RBI allows FIIs to buy more shares in Axis Bank

Reserve Bank on Wednesday allowed foreign investors to buy further shares in private lender Axis Bank as the stipulated limit has gone below the threshold.

The foreign shareholding by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)/Registered Foreign Portfolios Investors (RFPIs) in Axis Bank has gone below the threshold limit, RBI said in a notification.

Hence the restrictions placed on the purchase of shares of the above company are withdrawn with immediate effect, RBI said.

For the quarter ended March 2015, FIIs held 46.64 per cent in Axis Bank, according to data available on BSE.

FIIs, NRIs and PIOs (Persons of Indian Origins) can invest in primary and secondary capital markets in India through PIS.

The RBI monitors the ceilings on FII/NRI/PIO investments in Indian companies on a daily basis and has fixed the cut-off points two percentage points lower than the actual ceiling. Axis Bank shares closed at Rs 550.65 per share on the BSE on Wednesday, down 0.63 per cent from the previous close.