payments Banks can apply for conversion into SFB after five years of operations if they are otherwise eligible as per the guidelines.

Solution

The Reserve Bank has raised the minimum capital requirement for small finance banks to Rs 200 crore and permitted Payments Bank to upgrade as SFBs. Issuing the revised guidelines, the Reserve Bank said that for Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) desirous of voluntarily transiting into SFBs, the initial requirement of net worth would be at Rs 100 crore, which will have to be increased to Rs 200 crore within five years from the date of commencement of business. Payments Banks can apply for conversion into SFB after five years of operations if they are otherwise eligible as per the guidelines. As per the norms, SFBs are subject to most of the prudential norms that scheduled commercial banks have to adhere to. For instance, they need to maintain a cash reserve ratio (CRR), or portion of deposits to be set aside with the central bank, and statutory liquidity ratio (SLR), or the portion of deposits to be invested in government securities, as stipulated for commercial banks. About 75 per cent of the credit advanced by small finance banks will need to go to sectors that are considered part of the so-called priority sector, including agriculture, small enterprises and low-income earners. Commercial banks have to mandatorily lend 40 per cent of their net bank credit to such sectors.