Defaulter Bailouts and Broken Trust: RBI’s Views Swing like a Pendulum
Moneylife News Bites https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iPOSa1Dq60 Jun 22, 2023
When it comes to bank loan defaults, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) views seem to swing from one extreme to another, like a pendulum
On 20th June, the Bombay High Court granted interim relief to a bunch of petitioners, including one by the defunct Jet Airways’ founder, on the issue of declaring their loan a fraud without a hearing.
At the next hearing, the court may be told that the pendulum has swung to the other end with RBI’s controversial “Framework for Compromise Settlements and Technical Write-offs” issued on 8th June. This permits bank boards to undertake ‘compromise settlements’ or and ‘technical write-offs’ of money due from ‘wilful defaulters’ and fraud accounts. In a further act of benevolence, banks can lend again to the same defaulters after a mere 12-month cooling period!..
Instead fixing of the bankruptcy law (Bankruptcy Law Changes: Without Extensive Public Consultation, a Hurried Amendment Will Be Full of New Loopholes and Issues), the RBI circular may open the door to bigger collusion, allowing bank boards to decide on ‘compromise settlements’ and bypass the bankruptcy process altogether.
In sharp contrast to the kindness towards crooks, is the government’s attitude to middle-class investors who depend on statutory regulators doing their job, and strictly regulated intermediaries, such as rating agencies, auditors and consultants, being honest about fulfilling their fiduciary duties. Lakhs of middle-class Indians, mainly in private employment, had their retirement nest egg invested in AAA rated bonds of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) and Dewan Housing Finance Ltd (DHFL), the SREI group or the Anil Ambani’s companies.