Research

Research articles published by Hemindra Hazari.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. The Mint newspaper broke a news story on February 15, 2022 exposing how, in June 2019, RBL Bank had disbursed a high-risk loan to Sintex-BAPL. Thereafter Sintex-BAPL lent the bulk of those funds to group company Sintex Industries which enabled it to repay a Rs 2.8 bn...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. In the ongoing Indusind Bank microfinance saga, we earlier learned of a "technical glitch"  whereby the bank generously disbursed loans to customers without their consent. Now comes the bank’s claim of a  "procedural lapse" whereby the bank received repayments of large numbers of loans, and disbursed new...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. The toxicity in Axis Bank’s work culture which this analyst has been highlighting (here and here) was recently confirmed by Ravi Narayanan, Group Executive - in-charge of retail liabilities, branch banking and products. As disclosed  by ‘Madanlal Dahariya’, a pseudonym used by a bank whistle-blower on Twitter,...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Xmas festivities were disrupted when RBL Bank dropped a bombshell on the stock exchanges. It informed the public that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), under Section 36AB of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, had appointed Yogesh K Dayal (Chief General Manager, RBI) as an additional director....
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. Indusind Bank shareholders are paying a heavy price for senior executive-level reorganisation in Bharat Financial Inclusion (BFI), which backfired as disgruntled BFI seniors blew the whistle on alleged evergreening. Meanwhile the corporate division of the bank has being undergoing a similar drastic reorganisation. For some years this analyst...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. On November 5, 2021, the auspicious day of the Hindu New Year, the Economic Times burst a firecracker of a news story on IndusInd Bank. The story cited whistle blowers (a group of anonymous senior employees), who alleged that the bank’s microfinance subsidiary, Bharat Financial Inclusion (BFIL),...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Even though Axis Bank reported an impressive growth in net profit, higher than that of its peers, the stock market penalised the bank, as the growth of its business, top line and profit before provisions was lower than that of its peers. The stock market traditionally favours...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. ICICI Bank reported strong profits for 2QFY2022, with standalone net profits increasing by 30% YoY to Rs 55 bn., enthusing the market. The bank has been focusing on retail loans to drive its assets and profits, after heavily haemorrhaging on corporate loans prior to FY2020. The retail...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Government banks have been derided for indulging in ‘phone banking’ (being instructed on the telephone by ruling party politicians and civil bureaucrats to lend to specific unworthy companies). But what the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) affidavit in the Delhi Court (as disclosed by the media -- here and...