Speeches & Media Interactions

Shri Ajay Bhushan Prasad Pandey, Chairperson, National Financial Reporting Authority; Shri M R Rao, Deputy Governor Reserve Bank of India; Executive Directors from Reserve Bank of India; CA Ranjeet Agarwal, President Institute of Chartered Accountants of India; Auditors and Chief Financial Officers from the Banks and All India Financial Institutions; my colleagues from the Reserve Bank of India; Ladies and Gentlemen. Good morning.

I am delighted to be here today to convey my thoughts on the issue of statutory audit of commercial banks and AIFIs. In many ways, we, as Regulators/ Supervisors and you as Auditors, share a common goal. Auditors play a very crucial role in ensuring the health of the financial system as they assist in maintainance of regulatory oversight by ensuring that the financial statements present a true and fair picture of the affairs of the regulated entity. The statutory auditors play a significant role in maintaining stakeholder confidence in audited financial statements and this is particularly important in the case of banking industry where the entire edifice is built on ‘trust’ and the biggest external stakeholders, i.e., depositors are fragmented and unorganised. Therefore, the Reserve Bank has a strong interest in promoting sound and high quality accounting and disclosure standards for the banking and financial industry as well as in having transparent and comparable financial statements that strengthen market discipline

I am happy to inaugurate the eighteenth Statistics Day Conference of the Reserve Bank. This annual event provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the current and evolving state of statistical system. It also helps us to take stock of the refinements in application of statistical methods and technologies in the realm of public policy.

Mr. V G Sekhar, Principal, CAB, Convenors of SLBCs, my colleagues from RBI, ladies and gentlemen. A very good afternoon to you all.

1. I am delighted to address you all today, the conveners of all our SLBCs. I understand that you all had a very purposeful engagement over these two days, dwelling upon various strategies and approaches that we plan to adopt in achieving our goal of strengthening credit delivery for an inclusive and sustainable growth. Having been once the Convenor for the SLBC in Telangana in my earlier role as a commercial banker, I can first-hand attest to the immense personal satisfaction it gives to make a difference in people’s lives through the SLBC forum. Indeed, over the years SLBCs have emerged as important instruments of change by catalysing synergies among stakeholders. Through the efforts made under the aegis of SLBCs across 

I am delighted to be here to inaugurate the second edition of the global conference on financial resilience organised by the College of Supervisors (CoS) of the Reserve Bank of India. The first edition of the conference was held last year in April and I had participated in the same. Since its establishment in the year 2020, the CoS has made significant contributions to strengthen supervisory capacity of not just the Reserve Bank, but also the supervisors from a few other countries who have participated in the various programmes organised by the college. My compliments to the Team CoS for their dedication in successfully carrying forward the objectives of the organisation.

I am deeply honoured to participate in the 79th meeting of the Executive Council (EXCO) of the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI). At the outset, I would like to express my profound appreciation for the IADI as a global standard-setter as well as an international forum for the cross-fertilisation of information and country experiences on practices and techniques relating to deposit insurance. The IADI is contributing significantly to building effective deposit insurance systems across the world, thereby strengthening public confidence in the banking system and ensuring financial stability.

Deputy Governor Shri Swaminathan, Executive Directors, Chairmen of the Board and ACB of ARCs, MDs & CEOs of ARCs, my colleagues from RBI, ladies and gentlemen,

I am happy to be amidst you today to talk about the crucial topic of governance in ARCs. But before I address the issue of governance, let me briefly discuss the importance of credit risk management and the critical role envisaged for ARCs – both in terms of legislative intent and regulatory expectations, in India’s financial landscape.

Role of ARCs in the Stressed Asset Management

We all know that books of our financial institutions are largely susceptible to credit risk as loans and advances constitute a large proportion of the asset portfolio. The credit risk weighted assets (credit RWAs), in fact, constitute around 80 per cent of total RWAs of the banking system. Therefore, any prudential regulation to safeguard the stability of financial system must remain alive to the credit risk in the books of financial entities, banks and non-banks alike.

Deputy Governor Shri Rao, Chairpersons, members of the Board and CEOs of ARCs, my colleagues from RBI and ladies and gentlemen. A very good morning to all of you. 1. I am pleased to address you today at the inaugural conference of the Directors on the Boards of the ARCs organised by the Reserve Bank of India. The theme ‘Governance in ARCs – Towards Effective Resolutions’ holds significant importance to the Reserve Bank. As you may be aware, the RBI has been engaging with its supervised entities regularly over matters of governance and assurance conveying the importance of strong corporate governance as well as the need to remain vigilant to ensure the continued stability of the financial sector. 2. ARCs enjoy a special place in the financial eco system by being the special purpose vehicles set up to help lighten the banking system from the high value NPAs and release the management bandwidth to the lenders for continuing with their normal banking activities. ARCs are also the specialised agencies for maximising recovery and reconstruction efforts. Today’s conference for the Chairpersons, Directors and Chief Executive Officers of ARCs is also a recognition of the important role of ARCs in the banking ecosystem. 3. A perusal of the score card of ARCs during the last two decades1 throws up a mixed bag. There seem to be more missed opportunities and less than optimal performance by ARCs in fulfilling the principal mandates under the SARFAESI Act2. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to highlight certain key aspects, where I believe ARCs can deliver superior outcomes that could be beneficial t

Deputy Governor Shri Rao, Heads of Assurance functions from Urban Cooperative Banks, and my colleagues from the Reserve Bank of India. A very good morning to all of you. The Reserve Bank of India has been engaging with its supervised entities regularly over matters of governance and effectiveness of assurance functions. We have had a series of engagements with the Boards of Directors of both commercial and cooperative Banks conveying the importance of strong corporate governance and remaining vigilant to ensure the continuing stability of the financial sector. We have also been meeting the heads of assurance functions, recognising the key role these functions play in ensuring the safety and soundness of the banks and promoting regulatory compliance. Today’s conference is an extension of our efforts to engage with assurance functionaries. Assurance functions namely, the risk management, internal audit and compliance functions play a very crucial role, as guardians ensuring the bank operates safely, ethically and within regulatory and legal boundaries. Assurance functionaries, by becoming effective gatekeepers, can give the required comfort to all stakeholders that the bank is on the right track, its systems are strong, its operations are reliable, and its risks are managed effectively. As conscience keepers of the bank, they are intended to detect and prevent any deviations or build-up of any potential risks, safeguard the reputation of the bank and help uphold the trust of its customers and other stakeholders. In the ever-changing landscape of banking, new risks constantly emerge. While traditional risks like credit, market, and liquidity risks remain signifi