Religare Finvest defaults on an interest payment to NCD holders

Religare Enterprises on Tuesday said its debt-ridden subsidiary Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL) has defaulted on an interest payment due on March 28 for the non-convertible debentures (NCDs).

The company defaulted on an interest amount of Rs 2.41 crore, Religare Enterprises said in a regulatory filing.

As a result, four investors would be deprived of their interest due.

It is to be noted that the RBI on March 11 declined the restructuring of RFL with Religare Enterprises continuing as its promoter since debt-ridden NBFC has been declared as "Fraud" exposure by lenders.

RFL subsequently filed a writ petition before the Delhi High Court seeking a stay of operation of the aforesaid order besides other reliefs, it said. The Delhi High Court had stayed the impugned communication of the RBI dated February 11, 2022.

As advised by RFL lenders, it said, all payments of RFL need prior certification from ASM (Agencies for Specialized Monitoring) appointed by the lenders.

"Accordingly, RFL requested ASM for interest payment Certificate of RFL NCDs Series-36 to the eligible debenture holders which was due on March 28, 2022; however the approval has not been received," it said.

It was further informed that due to the aforementioned facts, RFL would not be in a position to pay the interest amount of the NCDs to the eligible holders.

Last month, RFL defaulted on interest payment to bondholders due on February 25 due to asset-liability mismatches.

RFL has been barred from undertaking fresh business as it is under a corrective action plan of the Reserve Bank of India since January 2018 due to its weak financial health.

The company has been in financial distress due to the alleged misappropriation of funds by erstwhile promoters Shivinder Singh and his brother Malvinder Singh. Multiple investigative agencies are probing the case of financial bungling of about Rs 4,000 crore.