Research

Research articles published by Hemindra Hazari.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. A closer look at Axis Bank’s staff data reveals the alarming mortality rate of new hires in the bank, and provides a glimpse of new hire attrition in the private banking industry in India. This appears to be a symptom of toxic work culture at the bank,...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) decision to temporarily put a halt to all digital launches of HDFC Bank’s financial products and also cease all new issuances of credit cards by the bank brings to the fore the huge reputational risk on account of the bank ignoring...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. In the SBI-led bail-out of Yes Bank assisted by private sector entities, HDFC Bank, the largest private sector bank, is notably absent, as is Indusind Bank. Stranger still, much smaller banks like Bandhan Bank, Federal Bank and IDFC First have decided to come to the rescue of...
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 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. Yes Bank reported a staggering consolidated net loss of Rs 191 bn ($2.6 bn) for the 9 month period ended December 31, 2019 (for 3Q FY2020 the net loss was Rs 185.6 bn). However, even this is understated on account of the huge increase in the deferred...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Despites the paeans of self-praise in annual reports, exposé after exposé by the media reveal the abysmal state of corporate governance in private financial capital. The latest in these revelations by ET Prime is how Yes Bank disbursed a Rs 5.12 bn loan to Oyster Buildwell, an...
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: The default by the unlisted Altico Capital India (erstwhile Clearwater Capital Partners India Private Limited), a “Systemically Important Non-Bank Finance Company” owned by marquee foreign shareholders, is a resoundingly loud and clear warning to the capital market on the precarious state of NBFCs and the unreliability of...
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...