The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cancelled certificates of registration (CoR) of four non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), while four other NBFCs surrendered their CoRs to the central bank. Also, market regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) has also cancelled the certificate of registration of Brickwork Ratings India Pvt Ltd, the RBI says.

The four NBFCs whose licences have been cancelled are SRM Properties and Finance Company Pvt. Ltd, North East Region Finservices Ltd, Sowjenvee Finance Ltd, and Opel Finance Ltd.

SRM Properties and Finance Company is a Jaipur-based NBFC, which received its licence in 2002. North East Region Finservices, an Imphal-based company, received its NBFC licence on October 30, 2008. Bengaluru-based Sowjenvee Finance received its CoR in 1998, while Patna-based Open Finance was given the licence in 2002.

After the cancellation of CoRs, as such, these companies will not transact the business of an NBFC. The cancellation of the NBFC licences comes days after the finance ministry last month said that to tighten the noose around platforms operating illegally in the country, the RBI will monitor the ‘mule/rented’ accounts that may be used for money laundering. The RBI will also review or cancel dormant NBFCs to avoid misuse, it said.

The decision was taken during a meeting chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to discuss the various issues related to “illegal loan apps” operating outside the regular banking channels.

Besides this, the four NBFCs that have surrendered their CoRs to the RBI are Ashwini Investment Private Ltd, RM Securities Pvt Ltd, Amity Finance Private Ltd, and Matrix Merchandise Ltd. Following this, the central bank has cancelled their CoRs as well.

New Delhi-based Ashwini Investment received its licence in 2002, while RM Securities, Amity Finance, and Matrix Merchandise received their CoRs in 2001, 2000, and 2008, respectively. As per the RBI, they are now not allowed to transact the business of an NBFC.

Separately, the RBI has informed that capital market regulator SEBI has cancelled the certificate of registration (CoR) of credit rating agency Brickwork Ratings India Pvt Ltd on October 6, 2022. The ratings agency has been directed to wind down its operations in six months and will not take any new clients or fresh mandates.

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Licences of 8 NBFCs, a credit ratings agency cancelled