India

The paper proposes that payment gateways and payment aggregators be required to have a minimum net-worth of 1 billion rupees, among other requirements.

The move aligns bank exposure limits for NBFCs with limits applicable for other types of counterparties, but Fitch says it is unlikely to lead to significant credit flows to the sector.

The move will reduce the amount of capital banks need to set aside as provisioning for consumer loans, effectively reducing the cost of lending.

Transitory accounts at bank branches are being used to provide unauthorised overdrafts to avoid default classification on loans, and to mask unexplained cash deposits.

Under the new guidelines, payment banks, NBFCs, microfinance institutions and local area banks will be able to convert into small finance banks.

Foreign banks have to maintain sufficient capital in their India entities to increase their exposure to the country, rather than relying on guarantees from their overseas headquarters.

A new intermediary should be created to standardise the underlying mortgage loans, underwriting guidelines and loan servicing standards, the panel says.

The Securities Appellate Tribunal cited a lack of evidence against PwC, and said SEBI had no jurisdiction to impose the ban in the first place.

Banks must link interest rates for retail and MSME loans to the RBI's benchmark repo rate, the 3-month or 6-month treasury yield, or any other benchmark published by FIBIL.

The task force recommends easing rules for loan asset securitisation, and to allow secondary market participation from funds and insurers.