RBI imposes monetary penalty on Sonali Bank PLC

Case Brief

By order dated June 10, 2024, RBI imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 96.40 lakh on Sonali Bank PLC. The penalty was levied under Section 47A(1)(c) read with Section 46(4)(i) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and Section 25(1)(iii) read with Section 23(4) of the CIC (Regulation) Act, 2005, following supervisory findings from the bank’s statutory inspection and IT examination. RBI sustained charges that the bank failed to maintain periodic review of risk categorisation of accounts, lacked robust alert software for transactions inconsistent with risk categorisation and customer profiles, did not implement certain SWIFT-related operational controls on time, and did not become a member of all CICs within the stipulated timeline.