Reserve Bank of India suspends licences of Religare Finance, 6 Other NBFCs

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) suspended licences of seven non-banking finance companies, including Religare Finance, which the company said is a dormant entity and would not affect its business.

The seven companies include Religare Finance, Eden Trade & Commerce, Artisans Micro Finance, Nott Investments, RCS Parivar Finance, Swetasree Finance, Dewra Stocks & Securities. Religare Enterprises, the holding company of the group, said its lending operations continues under Religare Finvest.

'A Dormant Entity'

"We had two NBFC licences within the group, one is for Religare Finvest through which we continue to operate our SME-focused lending business and the other was for a non-operative, dormant entity Religare Finance, through which no business was being conducted hence, we had decided to voluntarily surrender this licence," said a spokesperson of Religare.

There are around 12,000 NBFCs in the system. RBI has the power to cancel licence if the companies do not fulfil various norms including minimum net owned funds.

Singh brothers, Malvinder and Shivinder, who control Religare Enterprises, plan to sell their holdings, ET had reported. Bain Capital, Baring Private Equity Asia and even Renuka Ramnath's Multiples are among five or six potential suitors who have bid for the asset after early rounds of discussions. Investment bank JP Morgan has been roped in to help in the process.