Speeches & Media Interactions

Honourable Prime Minister, Shri Kris Gopalakrishnan, Industry leaders, Esteemed participants, Members of the media, Ladies and Gentlemen. The Global FinTech Fest (GFF) has emerged as a flagship event, showcasing innovations, technological transformation and the spirit of collaboration in the Indian FinTech sector. Started in 2020 in the virtual mode, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic with about 12,000 participants, GFF 2024 has so far seen 80,000 participants. This demonstrates not only the growing stature of this event, but also the growing prominence of India in technology driven financial innovation. The presence of the Hon’ble Prime Minister in GFF 2024 inspires all of us to put in our best efforts to build a fintech ecosystem that is truly future ready.

I am very happy to participate in the 5th edition of the Global Fintech Fest (GFF). I would like to congratulate the organisers – NPCI, PCI and FCC1 – for bringing together diverse stakeholders from the FinTech ecosystem including FinTech innovators and companies, banks, NBFCs, regulators and others for this year’s GFF. This event has grown into a much awaited fixture in the calendar of not just the Fintech industry but also the broader technology ecosystem. 

We are celebrating the 90th year of the Reserve Bank of India in the current financial year. This Global Conference on ‘Digital Public Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies’ is among the marquee events that we are organising to commemorate this significant milestone. It is my pleasure to extend a warm welcome to each one of you to this conference, held in the beautiful and vibrant city of Bengaluru—a city which, for many years now, has been at the forefront of India’s technology revolution. I would also like to extend a special welcome to the esteemed participants who have joined us from across the globe. Thank you all for accepting our invitation. I sincerely hope that you will find the deliberations and interactions during the Global Conference enriching and productive. 

Mr. Alejandro Lopez, President, International Association of Deposit Insurance (IADI), Dr. Eva Hupkes, Secretary General, IADI, Mr. M. Rajeshwar Rao, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), distinguished representatives of the IADI and the Asia Pacific Regional Committee (APRC) Secretariat, chief executive officers (CEOs) and officials of deposit insurance agencies, delegates from central banks, eminent speakers and panellists, invitees representing banks in India, and my colleagues from the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), good morning to you all.

Ladies and gentlemen, a very good morning, I am happy to be here this morning and engage with you at this forum. Keeping in view the theme of the event, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss a few issues around the risk, compliance and internal audit, collectively known as assurance functions, as they help identify and manage risks for sustainable growth of financial entities. From a regulatory and supervisory perspective too, Reserve Bank attaches utmost important to the assurance function and therefore, to ensure that there is alignment between our perspectives and to communicate our expectations, we feel a continuing dialogue on this issue is extremely important.

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

Deputy Governor Shri Rao, Heads of Assurance functions from Non-Banking Financial Companies, 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 assurance functions, conveying the importance of strong organisational governance and remaining vigilant to ensure the continued stability of the financial sector.  Assurance functions namely, the risk management, compliance and internal audit, play a very crucial role, as guardians ensuring the regulated entity operates soundly, safely, ethically and within regulatory and legal boundaries.  Today’s conference for the heads of assurance functions is an extension of our efforts, recognising the critical role these functions play in ensuring the robustness and resilience of the financial entity itself as well as the overall financial system. The role played by NBFCs in Indian financial sector has been rapidly growing and their share in the credit portfolio has significantly gone up, more so in the last three years.  Just a decade ago, in 2013, the total credit extended by NBFCs represented approximately one-sixth of the magnitude of bank credit. However, this proportion has increased to one-fourth[1], indicating a notable acceleration in credit delivery by NBFCs compared to banks.  Indeed, NBFCs have emerged as a preferred option for numerous underserved sectors, particularly small businesses and households, due to their ability to provide more feet on street and customer friendly credit solutions. Moreover, NBFCs have embraced technology in a big way to further expedite and streamline their reach and 

Smt. Divyadarshini IAS, Managing Director, Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women; Shri Shankar Narayan, CGM, NABARD, Chennai; Shri Vasimalai, Executive Director, Dhan foundation; Convenors of SLBC, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry; Smt. Uma Sankar, Regional Director, RBI, Chennai; senior bankers; Financial Literacy Counsellors; Associates and Coordinators of Centre for Financial Literacy; Financial Literacy Community Resource Persons; ladies and gentleman, I am happy to inaugurate the Conclave on Financial Literacy at Madurai today.

1. Madurai holds an important place in the history of Tamil Nadu. The city is famous for its rich heritage, and promotion of Tamil language through “Sangams”, thereby, the city is fondly referred as “sangam valartha nagaram”.

It is my pleasure to be here at the FIMMDA-PDAI annual conference. This year (2024-25) is particularly special for the Reserve Bank. The RBI has entered its 90th year on April 1, 2024. I, therefore, thought it appropriate to dwell upon the journey of the Reserve Bank, especially in the context of its role in developing the financial markets in India in the recent period. I also propose to share some of my thoughts on the way forward.

Good Evening,

It is indeed a pleasure to be here amidst this distinguished gathering. The theme of the summit, ‘Rise of the Indian Spring’, is both contextual and inspiring, reflecting not just the rising trajectory and profile of the Indian economy, but also the sentiments prevailing within the country and across the world.