The RBI will soon finalise guidelines for banks creating holding companies for subsidiary businesses like insurance and asset management, RBI deputy governor V Leeladhar told reporters here on Thursday. Speaking on the sidelines of a Banking Conference, he said, “the responses have started coming. The moment the deadline is over, we would consolidate all responses and wherever necessary we would try to modify it.” He, however, did not disclose the timeline for the release of final guidelines in this regard. “This is the first time we are going to have a holding company in Indian financial sector. Starting this, we want it in a proper way taking into account all plus and negative points. It is not something which we are going to superimpose on banks,” he clarified. Top banks like ICICI and State Bank of India have recently expressed their intent to create holding companies for their subsidiary businesses of insurance and asset management.The umbrella holding company can then raise capital for these businesses, which need funds to fuel their growth.
