Jan 20, 2022

Vinod Rai, the former comptroller and auditor general of India, has been granted approval by the Reserve Bank of India to be appointed as the independent chairman of Unity Small Finance Bank (SFB), a joint venture between Centrum group and Bharat Pe. Apart from Rai, the SFB has appointed Sandip Ghose, an RBI veteran, Basant Seth, the former chairman and managing director of erstwhile Syndicate Bank, and Subhash Kutte, former chairman RBL Bank to its board to guide its journey in becoming a successful digital bank. Unity SFB started its operations in November last year after receiving a final nod from the central bank. The RBI gave this joint venture a small finance bank licence to take over the beleaguered Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank. Unity Bank is in the process of acquiring the assets and liabilities of PMC Bank under RBI’s resolution for the bank. Prior to being appointed as the independent chairman of Unity SFB, Rai has been the chairman of Banks Board Bureau, a body that advises the central government on top-level appointments at public sector banks and ways to address bad loans. He was also associated with IDFC Limited, the holding company of IDFC First Bank. Rai was the independent director at IDFC for two terms “…(Rai’s) his vast experience as a board member in several public sector banks and private banks will help in building a strong foundation and shaping the long term strategy at Unity Bank, for customer delight through a seamless digital banking experience”, the bank said in a statement. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Digital Editor