CBI files chargesheet against former CMD of PSU Bank

 The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a charge sheet against Alok Kumar Misra, the former chairman and managing director (CMD) of Bank of India (BOI) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), along with 33 other individuals and companies. This charge sheet is related to the alleged bank fraud committed by Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL), which is worth nearly ₹35,000 crore. The fraud was allegedly carried out by the Wadhawan brothers, Kapil and Dheeraj, who ran DHFL. The charge sheet also exonerates 49 other companies that were originally named as accused in the case.

According to the CBI, Alok Kumar Misra allegedly received a benefit of ₹1.5 crore from DHFL in the form of a discounted flat for his son in Mumbai. This benefit was allegedly given to him in exchange for sanctioning loans in his capacity as the head of BOI and OBC. Misra served as the CMD of BOI from 2009 to 2012 and OBC from 2007 to 2009.

The CBI’s investigation revealed that between January 2010 and December 2019, a consortium of 17 banks extended credit facilities worth ₹42,871 crore to DHFL. The Wadhawan brothers allegedly siphoned off the funds to shell companies known as ‘Bandra Book Entities,’ causing a loss of ₹34,926 crore to the consortium. 

The charge sheet also names other companies and individuals who helped the Wadhawan brothers divert funds.

It is important to note that the charge sheet against Alok Kumar Misra was filed after obtaining sanction under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, which is mandatory for investigating a public servant. However, a sanction under section 19 of the PC Act, which is mandatory for prosecuting a public servant, is still pending.

The charge sheet was taken cognizance of by a Delhi court on April 27.

During its investigation, the CBI found that out of the 131 companies originally named in the first information report (FIR) filed in June 2022, 49 companies were “genuine” borrowers without any bad intentions. These companies had entered into actual loan transactions with DHFL, following the necessary procedures and guidelines set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 

The court has exonerated these companies from any criminal liability based on the CBI’s findings. The CBI has identified genuine loan transactions worth ₹13,425 crore, out of which ₹5,836 crore has already been repaid by these 49 companies to DHFL or the Resolution Professional.

The CBI has filed 2,70,000 pages of fresh documentary evidence in 20 trunks in the court, along with a list of 521 new witnesses to support its case against the accused.

It is worth mentioning that Alok Kumar Misra has held several high-level positions in the banking sector, including the chairman and managing director of Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce.

The ownership of DHFL has changed since the bank fraud case came to light, as it was taken over and sold under India’s bankruptcy code.

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PSU banks announce share-swap ratios ahead of April 1 merger

Following the footsteps of State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda, the boards of 10 public-sector banks on Thursday approved mergers and issued share-swap ratios to create four large banks in the economy.

The four anchor banks will be Punjab National Bank, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, and Indian Bank. The merger will be effective from April 1.

Last year, Bank of Baroda took over Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank. Before that, State Bank of India (SBI) had merged all its five associate banks with itself to enter the global top 50 banks’ list in terms of size. Punjab National Bank (PNB) will merge with United Bank of India and Oriental Bank of Commerce to create the largest bank in the country after State Bank of India.

According to notifications to the stock exchanges, Delhi-based PNB will issue 1,150 shares for 1,000 shares of Oriental Bank of Commerce, and 121 shares for 1,000 shares of United Bank of India.

Mumbai-based Union Bank of India will take Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank. Union Bank of India will issue 325 shares for 1,000 shares of Andhra Bank, and 330 shares for 1,000 shares of Corporation Bank.

Bengaluru-based Canara Bank will issue 158 shares for 1,000 shares of Syndicate Bank.

Allahabad Bank said for every 1,000 shares (face value Rs 10) of Allahabad Bank, there would be 115 shares (face value Rs 10) of Indian Bank.

The Union Cabinet had approved the consolidation to build the mega banks “to create more efficient and bigger public sector banks in the challenging environment to meet the credit needs of a growing economy and to achieve operational efficiency by scale of business”. The amalgamation will lead to a wide geographical reach, technology adaption, and, more importantly, better utilisation of scarce capital.

A grievance redress system has been put in place, and a committee has been formed headed by a retired judge. If shareholders have any issue with the swap ratio — for example, if they feel they didn’t get enough time or if they need information — they can raise it. This is the board-approved swap ratio.

“After the committee receives all the grievances, it will have seven days to recommend changes, if needed, which will be the final swap ratio,” said a top official of a PSB to be merged.

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Some PSU banks plan Diwali gifts after improved performance

Public sector banks (PSBs) here like the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) are planning to give festival gifts to their employees.

The two banks have announced a Diwali gift of sweets/dry fruits/chocolates for their staff worth Rs 1,000.

The competent authority in these two banks have issued instructions to distribute the Diwali gifts well ahead of the festival and that cash should not be given as gift in lieu of sweets/dry fruits/chocolates.

The SBI has instructed that the expenditure will be debited to the accounts of the respective offices and then appropriated from the Staff Welfare Fund for the year 2019-20, if and when allocated.

The OBC's General Manager for Human Resources Development Swarup Kumar Saha in a communication to all the branches and other offices cited the improved financial performance of the bank during the second quarter of 2019-20.

The OBC had posted a net profit of Rs 126 crore logging a growth of 23.53 per cent year-on-year. The operating profit has also increased by 20.99 per cent to Rs 1,176 crore.

The letter also said that the capital adequacy ratio and the asset quality of the banks have also improved and all these happened due to committed efforts of the staff members.

The expenses incurred on Diwali gifts will be debited to the Charges General (Staff Welfare), the OBC letter said.

While this is for the first time that Diwali gifts are given to the OBC staff, an officer association leader in SBI told IANS that it is for the second year in a row that the bank is planning to give festive gifts to their staff members.

When queried whether there is an option for non-Hindu employees to avail of the gift at a later date, for instance a Christian employee availing it during Christmas, the SBI union official refused to answer the question.

For the SBI with an employee base of about 257,000, the outgo towards Diwali gifts would be about Rs 25.7 crore.

A union official questioned the logic of giving gifts only during Diwali, that too by government banks where there are employees belonging to various faiths.

In this connection, DMK spokesperson and Member of Parliament T.K.S. Elangovan told IANS: "These banks are owned by the government of India where people of different religions work. The employees should be given the option of choosing the festival for which he would accept the gift."

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Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) Q2 profit rise QoQ

State-owned Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) posted net profit of Rs125.9 crore in the quarter-ended September, up 23% year-on-year, as fewer new loan accounts turned bad and on account of a rise in net interest margin. It had reported a profit of Rs112.7 crore in April-June quarter.

OBC’s interest income grew 13.9% year-on-year to Rs4,878 crore in the three months ended September. Gross non-performing assets (NPA) declined 471 basis points (bps) year-on-year to 12.53% in the September quarter, while net NPA fell 413 bps to 5.94%, the bank said in a filing with the exchanges. Bad loans declined due to lower fresh slippages.

The lender’s net interest income grew 14.7% to Rs1,456 crore. Its net interest margin—a key measure of profitability—grew 6 bps year-on-year to 2.62%.

OBC’s provisioning coverage ratio (PCR) increased to 77.13% as of September-end, up 11.8 percentage points from a year ago. PCR is the amount set aside to cover NPAs.

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Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) Q1 result, reports net profit

Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) posted a net profitof Rs 112.7 crore. The company had posted a loss of Rs 393.2 crore in the year ago period. Bank has posted a profit due to the better asset quality and less provisions. 

Gross NPA of bank stood at 12.56 percent as against 12.66 percent. Net NPA stood at 5.91 percent versus 5.93 percent QoQ.

Net interest income(NII) was up 2.6 percent at Rs 1,371.6 crore.

Provisions for the quarter under review stood at Rs 842.4 crore versus Rs 1,051.5 crore QoQ and Rs 1,539.5 crore YoY.

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Indian Bank opposes merger with OBC, says has well-laid out plan for 3 years

Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) may have floated the idea of a merger of two other state-run lenders – Indian Bank and Corporation Bank – into itself, but the Chennai-based bank doesn't seem to be interested. In a statement on Wednesday, Indian Bank said its board doesn't have any such proposal, showing its intent against any such potential merger into OBC should the government ask for its view. “There is no such proposal with the board of the bank,” it said. “The bank has a well-laid out business plan for the next three years, with a clear visibility on growth, earnings and asset quality that create significant value for all its stakeholders.”

Banking sources had told FE that OBC had sought the finance ministry's approval to combine with Indian Bank and Corporation Bank. The ministry would consider OBC's proposal and take a view soon, one of the sources had said.

OBC – which was facing restrictions under the central bank's Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework until early February – recorded a net profit of Rs 201.5 crore in the March quarter, compared with a net loss of Rs 1,650.22 crore a year earlier. Even sequentially, the profit surged 39%.

However, Corporation Bank's losses zoomed to Rs 6,581.49 crore during the fourth quarter of FY19, against Rs 1,838.39 crore a year before. Indian Bank saw a net loss of Rs 190 crore in the March quarter, against a net profit of Rs 132 crore in the same period last year.

While the headquarters of OBC is in Gurugram, those of Corporation Bank and Indian Bank are in Mangalore and Chennai, respectively.

Indian Bank's net NPA ratio was the lowest of the three – 3.75%, against OBC's 5.93% and Corporation Bank's 5.71%. At 11.29%, Indian Bank's tier-i capital was higher than OBC's 9.98% and Corporation Bank's 10.52%.

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Big bank theory: This two PSU Banks may merge into Oriental Banks of Commerce (OBC)

With a heavy mandate to push reforms, the BJP-led government may soon kick-start the next phase of consolidation in the public-sector banking space with an amalgamation of three lenders — Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), Indian Bank and Corporation Bank.

Banking sources told FE that OBC has sought the finance ministry’s approval to combine with Indian Bank and Corporation Bank. The ministry will consider OBC’s proposal and take a view soon, one of the sources said. However, there is no formal announcement from the finance ministry on the matter yet. Another source said the government may infuse `40,000-50,000 crore into public-sector banks (PSBs) this fiscal, having already provided `1,06,000 crore in FY19.

The merger, if implemented, will be part of the government's efforts to create a few but strong banks with much larger balance sheet to support the rising credit appetite of the fast-growing economy and enable optimum utilisation of resources.

The successful experience of merging State Bank of India with five of its subsidiaries and Bharatiya Mahila Bank, and the amalgamation of Bank of Baroda, Vijaya Bank and Dena bank have given the government confidence that more such consolidation exercises can be handled without any hiccups.

OBC — which was facing restrictions under the central bank's Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework until early February —recorded a net profit of Rs 201.5 crore in the March quarter from a net loss of Rs 1,650.22 crore a year earlier. Even sequentially, the profit surged 39%. However, Corporation Bank's losses zoomed to Rs 6,581.49 crore during the fourth quarter of FY19, against Rs 1,838.39 crore a year before.

Indian Bank saw a net loss of Rs 190 crore in the March quarter, against a net profit of Rs 132 crore in the same period last year. While the headquarters of OBC is in Gurugram, those of Corporation Bank and Indian Bank are in Mangalore and Chennai, respectively.

Earlier, there were reports of Punjab National Bank (PNB) amalgamating with OBC and some other smaller banks, such as Punjab & Sind Bank, Allahabad Bank and Andhra Bank. However, given that PNB is still not out of the woods, any such plan may wait until the bank's results for the first quarter of this fiscal are out. PNB recorded losses of Rs 4,750 crore in the March quarter, against a net loss of Rs 13,417 crore in the same quarter last fiscal when the Nirav Modi fraud came to light. It, however, had recorded a net profit of Rs 247 crore in the third quarter of FY19.

Upon amalgamation, the merged entity will have a combined deposits of `6.6 lakh crore and advances of Rs 4.8 lakh crore, said the sources. The net NPA ratio of OBC stood at 5.93%, while that of Corporation Bank and Indian Bank was 5.71% and 3.75%, respectively at the end of March.

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Punjab National Bank (PNB) likely to takeover two or three PSU banks

Punjab National Bank (PNB) is likely to takeover two to three smaller state-run banks -- Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), Andhra Bank and Allahabad Bank -- in the next three months, reports Reuters.

The government has been striving to revive the health of public sector banks. In February, it announced a recapitalisation tranche of Rs 48,239 crore for as many as 12 public sector banks in a bid to take them out of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework. Their lending ability was constrained by RBI when they were put under this framework.

The 12 banks are Allahabad Bank, Corporation Bank of India, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, Andhra Bank, Syndicate Bank, Central Bank of India, United Bank of India, UCO Bank and Indian Overseas Bank.

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