EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. On February 27, 2020 the Reserve Bank of India
finally approved Sumant Kathpalia as the CEO who will succeed Romesh Sobti when
the latter retires on March 23, 2020. Kathpalia, who has a background in
consumer finance and wealth management, will be taking charge of a bank which
is facing stiff...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. The succession fiasco at HDFC Bank reveals how the banking regulator has allowed a promoter with a minority stake to have a stranglehold on the selection of the chief executive officer (CEO) and the chairman of the bank. Strangely, the board of the bank has to...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. In a surprise capitulation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has relaxed its rules regarding the ceiling on the percentage of shares held by founders of a private bank. But it has carved out this exception for just one bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB), which has been...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. In a bizarre episode which raises critical questions regarding basic norms of corporate governance, Sandeep Parekh, independent director of HDFC Bank, took to Twitter to publicly comment on the succession issue of the HDFC Bank CEO. Parekh, a corporate lawyer and former Securities and Exchange Board of...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Although ICICI Bank reported a strong performance in 3QFY20, the market has ignored the increase in the deferred tax asset (DTA) which inflated the net profit by Rs 2 bn. It would have been more prudent for the bank to continue with its earlier practice in 1QFY20...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. In a shocking development at HDFC Bank reported by Reuters, the bank selected Egon Zehnder, the global executive search firm, to shortlist external candidates to succeed Aditya Puri. The six-member internal search committee set up in November has been unable to reach a consensus to select a...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. In a stunning non-disclosure, Indusind Bank conveniently neglected to reveal, in its 3QFY2020 results, that it had reduced shareholder funds by around Rs 6.7 bn as a charge for frauds without charging it to profits. The bank reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 13.09 bn...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Axis Bank recently diminished the authority of its Chief Risk Officer (CRO) by taking corporate credit risk assessment away from him and giving it to the Chief Credit Officer. Cyril Anand, President and Chief Risk Officer (CRO), Axis Bank, has been ‘retired’ early, and the bank has...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. A disturbing revelation in the annual report of the banking ombudsman scheme, 2018-2019 (year end June 30), released by the Reserve Bank of India, was the high number of customer complaints per branch of Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC Bank -- two favourite banks of foreign institutional...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. For the second time, State Bank of India (SBI), the government’s premier bank, and India’s largest by assets, has been publicly shamed by the banking regulator for fraudulent accounts. Stakeholders are now aware that the bank’s standalone meagre profit of Rs 8.62 bn for the year ended...
