New Delhi, Sept. 29 -- Tata Sons was classified as an upper-layer non-banking financial company in September 2022 by the Reserve Bank of India. The operating company of the Tata Group was required to be listed on the stock exchanges by September 2025, unless it obtained an exemption.

RBI stated in its 2021 guidelines that upper-layer NBFCs must be listed within three years of being identified as such. A few, such as Piramal Capital and Housing Finance, and Aditya Birla Finance, have tried to sidestep this by announcing mergers with their listed parents.

RBI regulations categorise NBFCs into four layers-base layer, middle layer, upper layer, and top layer-based on size, activity, and perceived risk. The upper layer comprises prominent na...