Regardless of having an illustrious four-decades-long, and counting, profession within the monetary area, Sunil Mehta is making headlines as soon as once more with some sections of the market asking questions on his code of conduct. This comes at a time when IndusInd Financial institution has denied reviews that PwC has submitted a report containing key findings in a matter associated to suspected accounting irregularities to its board. In line with an estimate, accounting discrepancies to the tune of Rs 2,100 crore might have probably impacted 2.35 per cent of the financial institution’s web value.
Who’s Sunil Mehta, actually?
Mehta is a profession banker presently serving as Chairman of Mumbai-based personal sector lender IndusInd Financial institution.
He has held many vital positions throughout the monetary area throughout his four-decades-long profession, holding key positions throughout main monetary establishments together with SBI, Citibank, AIG and PNB.
He’s Chairman and MD at SPM Capital Advisers, a monetary advisory and consulting agency he based in mid 2010s, and can also be serving because the chief government of the Indian Banks’ Affiliation (IBA) since January 2020.
Mehta has made strides throughout the banking, monetary providers and insurance coverage (BFSI) area. He’s a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, and an alumnus of the Wharton College of Administration, College of Pennsylvania, USA.
His stint at PNB coincides with the worst fraud within the historical past of Indian banking
Sure, Mehta was on the helm of Punjab Nationwide Financial institution when the nation hit a historic low with the unearthing of the PNB fraud, again in 2018. He served as non-executive chairman of PNB from March 2017 to February 2020, in response to his LinkedIn profile.
Dubbed as the largest fraud within the nation’s banking historical past, the case despatched shockwaves throughout Dalal Avenue, leaving traders unsure about sound company governance throughout the home company world.
On the time, as non-executive chairman, Mehta described the PNB fraud a individuals failure and never a system failure. The rip-off brought on financial losses to various banks, and led to a bunch of reforms and risk-management mechanisms within the monetary area.
PNB Rip-off | How did it occur?
Bankers used faux paperwork at a Mumbai department of the PSU lender that enabled the issuance of loans to abroad branches of different Indian banks for Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi with out correct collateral in place, bypassing PNB’s core banking system. Two PNB staff issued these paperwork, referred to as Letters of Endeavor (LoC), misusing the SWIFT messaging system—a world messaging facility that allows monetary establishments to speak with each other.
The rip-off unfolded after PNB filed a fraud report and lodged a sequence of complaints with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)—the nation’s prime crime preventing company, beginning January 2018. The Modi-Choksi duo was discovered to have fraudulently secured ensures to the tune of Rs 11,400 crore to acquire loans from the abroad branches, for the aim of importing pearls.
The mega company fraud uncovered the poor auditing requirements inside India Inc given the truth that it took the banking system nearly seven-odd years to detect the monetary anomalies and irregularities concerned. A number of eminent market personalities had questioned Mehta’s conduct on the prime helm of the PSU financial institution.
Previous to becoming a member of PNB, Mehta labored with Citibank for greater than 18 years earlier than shifting on to AIG, the place his final project was Nation Head and CEO-India, until December 2012. He was on the board of all AIG group corporations in India. After that, he joined State Financial institution of India as an unbiased director. His stint at SBI was nearly three years lengthy.
Mehta additionally served as non-executive chairman at YES Financial institution, from March 2020 to July 2022. The RBI intervened in March 2020 to rescue YES Financial institution from a possible collapse, implementing a reconstruction scheme led by the State Financial institution of India (SBI) and different lenders, which included a moratorium and a brand new board of administrators.
In February 2023, Mehta resigned as non-executive and unbiased director of Adani Inexperienced Power to adjust to relevant laws after the RBI permitted his appointment as director at IndusInd Financial institution.