New Banking Laws to Take Effect from August 1, Strengthening Governance
The Banking Laws (Amendment) Act, 2025, will come into force on August 1, introducing significant reforms to India's financial sector. The new legislation aims to enhance governance standards, improve depositor protection, and align regulations with modern practices. Key changes include increasing the tenure for directors in cooperative banks, permitting public sector banks to transfer unclaimed funds to the Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF), and empowering them to offer better remuneration to attract high-quality auditors.
Unpacked:
Raising the ‘substantial interest’ threshold updates a limit unchanged since 1968, reflecting inflation and the larger scale of today’s financial sector. It aims to better define related party transactions and conflict-of-interest situations in banking, aligning regulations with current economic realities and making oversight more relevant to the size of modern banking operations.
Unclaimed funds, such as dormant deposits and unpaid dividends, will be moved to the IEPF, enhancing transparency and protection. However, claim recovery from the IEPF has historically been low (less than 2%), and public awareness is limited. This change aims to align public sector banks with company practices, but challenges remain in claim processes and outreach.
The director tenure increase from 8 to 10 years aligns with India’s 97th Constitutional Amendment, aiming for better governance continuity and reduced leadership disruptions. Internationally, director tenure benchmarks include 9 years in the UK and 6 years (with rotation) in Singapore, making India’s new limit broadly comparable to global norms.
Allowing public sector banks to offer higher auditor fees (currently about half of private banks) is expected to attract more qualified auditors and improve audit quality. This is particularly important given recent high-profile frauds in PSBs. Enhanced remuneration should help ensure auditor independence and strengthen oversight, thereby boosting depositor and investor confidence.