Indian banks eyeing overseas bonds to meet Basel III: RBI official

Says rules to allow credit enhancement for domestic corporate bonds likely to come by Dec

Some Indian banks are looking to issue bonds in overseas markets to raise capital under Basel III guidelines, a senior central bank official said on the sidelines of an event on Thursday.

Chandan Sinha, the chief general manager of the Department of Banking Operations and Development, also said rules to allow credit enhancement for domestic corporate bonds are likely to come by December.

Credit enhancement would allow lower-ranked borrowers to have ratings for their debt enhanced by third parties such as banks, which would provide some form of backing for the debt via, for example, additional collateral or insurance.