Bank employees are planning for a nationwide strike to protest the proposed takeover of Bank of Rajasthan by ICICI Bank, said senior representatives of All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA).
C H Venkatachalam, general secretary, AIBEA told Business Standard that the three-day strike which was called by Bank of Rajasthan (BoR) employees, over the proposed takeover from June 17 to 19 has now been postponed to June 21, 22 and 23. “If we do not get justice, AIBEA, will consider having a nationwide strike on this issue.”
He said after the Reserve Bank of India imposed a fine on BoR against certain irregularities, Sebi had also imposed a ban on the transfer of shares by the promoters. “Then, how the did the regulator allow the merger,” he asked.
It may be noted, the promoters of BoR are embroiled in a regulatory storm and are under the scrutiny of both the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi),which had accused the promoters for misleading investors about the shareholding pattern of the bank.
In February, RBI had put a fine of Rs 25 lakh on BoR following a string of violations. It has also ordered a special audit of the books of the bank, after it found lapses in “corporate governance” and “disclosure norms”.
The 67-year-old private Bank (BoR) at present has 468 branches and about 4,200 employees. The bank’s current market capitalisation as on May 7, 2010 was Rs 1,253 crore.
