Executive Summary:
The Reserve Bank of India issues the "Non-Fund Based Credit Facilities Directions, 2025" to harmonize guidelines for non-fund based facilities across regulated entities and to broaden infrastructure financing sources. These directions, effective from April 1, 2026, apply to Commercial Banks, Urban Cooperative Banks, All India Financial Institutions, and certain Non-Banking Financial Companies. They consolidate and update previous instructions on guarantees, letters of credit, co-acceptances, and partial credit enhancements.
Key Points / Main Content:
Applicability and Scope:
* The directions apply to Regulated Entities (REs) for all Non-Fund Based (NFB) exposures, unless otherwise permitted.
* REs include Commercial Banks, Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs), All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs), and specific Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) for Partial Credit Enhancement (PCE) issuance.
* These directions do not apply to derivative exposures, except for general conditions in Chapter II.
Effective Date and Transition:
* The directions take effect from April 1, 2026, or an earlier date per the RE's internal policy.
* New and renewed NFB facilities after the effective date must comply with these directions.
* Existing NFB facilities are governed by previous instructions.
General Conditions:
* REs' credit policies must include provisions for issuing NFB facilities, covering credit appraisal, security, fraud prevention, and monitoring.
* NFB facilities should be issued only for customers with funded credit facilities from the RE, with specific exceptions (e.g., derivative contracts, PCE facility, NFB facilities issued based on the counter guarantee of another RE, NFB facilities on behalf of an obligor who has not availed any fund based facility from any RE in India, NFB facilities extended by a RE against No Objection Certificate, NFB facilities which are fully secured by eligible financial collateral).
* REs cannot issue NFB facilities assuring redemption of funds raised via deposits or bonds, unless specifically permitted.
* Upon devolution, NFB facilities converted to fund-based facilities are subject to fund-based facility norms.
Guarantees and Co-acceptances:
* Guarantees issued by REs must be irrevocable, unconditional, and incontrovertible.
* REs must establish internal ceilings for guarantees, particularly unsecured ones.
* UCBs, RRBs, LABs, StCBs, and CCBs' total guaranteed obligations cannot exceed 5% of total assets, with unsecured guarantees limited to 1.25% (deadline: April 1, 2027, to meet the threshold).
* Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are required for electronic guarantees, focusing on minimizing manual intervention and system integration (refer to Annex 1).
* REs generally cannot provide guarantees favoring other REs for fund-based credit, except for trade-related transactions.
* Only genuine trade bills can be co-accepted, with proper records maintained.
* REs cannot co-accept bills drawn by other REs or when the buyer/seller has funding from any RE.
Partial Credit Enhancement (PCE):
* Specific REs (SCBs excluding RRBs, AIFIs, and certain NBFCs/HFCs) may provide PCE to bonds issued by corporates/SPVs and certain NBFCs/HFCs to enhance credit ratings.
* PCE is capped at 50% of the bond issue size for a single RE, and the aggregate PCE limit is also 50% of the bond issue size.
* PCE shall be a subordinated facility provided in the form of an irrevocable contingent line of credit.
* REs cannot invest in corporate bonds credit-enhanced by other REs.
* Bonds must have a pre-enhanced rating of at least BBB- by accredited External Credit Assessment Institutions (ECAI).
* Drawn PCE tranches must be repaid within 30 days, becoming an NPA if outstanding for 90+ days.
* PCE exposure by a RE to a single counterparty or group of counterparties shall be within the overall regulatory exposure limits applicable to each category of RE.
* The aggregate PCE exposure of a RE shall not exceed 20 per cent of its Tier 1 capital.
Disclosures:
* REs must disclose details of NFB credit facilities in a specified format.
Repeal and Savings:
* Instructions/guidelines in Annex 2 are repealed upon these directions taking effect.
Impact Analysis:
Regulated Entities (Commercial Banks, UCBs, AIFIs, NBFCs):
* Impact: Revised guidelines for issuing and managing non-fund based credit facilities, including guarantees, co-acceptances, and PCE, affecting credit policies, risk management, and capital adequacy.
* Action Required: Update internal credit policies and procedures to comply with the new directions by the effective date (April 1, 2026, or earlier as per internal policy), and ensure ongoing compliance.
Borrowers/Corporates:
* Impact: Access to funding via bonds may be enhanced through PCE, potentially at better terms.
* Action Required: Understand the conditions and implications of PCE on bond issuances and project financing.
Investors:
* Impact: Enhanced credit ratings of bonds due to PCE may attract wider investor participation in the corporate bond market.
* Action Required: Review the effect of PCE on the bond rating and assess investment risks and returns accordingly.
Auditors:
* Impact: The issuance of electronic Guarantees shall be mandatorily covered within the scope of concurrent audit and RBIA of the RE.
* Action Required: Ensure the robustness of the electronic Guarantee systems shall be part of the Vulnerability Assessment Penetration Testing VAPT, Information Systems Audit.
Key Entities Referenced
Reserve Bank of India: The central bank of India, the primary regulator mentioned throughout the document.
Reserve Bank of India Non-Fund Based Credit Facilities Directions, 2025: The main policy document being analyzed, providing guidelines for non-fund based credit facilities.
Banking Regulation Act, 1949: An act of the Parliament of India that regulates the Indian banking sector.
Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934: An act that established the Reserve Bank of India.
National Housing Bank Act, 1987: An act to establish the National Housing Bank as the apex financial institution for housing.
Commercial Banks: Refers to Scheduled Commercial Banks, Regional Rural Banks and Local Area Banks which are Regulated Entities (RE) under these directions
Urban Cooperative Banks: Refers to Primary Urban Cooperative Banks UCBs State Cooperative Banks StCBs Central Cooperative Banks CCBs which are Regulated Entities (RE) under these directions
Non-Banking Financial Companies: NBFCs including Housing Finance Companies HFCs in Middle Layer and above, for Partial Credit Enhancement
भारतीय �रजवर् ब�क
__________________RESERVE BANK OF INDIA _________________
www.rbi.org.in
RBI/2025-26/140
DOR.STR.REC.45/13.07.010/2025-26 August 06, 2025
Reserve Bank of India (Non-Fund Based Credit Facilities) Directions, 2025
Index
Chapter - I ............................................................................................................................ 2
Preliminary .......................................................................................................................... 2
A. Introduction ................................................................................................................... 2
B. Applicability ................................................................................................................... 2
C. Definitions ...................................................................................................................... 3
Chapter II ............................................................................................................................. 4
General Conditions ........................................................................................................... 4
Chapter – III ......................................................................................................................... 5
A. Guarantees .................................................................................................................... 5
B. Co-acceptances ............................................................................................................ 6
C. Requirements for Other Specific Guarantees ...................................................... 6
Chapter - IV ......................................................................................................................... 7
Partial Credit Enhancement ........................................................................................... 7
A. Salient features of the PCE facility.......................................................................... 8
B. Balance Sheet treatment, capital requirements, exposure and asset
classification norms for exposures arising on account of providing PCE ....... 9
C. Additional conditions for providing PCE to bonds of NBFCs and HFCs ... 11
D. Other Aspects of PCE ............................................................................................... 11
Chapter - V ........................................................................................................................ 12
Exclusions and Other Aspects .................................................................................... 12
Chapter VI.......................................................................................................................... 13
Disclosures ....................................................................................................................... 13
Annex 1 .............................................................................................................................. 14
Operational Risk Controls for issuance of Electronic Guarantees ................... 14
Annex 2 .............................................................................................................................. 16
List of Circulars repealed in respect of Scheduled Commercial Banks .......... 16
List of Circulars repealed in respect of Urban Cooperative Banks ................... 20Chapter - I
Preliminary
A. Introduction
1. Non-fund based (NFB) facilities like guarantees, letters of credit, co-acceptances
etc. facilitate effective credit intermediation and smooth business transactions.
In order to harmonize and consolidate guidelines covering these facilities across
the entities regulated by the Reserve Bank and to broaden the funding sources
for infrastructure financing, the Reserve Bank had issued draft guidelines on
NFB facilities for public comments on April 9, 2025. The comments received
thereon have been analysed and suitably incorporated in these Directions.
2. In exercise of the powers conferred under sections 21 and 35A read with section
56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, sections 45JA, 45L and 45M of the
Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, and sections 30A, 32 and 33 of the National
Housing Bank Act, 1987, the Reserve Bank of India, being satisfied that it is
necessary and expedient in the public interest and in the interest of banking
policy to do so, hereby, issues the Reserve Bank of India (Non-Fund Based
Credit Facilities) Directions, 2025 (hereinafter referred to as ‘Directions’).
B. Applicability
3. These Directions shall apply to the following entities, hereinafter referred to as
Regulated Entity (RE) and collectively as Regulated Entities (REs), as the
context may require, for all their Non-Fund Based (NFB) exposures such as
guarantee, letter of credit, co-acceptance etc., unless otherwise permitted under
these Directions or any regulatory guidelines/ directions issued by the Reserve
Bank.
a. Commercial Banks (including Regional Rural Banks and Local Area Banks);
b. Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs)/ State Co-operative Banks
(StCBs)/ Central Co-operative Banks (CCBs);
c. All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs);
d. Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) including Housing Finance
Companies (HFCs) in Middle Layer and above, only for the issuance of
Page 2 of 20Partial Credit Enhancement, as permitted under Chapter IV of these
Directions.
Provided that these Directions shall not apply to the derivative exposures of
a RE, other than the general conditions as laid down under Chapter II of these
Directions.
4. These Directions shall come into force from April 1, 2026, or from any earlier
date as decided by a RE as per its internal policy (“effective date”). Extension of
any new NFB facility and renewal of an existing NFB facility after the effective
date, shall be governed in terms of these Directions. All existing NFB facilities
extended/ renewed till the effective date shall be governed by the existing
instructions as applicable to the respective REs.
C. Definitions
5. For the purpose of these Directions, the following definitions shall apply:
a. “Beneficiary” means the party in whose favour the NFB facility is issued by a
RE.
b. “Co-acceptance of bills” means an undertaking to make payment to the
drawer of the bill (seller/ exporter) on due date if the buyer/ importer fails to
make the payment on that date.
c. “Guarantee” means a contract to perform the promise, or discharge the
liability, of a third person in the contingent case of his non-performance or
default, in terms of The Indian Contract Act, 1872.
d. “Guarantor” refers to the party which issues the guarantee.
e. “Obligor” refers to a party against whose obligations, financial or otherwise,
a NFB facility has been issued. In the case of guarantees, the obligor may
also be termed as ‘principal debtor’, as defined under the Indian Contract
Act, 1872.
f. “Secured portion of an NFB facility” is the portion of the facility covered by
realisable value of tangible security/ collateral estimated on a realistic basis.
Page 3 of 20Chapter II
General Conditions
6. The credit policy of a RE shall incorporate suitable provisions for issue of NFB
facilities, inter alia, covering aspects relating to type of NFB facilities, limits
granted, credit appraisal, security requirement, fraud prevention, overall
monitoring mechanism including post-sanction monitoring, delegation matrix,
audit and internal controls, compliance to uniform standards issued by standard
setting bodies and other safeguards.
7. A RE shall issue a NFB facility only on behalf of a customer having funded credit
facility from the RE.
Provided that this clause shall not be applicable in respect of:
a. Derivative contracts entered into by RE with counterparty.
b. Partial Credit enhancement facility, as permitted under clause 23 of these
Directions.
c. NFB facilities issued based on the counter guarantee of another RE, as
permitted under clause 15 of these Directions.
d. NFB facilities on behalf of an obligor who has not availed any fund based
facility from any RE in India.
e. NFB facilities extended by a RE against No Objection Certificate issued by
the RE/ REs which has/ have provided fund based facility to the obligor.
f. NFB facilities which are fully secured by eligible financial collateral.
Explanation: The eligible financial collateral specified herein for all REs shall
be as defined under paragraph 7.3.5 of Master Circular – Basel III Capital
Regulations dated April 01, 2025 as updated from time to time
8. A RE shall not issue a NFB facility to any entity assuring redemption/ repayment
of funds raised by any entity via deposits, issuance of bonds, or in any other
form, unless specifically permitted under any regulatory guidelines/ directions
issued by the Reserve Bank.
9. Once a NFB facility devolves and is converted into a fund based facility, then the
prudential norms shall be as applicable to fund based facilities.
Page 4 of 20Chapter – III
Conditions applicable to Guarantees and Co-acceptances
A. Guarantees
10. In general, a guarantee (or a counter-guarantee) issued by a RE (guarantor)
shall be irrevocable (i.e., there shall be no clause in the contract that would allow
the guarantor to unilaterally cancel the same), unconditional (i.e. there shall be
no clause in the contract that could prevent the RE from being obliged to pay out
in a timely manner in the event that the original counterparty fails to meet its
obligation), incontrovertible and shall contain a clear mechanism for honouring
the same without demur as and when invoked.
11. A RE shall put in place suitable internal aggregate/ individual ceilings for
issuance of guarantees in general and unsecured guarantees in particular.
Provided that the total volume of guaranteed obligations of UCBs, RRBs,
LABs, StCBs and CCBs outstanding at any time shall not exceed 5% of their
total assets as per the previous financial year’s balance sheet. Further,
unsecured guarantees of these REs shall be restricted to 1.25% of total assets.
Any such RE in breach of the above stipulation as on the date of issue of these
Directions shall meet the above threshold by April 01, 2027.
12. The provisions of the internal policy relating to guarantees shall, inter alia,
address aspects related to invocation and settlement mechanism, claim period,
tenor, fee/ commission/ applicable charges, timelines for release of security,
renewal, fraud prevention measures etc.
Usage of electronic-Guarantee
13. Wherever a RE issues an electronic Guarantee, it shall frame a standard
operating procedure (SOP) aimed at minimization of manual intervention;
meeting system integration requirements; ensuring technological compatibility
between the RE’s interface and the electronic Guarantee platforms, audit and
internal controls etc. The SOP shall, inter alia, consider the aspects mentioned
in Annex 1.
Page 5 of 20Guarantee favouring another RE
14. A RE shall, in general, not provide a guarantee favouring another RE to enable
it to provide any fund based credit facility to an obligor.
Provided that this clause shall not be applicable in case of credit facilities
extended against guarantees pertaining to trade related transactions.
15. However, a RE may provide a guarantee favouring another RE for a NFB facility
extended by the latter. Such guarantee issued by a RE shall be treated as an
exposure on the obligor on whose behalf the guarantee has been issued by it,
for all purposes including for the calculation of capital adequacy. The exposure
of the RE extending credit facility against a guarantee shall be treated as a claim/
exposure on the RE which is providing the counter guarantee.
Timely Payment of Invoked Guarantee
16. A RE shall honour the guarantee issued by it as and when invoked in accordance
with the terms and conditions of the guarantee deed unless there is court order
restraining the same.
B. Co-acceptances
17. Only genuine trade bills shall be co-accepted, and it shall be ensured that the
goods covered by bills co-accepted are actually received in the stock accounts
of the borrowers.
18. Proper records of the bills co-accepted for each customer shall be maintained,
so that the commitments for each customer and the total commitments at a
branch can be readily ascertained, and these shall be part of internal audit.
19. A RE shall not co-accept bills drawn by another RE or where the buyer/ seller
has received funding for the underlying trade transaction from any RE.
C. Requirements for Other Specific Guarantees
Guarantee and related business involving overseas current or capital account
transaction
20. REs permitted as Authorized Dealer (AD) may extend NFB facilities as permitted
under the extant regulations/ Directions issued under Foreign Exchange
Management Act, 1999, for bonafide current or capital account transaction,
Page 6 of 20including guarantees in respect of debt or other liability incurred by an exporter
on account of exports from India.
21. AD banks are also permitted to issue guarantee to or on behalf of a foreign entity,
or any of its step-down subsidiary in which an Indian entity has acquired control
through the foreign entity, which is backed by a counter-guarantee or collateral
by the Indian entity or its group company.
Provided that such guarantees shall not be issued by banks, including
overseas branches/ subsidiaries of Indian banks, for the purpose of raising
loans/ advances of any kind by the foreign entity except in connection with the
ordinary course of business overseas. Further while extending such guarantees,
banks shall ensure effective monitoring of the end use of such facilities and its
conformity with the business needs of such entities.
Guarantees on behalf of Stock/ Commodity Brokers
22. Only Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) may issue guarantees on behalf of
stock/ commodity brokers in favour of stock/ commodity exchanges in lieu of
security deposit to the extent it is acceptable in the form of bank guarantee as
laid down by exchanges. SCBs may also issue guarantees in lieu of margin
requirements as per exchange regulations read along with other instructions
issued by Reserve Bank in this regard from time to time.
Chapter - IV
Partial Credit Enhancement
23. SCBs (excluding RRBs), AIFIs, NBFCs including HFCs in Middle Layer and
above (together termed as “REs” for the purpose of Chapter IV) may provide
Partial Credit Enhancement (PCE) to bonds issued by corporates/ special
purpose vehicles (SPVs) for funding all types of projects and to bonds issued by
Non-deposit taking NBFCs with asset size of ₹1,000 crore and above registered
with RBI (including HFCs). PCE may also be provided to bonds issued by
Municipal Corporations subject to adherence to, inter alia, paragraph 2.3.7.3 (iii)
of Master Circular- Loans and Advances – Statutory and Other Restrictions
dated July 01, 2015 as amended from time to time.
Page 7 of 2024. The objective behind allowing REs to extend PCE is to enhance the credit rating
of the bonds issued so as to enable corporates to access the funds from the
bond market on better terms. The guidelines in this regard are as below:
A. Salient features of the PCE facility
25. The credit policy of the RE shall incorporate suitable provisions for issue of PCE,
covering issues such as quantum of PCE, underwriting standards, assessment
of risk, pricing, setting limits, etc.
26. PCE shall be a subordinated facility provided in the form of an irrevocable
contingent line of credit which will be drawn in case of shortfall in cash flows for
servicing the bonds and thereby may improve the credit rating of the bond issue.
The contingent facility may, at the discretion of the PCE providing RE, be made
available as a revolving facility.
27. A clear agreement documenting all aspects of this arrangement shall be signed
between the promoter (bond issuer), the PCE providing RE, the bondholders
(through the Trustee) and all other lenders to the project. The agreement to this
effect shall be in the nature of a legally binding contract. The documentation for
the facility shall clearly define the circumstances under which the facility would
be drawn upon.
28. The PCE exposure limit by a single RE shall be 50 per cent of the bond issue
size. The aggregate exposure limit of all REs towards the PCE for a given bond
issue has also been capped at 50 per cent of the bond issue size.
29. The PCE facility shall be provided at the time of the bond issue and shall be
irrevocable. PCE cannot be provided by way of guarantee.
30. As the purpose of PCE by REs is to enable wide investor participation in the
corporate bond market, REs shall not invest in corporate bonds which are credit
enhanced by other REs. They may, however, provide other need based credit
facilities (funded and/ or non-funded) to the corporate/ SPV.
31. REs may offer PCE only in respect of bonds whose pre-enhanced rating are not
lower than “BBB” minus as issued by accredited External Credit Assessment
Institutions (ECAI).
Page 8 of 2032. To be eligible for PCE, corporate bonds shall be rated by a minimum of two ECAI
at all times.
33. The rating reports, both initial and subsequent, shall disclose both standalone
credit rating (i.e., rating without taking into account the effect of PCE) as well as
the enhanced credit rating (taking into account the effect of PCE).
34. So long as the exposure of a RE to a project loan is classified as standard and
the borrower is not in any financial distress (Refer to Annex 1 of Prudential
Framework for Resolution of Stressed Assets dated June 7, 2019 for indicative
list of signs of financial difficulty), providing a commercially priced PCE to
enhance the rating of a bond issue, whose proceeds replace, in whole or in part,
the RE’s project loan, would not amount to restructuring.
35. The PCE shall be available only for servicing the bond and not for any other
purpose (such as funding acquisition of additional assets by the corporate,
meeting part of the project cost or meeting recurring expenses of the corporate
or servicing other lenders/ creditors to the project etc.), irrespective of the
seniority of claims of other creditors in relation to the bond holders.
36. In case the PCE facility is partly drawn and interest accrues on the same, the
unpaid accrued interest shall be excluded from the calculation of the remaining
amount available for drawing.
B. Balance Sheet treatment, capital requirements, exposure and asset
classification norms for exposures arising on account of providing PCE
37. PCE facilities to the extent drawn shall be treated as an on-balance sheet
advance in the balance sheet. Undrawn facilities would be an off-balance sheet
item and reported under ‘Contingent Liability – Others’.
38. The capital required to be maintained by the RE providing PCE for a given bond
issue shall be based on the PCE amount and the applicable risk weight for the
RE corresponding to the pre- enhanced rating of the bond.
To illustrate, in the case of a SCB, assume that the total bond size is ₹100
and pre-enhanced rating of the bond is BBB. In this scenario, the applicable risk
weight at the pre-enhanced rating of BBB is 100%.
Page 9 of 20The capital requirement (assuming CRAR of 9%) for varying amount of PCE,
would, therefore be:
PCE Amount (₹) Capital Requirement for PCE provider (₹)
20 1.8 (20*100%*9%)
30 2.7 (30*100%*9%)
40 3.6 (40*100%*9%)
50 4.5 (50*100%*9%)
39. For the purpose of capital computation in the books of PCE provider, lower of
the two pre-enhanced credit ratings shall be reckoned.
40. It is possible that the credit rating of the bond changes during the lifetime of the
bond, necessitating a change in the capital requirement. Therefore, the rating of
the bond shall be monitored regularly, and capital requirement adjusted in the
following manner:
a. In case of change in the pre-enhanced rating of the bond, the capital required
shall be recalculated based on the risk weight applicable to revised pre-
enhanced rating, subject to a floor, i.e., the capital requirement on the PCE
at the time of issuance of the PCE enhanced bonds.
b. As long as the bond outstanding amount exceeds the aggregate PCE (drawn
and contingent non-funded) offered, the capital held shall not be less than
the amount required to be held at the time of issuance of the PCE enhanced
bond. However, once the bond outstanding has amortised below the
aggregate PCE amount, the capital can be computed taking into account the
outstanding bond amount.
c. In situations where the pre-enhanced rating of the bond slips below
investment grade (BBB minus), full capital to the extent of PCE provided shall
be maintained by all REs, including NBFCs and HFCs.
41. In all circumstances, the capital computed for PCE as mentioned above and
required to be maintained by the PCE provider, shall be capped by the total
amount of PCE provided.
42. In a waterfall mechanism, Credit Enhancement (CE) gets drawn only in a
contingent situation of cash flow shortfall for servicing a debt/ bond etc., and not
Page 10 of 20in the normal course of business. Hence, such an event is indicative of financial
distress of the project. Keeping this aspect in view, a drawn tranche of the
contingent PCE facility shall be required to be repaid within 30 days from the
date of its drawal (due date). The facility shall be treated as NPA if it remains
outstanding for 90 days or more from the due date and provided for as per the
usual asset classification and provisioning norms. In that event, the RE’s other
facilities to the borrower shall also be classified as NPA as per extant guidelines.
43. The PCE providing RE shall observe the following exposure limits:
a. PCE exposure by a RE to a single counterparty or group of counterparties
shall be within the overall regulatory exposure limits applicable to each
category of RE.
b. The aggregate PCE exposure of a RE shall not exceed 20 per cent of its Tier
1 capital.
C. Additional conditions for providing PCE to bonds of NBFCs and HFCs
44. The tenor of the bond issued by NBFCs/ HFCs for which PCE is provided shall
not be less than three years.
45. The proceeds from the bonds backed by PCE from REs shall only be utilized for
refinancing the existing debt of the NBFCs/ HFCs. REs shall introduce
appropriate mechanisms to monitor and ensure that the end-use condition is
met.
46. The exposure of a RE by way of PCEs to bonds issued by each such NBFC/
HFC shall be restricted to one percent of capital funds of the RE within the extant
single/ group borrower exposure limits.
D. Other Aspects of PCE
47. The effect of the PCE on the bond rating shall be disclosed in the bond offer
document i.e., the rating of the bond without and with the PCE shall be disclosed.
48. REs shall ensure that the project assets, created out of the bond issue for which
PCE has been provided by them, and the cash flows from the project are ring
fenced through an escrow account mechanism administered under a bond
trustee arrangement. The manner in which security interest in the project assets
would be shared by the lenders to the project, bond holders and REs providing
Page 11 of 20the PCE and the manner in which the project cash flows would be shared for
servicing loans, if any, and the bonds and PCE, shall be decided and agreed
upon before the issue of bonds and shall be properly documented.
49. The project shall have a robust and viable financial structure even before the
credit enhancement is taken into account. Nevertheless, while providing PCE,
REs shall exercise necessary due diligence and credit appraisal, including
making their own internal credit analysis/ rating.
50. REs shall honour the full PCE commitment irrespective of the asset classification
of the concerned borrower’s credit facilities.
51. All extant regulatory prescriptions for credit and investment exposures by REs,
unless specified otherwise in this Direction, shall continue to apply.
Chapter - V
Exclusions and Other Aspects
52. These Directions have been issued without prejudice to Directions under
Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), 1999; Foreign Exchange
Management (Guarantees) Regulations, 2000, notified vide Notification No.
FEMA 8/2000-RB dated May 03, 2000; as amended from time to time.
53. Notwithstanding clause 52 above, RE shall comply with all the related regulatory
norms including exposure norms issued by RBI as amended from time to time.
54. With these Directions coming into force, the instructions/ guidelines contained in
Annex 2, will stand repealed as of the effective date. Notwithstanding the repeal
provision above, anything done or any action taken or purported to have been
done or taken, or any direction given or any proceeding taken or any penalty or
fine imposed under the repealed enactments shall, insofar as it is not
inconsistent with the provisions of these Directions, be deemed to have been
done or taken under the corresponding provisions of these Directions.
Page 12 of 20Chapter VI
Disclosures
55. The RE shall disclose the details of NFB credit facilities in the format given
below:
As at 31st As at 31st
Previous Previous
March March
Year Year
20XX 20XX
Secured* Unsecured Secured* Unsecured
Portion Portion Portion Portion
I Outstanding Guarantees
i) In India
ii) Outside India
Acceptances, Endorsements
II and other Obligations
III Other NFB Credit facilities
* Secured portion is as defined under these Directions.
Page 13 of 20Annex 1
Operational Risk Controls for issuance of Electronic Guarantees
a. Policy and SOP
i. REs shall have suitable enabling provisions in their credit policy which
shall, inter alia, envisage the adoption of electronic Guarantees, the risk
controls to be put in place, delegation of authority, the monitoring process,
etc.
ii. REs shall put in place appropriate SOPs for user reference, detailing all
the steps to be followed during the entire electronic Guarantee lifecycle.
Electronic Guarantees shall not be issued without ensuring that the
underlying transaction has been duly reflected in the Core Banking System
(CBS)/ Trade Finance System (TFS).
b. Integration of the systems
i. REs shall have a strong control environment covering the policies,
processes and systems; sound internal controls; and appropriate risk
mitigation strategies for all operations pertaining to electronic Guarantees.
ii. REs shall ensure that all features relating to the entire lifecycle events of
electronic Guarantees such as issuance, amendment, invocation,
cancellation etc. shall be available on the REs’ platform through suitable
integration with the electronic Guarantee service provider.
iii. The CBS/ TFS shall be integrated with the APIs and other related
messaging platforms offered by the electronic Guarantee service provider,
in Straight Through Processing (STP) mode, without any manual
intervention.
c. User Roles
i. REs shall have an efficient system of ‘Maker, Checker and Authorizer’ for
issuance and monitoring of electronic Guarantees, while ensuring strict
access control and an effective segregation of the role and accountability.
ii. No role involved in electronic Guarantee issuance lifecycle shall violate
principle of segregation of duties, four/ six eye principle and no employee
Page 14 of 20shall be allocated roles/ privileges across systems, applications that are
conflicting in nature or in violation of four/ six eye principle.
iii. The system access shall be provided only to specified users, and access
through generic user IDs shall not be permitted. User review shall be
continuous, at defined periodicity and identifiable at any point of time with
respective rights and privileges. The user privileges shall be decided on
"need to know/ need to do" basis.
d. Control Measures
i. REs shall have in place a system of periodical review and reconciliation of
all the electronic Guarantees issued/ modified/ cancelled, during the
specified period.
ii. The issuance of electronic Guarantees shall be mandatorily covered within
the scope of concurrent audit and RBIA of the RE.
e. Other aspects
i. The robustness of the electronic Guarantee systems shall be part of the
Vulnerability Assessment/ Penetration Testing (VA/PT), Information
Systems Audit.
ii. Dependence on the vendors for day-to-day transactions shall be avoided.
Access to production systems shall be provided to vendors only in a
controlled environment, and audit trail shall be maintained.
iii. Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM) tool shall be integrated
with the concerned servers and consoles/ PCs connected to electronic
Guarantee related critical systems directly in its VLAN to generate automatic
alerts.
iv. REs shall integrate electronic Guarantee systems with Privileged User
Management Systems/ Identity and Access Management systems. The logs
of the same shall be monitored through Security Operation Centre (SOC)
setup.
v. Business Continuity Measures and contingency plans for system failures,
shall be put in place by the RE.
Page 15 of 20Annex 2
List of Circulars repealed in respect of Scheduled Commercial Banks
SI
Circular Number Date of Issue Subject
No
DBOD.No.Sch.B Guidelines and Norms for Guarantee
1 03 May 1967
C.666/C.96Z-67 Business Undertaken by Banks
DBOD.No.Sch.B Guarantee Business of Banks -
2 11 July 1967
C.1069/C.96Z-67 Guidelines - Clarification
DBOD.No.Sch.12 Advances against Shares and
3 17 August 1967
88/C.96Z-67 Unsecured Advances - Guidelines
DBOD.No.Sch.B
4 21 August 1967 Bank Guarantees
C.1296/C.96Z-67
DBOD.No.Sch.B Advances against Shares and
5 08 November 1967
C.1693/C.96S-67 Unsecured Advances - Guidelines
DBOD.No.Sch.B
6 29 November 1967 Bank Guarantees
C.1794/C.96Z-67
DBOD.No.Sch.B
7 07 December 1967 Bank Guarantees
C.1850/C.96Z-67
DBOD.No.Sch.B
8 12 January 1968 Unsecured Advances - Guidelines
C.68/C.96(S)-68
DBOD.No.Sch.B Unsecured Advances - Inland D/A
9 07 March 1968
C.359/C.96S-68 Bills having a Usance of 90 Days
Unsecured Advances - Advances
DBOD.No.Sch.B
10 19 March 1968 against Supply Bills Drawn on
C.421/C.96(S)-68
Central/State Governments
DBOD.No.Sch.B
11 30 March 1968 Unsecured Advances
C.481/C.96S-68
DBOD.No.Sch.B
12 08 August 1968 Advances against Book Debts
C.2342/C.96S-68
DBOD.No.Sch.B
13 C.2381/C.96(Z)- 14 August 1968 Bank Guarantees
68
DBOD.No.Sch.B
14 23 June 1969 Bank Guarantees
C.1001/C.96Z-69
Unsecured Advances made to
DBOD.No.Sch.B
Exporters made on Consignment
15 C.1051/C.96(S)- 01 July 1969
Basis to be Excluded for the Purpose
69
of Norm
DBOD.No.Sch.B
16 C.1610/C.96(S)- 23 October 1970 Unsecured Advances and Guarantees
70
Continuance of Exemption in respect
DBOD.No.Sch.B of Inland D/A Bills for the purpose of
17 24 March 1972
C.27/C.96(S)-72 Norm relating to Unsecured
Advances/Guarantees
DBOD.No.Sch.B
18 31 July 1972 Bank Guarantee Scheme
C.68/C.109-72
DBOD.No.BM.BC Bid Bonds and Performance
19 14 September 1972
.81/C.297(P)-72 Guarantees
Page 16 of 20Unsecured Advances Guaranteed by
DBOD.No.Sch.B
20 10 October 1972 Credit Guarantee Corporation of India
C.88/C.96(S)-72
Ltd.
DBOD.No.GCS.B Guarantee of Inter-company
21 01 April 1974
C.25/C.107(N)-74 Deposits/Loans by Commercial Banks
Co-acceptance of Bills/Guarantees by
DBOD.No.Fol.BC
22 20 January 1976 Commercial Banks on Inter-company
.9/C.249-76
Deposits/ Loans
DBOD.No.ECC.B
Bid Bonds and Performance
23 C.89/C.297L(1- 04 August 1976
Guarantees
D)-76
Unconditional Guarantee Issued by
DBOD.No.ECC.B
Indian Banks in favour of Overseas
24 C.77/C.297L(1- 07 June 1977
Employers/ Importers on Behalf of
A)-77
Indian Exporters
DBOD.No.Clg.BC
25 02 January 1978 Bank Guarantee Scheme
.1/C.109-78
DBOD.No.Dir.BC. Guarantee of Inter-company
26 20 September 1978
122/C.107(N)-78 Deposits/Loans by Commercial Banks
DBOD.No.Clg.BC
27 08 February 1980 Bank Guarantee Scheme
.21/C.109(H)-80
DBOD.No.Inf.BC.
28 11 September 1980 Bank Guarantee Scheme
103/C.109-80
ICD.No.CAD.18/
29 10 February 1982 Bank Guarantee
C.446-82
DBOD.No.Clg.BC
30 30 September 1982 Bank Guarantee Scheme
.91/C.109(H)-82
Guarantees Furnished by Banks in
ICD.No.CAD.47/
31 08 January 1983 favour of HUDCO/ State Housing
C.446(HF-P)-83
Boards and similar bodies etc.
DBOD.No.BP.678
32 11 January 1983 Bank Guarantee
/C.473-83
DBOD.No.Dir.BC. Guarantee of Inter-company
33 30 May 1983
44/C.96-83 Deposits/Loans by Commercial Banks
DBOD.No.GC.SI Opening of Letters of Credit - Issue of
34 C.BC.97/C.408(A 26 November 1983 Guarantees and Co-acceptance of
)-83 Bills by Banks
Guarantee Furnished by Banks in
IECD.No.CAD.82/ favour of HUDCO in respect of Loans
35 02 February 1984
C.446(HF-P)-84 to State Housing Boards and similar
Bodies
DBOD.No.Dir.BC. Guarantee of Inter-company
36 26 March 1984
25/C.96-84 Deposits/Loans by Commercial Banks
DBOD.No.BP.BC. Safeguards for Issue of Banks
37 02 September 1985
111/C.469(W)-85 Instruments, etc.
IECD.No.PMS.12 CAS - IDBI Bills Rediscounting
38 11 October 1985
9/C.446(PL)-85 Scheme
DBOD.No.BP.BC.
39 24 February 1986 Bank Guarantee
18/C.473-86
DBOD.No.BP.BC. Safeguards for Issue of Banks
40 07 March 1986
28/C.469(W)-86 Instruments, etc.
Page 17 of 20DBOD.No.Inf.BC.
41 09 April 1986 Bank Guarantee Scheme
45/C.109(H)-86
DBOD.No.BP.BC.
42 15 November 1986 Bank Guarantee
130/C.473-86
DBOD.SIC.BC.5A Co-acceptance of Bills Drawn under
43 29 January 1987
/C.739 (A-1)-87 Letters of Credit by Banks
DBOD.No.BP.BC.
44 10 February 1987 Payment of Invoked Guarantees
11/C.473-87
DBOD.No.BP.BC. Payment under Bank Guarantees -
45 10 December 1987
71/C.473-87 Immediate Settlement of Cases
DBOD.No.Inf.BC.
46 15 February 1989 Bank Guarantee Scheme
73/C.109(H)-89
DBOD.No.BP.BC. Payment under Bank Guarantees -
47 31 May 1989
124/C.473-89 Immediate Settlement of Cases
DBOD.No.Dir.BC.
48 09 August 1989 Bank Guarantee Scheme
11/C.96-89
IECD.No.PMD.B Co-acceptance/Issuance of Guarantee
49 C.12/C.446(C&P) 21 September 1990 Favouring Financial Institutions -
- 90/91 Buyers' Line of Credit Scheme (BLCS)
Issue of Guarantee by Banks
IECD.No.CMD.IV.
50 15 October 1990 favouring HUDCO in respect of Loans
13/HF-P-90/91
to State sponsored Bodies
DBOD.No.Dir.BC.
51 22 October 1990 Bank Guarantee Scheme
35/C.96(Z)-90
DBOD.No.BP.BC. Payment under Bank Guarantees -
52 27 November 1991
53/C.473-91 Immediate Settlement of Cases
DBOD.No.BC.18 Bank Guarantee - Delay in Obtaining
53 21 October 1993
5/21.04.009-93 Certified Copies of Judgements
DBOD.No.BP.BC.
Payment under Bank Guarantees -
54 194/21.04.009/ 22 November 1993
Immediate Settlement of Cases
93
Bill Discounting Schemes Operated by
IECD.No.21/08.1
55 01 November 1994 Small Industries Development Bank of
2.01/94-95
India (SIDBI)
IECD.No.37/08.1 Issue of Bank Guarantees in favour of
56 23 February 1995
2.01/94-95 Financial Institutions
Bill Discounting/Rediscounting
IECD.No.21/08.1
57 21 February 1997 Schemes Operated by Power Finance
2.01/96-97
Corporation Ltd. (PFC)
DBOD.No.BP.BC. Payment under Bank Guarantees -
58 28 February 1997
16/21.04.009/97 Immediate Settlement of Cases
Para 4.2 of
59 IECD.No.26/08.1 23 April 1999 Financing of Infrastructure Projects
2.01/98-99
DBOD.No.BP.BC.
60 04 August 1999 Bank Guarantees
78/21.04.009/99
Para 5 of
61 IECD.No.16/08.1 20 February 2002 Financing of Infrastructure Projects
2.01/2001-02
Page 18 of 20DBOD No.
Exclusion of credit card outstanding
BP.BC.
62 18 April 2002 from the norms relating to unsecured
90/21.04.141/200
advances and guarantees
1-02
Exemption of Advances granted to
DBOD.No.BP.BC. Self Help Groups (SHGs) against
63 39/21.04.141/200 06 November 2002 Group Guarantee from the Limit of
2-03 Unsecured Guarantees and
Advances
DBOD.No.BP.BC.
Limit of Unsecured Guarantees and
64 47/21.04.141/200 13 December 2002
Advances
2-03
IECD.No.17/08.1
65 05 April 2003 Guarantees and Co-acceptances
2.01/2002-03
DBOD.No.Dir.BC.
66 35/13.07.10/2006 11 October 2006 Guarantees and Co-acceptances
-2007
DBOD
67 No.Dir.BC.72/ 03 April 2007 Guarantees for Export Advance
13.03.00/2006-07
68 MBC 27 May 2008 Signing of Bank Guarantee
Bank Guarantee with Auto Renewal
69 MBC 15 April 2009
Clause
DBOD.No.BP.BC.
Extension of Guarantee - Maturity
70 127/21.04.009/20 22 April 2009
Beyond Ten Years
08-09
DBOD.No.DIR.B
71 C.136/13.03.00/2 29 May 2009 Issue of Guarantees by Bank
008-09
Mail-Box Issue of Bank Guarantee (BG) / Letter
72 Clarification 19 May 2011 of Credit (LC) by Commercial Banks to
(MBC) constituents of Co-operative Banks
Para 8.2 of Framework for Revitalising Distressed
DBOD.BP.BC.No. Assets in the Economy - Refinancing
73 26 February 2014
98 / 21.04.132 / of Project Loans, Sale of NPA and
2013-14 Other Regulatory Measures
DBR.BP.BC.No.4
Partial Credit Enhancement to
74 0/21.04.142/2015 24 September 2015
Corporate Bonds
-16
DBR.Dir.BC.No.7
Non-Fund Based Facility to Non-
75 0/13.03.00/2015- 07 January 2016
constituent Borrowers of Bank
16
DBR.BP.BC.No.5
Partial Credit Enhancement (PCE) to
76 /21.04.142/2016- 25 August 2016
Corporate Bonds
17
DBR.No.BP.BC.7
Partial Credit Enhancement to
77 0/21.04.142/2016 18 May 2017
Corporate Bonds
-17
Partial Credit Enhancement to Bonds
DBR.BP.BC.No.7
Issued by Non-Banking Financial
78 /21.04.142/2018- 02 November 2018
Companies and Housing Finance
19
Companies
Page 19 of 20List of Circulars repealed in respect of Urban Cooperative Banks
Sl
Circular Number Date of Issue Subject
No
1 ACD.Plan(INDC)
Guidelines for the Guarantee
1571/HB.164/69- 10 December 1969
Business of State Co-operative Banks
70
2 Issue of Guarantees -
ACD.Plan.IFS.55
26 August 1974 Guidelines to be Followed by Primary
0/HB.164-74/5
(Urban) Co-operative Banks
3 ACD.Plan.(CUB)1 Bank Guarantee Scheme - Primary
17 October, 1979
40/UB.8-79/80 (Urban) Co-operative Banks
4 ACD.Plan.(CUB). Bank Guarantee Scheme - Primary
20 August, 1980
74/UB.8/80/81 (Urban) Co-operative Banks
5 Guarantee Furnished by the State
RPCD.No.CRRB.
and Central Co-operative Banks
1507/Misc.5- 31 May 1983
in favour of HUDCO/State Housing
82/83
Boards and similar bodies etc.
6 Guarantees to be Furnished by the
RPCD.No.CRRB. State and Central Co-operative Banks
3465/Misc.5- 17 May 1984 in favour of HUDCO in respect of
83/84 Loans to State Housing Boards and
similar bodies
7 UBD.No.POT.1/U Payment under LCs -Immediate
03 July 1992
B.58-92/3 settlement of claims
8 UBD.No.Plan.42/ Bank guarantee - Delay in obtaining
16 December 1993
09.27.00-93/94 certified copies of Judgements
9
UBD.Plan.Cir.SU Issue of guarantees -Guidelines to be
B.1/09.27.00/94- 18 October 1994 followed by the primary (urban) co-
95 operative banks
10 UBD.No.I&L/PCB Payment under bank guarantees -
01 September 1995
/9/12.05.00/95-96 Immediate settlement of cases
11 UBD.No.Plan.(PC
Payment under bank guarantee -
B)49/09.27.00/96- 26 April 1997
Immediate settlement of cases
97
12 UBD.No.Plan.PC
B.CIR.07/09.27.0 21 September 1999 Bank Guarantees
0/99-2000
13 UBD.(PCB)BPD.
Discounting of Bills by UCBs -
Cir.No.29/13.05.0 30 March 2012
Restricted Letters of Credit
00/2011-12
Page 20 of 20