ICICI Bank Managing Director &amp; Chief Executive Officer Chanda Kochhar spoke to Business Standard after announcing the bank&rsquo;s first-quarter results.

'We look at ways to change the world'

Business Standard

Chennai-based Indian Bank has reported a 52.40 per cent rise in net profit for the quarter ended June 30 to Rs 331.6 crore as compared with Rs 217.6 crore in the first quarter of the previous fiscal. After announcing the results, Bank Chairman and Managing Director MS Sundara Rajan tells Business Standard that one of the main reasons for this growth is fee-based income, which he says will continue to be a focus area for the bank.

'Interest rates will continue to remain the same'

Reserve Bank of India Governor D Subbarao addressed a press conference after presenting the first quarter review of the monetary policy.

&#39;Challenge is to raise credit flow&#39;

Rakesh Mohan, who was appointed Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India in September 2002, moved to North Block two years later as secretary, department of economic affairs, during P Chidambaram&rsquo;s tenure as Finance Minister, only to return to RBI after eight months.

&#39;We&#39;ve handled crisis much better than anyone else in the world&#39;

While general insurance companies are offering discounts to woo customers, Bajaj Allianz intends to stay away from price wars and focus on good quality business. In an interview with Shilpy Sinha, Chief Executive Officer Swaraj Krishnan said that there was a need for the industry to have self regulation.

Prudent risk pricing is the key

With $45 billion inward remittances in 2008, India saw the largest transfer of foreign funds in the world, according to a recent World Bank report. The 150-year-old Western Union Financial Services, which entered India in 2001 with about 3,000 outlets, is the largest private player with over 50,000 agent locations across India. Anil Kapur, its managing director, South and South East Asia, tells Anirudh Laskar that the challenge is to grow in rural areas, where 60 per cent of the remittances go.

'Removing cap on remittances will spur further growth'

Amid the ongoing global recession and financial turmoil, Union Bank of India is benefiting from its new strategy. The bank now needs Rs 2,000 crore to fund its expansion plans. In a wide-ranging interview, Union Bank of India Chairman and Managing Director M V Nair tells Abhijit Lele and Sidhartha that a part of this amount is expected to come from the government and that, to plough back money, the bank intends to wait till its net interest margin (NIM) reaches 3.24 per cent.

'We want sufficient NIM to plough back funds'

Mark T Robinson took over as the chief executive officer (CEO) of Citi South Asia earlier this year, when delinquencies in the retail portfolio were high. In an interview, the former head of Citi&rsquo;s operations in Russia tells Sudeep Jain and Sidhartha that consumer loan losses have peaked and the descent has started. He also talks about his strategy for the financial services company with focus on traditional banking.

'A flight to simplicity is an industry trend'

Yes Bank is the youngest private bank in India &mdash; it is just five years old. Having gained a strong foothold in corporate and institutional banking as well as commercial banking, it is currently on a drive to tap the vast but somewhat amorphous market for small enterprises. Yes Bank Founder, Managing Director and CEO Rana Kapoor is confident that the potential is huge and risks close to none.

'Small businesses spell big opportunity'

In recent months, Development Credit Bank (DCB) has made news for all the wrong reasons, including the distinction of being the only bank to report losses in 2008-09. In a wide-ranging interview, the bank&rsquo;s Chairman, Nasser Munjee, tells Sidhartha that the worst is over and DCB will be profitable in the second half of this year. Besides, he reveals that DCB, in which the Aga Khan Foundation holds 25.1 per cent, is looking to divest stake to a strategic investor.

'Development Credit Bank planning a meaningful stake sale this year'

Stuart Arthur Davis comes to India as Chief Executive Officer of HSBC after a seven-year stint in Australia. Davis, who has been with HSBC since 1981, believes that the creation of infrastructure in India is a big opportunity for banks as is the consumer-lending space. Davis tells Shobhana Subramanian and Sidhartha that although the worst may be over, Indian companies in India appear to be cautious when it comes to taking a decision on capital expenditure.

It's too early to talk of a revival'

K V Kamath is preparing to move across the corridor on the 10th floor of the ICICI Tower to his new cabin, which is under renovation now. While he will continue to get a view of the terrace garden and the waterfall, which he himself conceived, his role will change from today &ndash; he will now be the non-executive chairman, a job that his mentor Narayan Vaghul performed for over a decade.

'The mood is clearly changing'

After registering profits for three years, SBI Life has reported a loss of around Rs 26 crore during 2008-09 due to mark-to-market provisions of around Rs 100 crore on its equity portfolio. SBI Life Managing Director &amp; CEO U S Roy tells Shilpy Sinha and Sidhartha that the country&rsquo;s third-largest life insurer has a better year ahead thanks to the investment that has gone into strengthening the distribution infrastructure and also due to improvement in the market environment.

''SBI brand will help grow business by 50%'

Following the global financial turmoil, banks are reworking their strategy. Yes Bank Managing Director &amp; CEO Rana Kapoor tells Sidhartha that the focus is back on branch banking &mdash;the bread and butter business &mdash; which holds the bank&rsquo;s future strategy.

'We do not have a compelling proposition for retail'

The second half of 2008-09 saw Reliance Capital going slow on loans as raising funds was a problem. Besides, its revenue from distribution of financial products was affected and the number of life agents also dropped by over 60,000. Though the overall environment seems to be improving, Reliance Capital CEO Sam Ghosh tells Anirudh Laskar and Sidhartha that the company is opting to be cautious.

'We will add more employees in future'

Over the last few months, there has been a spate of bad news from Development Credit Bank, promoted by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (Akfed). First came the departure of the bank&rsquo;s CEO Gautam Vir, followed by losses in the third quarter and a rating downgrade. To add to the woes, the Reserve Bank of India has decided against giving fresh branch licenses till promoter holding reduces.

'My mandate is to grow the bank, but cautiously'

Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Managing Director and CEO Kamesh Goyal is not willing to make any growth projection saying it will be foolish to do so. In an interview with Shilpy Sinha, Goyal says there is a need to change the business model and increasing efficiency since expansion entails capital infusion and puts pressure on finances.

'Growth has to come from productivity, not opening offices'

With the global credit crisis intensifying, many global financial institutions (GFIs) face increasing pressure on their earnings and capitalisation, and therefore on their credit quality. Pawan Agrawal, director, corporate &amp; government ratings, Crisil, talks about the impact of these developments on the ratings of these institutions&rsquo; Indian subsidiaries.

Indian subsidiaries of global FIs: Ratings on a weaker foundation

It has been a pretty dramatic change for Suresh Gurumani, a banking veteran with over 22 years of experience. From developing a retail banking network for Barclays in India, he is now selling loans with a ticket size of only Rs 10,000 in rural India. He spends his day meeting farmers, petty shopkeepers and illiterate women in cities and villages &mdash; quite a change from the suited and booted lot he met in his earlier avatars. Gurumani, who took over as the CEO of SKS Microfinance last year, looks after the day-to-day functioning of the company which was founded by Vikram Akula. He outlines his plans to become the world&rsquo;s largest microfinance company to Surajeet Das Gupta and Anirban Chowdhury.

'We&#39;ll be bigger than Grameen Bank by 2010'

ING Investment Management, the insurance and asset management arm of ING Groep NV, the first Dutch bank to tap a government&rsquo;s rescue package, is also restructuring its operations in India to boost efficiencies and generate returns. Hans van der Noordaa, Chairman &amp; CEO, insurance &amp; investment management Asia-Pacific, speaks to Gautam Chakravorthy on the mood, the markets and future plans.

&#39;There is quite a bit of nationalism&#39;

Though the Kolkata-based UCO Bank was selective in lending to certain sectors, it has recorded more than 20 per cent rise in advances and deposits in the fourth quarter of the last financial year. The bank, which expects further softening of interest rates, plans to reduce deposit and lending rates by almost 100 basis points in the first quarter of this financial year.

Page 47 - Interviews