Cobrapost expose: Banking secretary to meet RBI officials

New Delhi: Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru is likely to meet senior RBI officials on Thursday to decide about future course of action with regard to the allegation of money laundering by some staff of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank.

According to sources, RBI has detected systemic failure during an investigation carried out after the Cobrapost expose on money laundering by various branches of the three private sector banks.

Last week, Reserve Bank Deputy Governor HR Khan had said the central bank is initiating action against these banks.

“Actions are on the way. Scrutiny has been done, actions is being taken both in respect of systemic level and at the individual banks,” he had said.

“I will not be able to tell you the details but actions are being taken. Actions are being initiated both at the system level and the individual bank level,” he had said.

The country’s three largest private banks-ICICI bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank-were last month named by online portal Cobrapost for indulging in money laundering.

The sting operation conducted by the portal alleged that some bank officials had offered to launder unaccounted money by investing in insurance schemes.

Soon after the expose, Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao had said some corrective steps will be taken to strengthen the banking system.

“…I believe systems are largely safe. However, there is a need for some corrective action and based on the findings of the investigation, we will take corrective action” he had said.

PTI