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'Bank boards must check for compliance' The board of directors of banks will be responsible for ensuring that an appropriate compliance policy is in place to effectively manage compliance risk faced by banks, said the Reserve Bank of India in a notification issued. Compliance includes strict observance of all statutory provisions contained in various legislations and also following the guidelines issued by organisations such as Indian Banks' Association, Foreign Exchange Dealers' Association of India, Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives Association of India and so on, it said. The board may set up a separate board or committee for this purpose, which should review compliance function on a quarterly basis. A compliance department should be set up at the head office of the bank or in the case of foreign banks, it should be at the banks' principal office in India. The chief compliance officer should be the nodal point of contact between the bank and regulator. No lock-in period for NRIs' sale proceeds The RBI has dispensed with the lock-in period for remittance of sale proceeds of immovable property of NRIs or Persons of Indian Origin from their Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) accounts in India. The remittance of such sale proceeds was subject to a lock-in period of 10 years. Karnataka Bank offers new facility Karnataka Bank Ltd has enabled its real time gross settlement (RTGS) facility MoneyQuick under Internet banking. Customers using the bank's Internet banking facility would be able to transfer funds from their account to their or third party accounts at RTGS-enabled branches of other banks across the country Banks want registry to check asset stripping In India, banks have been at the receiving end of borrowers who after defaulting on their payments dispose off assets which are charged to lenders. In many cases, legal action has followed well after the assets have been stripped totally. The problem could have been obviated if policy makers had moved on a few initiatives like the setting up a central registry for registering both immovable and movable assets. The Asian Development Bank has sounded out the government about its willingness to provide technical and financial assistance in setting up an electronic operated central registry. It will enable banks to have access to data and information on defaulters among borrowers as well as properties that are already pledged with other lenders. A central registry could help curtail asset stripping and minimise frauds among borrowers.