The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued guidelines asking banks to tighten the compliance functions and ensure that the chief compliance officer (CCO) follows best practices in the industry as required by the supervisory expectations.
In a press release issued on Friday, the RBI said the guidelines are issued after the regulator observed that banks follow diverse practices in this regard.
The RBI said banks needs to have Board-approved compliance policy clearly spelling out its compliance philosophy, expectations on compliance culture taking into account accountability, incentive structure and effective communication and challenges.
“The policy should lay special thrust on building up compliance culture; vetting of the quality of supervisory / regulatory compliance reports to RBI by the top executives, non-executive Chairman / Chairman and ACB of the bank, as the case may be. The policy shall be reviewed at least once a year, the RBI said.
Also, the CCO shall be appointed for a minimum fixed tenure of not less than 3 years. The Audit Committee of the Board (ACB) / Managing Director (MD) & CEO should factor this requirement while appointing CCO, the RBI said.
Further, the RBI said the CCO may be transferred or removed before completion of the tenure only in exceptional circumstances with the explicit prior approval of the Board after following a well-defined and transparent internal administrative procedure.Detailing the eligibility criteria for appointment, the RBI said the CCO shall be a senior executive of the bank, preferably in the rank of a general manager or an equivalent position.
The CCO could also be recruited from market with age not more than 55 years and overall experience of at least 15 years in the banking or financial services. Out of this, minimum five years shall be in the related management functions, the RBI said.
Source:-moneycontrol.com