EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.
“hush money”: money paid to someone to prevent them from disclosing embarrassing or discreditable information – Concise Oxford English Dictionary
HDFC Bank, India’s most valuable bank, has been found to be levying ‘processing fees’ on prospective retail customers who submitted spurious documents for availing a loan from the...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. While Axis Bank has recovered from its corporate non-performing asset (NPA) crisis, it seems to be in the midst of a management attrition problem, partly explained by significant sackings in FY2020. Staff turnover levels have been steadily rising in the period FY2018 – FY2020 (FY2021 data is...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Two long serving senior executives of HDFC Bank who headed important business verticals have abruptly quit the bank, reportedly under unusual circumstances. Abhay Aima (Group Head – Private Banking), quit sometime in FY2020, while Ashok Khanna (Group Head – Secured Vehicle Loans) left in early FY2021. Aima,...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. On September 13, 2019, a court in Udaipur, Rajasthan took cognisance of charges and issued bailable warrants against Sandeep Bakhshi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), ICICI Bank and other officials of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance (ICICI Pru Life) for criminal conduct under the Indian Penal Code, 1860...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was forced to disclose its confidential inspection reports, called Risk Assessment Reports (RARs), of the State Bank of India (SBI), HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank for the years FY2013 to FY2015. Shockingly, among the four banks, HDFC Bank...
Three new developments herald a possible new beginning for Paytm Payments Bank (PPB): The reconstitution of its board of directors, apparently due to pressure from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI); the stepping down of Vijay Shekhar Sharma (51% shareholder of PPB) as part-time chairman and the induction of...
On May 12, 2017, Yes Bank, released its annual report for the year ended March 31, 2017 where the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) mandatory disclosure showed that for the year ended March 31, 2016, the bank’s gross non-performing assets (NPAs) was higher by 5.6x to Rs49.3bn instead of...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Despite ICICI Prudential Life Insurance (IPru Life) reporting improvement in long-term persistency ratios, there are worrying examples of brazen mis-selling of life insurance policies by the company through its corporate agent, Angel Financial Advisors and even its parent, ICICI Bank. The cases of two 21-year old customers...
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)’s order dated June 30, 2022 indicted not only the senior-most executives of Kotak Mahindra Mutual Fund (KMF), but also Kotak Mahindra Trustee Company (KMTC), for failing in its oversight of the asset management company. The matter related to KMF’s investment in...
