Informal guidance scheme for IFSC: non-binding no-action and interpretive letters streamline regulatory clarity for market participants.
The Scheme provides a procedural framework for persons licensed or proposing to operate in the IFSC to seek informal guidance from Authority Departments via no-action or interpretive letters. It prescribes eligibility, application content and fee requirements, a disposal timeline, grounds for rejection, confidentiality limited to a specified period, partial fee refund rules for rejected requests, and safeguards that letters are departmental, non-binding views which may be withdrawn for fraud and are not appealable.

Government securities auction opens with competitive and non-competitive bids via E Kuber; allotment and When Issued trading permitted.
The Government of India announced sale of three government securities through multiple price auctions-yield based for New GS 2027 and price based for GS 2039 and GS 2054-with GoI option to retain additional subscription and up to five percent of each issue reserved for eligible individuals and institutions under the Non-Competitive Bidding Facility. Auctions will be conducted by the Reserve Bank of India via the E Kuber electronic system within specified bid windows, with announced result and payment dates, and the securities are eligible for When Issued trading per RBI guidelines.

Competition approval permits MUFG Bank's acquisition of Shiprocket shareholding, allowing banking sector investor to enter logistics platform ownership.
CCI approved the proposed combination in which MUFG Bank, Ltd., a Japan incorporated bank and wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, will acquire certain shareholding in Shiprocket Private Limited, which operates a digital logistics platform connecting businesses with third party logistics service providers; a detailed Commission order will follow.

Lead Bank Scheme coordination strengthens rural credit delivery and digital financial inclusion through data-driven credit planning and monitoring.
Strengthening district-level coordination under the Lead Bank Scheme assigns Lead District Managers the duties of liaisoning among banks, government and development agencies, designing bottom-up, data-driven credit plans (including Potential Linked Credit Plans) through field surveys to reach underserved segments, and instituting multi-level monitoring that closes implementation loops while promoting financial literacy, digital financial inclusion and sustainable financing to expand banking access and credit flow in rural areas.

Unified Payments Interface expands cross-border payment interoperability and merchant adoption, enhancing secure, account-level digital access.
October 2024 data highlight UPI as a nationwide real time payment infrastructure consolidating multiple bank accounts into a single mobile interface and supporting peer to peer, merchant and in app payments. Its operational features-24/7 availability, single click two factor authentication, virtual payment addresses and QR acceptance-enable secure, privacy preserving transactions and broaden merchant participation. Integration with credit instruments and technical interoperability across banks expand funding sources and affect authorization, risk allocation and consumer choice. International rollout raises cross border payment policy and regulatory coordination considerations.

Budget receipts and expenditure trends show centre's receipts composition and spending split, highlighting devolution and revenue outgo.
Monthly fiscal consolidation up to October 2024 reports total receipts composed of Tax Revenue, Non Tax Revenue and Non Debt Capital Receipts, with material transfers to States as Devolution of Share of Taxes. Total expenditure is shown split into Revenue and Capital Accounts, with Revenue Expenditure including Interest Payments and Major Subsidies, enabling monitoring of central fiscal flows against annual estimates.

Risk-focused supervision must be proactive and forward-looking to build financial resilience and enable early intervention.
Supervision must become a risk-focused, forward-looking function that anticipates and mitigates emerging technological, climate and systemic risks by maintaining continuous assessment of banks' risk profiles, implementing a calibrated supervisory approach that targets high-risk institutions, and operating off-site surveillance to detect vulnerabilities. A clear framework for early intervention and orderly resolution of non-viable banks is essential, supported by enhanced supervisory capacity, a stronger risk and compliance culture, and a robust data analytics ecosystem.

Central bank regulation must balance prudential guardrails and innovation amid climate, technology, and non-bank risks.
Regulation has transitioned to a comprehensive supervisory architecture that combines licensing, scale-based classification and principle/activity-based norms to strengthen resilience of banks and non-bank entities. A twin-peak approach balances prudential requirements-capital adequacy, credit quality, liquidity, risk management-with conduct obligations-governance, fair lending, disclosures and customer protection. Emerging supervisory priorities include climate-related financial risks, technology-driven disruption from tokenisation and AI/ML, and harmonised oversight of an expanding non-banking sector to address interconnectedness and systemic stability.

Acquisition approval: bank permitted to increase strategic shareholding in a systemically important NBFC following competition review.
CCI approval has been granted for MUFG Bank's proposed acquisition of additional securities in DMI Finance Private Limited, permitting an increase in the foreign bank's minority shareholding in a middle-layer systemically important non-deposit taking NBFC, following merger control review; detailed order to follow.

Acquisition of unsecured personal loans portfolio cleared, allowing Kotak Mahindra Bank to acquire Standard Chartered India's retail loan book.
Approval was granted for the proposed combination under which Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited will acquire the standard unsecured personal loans portfolio of Standard Chartered Bank, India Branch. The transaction is an acquisition of the Target Business comprising unsecured personal loans to individual borrowers in India. Kotak Mahindra Bank is a publicly listed banking company registered with the Reserve Bank of India engaged in retail, wholesale and treasury banking. A detailed order of the Commission will follow.

Auditing standards recommended for LLP audits, to apply mutatis mutandis and effective after government approval.
The Authority recommended that 40 Standards on Auditing and related Standards on Quality Management, previously finalised for company audits, be applied to LLP audits on a mutatis mutandis basis and be notified to the Central Government under the LLP amendment, subject to government approval and proposed to take effect from 1 April 2026; ICAI representatives supported the proposal while reiterating reservations on certain SQMs and specified SAs.

Formalisation of workforce: social security through ESIC and EPFO urged to integrate construction labour into formal economy.
The article urges formalisation of the real estate sector to ensure regulatory compliance, digital salary payment and inclusion of workers in national statistics by enrolling them under social security schemes (ESIC and EPFO), thereby securing healthcare, insurance and post retirement benefits that will enhance productivity. It also recommends industry adoption of improved construction techniques, steel and precast fabrication, and construction waste recycling to reduce pollution, and notes that regulatory measures like the Real Estate regulatory framework and GST have organised sector growth.

Priority sector lending boosts formal credit access to MSMEs through collateral-free loans and digital lending platforms.
The Reserve Bank of India has prioritised bridging the MSME credit gap through a policy mix of Priority Sector Lending targets, encouragement of collateral-free lending, promotion of credit guarantee schemes, and digital infrastructure such as TReDS, the Account Aggregator ecosystem and the Unified Lending Interface; complemented by a revival and rehabilitation framework for stressed MSME loans and capacity-building programmes for bankers to improve credit appraisal and inclusion.

Balancing inflation and growth: use FIT flexibility, fiscal coordination and timed actions to preserve stability and support growth.
Balancing inflation and growth under the FIT framework requires legal primacy for price stability while permitting regard for growth; the framework's tolerance bands, averaged target, and failure definition allow judgemental trade offs. Effective fiscal monetary coordination and structural reforms expand policy space. Transparent, nuanced communication anchors expectations, and crisis management should rely on targeted, time bound liquidity measures, secondary market asset purchases, preserved collateral standards, and avoidance of direct deficit monetisation to maintain financial stability.

Board governance: proactively oversee risk, assure independent assurance functions, and prioritise customer centricity for resilient banks.
Boards must adopt transformative governance by proactively assessing external and internal risks, monitoring concentration and third party exposures, safeguarding the independence and resourcing of assurance functions, and fostering diversity of opinion. They should ensure robust cybersecurity and contractual oversight of vendors, balance technological innovation with mitigants for harms like AI bias, and prioritise customer centricity through transparent policies, grievance redress, and ethical sales practices.

Government securities auction: two issuances offered via price and yield multiple-price methods; non-competitive bids permitted.
Sale of two central government securities is announced: 6.79% Government Security 2034 via price-based multiple-price auction and New Government Security 2074 via yield-based multiple-price auction, with GoI option to retain additional subscription up to Rs.2,000 crore for each. Up to 5% of the notified amount is reserved for eligible individuals and institutions under the Non-Competitive Bidding Facility. Bids must be submitted electronically on the RBI E-Kuber system within prescribed non-competitive and competitive windows; auction results and payment dates are announced and securities are eligible for When Issued trading under RBI guidelines.

Banking reforms strengthen public sector banks' resilience, improving credit discipline, asset resolution, governance and capital adequacy.
Policy measures for public sector banks emphasise strengthening credit discipline, governance and resolution through EASE, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, a Governance Framework, an Asset Reconstruction vehicle, and bank amalgamations, supported by regular high-level review. These interventions aim to improve stressed-asset recognition and resolution, responsible lending, financial inclusion, technology adoption and cyber controls, yielding stronger capital adequacy, lower nonperforming assets, higher credit and deposit growth, and improved profitability for PSBs.

Re KYC requirement for PMJDY accounts: banks urged to use digital and biometric channels and mobilise local administration.
Banks must complete time bound re KYC for PMJDY accounts using digital and biometric methods (fingerprint, face recognition), remote declarations where documents are unchanged, and all available channels (ATM, mobile, internet), while coordinating with SLBCs/UTLBCs, LDMs and local administrations to mobilise campaign mode drives and deploy additional staff.

Customer protection prioritized; PSBs urged to align cybersecurity, improve grievance redressal and boost financial inclusion efforts.
The Department of Financial Services directed Public Sector Banks to prioritise timely and quality redressal of public grievances and customer protection by aligning digital and cybersecurity frameworks with industry best practices, investing in technology and data analytics, and adopting HR best practices; urged accelerated lending to agriculture and MSMEs and mobilisation of CASA deposits to support sustainable credit growth; and called for intensified efforts to deepen financial inclusion through flagship schemes while maintaining financial soundness and cyber resilience.

Central government fiscal receipts and expenditures summarized, showing receipt composition and key expenditure drivers for the year to date.
The consolidated accounts to September 2024 show receipts of Rs.16,36,974 crore comprising Tax Revenue (Net to Centre), Non Tax Revenue and Non Debt Capital Receipts, with Rs.5,44,803 crore transferred as Devolution of Share of Taxes to States. Total Expenditure is Rs.21,11,494 crore, split into Revenue Expenditure (Rs.16,96,528 crore) and Capital Expenditure (Rs.4,14,966 crore); principal revenue components are Interest Payments (Rs.5,15,010 crore) and Major Subsidies (Rs.2,14,658 crore).