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Sushant Bhandari elevated to VP at Citi institutional banking
MUMBAI: Citi has welcomed Sushant Bhandari as vice president in its Institutional Client Group, signalling a fresh wave of leadership and ambition within the bank’s institutional banking division.
Bhandari, who has been with Citi for nearly seven years, will focus on strengthening relationships with institutional clients, driving solution-led growth, and delivering integrated banking, cash management, and trade finance solutions across markets.
He has steadily climbed the Citi ladder, starting as a sales management associate in 2019, moving up to solution sales manager, then assistant vice president, and now stepping into his VP role. Along the way, he has been recognised multiple times for top performance, including accolades at the Top Performers Summit 2020 and Winners Circle.
Before joining Citi, Bhandari honed his skills through internships and live projects at organisations including Khaitan Electronics, pladis Global, EduShedu.com, and Children International, as well as contributing to the Finance Club at IMI Delhi.
In his new role based in Mumbai, Bhandari is set to bring a mix of experience, energy, and innovative thinking to Citi’s institutional banking operations, making the complex world of corporate finance a little more approachable for clients.
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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.
