The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed monetary penalties on two major banks, HDFC Bank and Bank of America, for failing to comply with regulatory requirements. The fines were levied after the banks did not adhere to the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) guidelines.

HDFC Bank was fined Rs 10,000 for accepting deposits from non-residents following the revocation of their license, without obtaining prior approval from the RBI. The bank breached the AP (DIR Series) Circular no. 67, which led to the imposition of the fine.

In a simultaneous action, Bank of America faced a penalty for not meeting the reporting criteria of FEMA’s Liberalised Remittance Scheme. The scheme allows residents in India to remit a certain amount of money during a financial year to another country for investment or expenditure. The failure to report transactions under this scheme as stipulated resulted in the fine for the American banking giant.

The RBI took these actions after issuing show-cause notices to both banks and considering their responses.