RBI Tightens Capital Market Exposure Disclosures for Commercial Banks: Detailed Format Notified

The Reserve Bank of India has overhauled how commercial banks must present and disclose their exposure to capital markets in their financial statements. Through the Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks – Financial Statements: Presentation and Disclosures) – Third Amendment Directions, 2026 dated February 13, 2026, the RBI has introduced a more granular disclosure framework for “Exposure to Capital Markets” under the Notes to Accounts.

These changes are closely aligned with the Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks – Credit Facilities) Amendment Directions, 2026 and are intended to bring greater transparency and consistency in how banks report risks arising from their capital market-related activities.

The latest amendment modifies the existing Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks – Financial Statements: Presentation and Disclosures) Directions, 2025 (referred to as “the Directions”).

RBI has invoked its powers under:

  • Section 21 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, and
  • Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, along with other enabling legal provisions,

to issue these revised Directions. The central bank has expressly recorded its satisfaction that such amendments are necessary and expedient in the public interest, particularly in view of evolving credit and capital market practices and the need for better risk disclosure by banks.

Linkage with Credit Facilities Amendment Directions, 2026

The Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks – Credit Facilities) Amendment Directions, 2026 form the core regulatory backdrop for these disclosure changes. Consequent to these Credit Facilities amendments, RBI reviewed the existing disclosure regime and decided that a more comprehensive and uniform reporting architecture was required for capital market exposure.

Accordingly, the Third Amendment Directions, 2026, seek to ensure that:

  • Reporting on capital market exposure in financial statements
  • Internal monitoring of exposure limits, and
  • Compliance with concentration risk norms

are all aligned and based on the same definitional and computational framework prescribed in the Concentration Risk Management and Credit Facilities Directions.

Key Structural Change in the Disclosure Framework

Deletion of Existing Sub-paragraph

Within Chapter-III – Disclosure in Financial Statements – Notes to Accounts, paragraph 10(5) deals with “Exposures”. The Third Amendment Directions, 2026, provide for the following structural change:

  • Sub-paragraph 10(5)(ii) is deleted from the existing Directions.

This indicates that the earlier format or content relating to capital market exposure disclosures under that sub-paragraph will no longer be applicable once the amendment takes effect.

Insertion of New Sub-paragraph on Capital Market Exposure

In place of the deleted sub-paragraph, RBI has inserted a newly numbered sub-paragraph:

  • Sub-paragraph 10(5)(iia): “Exposure to Capital Markets”

This new sub-paragraph mandates a detailed tabular disclosure of various categories of capital market exposure, with amounts to be disclosed separately for the Current Year and Previous Year, in ₹ crore.

Detailed Disclosure Format: “Exposure to Capital Markets”

The newly prescribed disclosure table titled “Exposure to Capital Markets (Amount in ₹ crore)” requires commercial banks to classify and report their exposure into distinct heads. Each category is to be shown for both the reporting year and the immediately preceding year.

Structure of the Disclosure Table

The table is to be presented as follows:

  • Sr. No.
  • Particulars
  • Current Year (₹ crore)
  • Previous Year (₹ crore)

The “Particulars” column is broken down into specific heads of exposure. Each of these must be quantified by the bank in accordance with the relevant RBI Directions on concentration risk and credit facilities.

Categories of Capital Market Exposure to be Reported

The following exposure components are required to be disclosed:

1.