Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) Tightens Investment Rules For Shadow Banks From Financial Action Task Force Non-Compliant Jurisdictions

Reserve Bank of India said on Friday new investors who operate from jurisdictions not in compliance with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) must hold less than 20% of the voting power in non-banking finance companies (NBFCs). In a bid to stop money laundering, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said investors from non-FATF compliant jurisdictions would not be treated on a par with those from other countries or regions. “New investors from or through non-compliant FATF jurisdictions, whether in existing NBFCs or in companies seeking Certification of Registration (COR), should not be allowed to directly or indirectly acquire ‘significant influence’ in the investee, as defined in the applicable accounting standards,” the RBI said. 

The move comes days after the central bank had proposed tighter, bank-like regulation of the so-called shadow lending sector to prevent the turmoil caused by the collapse of an infrastructure financing firm in 2018.

The RBI was closely watching investments flowing from Mauritius into Indian non-banking finance companies last year and had rejected several applications by NBFCs due to their links to the island nation.

Sources had said RBI was returning NBFC applications on the grounds that the parent entity of the proposed NBFC entity was not regulated or listed in the headquartered jurisdiction.