Research

Research articles published by Hemindra Hazari.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) reveal that, in the recent period of declining interest rates, while all banks have been reducing their deposit rates as well as their benchmark rates (marginal cost of fund-based lending rates), in July 2020 private sector banks have increased...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. US law firms, Rosen Legal, Pomerantz and Schall have filed class action suits (here,  here and here)  against HDFC Bank. The grounds are that HDFC Bank allegedly misled investors, provided inadequate disclosures and internal controls over financial reporting, and engaged in improper lending practices in its automobile...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. The Council of Ethics of the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), the Norwegian sovereign fund, recommended on February 19, 2020 that Page Industries (licensed to produce the Jockey brand of clothing and Speedo in India) be excluded from investment by the fund.  GPFG is the world’s largest...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. The near-absence of a government stimulus to revive the Indian economy from the Covid-19 meltdown portends a severe and prolonged economic slowdown. This will squarely hit the banking industry with huge credit costs and low growth. In such a dismal scenario, the only lever available to the...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. A 6-year profitability analysis of HDFC Bank, India’s most valuable bank, reveals that it has been able to maintain it ROA despite a surge in credit cost for three reasons. Firstly, it has leveraged its overheads to generate more business for the bank, secondly, the lower tax...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. In comparing a company’s stand-alone expenses with its consolidated accounts, it is highly unusual for the consolidated numbers to be lower than the stand-alone numbers. But what has gone unnoticed for some years in HDFC Bank is that its stand-alone ‘other operating expenses’ has been consistently higher...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. The Covid-19 outbreak and the resulting lockdown have caused widespread economic devastation, particularly in urban and commercially developed centres. Taking into account the loss of revenue faced by different types of businesses, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) plans to come out with a one-time restructuring package...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. In a highly reassuring development, Indusind Bank has stated to this writer that its board of directors “has not considered any proposal to appoint Mr Sobti in any capacity post his retirement as MD and CEO .” Stakeholders may recall that at a joint interview to the...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) succession fiasco at HDFC Bank, coupled with the tweets of an anonymous  source on the abrupt and controversial exits of senior level bank staff (which the bank had no intention of disclosing), has clearly unnerved the senior management of the bank.  Aditya...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. It is the season for long serving business head verticals to exit HDFC Bank. Following the abrupt departures  of Abhay Aima (former Group Head – private banking) and Ashok Khanna (ex-Group Head - automobile loans) comes news of Munish Mittal (Group Head – Information Technology and Chief...