Research

On January 11, 2019, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)  issued a press release informing the public that “by an order dated January 4, 2019 imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 30 million on Citibank NA India (the bank) for deficiencies in compliance with the RBI instructions on ‘Fit and Proper’ criteria...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Post the announcement of HDFC Bank’s results, the sell-side rejoiced and the overwhelming majority reaffirmed their bullish stance on the stock, which has handsomely rewarded shareholders in its quarter century of existence. The perennially bullish sell-side has been disregarding the cautions of Daniel Tabbush,...

The unseemly public jostling between India’s central bank and the government of India casts a poor light on both institutions.  Adhering to unrealistic fiscal deficit constraints has compelled the government to plunder public institutions such as the Life Insurance Corporation of India, ONGC and now the Reserve...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Yes Bank’s loss in 4QFY19 would have been much higher, by Rs 16.6 bn, and its annual profit significantly lower, had it not been for the increase in the net deferred tax asset (DTA) of the same amount. The huge increase in the DTA partly...

It is extremely unfortunate that the regulatory agencies have till date not penalised any senior individual in the banks or the partners in the audit firms responsible for the huge divergence in NPAs in FY2016. The lack of punishment so far raises concerns of ‘regulatory capture’ by the private sector banks.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. The credit rating agency, ICRA (an affiliate of Moody’s) has finally sacked Naresh Takkar, its chief executive officer (CEO).  This appears to be a belated response to pressure from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the capital markets regulator. Earlier, following an anonymous complaint to...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. R.C. Bhargava is the long-serving current chairman of Maruti Suzuki India, India’s largest automobile company. He was also an independent director of IL&FS, the failed infrastructure developer and non-bank finance company, from 1990 till 2018. At that point, the Indian government finally removed all the...

In our experience companies adopt liberal accounting policies to cover up flagging fundamentals otherwise there is rarely a valid business reason.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. The Indian prime minister’s announcement that India had destroyed a ‘low-earth orbit’ satellite with a missile, and thus joined an elite club, suggests that the ruling party is desperate to deflect the voters’ attention from the dire economic situation in India. This desperation points to...

Post this report and the subsequent media coverage, the Indian government changed the selection policy of appointment of SBI chairman solely on the basis of seniority.