Regulating Commercial Banking

Detailed instructions on matters related to engagement of recovery agents have been issued to Scheduled Commercial Banks (excluding Regional Rural Banks) and Housing Finance Companies currently. Upon a review, it has been decided to issue comprehensive instructions to all regulated entities on conduct related matters in recovery of loans and engagement of recovery agents, which inter alia cover aspects such as fair treatment to borrowers during recovery process, conduct of lender’s employees and recovery agents, due diligence, training, code of conduct for recovery agents, etc.

Currently, instructions on customer appropriateness and suitability and other related matters in the context of insurance agency business have been issued to Scheduled Commercial Banks (excluding Regional Rural Banks) and Housing Finance Companies. Upon a review, it has been decided to issue comprehensive instructions on advertising, marketing and sales of financial products and services (including third-party products and services) to all banks and NBFCs, which shall include various aspects related thereto, such as activities of Direct Sales Agents (DSAs) / Direct Marketing Agents (DMAs), dark patterns, prevention of mis-selling, etc.

Analysis of the performance under the Citizen’s Charter during the month of January 2026 has been carried out, and the summary thereof is given below – Description No. of Applications A Applications pending at the beginning of the month 3,392 B Applications received during the month 19,850 C Referred back to applicants for additional information 477 Total (A+B-C) 22,765 D Applications processed during the month – Within timeline – Beyond timeline 19,932 19,916 16 (99.9%) (0.1%)

(Amount in ₹ crore) SCHEDULED COMMERCIAL BANKS (Including RRBs,SFBs and PBs) ALL SCHEDULED BANKS 10-Jan-2025# 31-Dec-2025 15-Jan-2026 10-Jan-2025# 31-Dec-2025 15-Jan-2026 I LIABILITIES TO THE BKG.SYSTEM (A) a) Demand & Time deposits from banks 271703.78 340111.14 334594.98 276454.35 347493.56 342296.21** b) Borrowings from banks 143463.79 84009.60 80440.83 143532.02 84135.04 80507.15 c) Other demand & time 

Reserve Bank had announced, as part of the Statement on Developmental and Regulatory Policies dated June 08, 2023, to issue guidelines rationalising the extant prudential norms for implementation of resolution plans in respect of exposures affected by natural calamities, inter alia harmonising the regulatory instructions applicable to different Regulated Entities (REs). Based on a comprehensive review of the existing regulatory instructions, including the scope, coverage and prudential requirements, the following draft Directions are being issued for public comments.

Please refer to the FMRD Master Direction No. 1/2016-17 - Master Direction - Risk Management and Inter-Bank Dealings and the Prudential Norms on Capital Adequacy Directions, 2025 applicable to the different Regulated Entities (REs) which inter alia specify the methodology for computation of Net Open Position and calculation of capital charge on foreign exchange risk. Reserve Bank has released today the following draft Amendment Directions which modify the aforementioned instructions.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has decided to grant ‘in-principle’ approval to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Japan for setting up a Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS) in India, under the Reserve Bank of India (Setting Up of Wholly Owned Subsidiaries by Foreign Banks) Guidelines, 2025. SMBC is currently carrying on

(Amount in ₹ crore) SCHEDULED COMMERCIAL BANKS (Including RRBs, SFBs and PBs) ALL SCHEDULED BANKS 27-Dec-2024# 15-Dec-2025 31-Dec-2025 27-Dec-2024# 15-Dec-2025 31-Dec-2025 I LIABILITIES TO THE BKG.SYSTEM (A) a) Demand & Time deposits from banks 291575.28 308549.36 337365.07 296174.25 315719.18 344747.49** b) Borrowings from banks 138334.17 83821.58 84013.30 138393.41 83903.92 84138.74 c) Other demand & time liabilities 26605.84 34245.87 32844.28 26928.62 34761.43 33323.55 II LIABILITIES TO OTHERS (A) a) Deposits (other than from banks) 22062591.24 24131870.09 24859857.16 22522348.55 24642171.83 25376795.22 i) Demand 2569572.55 2919952.48 3275197.79 2617452.24 2971583.16 3328280.24 ii) Time 19493018.69 21211917.61 21584659.37 19904896.31 21670588.67 22048514.98 b) Borrowings @ 955100.33 842291.95 825578.41 959774.67 847946.53 830784.11 c) Other demand & time liabilities 996625.80 1283932.29 1060701.99 1009761.24 1299846.30 1076607.31

The 3rd Annual Global Conference of the College of Supervisors of the Reserve Bank of India was held on Friday, January 9, 2026, on the theme, ‘Regulation and Supervision – Adapting to the Digital Age’. The Conference was inaugurated by the Governor, RBI, Shri Sanjay Malhotra.

The Reserve Bank had undertaken a review of the extant guidelines on the prudential norms on declaration of dividend and remittance of profits by foreign banks operating in branch mode in India. Accordingly, a draft of the revised framework was issued for public comments on January 2, 2024. However, based on the stakeholder feedback and consultations, the following draft Directions proposing a new methodology for computing the maximum eligible dividend payout are being issued for public comments: