Toxic work culture is rife in the Indian financial sector and it is rare for senior executive management to acknowledge abusive behaviour by managers. It was therefore a surprise when Sashidhar Jagdishan, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), HDFC Bank publicly acknowledged it in the bank’s FY2023 annual report by...
It is Uday Kotak’s swan song year as chief executive officer of Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB), and the theme of the bank’s FY2023 annual report is “Acceler@ting Change”. In line with this, the bank’s “strategy emphasises on building younger , diverse and future-fit talent at the Group.” Perhaps this...
The overriding theme of Axis Bank’s FY2023 annual report (released on June 26, 2023) is “Open, to Win Together”. The catch phrase is reiterated ad nauseam throughout the report. “Open” stands for not only transparency but also inclusiveness: it is “Dil se Open”. “Together” includes its employees: Axis Bank...
The gap between Axis Bank’s own portrayal of customer experience and the reality of customer complaints recalls Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Let us begin with Dr Jekyll. The bank claims, in its FY2022 Sustainability Report, that “we are committed to delivering the greatest...
In the wake of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in the United States of America on March 10, 2023, the United States Federal Reserve (Fed), on April 28, 2023, released its report on the review of the bank’s supervision and regulation.
The report is highly relevant in the...
Banks are considered special, but Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) and its high profile founder-CEO, Uday Kotak are extraordinarily special (here and here). Ever since KMB was granted a banking license in 2003, Uday Kotak has been its CEO. As per the Reserve Bank of India’s directive, he will have...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Why is the capital market deliberately overlooking the serious concerns regarding corporate governance in the Kotak Mahindra group? Presumably because the bank has been rewarding shareholders over the years, as well as because of the stature of its founder-CEO, Uday Kotak. The latest issue emerging from the...
Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) sent the following response to this analyst’s article, “KMB Talks of “Highest Standards of Corporate Governance”, But Avoids Telling Shareholders about Adverse SEBI Orders against Executive Director” (dated August 3, 2022; it was later released to the general public as well, on grounds of public...
On the one hand, Kotak Mahindra Bank (KMB) is proudly broadcasting to shareholders its thoughts on the virtues of corporate governance, and how the bank is more than merely conforming to the letter of the law. At the same time, a notice to KMB shareholders seeking approval to re-appoint...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. According to the grand theory of capitalism and the free market, competition anoints the customer as king. In the capital market, it is argued that increasing the number of players would improve price discovery, and greater scrutiny of managements’ conduct would discipline them. Thus the market would...
