MAM
Promax/BDA forms Chairman’s Council for better networking opportunities
MUMBAI: In an effort to encourage greater grassroots networking in the promotional, marketing and design community, Promax/BDA has formed a new Chairman’s Business Council aimed to develop a series of smaller organised events for its members.
The announcement was made by Promax/BDA chief executive officer Jim Chabin.
“We have always had requests for activities throughout the year on a regional basis. Our members wanted more networking opportunities with potential prospects, so we needed a creative way to bring people together in small and large groups – to fund activities that our members desire. I am genuinely delighted at this new initiative,” said Chabin.
Holding up the Chairman’s Council will be the industry’s top branding, design and marketing representatives. Under the leadership of Chabin, the Council includes Michael Benson (chairman, Promax/BDA, senior vice president marketing ABC Network), Steve Kazanjian (chairman BDA, DZN) , Stephen Arnold (president, Stephen Arnold Music), Lee Hunt (Lee Hunt LLC) and Michael Levine (president, Michael Levine Search Consultants).
Chuck Carey (co-founder and executive producer, Troika Design Group), Stephan Gerber (president, Planet 3 Entertainment), Brent Magid (president and CEO, Frank N. Magid Associates), Jeff Pryor (CEO, Priority Public Relations), Chuck Ross (publisher/editor, Television Week), Scott Siegel (president, R S Owens) and Mark Stroman (partner, Entertainment Marketing Partners) are the other members of the Council.
Along with promoting networking opportunities, this Council will be active in addressing issues facing creative companies; participating in active discussions; advising conference planners on topics and speakers; and participating in a regular series of informal gatherings designed to build better, more personal relationships. Additionally, the Council will actively seek out and solicit new Promax/BDA memberships.
Brands
Reserve Bank of India cancels Paytm Payments Bank licence
Central bank cites compliance failures; curbs tighten as wind-up looms
MUMBAI: India’s banking watchdog delivered its sharpest blow yet to Paytm Payments Bank, cancelling its licence and effectively ending its ability to operate as a bank under the law.
The Reserve Bank of India said the entity can no longer conduct banking business under the Banking Regulation Act, citing concerns that its affairs were not being run in the interest of depositors or the public and that it had failed to meet licence conditions.
The move escalates a crackdown that has been building for months. The bank had already been barred from onboarding new customers since March 11, 2022, and later faced restrictions on deposits, credit and wallet top-ups. In January 2024, the central bank ordered it to stop accepting fresh deposits, pointing to persistent non-compliance, including lapses in customer due diligence, use of funds and technology systems.
Operationally, the bank is now on a tight leash. It may process withdrawals of existing deposits and facilitate loan referrals through banking correspondents, but it cannot take fresh deposits.
The central bank said it would apply to the high court to wind up the bank.
Paytm sought to ringfence the fallout. In a regulatory filing, it said the licence cancellation applies to Paytm Payments Bank Limited, a separate entity, and should not be attributed to One 97 Communications. It added that there is no exposure or material business arrangement with the bank and that it operates independently, without Paytm’s board or management involvement.
“As informed earlier, Paytm (One 97 Communications Limited) and its services, which have been operating without interruption, will continue to operate uninterrupted. These include the Paytm app, Paytm UPI, Paytm Gold and all other services offered by its subsidiaries and associated companies,” the company said.
The distinction may reassure users of the app ecosystem, but the regulator’s verdict is unequivocal. After years of warnings, caps and curbs, the payments bank experiment at Paytm is being shut down—decisively, and with little room left to manoeuvre.
