The Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2012 - An Insight

INTRODUCTION

After much delay and deliberation the Banking Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2012) ["Bill"] which seeks to amend the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970/1980 has been passed in the winter session of parliament of India by both the houses. The Lok Sabha which is the lower house of the Indian parliament passed the bill on 18th Dec'12 & the Rajya Sabha which is the upper house of the Indian parliament passed the bill on 20th Dec'12. The bill will be notified as a statute once it receives the assent of the President of India. The bill seeks to strengthen the regulatory powers of the Reserve Bank of India and to further develop the banking sector in India. This bill aims to address the issue of capital raising capacity of banks in India by enabling nationalized banks to raise capital by issue of preference shares or rights issue or issue of bonus shares. It would also enable them to increase or