The Central Information Commission has directed the Reserve Bank to make public audit reports of co-operative banks, rejecting the arguments of the Bank that such disclosure could “lead to loss of faith in some banks” and adversely affect economic interests of the state. The Reserve Bank had sought exemption on two grounds — it could affect economic interests of the state (Section 8(1) (a) of the RTI Act) and information is held in fiduciary capacity (Section 8(1)(e)).

Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) has called on the Government to require institutional investors to reveal how they vote at company meetings. In a formal response to the Government's Company Law Reform Bill, CFS supports the idea, contained in the proposed legislation, that companies should publish the result of any polls called at company meetings it holds shares in, while noting that the effectiveness of this would be limited without a requirement for polls to be called as a matter ...