Mumbai, April 8 Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra announced on Wednesday that the monetary authority will be introducing a new framework for non-bank lenders in the wake of uncertainty surrounding Tata Sons' listing issue.
"We are coming up with a new framework for NBFCs. We should be doing so very soon," Malhotra told reporters at the customary post-policy review press conference.
On a specific question about Tata Sons, Malhotra said the new framework will categorize non-banking finance companies.
However, he did not elaborate further on the matter, which has been intensely tracked because the RBI is likely to decide whether Tata Sons, the holding company of the conglomerate ranging from salt to software, will continue to be privately held or be forced to list.
According to existing rules from the RBI, Tata Sons, a core investment company, should have been listed by September 30 last year because it is included in a set of 15 entities in the upper layer bracket. Except for Tata Sons, all other entities have complied with the provision.
Previously, Malhotra had said that an entity can continue doing business until its license is cancelled and declined any further comment, even though the timeline for mandatory listing has passed.
Getting listed will bring a slew of compliance burdens focused on Tata Sons, while some argue that complying with the requirements may be difficult for the diversified corporate grouping, which is present across a range of businesses at various levels of maturity.
A listing will be a huge positive for the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, the largest private owner in the conglomerate, with over 18 percent, which is going through financial difficulties.
Meanwhile, Malhotra declined to comment when asked about the arrest of Fino Payments Bank's chief executive Rishi Gupta, and if it will hamper its ambitions to convert into a small finance bank, for which the RBI has given an in-principle nod previously.