Oversee audit reviews: RBI to foreign banks

Tightening regulatory norms, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today asked chief executive officers of all the foreign banks to oversee their audit reviews.

"The reviews [placed before the Audit Committee] may be put up to the local management committee or chief executive officer [foreign bank]," the RBI said in a notification addressed to chief executives of all foreign banks operating in India.

The notification also said that for all foreign banks operating in India, the CEOs would be responsible for effective oversight of regulatory and statutory compliance as also the audit process and the compliance thereof in respect of all operations in India.

The RBI said the banks should identify areas or aspects which, as per their assessment, require to be brought up for review. These areas may be incorporated in a policy and approved by the board or local management committee, it added.

The notification comes against the backdrop of Rs 460 crore fraud of at a branch of foreign lender Citibank.

As many as 34 foreign banks, including global leaders such as HSBC and Deutsche Bank, are operating in the country.