Government To Soon Approve Recast of Banks Board Bureau

The government would soon finalise the restructuring of Banks Board Bureau (BBB) as its extended two-year term concluded last month, according to sources. The extended term for the BBB, the headhunter for top management of state-run banks and financial institutions, ended on April 10.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet would take a call on the restructuring of BBB soon, sources said. BBB since April 2018, has been headed by former Secretary in the Department of Personnel and Training B P Sharma. The other part-time members are Vedika Bhandarkar, former MD of Credit Suisse; P Pradeep Kumar, former MD of State Bank of India (SBI); and Pradip P Shah, founder MD of rating agency CRISIL.

It is up to the government to retain the chairman and some members or have a completely new board, sources said, adding that fresh appointments in the financial services space would take place after the new BBB takes charge. The permanent member or ex-officio members of BBB are Department of Financial Services Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises Secretary and a Deputy Governor of RBI.

The government, in 2016, had approved the constitution of the BBB as a body of eminent professionals and officials to make recommendations for appointment of whole-time directors as well as non-executive chairpersons of public sector banks (PSBs) and state-owned financial institutions.

It was also entrusted with the task of engaging with the board of directors of all PSBs to formulate appropriate strategies for their growth and development. Besides, it was asked to frame a strategy discussion on consolidation based on the requirement.

The government wanted to encourage bank boards to restructure their business strategy and also suggest ways for their consolidation and merger with other banks. It is also mandated to do selection for top management of public sector insurance companies and financial institutions.

(PTI)