The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted its approval to ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company (AMC) Ltd for the acquisition of an aggregate holding at the group level of up to 9.95% of the paid-up share capital or voting rights in each of the five banking companies. 

The banks were RBL Bank, Federal Bank, IDFC FIRST Bank, Equitas Small Finance Bank and IndusInd Bank. 

According to several exchange filings by the involved companies, the approvals, issued on December 27 and 28, are subject to compliance with the relevant provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, RBI’s Master Direction and Guidelines on Acquisition and Holding of Shares or Voting Rights in Banking Companies dated January 16, 2023.  

Shares of RBL Bank and Federal Bank jumped up to 5.6% and 2.2%, respectively, from their previous closing prices on the National Stock Exchange. On the other hand, IDFC FIRST Bank, Equitas Small Finance Bank and IndusInd Bank saw a fall in their share prices of as much as 2%. 

At 2 pm, RBL shares were trading 3.1% higher at Rs 277, while Federal Bank saw its shares trading flat. Shares of IDFC First and IndusInd Bank fell 0.34% and 1.2% to Rs 88.40 and Rs 1,591.55, respectively. Stock prices of Equitas SFB were 1.4% down at Rs 105.25.