Vinod Rai appointed as first Chairman of Banks Board Bureau

Former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Vinod Rai has been appointed as the first Chairman of Banks Board Bureau (BBB).
His appointment comes after Prime Minister has approved the proposal of the Department of Financial Services for the constitution of the BBB.
Appointed Members of Banks Board Bureau are

• Vinod Rai (Chairman): He is former CAG from January 2008 and May 2013.
• N. Sinor (Member): He is former Joint Managing Director of ICICI Bank.
• Anil K Khandelwal (Member): He is former CMD of Bank of Baroda’s
• Rupa Kudwa (Members): She is former chief of CRISIL.

The tenure of Mr Rai and other members of the board will be of two years.

About Banks Board Bureau (BBB)

• BBB will be a super authority (Autonomous Body) of eminent professionals and officials for public sector banks (PSBs). It will replace the Appointments Board of Government.
• The bureau was announced by the Union Government in August 2015 as part of seven point Indradhanush Mission to revamp the PSBs.
• 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 also ways to address the bad loans problem among other issues.

Currently, there are 22 state-owned banks or PSBs in India including State Bank of India (SBI), IDBI Bank and Bhartiya Mahila Bank etc.
Comment
Government wants BBB to restructure business strategy of PSBs and also suggest way forward for their consolidation and merger with other banks as they are grappling with a huge problem of bad loans and high collective gross NPAs (Non-Performing Assets).

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2016