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The Reserve Bank of India amends the prudential norms for Small Finance Banks regarding Pillar 3 disclosure requirements. These changes align disclosure practices with the Basel Framework to improve market discipline and transparency. Banks must follow specific guiding principles for clarity, comprehensiveness, and consistency in their risk disclosures. The amendments mandate internal control processes for Pillar 3 data, require board-level attestation, and define new timelines for publishing disclosures alongside financial reports. Banks must maintain a dedicated regulatory disclosure section on their websites and archive reports for five years. These requirements apply to all Small Finance Banks. The new norms take effect on April 1, 2027, with specific reporting schedules for quarterly, semi-annual, and annual disclosures.
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RBI/2026-27/210 DOR.ACC.REC.No.191/21-01-002/2026-27 July 30, 2026
Please refer to ‘Annex III: Pillar 3 Disclosure Requirements’ of the Reserve Bank of India (Small Finance Banks – Prudential Norms on Capital Adequacy) Directions, 2025 (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Directions’). Upon a review and to ensure greater consistency with the Basel Pillar 3 disclosure requirements, there is a felt need to amend these Directions.
Accordingly, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 35A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and all other provisions / laws enabling the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to issue instructions in this regard, the Reserve Bank being satisfied that it is necessary and expedient in the public interest so to do, hereby, issues the Amendment Directions hereinafter specified.
These Directions shall be called the Reserve Bank of India (Small Finance Banks - Prudential Norms on Capital Adequacy) Fifth Amendment Directions, 2026.
The Amendment Directions modify the Directions as under:
4(1) In Paragraph 120 the words “Table DF 4” shall be substituted with “Table CRD, Template CR4 and Template CR5”.
4(2) For Paragraphs 188 and 189 the following shall be substituted, namely:
The provision of meaningful information about common key risk metrics to market participants is a fundamental tenet of a sound banking system. It reduces information asymmetry and helps promote comparability of a bank’s risk profiles within and across jurisdictions. Pillar 3 of the Basel Framework aims to promote market discipline through regulatory disclosure requirements. These requirements enable market participants to access key information relating to a bank’s regulatory capital and risk exposures in order to increase transparency and confidence about a bank’s exposure to risk and the overall adequacy of its regulatory capital.
Pillar 3 disclosures are required to be made by all banks including those which are not listed on stock exchanges and / or not required to publish financial results / statement.
4(3) Paragraph 191 shall stand deleted.
4(4) For paragraphs 192 to 198, the following shall be substituted, namely:
Assurance of Pillar 3 data (1) The information provided by a bank under Pillar 3 shall be subject, at a minimum, to the same level of internal review and internal control processes as the information provided by the bank for its financial reporting (i.e., the level of assurance shall be the same as for information provided within the management discussion and analysis part of the financial report). (2) A bank shall have a formal disclosure policy for Pillar 3 data approved by the Board of Directors that sets out the internal controls and procedures for disclosure of such information. (3) The key elements of this policy shall be described in the year-end Pillar 3 report or cross-referenced to another location where they are available. (4) The Board of Directors and senior management shall be responsible for establishing and maintaining an effective internal control structure over the disclosure of financial information, including Pillar 3 disclosures. They shall also ensure that appropriate review of the disclosures takes place. (5) One or more senior officers of a bank, at board level, shall attest in writing that Pillar 3 disclosures have been prepared in accordance with the board-agreed internal control processes.
Proprietary and Confidential Information (1) The Reserve Bank believes that the disclosure requirements strike an appropriate balance between the need for meaningful disclosure and the protection of proprietary and confidential information. (2) In exceptional cases, disclosure of certain items required by Pillar 3 may reveal the position of a bank or contravene its legal obligations by making public information that is proprietary or confidential in nature. In such cases, a bank does not need to disclose those specific items but shall disclose more general information about the subject matter of the requirement instead. It shall also explain in the narrative commentary to the disclosure requirement the fact that specific items of information have not been disclosed and the reasons thereof.
Guiding principles of Pillar 3 disclosures Pillar 3 complements the minimum risk-based capital requirements and other quantitative requirements (Pillar 1) and the supervisory review process (Pillar 2) and aims to promote market discipline by providing meaningful regulatory information to investors and other interested parties on a consistent and comparable basis. The guiding principles aim to provide a firm foundation for achieving transparent, high-quality Pillar 3 risk disclosures that will enable users to better understand and compare a bank's business and its risks. (1) Principle 1: Disclosures shall be clear Disclosures shall be presented in a form that is understandable to key stakeholders (i.e., investors, analysts, financial customers, and others) and communicated through an accessible medium. Important messages shall be highlighted and easy to find. Complex issues shall be explained in simple language with important terms defined. Related risk information shall be presented together. (2) Principle 2: Disclosures should be comprehensive (i) Disclosures shall describe a bank's main activities and all significant risks, supported by relevant underlying data and information. Significant changes in risk exposures between reporting periods should be described, together with the appropriate response by management. (ii) Disclosures shall provide sufficient information in both qualitative and quantitative terms on a bank's processes and procedures for identifying, measuring, and managing those risks. The level of detail of such disclosure shall be proportionate to a bank's complexity. (iii) Approaches to disclosure shall be sufficiently flexible to reflect how senior management and the board of directors internally assess and manage risks and strategy, helping users to better understand a bank's risk tolerance / appetite. (3) Principle 3: Disclosures shall be meaningful to users Disclosures shall highlight a bank's most significant current and emerging risks and how those risks are managed, including information that is likely to receive market attention. Where meaningful, linkages shall be provided to line items on the balance sheet or the income statement. Disclosures that do not add value to users' understanding or do not communicate useful information shall be avoided. Furthermore, information which is no longer meaningful or relevant to users shall be removed. (4) Principle 4: Disclosures shall be consistent over time (i) Disclosures shall be consistent over time to enable key stakeholders to identify trends in a bank's risk profile across all significant aspects of its business. (ii) Additions, deletions, and other important changes in disclosures from previous reports, including those arising from a bank's specific, regulatory or market developments, shall be highlighted and explained. (5) Principle 5: Disclosures shall be comparable across banks The level of detail and the format of presentation of disclosures shall enable key stakeholders to perform meaningful comparisons of business activities, prudential metrics, risks, and risk management between banks and across jurisdictions.
Frequency and Timing of Disclosures (1) The frequencies of disclosure as indicated in the disclosure templates and tables provided in Annex III vary between concurrently, quarterly, semi-annual, and annual reporting depending upon the nature of the specific disclosure requirement. (2) A bank shall publish Pillar 3 disclosures concurrently with its financial reports for the corresponding period. (3) For Pillar 3 disclosures to be made upto and including the reporting period ended March 31, 2029, a bank shall publish such disclosures within a maximum of seven working days from the date of publishing of its financial reports for the corresponding period. However, for Pillar 3 disclosures to be made from the financial year beginning April 1, 2029, a bank shall publish such disclosures concurrently with its financial reports for the corresponding period. Provided that the time lag shall not exceed the time allowed to the bank for its regular financial reporting period-ends. For example, if a bank reports only annually and its annual financial statements are made available five weeks after the end of the annual reporting period-end, interim Pillar 3 disclosures on a quarterly or semi-annual basis shall be available within five weeks after the end of the relevant quarter or half year. For Pillar 3 disclosures to be made upto and including the reporting period ended March 31, 2029, an additional time period of seven working days shall be allowed to a bank as provided under Para 195(3) above. (4) Retrospective disclosures, disclosure of transitional metrics and reporting periods (i) In templates which require the disclosure of data points for current and previous reporting periods, the disclosure of the data point for the previous period is not required when a metric for a new standard is reported for the first time unless this is explicitly stated in the disclosure requirement. (ii) Unless otherwise specified in the disclosure templates, when a bank is under a transitional regime permitted by the standards, the transitional data should be reported unless the bank already complies with the fully loaded requirements. A bank shall clearly state whether the figures disclosed are computed on a transitional or fully loaded basis. Where applicable, a bank under a transitional regime may separately disclose fully loaded figures in addition to transitional metrics. (iii) Unless otherwise specified in the disclosure templates, the data required for annual, semi-annual, and quarterly disclosures shall be for the corresponding 12-month, six-month and three-month period, respectively.
Regulatory Disclosure Section (1) A bank shall publish Pillar 3 disclosures in the format as specified in Annex III of these Directions. The Pillar 3 report shall be published by a bank in a standalone document that provides a readily accessible source of prudential measures for users. Note - The Pillar 3 report may be appended to, or form a discrete section of, a bank's financial statements, but it shall be easily identifiable to users. (2) A bank shall maintain a ‘Regulatory Disclosure Section’ on its website, where all the information relating to disclosures shall be made available to the market participants. (3) The direct link to ‘Regulatory Disclosure Section’ page shall be prominently provided on the home page of a bank’s website and it shall be easily accessible. (4) A bank shall also make available on its website an archive for at least five years of Pillar 3 reports relating to prior reporting periods.
Presentation and disclosure requirements (1) The disclosure requirements are presented either in the form of templates or of tables as set out in Annex III. (2) Templates shall be completed with quantitative data in accordance with the definitions provided. (3) Tables generally relate to qualitative requirements, but quantitative information is also required in some instances. A bank may choose the format it prefers when presenting the information requested in tables. (4) The amounts shall be presented in ₹ Crore, unless stated otherwise. (5) In line with Paragraph 194(3), the information provided in the templates and tables should be meaningful to users. (6) The disclosure requirements specified in the Annex III that necessitate an assessment from a bank are specifically identified in the scope of application field of templates / tables. When preparing these individual tables and templates, a bank shall consider carefully how widely the disclosure requirement should apply. (7) If a bank considers that the information requested in a template or table would not be meaningful to users, for example because the exposures and risk-weighted asset (RWA) amounts are deemed immaterial, it may choose not to disclose part, or all of the information requested. In such circumstances, however, the bank shall explain in a narrative commentary why it considers such information not to be meaningful to users. It shall describe the portfolios excluded from the disclosure requirement and the aggregate total RWA those portfolios represent. (9) For templates, the format is designated as either fixed or flexible: (i) Where the format of a template is described as fixed, a bank shall complete the fields in accordance with the instructions given. (ii) If a row / column is not considered to be relevant to a bank's activities or the required information would not be meaningful to users (e.g., immaterial from a quantitative perspective), the bank shall blacken the cells pertaining to that specific row / column from the template, but the numbering of the subsequent rows and columns shall not be altered. (iii) A bank may add extra rows and extra columns to fixed format templates if it wishes to provide additional detail to a disclosure requirement by adding sub-rows or columns, but the numbering of prescribed rows and columns in the template shall not be altered. (iv) Where the format of a template is described as flexible, a bank shall present the required information either in the format provided in this document or in one that better suits the bank. (v) The format for the presentation of qualitative information in tables is not prescribed. Notwithstanding, a bank shall comply with the restrictions in presentation, should such restrictions be prescribed in the template. (vi) In addition, when a customised presentation of the information is used, the bank shall provide information comparable with that required in the disclosure requirement (i.e., at a similar level of granularity as if the template / table were completed as presented in this document).
Qualitative narrative to accompany the disclosure requirements (1) A bank shall supplement the quantitative information provided in both fixed and flexible templates with a narrative commentary to explain at least any significant changes between reporting periods and any other issues that management considers to be of interest to market participants. The form taken by this additional narrative shall be at the discretion of the bank. (2) Disclosure of additional quantitative and qualitative information shall provide market participants with a broader picture of a bank´s risk position and promote market discipline. (3) Additional voluntary risk disclosures allow a bank to present information relevant to its business model that may not be adequately captured by the standardised requirements. (4) Additional quantitative information that a bank chooses to disclose shall provide sufficient and meaningful information to enable market participants to understand and analyse any figures so provided. It shall also be accompanied by a qualitative discussion. (5) Any additional disclosure shall comply with the five guiding principles specified in Paragraph 194.
