Flouting PSBs Laid Out Action Plan To Meet Minimum Public Shareholding Requirement: Official

Five out of 12 Public Sector Banks (PSBs) are still not complying with the minimum public shareholding (MPS) norm (25 per cent), a senior government official said on Thursday.

Speaking to ANI, Vivek Joshi, Secretary at the Department of Financial Services, said that the five PSBs laid out action plans to meet the MPS requirement.

These banks are Punjab and Sind Bank; Central Bank of India; Indian Overseas Bank and UCO Bank, and Bank of Maharashtra.

Public sector banks have time till August 2024 to meet the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) requirement.

"Out of twelve Public sector banks, four were complying with minimum public shareholding MPS requirement as of 31 May 2023. As a part of the ongoing effort, three more PSBs have complied with the requirement till now. The remaining five PSBs have laid out action plans to meet the MPS requirement going forward," Joshi told ANI.

The Minimum Public Shareholding (MPS) norm mandates at least 25 per cent public float for all listed companies. A blanket exemption was given to some PSUs from MPS till August 2024.

The twelve PSBs are: State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Punjab and Sind Bank, Indian Bank, UCO Bank, and Bank of Maharashtra.

"SBI, Canara, Bank of Baroda, PNB, BoI, Indian bank and UBI comply with the MPS requirements," Joshi said.

According to the rule, companies are required to have a public shareholding of at least 25 per cent within three years of being listed. (ANI)