[New Delhi]Former CAG Vinod Rai Appointed 1st Chairman of Banks Board Bureau To Address Bad Loans
Vinod Rai was today appointed first Chairman of the Banks Board Bureau, which will advise the government on top-level appointments at public sector lenders and ways to address the bad loans problem among other issues.
Besides, ICICI Bank’s former Joint Managing Director H N Sinor, Bank of Baroda’s former CMD Anil K Khandelwal and rating agency CRISIL’s former chief Rupa Kudwa have been appointed members.
In a statement, the government said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of the Department of Financial Services for the constitution of Banks Board Bureau (BBB) with the named persons as “part-time Chairman/Members, besides the ex-officio official members, for a period of two years”.
Public sector banks are grappling with a huge problem of bad loans with their collective gross NPAs (Non Performing Assets) approaching Rs 4 lakh crore level.
Rai was the Comptroller and Auditor General between January 2008 and May 2013, during which a number of CAG reports led to various scams including in the telecom and coal sectors coming to light.
The bureau will give recommendations on appointment of directors in public sector banks and advise on ways to raise funds and mergers and acquisitions to the lenders.
There are 22 state-owned banks in India including SBI, IDBI Bank and Bhartiya Mahila Bank.