After promising to complete the final investigation report on allegations of money laundering by ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank by March 31, there?s no sign of the report from the RBI.
On March 18, while announcing ?comprehensive scrutinies? covering the head offices and branches of of the three banks, the RBI had said, ?The final reports on all the three banks will be completed by March 31, 2013 and thereafter further course of action as necessary will be initiated.?
The scrutinies were initiated after web portal Cobrapost.com, on the basis of its sting operations across some branches of these banks alleged money laundering and violation of several provisions of the RBI Regulations and the Foreign Exchange Management Act guidelines.
When contacted, the RBI spokesperson refused to comment on the investigation report.
However, a person in the know of the developments said, ?After the completion of the ongoing probe, the RBI will make it public only when it announces any penalty after another round of show-cause notices and replies. It can take weeks or even months. Even if the RBI completes the probe tomorrow, it won?t reveal the findings.?
If the RBI doesn?t find any lapses, the probe report may not even come out in the public domain, he said. ?If there?s a delay in the investigation, that doesn?t mean it is deliberate. It can also mean the scope for probe has widened,? he said.
