Differentiated bank holdco norms on cards; Bandhan, IDFC First may benefit

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may consider adopting a differentiated strategy to implement a holding company structure for banks.

Lenders that do not have subsidiaries in insurance, asset management, and broking may be exempt from having a non-operative financial holding company (NOFHC).

In the case of those having operations in other non-lending domains, however, the banking regulator may insist on an NOFHC to anchor these subsidiaries.

Among mainstream or universal banks, IDFC First and Bandhan received their banking licences in 2014 and were mandated by the licensing norms to have an NOFHC. IDFC Financial Holding Company (wholly-owned subsidiary of