India's central bank imposes penalty on PNB for violating SWIFT norms

NEW DELHI, March 26 (Xinhua) -- India's central bank the Reserve bank of India (RBI) has reportedly slapped a penalty of 20 million Indian Rupees (285,714 U.S. dollars) on the Punjab National bank (PNB) for non-compliance of regulatory directions with regard to "SWIFT" operations.

"SWIFT" is a global messaging software used for sharing information on inter-bank transactions by financial entities.

The RBI informed the PNB about the penalty on Monday, local media reports said on Tuesday.

The move comes in the wake of the recent huge banking fraud, to the tune of 140 billion Indian rupees (2 billion U.S. dollars), involving billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi at the PNB, which allegedly took place due to the "misuse" of the SWIFT messaging software.

Both Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi are currently on the run, staying overseas avoiding India's judicial trial.

Earlier this year, the RBI had imposed penalties worth 710 million Indian rupees (10 million U.S. dollars) on as many as 36 public, private and foreign banks for non-compliance with various directions on time-bound implementation and strengthening of SWIFT operations.