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...
In the first 2-3 working days of December, 2019 Asiamoney’s ‘Best Digital Bank’ for 2019 in India failed its digital customers: they were unable to log onto either the bank’s mobile application or its internet banking platform. The problem recurred on December 7. That India’s number 1 bank by...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. On November 29, 2019, Yes Bank finally revealed the names of the prospective investors for their US$ 2 bn equity issue. Unfortunately, 90% of the issue consisted of family offices and the 3 family offices which accounted for 85% of the issue were relatively unknown names. It...
