| Date |
Event |
| 1 Apr
1935 |
Reserve Bank of India
commences operations. Sir Osborne Smith the first Governor of the
Bank. The Bank was constituted as a shareholders' bank. |
| 5
Jul 1935 |
Scheduled
banks required to maintain the Cash Reserve Ratio, i.e., hold cash
balances with the RBI equivalent to 5% of their Demand Liabilities
and 2% of their Time Liabilities. |
| Oct
1935 |
London Office of the Reserve
Bank set up. This was closed on September 30, 1963. |
| 1
Nov 1936 |
Resignation
of the first Governor, Sir Osborne Smith, wef July 1, 1937. |
| 15 Jan
1937 |
Indian Companies (Amendment)
Act, 1936 devotes a separate chapter exclusively to Banks. |
| 1
July 1937 |
Sir James
Braid Taylor assumes office as Governor. |
| 1937 |
RBI acts as banker to the
Government of Burma and also responsible for note issue in Burma. |
| Jan
1938 |
First
Reserve Bank notes issued. |
| 21 Jun
1938 |
The Failure of the
Travancore National and Quilon Bank, the largest bank in the
Travancore region, underlined the need for comprehensive banking
reform and legislation. |
| 3
Sep 1939 |
Introduction
of Exchange Controls in India under Defence of India Rules. |
| 11 Mar
1940 |
RBI Accounting Year changed
from Jan-Dec to July-June. |
| 1940 |
The silver
rupee replaced by the quarternary alloy rupee. One Rupee note
reintroduced. This note had the status of a rupee coin and
represented the introduction of official fiat money in India. |
| 11 Aug
1943 |
Sir C. D. Deshmukh assumes
office of Governor. |
| 1944 |
The
security thread on notes introduced for the first time in India as a
security feature. |
| 1944 |
Laws relating to Government
securities and to the management of Public Debt by the Reserve Bank
of India consolidated on the basis of the Public Debt Act, 1944. |
| 26
May 1945 |
Speculative
activity in the financial and bullion markets. Defence of India
Rules invoked to authorise the Reserve Bank to collect information
from banks in respect of advances. This was to check advances
against bullion for speculation. |
| 9 Jun
1945 |
Reserve Bank of India
entrusted with the Currency & Coinage of the British Military
Administration of Burma as well as Banker to BMA. |
| 12
Jan 1946 |
High
Denomination Bank Notes of Rs 500, Rs 1000 and Rs 10,000 Demonetised
to curb unaccounted money. |
| 1946 |
Interim arrangements for
Bank Supervision were put in place by ordinances which were later
replaced by the Banking Companies Act, 1949. These Ordinances
empowered the Reserve Bank to inspect banks, as well as authorise
the licensing of bank branches. |
| 30
Jun 1948 |
RBI ceased
to function as the Central Bank of Pakistan. State Bank of Pakistan
commenced operations wef July 1, 1949. |
| 1 Jan
1949 |
Reserve Bank of India
nationalised. |
| 16
Mar 1949 |
Coming
into force of the Banking Companies Act, 1949. This formed the
statutory basis of bank supervision and regulation in India.
The Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) requiring banks to maintain
liquid assets was introduced for the first time. The Banking
Companies Act was later renamed the Banking Regulation Act. |
| 1 Jul
1949 |
Sir Benegal Rama Rau assumes
office as Governor |
| 19
Sep 1949 |
Rupee
devalued by 30.5 % as a defensive measure consequent to the
devaluation by other 'sterling area' countries. |