Research

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...

Hemindra Hazari Rising net deferred tax assets (DTA) in a scenario of stagnant and depressed net profits is not a healthy sign in some of the banks, as current years’ net profits get enhanced while sometime in the future the net DTA will get reversed impacting future net earnings. This trend is visible in...

Leadership is unravelling at Yes Bank and the stock is tanking. In the dark hours of November 14, the bank announced the immediate resignations of Ashok Chawla, its non-executive, independent chairman, and Vasant Gujarathi, an independent director and head of its important audit committee.  The directors of Yes Bank appear to have joined the...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. The ET Prime 3-part series based on the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) show cause notices to Standard Chartered Bank, Indusind Bank  and Aditya Birla Finance highlighted the manner in which these institutions allegedly ‘evergreened’ their exposure and shifted their loans from the unlisted Thapar...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. “What is the robbing of a bank compared to the founding of one?” – Bertolt Brecht An internal working group (IWG) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to review ownership guidelines and corporate structure for Indian private sector banks has recommended that large industrial houses be allowed...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. A visit by road to some of the scenic tourist destinations in the mountainous and mainly rural state of Himachal Pradesh highlights the negligible presence of private sector banks and the sheer dominance of government banks, particularly Punjab National Bank and the banking behmoth, State Bank of...

HDFC Bank RBI divergence story shows, the huge number of analysts and journalists deliberately ignored and continue to be oblivious to a story that is staring at them in their face and it is in this void that independent research can flourish and prosper.

After the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made clear to the board of Axis Bank that it should reconsider its decision to grant the present Chief Executive Officer (CEO) a fourth term, one would have expected the board to have seen the light. But no, shockingly, the board has...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Post the downing of the Indian Air Force (IAF) MIG-21 by Pakistan over its territory and the capture and subsequent return of the pilot, the narrative which was strongly in favour of Narendra  Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rapidly spiralled downwards. Whether the Pakistan Air...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. The market ignored Axis Bank’s consolidated net loss of Rs 216 mn in 2QFY2020. Though sell-side analysts were not expecting this result, they nevertheless bought the bank’s explanation that this was “one-time” in this “quarter of transition”, as deferred tax assets (DTA), which are intangible assets, were...