India's Bandhan Bank says loan claims under audit by govt agency

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's Bandhan Bank said on Tuesday that the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC) has decided to undertake an audit of loan claims filed by the lender under a guarantee scheme.

The bank clarified in an exchange filing that the regulator has not initiated a broader audit.

After receiving the first tranche of recovery from the Credit Guarantee Fund of Micro Units (CGFMU), Bandhan Bank had applied for a second tranche of about 12.90 billion rupees ($155.3 million), the lender said in an exchange filing.

CGFMU is a government-established trust fund to ensure payment against default for micro loans extended to eligible small borrowers.

NCGTC, also set up by the government, oversees these guarantee schemes.

The NCGTC has further intimated its decision to conduct a detailed audit of the CGFMU portfolio for the fiscal year 2020-21, the filing showed.

The lender is confident of recovering the claim amount, it said.

Earlier this month, Bandhan Bank reported an 18.6% year-on-year increase in loans for the October-December period, with deposits rising 14.8%.

Bandhan Bank's stock rose as much as 3.17% on Tuesday following the clarification, before paring some of those gains. It had fallen 7.39% on Monday on media reports of the audit.

($1 = 83.0860 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Siddhi Nayak; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)