UPDATE: India RBI Penalizes Standard Chartered, ICICI Bank INR500,000 Each

30th Jul 2010 15:27

(Adds comment from Standard Chartered spokesperson) By Nupur Acharya Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES MUMBAI (Dow Jones)--India's central bank Friday imposed a penalty of INR500,000 each on ICICI Bank Ltd. (532174.BY) and Standard Chartered PLC (STAN.LN) in separate cases of violation of rules. ICICI Bank, the country's largest private-sector lender by assets, was fined for not following the know-your-customer and anti-money laundering rules. Standard Chartered was penalized as it failed to provide information, within the stipulated time, about an overseas loan it arranged for an offshore special purpose vehicle. "We have received the Reserve Bank of India's notification. Standard Chartered Bank follows the highest standards of compliance in all its markets and will continue to do so," a spokesperson for the bank said. Separately, an ICICI Bank spokesman said the violations referred to by the RBI were in respect to a single customer account, and the lender had obtained a government-issued identity card and introduction from an existing customer to open that account. "The RBI concluded that the substitution of introduction (by an existing customer) for address proof was not in accordance with the RBI guidelines." the spokesman said in an e-mailed statement. -By Nupur Acharya, Dow Jones Newswires; 91-22-6145-6112; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 30, 2010 10:27 ET (14:27 GMT)