Bhanu Pratap Sharma replaces Vinod Rai as chairman of Banks Board Bureau

The Union Finance Ministry has reconstituted Banks Board Bureau (BBB) and appointed former bureaucrat Bhanu Pratap Sharma as its chairman. It will replace earlier BBB headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai as its two-year term ended in March 2018. The reconstituted BBB will have two-year tenure, same as its predecessor.
Members of reconstituted BBB: Investment banker Vedika Bhandarkarm; Pradeep Kumar, former managing director of SBI and Pradip P. Shah, founder managing director of rating agency Crisil.

Bhanu Pratap Sharma

Sharma is retired IAS officer of Bihar cadre (1981 batch) and former Principal Secretary (Finance) in the Bihar government. He is presently chairman of recruitment and assessment centre at Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). He had been health secretary and secretary for personnel and training at Centre, before retiring in June 2017 from civil service.

Banks Board Bureau (BBB)

BBB is super authority (autonomous body) of eminent professionals and officials for public sector banks (PSBs). It was announced by Union Government in August 2015 as part of seven point Indradhanush Mission to revamp PSBs and started functioning in April 2016. It had replaced Appointments Board of Government. It is housed in Reserve Bank of India’s central office in Mumbai, Maharashtra. BBB is considered as the first step towards Bank Investment Company as recommended by P J Nayak committee.

Functions

• Give recommendations for appointment of full-time Directors as well as non-Executive Chairman of PSBs.
• Give advice to PSBs in developing differentiated strategies for raising funds through innovative financial methods and instruments and to deal with issues of stressed assets.
• Guide banks on mergers and consolidations and governance issues to address bad loans problem among other issues.

Month: Current Affairs - April, 2018