RBI imposes penalty on 5 foreign banks for violating FEMA norms

Fines worth Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000 have been imposed against defaulters

The Reserve Bank of India has levied a penalty on five foreign banks for violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

Bank of America, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, the Royal Bank of Scotland and the Standard Chartered Bank were fined Rs 10,000 each. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank has been asked to pay a penalty of Rs 20,000.

The RBI said that it had issued a show cause notice to the banks after which the banks submitted written replies along with oral submissions. Based on these submissions, the regulator concluded that there had been violations of the FEMA Act and the banks were fined accordingly.