The Reserve Bank of India had permitted infrastructure finance company IDFC to exit IDFC First Bank. RBI had earlier said that after the expiry of lock-in period of 5 years, IDFC can exit as the promoter of IDFC First Bank. IDFC had received a licence to set up a full service bank in 2013 and the infrastructure lending business was carved into IDFC Bank, which began operations in 2015. IDFC holds stake in the bank through a full-owned non-operative financial holding company (NOFHL), whoe stake in IDFC First Bank is 36.6%. A reverse merger would entail an exit from a holding company structure by the bank. IDFC First Bank has now become a retail lender and moved away from an infrastructure heavy book. The bank in 2018 merged with Capital First.
