Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Can Bank Management Stop Rise In Bad Loans?

This refers to news item which says that IBA Chairman has assured Ministry f Finance that every bank will now introspect into their asset portfolio and carry out audit in their banks to find out whether any case of bad lending exists.


 

There is no doubt that clever top officials of every bank along with Secretary MOF are trying to throw dust in the eyes of media and critic of the banks by giving such false statement. Work of audit is a regular phenomenon and it is not new that IBA Chairman will do to stop evil deeds .



As usual , top management of public sector banks are trying to put carpet on their evil deeds and hence they (IBA Chairman Mr. T N Bhasin ) have promised Ministry of Finance to introspect and carry out audit of big ticket loans and there is no doubt that they will issue a certificate of good health very soon to save their brothers and sisters who caused loss to bank by indulging in bribe led lending as also to save the skin of RBI officials .

This is to mention here that almost each branch of each bank is audited by internal auditors every year, majority of them are also audited by Statutory auditors too and many of them audited by concurrent Auditors whose task to verify the working of every day of big branches. Even RBI inspectors used to audit various branches of banks. Inspite of all these stereo type auditing and inspection , Banks could not stop health of assets moving from bad to worse. None can deny that they all wilfully and strategically ignored bad accounts in the past and falsely and fraudulently issued good health certificates.



It is only due to implementation of Core Banking Solution in the bank and insistence of RBI to identify health of asset by using advanced technology that slowly and gradually bad accounts are coming to light. And I have no doubt that clever bankers will once again issue same certificates of good health in future too to please MOF. They know how to manage and taper with machine results too. This is why bank are slowly bringing bad loans of the past and that too in phases so that image of the bank may not face a jolt .



Several cases of fraudulent lending have come to light , several cases of cheating like that by Harshad Mehta or by Satyam Computers came to light in the past, none of clever bankers and neither RBI officials took lesson and none of them tried in real sense to improve the health and to stop evil doers from causing loss to banks. Volume loss caused by fraud or by bad lending or by cheating by loan taker have been increasing quarter after quarter and top officials also promise to stop it or control it but in fact that rather add fuel to fire.
  

This is why I use to say that clever bankers cannot stop rise in bad debts. I can say so because evil doers including bankers, auditors, and inspectors of evil deeds are of same breed, they supplement each other and they safeguard mutual interest. After all most of them are birds of same feather. Bankers will therefore submit certificate of checking which RBI and MOF will keep in filing for record which usually happens in all cases of fraud and losses.

This is proper to mention here that Bank management of each bank has advised all branches to hang at least three boards in prominent place of the branch which will mention address of Ombudsman , Vigilance Officers and of head of Controlling offices. These boards give message to customers of bank that if they have any grievance or any case of bribing they may directly write to controlling offices or Ombudsman or Vigilance Officer against any bank staff who resort to evil ways and means. GOI and Bank management pose to believe that each branch will function without indulging in corrupt practice and none of bank staff will indulge in corrupt practices.

But unfortunately they fail always to achieve what they mean to say and they mean to convey the message .. It is open secret that despite all such good boards displaying good messages, corruption is all where , in all offices and in all departments.



Banks to put mid-size, big loans under lens-Hindustan Times
Mahua Venkatesh,September 02, 2014

With the loan books of public sector banks coming under scrutiny in the wake of the Syndicate Bank scam, top managements and even branches of state-owned lenders have decided to inspect all mid- and big-size loan books to ensure there are no discrepancies or unfair play.

Most banks have undertaken aggressive internal audits of their loan books and non-performing assets (NPA), as several bank frauds have been exposed.

The finance ministry has also said the banking system would be cleansed.


“We are looking into the issue, we will tighten the system and put in place a mechanism to increase accountability and transparency,” said GS Sandhu, secretary, financial services.

“Banks have undertaken scrutiny on their own and systems have been tightened to maintain quality and ensure there have been no lapses even in the past.

In case any case comes to the notice of any official, he would have to report the incident immediately to the management,” TM Bhasin, chairman, Indian Banks Association told HT.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/popup/2014/9/0209pg15a.jpg


The Central Bureau of Investigation recently arrested Syndicate Bank CMD SK Jain for allegedly accepting a bribe to enhance the credit limit of a private company.

On August 20, the finance ministry ordered forensic audits of the Oriental Bank of Commerce and Dena Bank for allegedly misappropriating Rs. 436 crore of deposits belonging to private and public sector companies.

Last week, a forensic audit was ordered into a few NPAs of UCO Bank as well.

“We are taking all necessary steps and we are carefully monitoring the assets,” RK Dubey, chairman and managing director, Canara Bank, said.

Banks would now have to indicate and highlight even those accounts that are performing as of now, but could be showing signs of stress.

This means that even if the borrower repays debt on time, she could come under the scanner if the bank notices early signs of uncertainty either in the company of the sector. The RBI has asked banks to classify such accounts as “special mention” accounts.
Scam after scam in public sector banks



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