'We can't have the best of both worlds -- large, efficient, world class government-owned banks, doing social banking and making profits. 'Why not set them free from the shackles of such obligations and run them as business units?' says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Apart from navigating the bank through the Covid crisis, Jagdishan may also have to deal with the latest development on the auto loan lending practice scam. He will be expected to deliver consistent profit growth of 20 per cent-plus quarter after quarter, irrespective of the operating environment.
Heads of various public and private sector banks on Thursday sought to present a counter-narrative on RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das warning lenders about the perils of extreme risk aversion in the pandemic-stricken environment where credit demand is on the wane.
'Most importantly, marking a departure from the past, the RBI has made it clear that it is not overtly worried about the level of the local currency,' notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Enjoying the backing of the regulator, Gill has identified the core problems, ring-fenced the banks from "influencers" and is in the process of building a new team. Now, he needs to play a Vikram Pandit for YES Bank, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
None of the four benchmarks suggested by the RBI is ideal as banks in India create loan assets from their deposits and not borrowing from the regulator or market, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The origin of the challenge is the so-called "fresh start" process. Many in the MFI industry apprehend that such a law in India will encourage small unsecured borrowers to default and destroy the credit culture. So, while'Fresh start' is a welcome step as it will free up the debtors from the archaic laws of the colonial era, debtors need handholding and counselling to prevent any misuse, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Woefully inadequate infrastructure is just one of the many reasons why a case is not settled within 180 days and even 270 days as envisaged by the law, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The evolving RBI-government relationship, a reversal in the interest rate cycle and return to profitability will dominate bankers' conversation this year, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'In their over-enthusiasm to clean up the system, both the banks and the regulator should not forget that the key to the insolvency law is revival of companies -- recovery of bank dues is an offshoot of that,' points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
If indeed we want the board to manage the RBI, probably the government should take a close look at the US Federal Reserve system which has a two-part structure - a central authority in Washington, DC, and a decentralised network of 12 Federal Reserve Banks located throughout the country, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Spare the serious entrepreneurs but don't allow the rogues to use the shield of secrecy, writes Tamal Spare the serious entrepreneurs but don't allow the rogues to use the shield of secrecy, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
There is a dearth of talent in the Indian banking industry. A testimony to this is the two new CEOs in the private sector -- Sandeep Bakhshi in ICICI Bank Ltd and Amitabh Chaudhry in AXIS Bank Ltd -- have come from the insurance sector, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The RBI wants to include shares and options within the variable salary of the CEOs, proposed to be capped at 200 per cent of their fixed salary; the floor for it is 50 per cent.
'There are many cases where a company hits the wall because of reasons not under their control.' 'If you do not understand and appreciate that and paint all promoters with the same brush then definitely you are inviting trouble.'
In 2015, Infosys, under the leadership of then CEO Vishal Sikka, had bought Israeli automation technology firm Panaya for around $ 200 million and e-commerce service provider Skava for $1 20 million. The buyouts were mired in controversy owing to allegation of over-payment apart from not being an ideal fit.
Salomon Kalou scored a double as Ivory Coast cruised into the semi-finals of the African Nations Cup with a 5-0 demolition of Guinea.
Tunisia and Angola played out a goalless stalemate in Tamale to qualify for the African Nations Cup quarter-finals.
While IDBI Bank's 140 million customers and 1800-odd branches will come in handy for LIC to hawk insurance, the bank can use LIC's massive agent network to sell its retail loans. But if it is run the same way it had been in the past and LIC is a proxy of the government, then it has no future, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Two impressive long-range shots in the final minutes gave Tunisia and South Africa draws in their opening African Nations Cup Group D games.
Defending champions Egypt beat Cameroon 4-2 while Zambia had a one-sided 3-0 triumph over Sudan in Group C's opening encounters of the African Nations Cup.
Most of the NBFCs do not take public deposits but that does not mean they cannot create systemic risks. The banking system has at least Rs 57,000 crore exposure to IL&FS. Haven't the banks invested public money in IL&FS papers, asks Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Banking is a boring business but still the banker should enjoy it as fancy awards and cozy relationships with politicians, Bollywood stars and corporate honchos cannot save them if the job is not done properly. In the concluding part of the series Tamal Bandyopadhyay wonders how long Kochhar would need to wait for her redemption or downfall and atonement.
In the first of a two-part series, Tamal Bandyopadhyay explains why the ICICI Bank's board first rushed to deny all allegations against Kochhar and then took the extreme steps against her.
What connects P S Jayakumar of Bank of Baroda, V Vaidyanathan of Capital First Ltd and Chandra Shekhar Ghosh of Bandhan?
'Our intention is to make Disney-branded clean family movies for the entertainment of the local Indian market.'
'There are deeper, underlying, forces at work and we need institutional arrangements to guard against them.'
'No commercial bank will be allowed to fail. There is nothing to worry about.'
'Should the government be in the business of running banks?' 'Particularly when it does not have the fiscal strength to continuously infuse capital into such banks?'
This growth gives sleepless nights to a bank chairman
If indeed the issues involved between the government and RBI are of immense public interest, why not make public the arguments of both the government and the RBI, irrespective of the outcome of the process, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.However, the Act is silent on what happens if the governor's views differ from that of the government. If Patel does not want to budge from his stance the government can either see merit in the Governor's arguments and decide against going ahead with its plan or overrule him. My guess is that the issues raised by the government need to be sorted out not at the November 19 board meeting but between the Governor and the government, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The choice clearly is between prompt corrective action and slow but sure destruction, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The International Monetary Fund chief economist-designate Raghuram Rajan feels big deficits -- whether India's fiscal deficit or the United States' current account deficit -- are not sustainable in the long term.
30 percent of our business comes from exports to countries like the US, the UK, Canada and Germany
As banks improve their risk management systems, the intermediation cost as well as potential NPAs will come down.
'Those who come from outside are surprised at the relatively small strength of the RBI supervisory cadre, relative to the needs of the country and the needs of the financial sector.'
Tamal Bandyopadhyay offers some unsolicited advice for a government wh,ich came to power, with brute majority and the nation's pragmatic chief money man.
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