Bandhan Bank Plunges To All-Time Low After RBI Directive

Shares of Bandhan Bank Ltd plummeted on Monday to their lowest since the lender's market debut in March, after the Reserve Bank of India withdrew permission to open new branches and froze its chief executive's remuneration at the current level until further notice.

The RBI clamped down on the Indian lender for failing to bring down its main shareholder's stake to below 40 percent.

Bandhan Financial Holdings Ltd, a so-called non-banking financial company (NBFC) that does not take deposits, owns an 82.28 percent stake in the bank.

The turmoil in the NBFC sector prompted the central bank, market regulator SEBI and the finance ministry to intervene with assurances.

On a conference call on Saturday, the former micro lender said it was exploring options to reduce the promoters' stake of its non-operating financial holding company to 40 percent, including starting non-banking businesses at the NOFHC level, media reports said.

Shares of the Kolkata-based bank fell as much as 20 percent to 452.20 rupees, with more than 3.7 million shares changing hands, compared with their 30-day average volume of 1.51 million.

(Reuters)