A cooperative bank desirous of change in its name shall approach the Department of Supervision (DoS) of the concerned Regional Office (DoS, Central Office in case of Co-operative Banks coming under the purview of Mumbai Office) of the Reserve Bank of India for grant of no objection certificate (NOC) under Sections 49B and 49C of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (‘BR Act’), clearly stating the reason/s for such change. The approval of the General Body of the bank shall be mandatory at the time of submitting such requests to RBI.
NOC from RBI under section 49C read with section 56 of BR Act, 1949 will be necessary only in case there is a requirement for ‘confirmation’ from the Central/State Government, one or more authority/authorities for alteration of bye-laws under the applicable Co-operative Act /Rules.
It will be mandatory for a cooperative bank to give a declaration in writing regarding the above-mentioned requirement for ‘confirmation’ under the applicable Co-operative Act /Rules while submitting its request to RBI.
The cooperative banks shall submit their requests for change of name and bylaws, only when these are supported by valid and compelling reason/s for the proposed change. It may be noted that RBI shall have the discretion to assess whether the reason/s submitted by the bank are valid and compelling.
After getting NOC from the concerned office of the Reserve Bank, the Co-operative banks will approach the Central Registrar of Co-operative Societies (CRCS) or Registrar of Co-operative Societies (RCS)1 for amendment in their by-laws. Once the approval is obtained from CRCS/RCS, the Co-operative Banks will apply to the concerned Regional Office of the Reserve Bank with the following documents:
- Approval of the Board of Directors
- Approval of the General Body of the Bank
- Amended bye-laws as approved by CRCS/RCS
- Copy of CoR issued by CRCS/RCS with amended name
- Original banking licence
Co-operative Banks shall follow the above process for change in the name of the bank even if the name change is due to Government Notification. No co-operative bank shall display/operate with an amended name without affecting the corresponding change in its name in the banking licence issued by the Reserve Bank of India. Further, the displayed name of the bank shall be strictly as per the name in its banking licence.
Link –https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=12560&Mode=0
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