Govt-owned NABARD gives clean chit to Reliance Commercial Finance

Nov 3, 2020
New Delhi: Government-owned National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the second largest lender to Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCF) with over Rs 1,100 crore of secured loan exposure, has given a clean chit to RCF and has removed its red flag.

NABARD is a part of the consortium of lenders and is signatory to an inter creditor agreement (ICA) executed between the lenders of RCF under the June 7, 2019 circular of RBI on resolution of stressed assets.

NABARD had classified the account of RCF as red flag on February 25, 2020. Thereafter lenders conducted a detailed forensic audit by Grant Thornton (GT).

At a meeting of the consortium of lenders led by Bank of Baroda held on September 25, NABARD informed the consortium of lenders that having examined the GT forensic report, it found no element of fraud and has therefore removed the red flag.

Earlier, the Delhi High Court on August 14 had stayed a move by Bank of Baroda, the leader of the consortium of banks, to classify the accounts as fraud, restraining it from taking any other coercive action till the next hearing. Similar action of Punjab National Bank was also stayed by the Delhi High Court on August 11.IANS