A recent press report said that the RBI has penalised Gujarat-based cooperative lender Mansa Nagarik Sahakari Bank Limited (MNSBL) for violation of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) guidelines. The RBI has imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on Gandhinagar- headquartered MNSBL for violating the RBI’s instructions regarding the submission of reports on cash transactions above Rs 10 lakh to the Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) under the AML guidelines.
The RBI had issued a show-cause notice to the bank, and as a response the bank had submitted a written reply. According to an official statement after considering the facts of case and the bank’s reply, as also personal submissions in the matter, the Reserve Bank of India has come to the conclusion that the violation was substantiated and warranted imposition of the penalty. Reports also said that more than a dozen cooperative banks from Gujarat have been fined by the RBI in the recent past for violation of AML and KYC norms.
The RBI is the central banking institution of India and it controls the monetary policy of the rupee. The regulator has recently hiked key interest rates by 25 basis points, which is its 12th such hike since March, 2010. The hike has made auto, home and other loans more expensive.