Following allegations of involvement in money laundering in the wake of demonetisation, the Reserve Bank on Monday quelled rumours stating that it has “not initiated any action” to cancel the licence of Axis Bank.

“The Reserve Bank clarifies that it has not initiated any action to cancel the banking licence of Axis Bank in the wake of certain allegations about some serious irregularities in transactions relating to deposit/exchange of Specified Bank Notes in a few branches of the bank,” said the RBI statement. The clarification comes amid rumours in a segment of the media that the bank was likely to lose its banking licence, the RBI stated further.

Axis Bank had suspended 24 of its employees for allegedly breaking rules in accepting or exchanging old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, which lost legal status since November 9.

Refuting the reports in a clarification to BSE, Axis Bank said, “We strongly deny the contents of the said article and we reiterate that the bank has strong systems and controls as per the norms prescribed by RBI.”

The bank added that “without prejudice to our rights and contentions in the matter and to take appropriate measures to counter the irresponsible and mala fide report published by the said newspaper, as advised.”