Bank Nifty drops 3% in four days

The Nifty Bank index was down 0.71% to 21,875.50, declining for the fourth consecutive trading session.

The Nifty Bank index has fallen 3.09% in four trading sessions from its recent closing high of 22,573.55 on 16 September 2020.

Bandhan Bank (down 2.98%), Federal Bank (down 1.91%), IDFC First Bank (down 1.87%), Bank of Baroda (down 1.63%), PNB (down 1.47%), Axis Bank (down 0.97%), IndusInd Bank (down 0.56%) and RBL Bank (down 0.53%) declined.

Banks stocks came under heavy selling pressure amid media reports that almost all Indian banks were involved in a number of suspicious transactions between 2010 and 2017. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ) obtained a top-secret Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) prepared by Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which mentions these transactions.

Reports suggested that between 2010 and 2017, a number of Indian banks (public, private and foreign) helped facilitate transactions red-flagged by the US Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for suspected money laundering, terrorism, drug dealing and financial fraud. Indian banks reportedly received $482,181,226 from outside the country and transferred from India $406,278,962. These transactions were red flagged to the US authorities.

Separately, the media reported that Indian public sector banks (PSBs) reported frauds worth over Rs 19,964 crore in total 2,867 cases during the April-June quarter of the ongoing fiscal year.

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