Banking Secy to meet RBI Dy Governor today

Will take a call on course of action with regard to allegations of money laundering by staffers of three private sector banks

Financial Services Secretary Rajiv Takru will meet a deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), among other officials today, to take a call on the course of action with regard to allegations of money laundering by staffers of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank.

Officials said RBI had 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 H R Khan had said the central bank was initiating action against these banks. "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.

These three banks, the largest in the private sector, were last month named by online portal Cobrapost for money laundering.

The sting operation conducted by the portal seemed to show 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 would be taken to strengthen the banking system.