Mumbai: Fino Payments Ban on Friday sought to allay investor concerns following a Goods and Services Tax (GST) investigation, asserting that its business operations remain unaffected and that it maintains strong compliance and governance standards.
In a press release submitted to stock exchanges, the Navi Mumbai-headquartered lender said the GST probe pertains to certain programme managers who have relationships with multiple banks, including Fino Payments Bank.
Ketan Merchant, Chief Financial Officer of the bank, said the institution has a “strong corporate governance and compliance framework with robust processes in place” and remains compliant with all applicable laws, including GST regulations.
“The issue is with regards to a GST investigation pertaining to program managers who have relationship with other banks including Fino Payments Bank Limited. The Bank and its MD & CEO – Mr. Rishi Gupta have nothing to do with the actions of the programme managers,” Merchant said.
The clarification comes a day after the bank made a disclosure to the stock exchanges regarding the investigation. The bank’s shares are listed on both the BSE (Scrip Code: 543386) and NSE (Symbol: FINOPB).
The management emphasised that it has full faith in the country’s judiciary and will continue to extend cooperation and assistance to authorities in the ongoing process.
Importantly, the lender reassured customers, investors and other stakeholders that there will be no disruption in services. “Our business operations will continue uninterrupted and there will be no impact on our services. We stand committed to deliver on our customer centricity,” the CFO added.
The development assumes significance at a time when compliance scrutiny across financial services firms has intensified, particularly in areas involving third-party partnerships and indirect tax structures.