Large offshore investment write-offs trigger RBI alert

The Reserve Bank of India is scrutinizing large write-offs of overseas investments by several companies, suspecting these might not be genuine business decisions. Concerns arise as some firms may have used the ‘overseas direct investment’ route to transfer funds abroad, bypassing regulations. The RBI is ensuring compliance with mandatory audit reports and valuation confirmations to validate the legitimacy of these investments. New overseas investment rules from August 2022 allow automatic write-offs, but recent cases under review are from prior to 2022. The RBI’s vigilance aims to uncover potentially fraudulent fund movements.