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Research Paper Word - Banking Sector Fraud
Research Paper Word - Banking Sector Fraud
ABSTRACT
In May 2015, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mandated the banks to use forensic audit as a preventive
and investigative tool to detect frauds & Deal with Red Flagged Accounts (RFA’s) of corporate
borrowing over Rs. 50 Crores. After 5 Years, the problem of NPA has still remained acute in the case of
large corporate loans. Banks act as engines that steer the processes of money markets, the financial
sector and economic growth. The Indian banking sector has expanded at a fast pace, especially as we
stand today on the brink of the fourth industrial revolution. However, this has not come without its due
share of complications. Along with the swiftly growing banking industry, frauds in Indian banks have
seen a rising trend and there is an urgent need to revamp the banking sector in India, given the scams
involving crores of rupees being unearthed in the recent past. The present study makes an attempt to
review and analyze the trend of frauds plaguing the banking sector and its role in the continuous rise of
Non- Performing Assets in the India. Further the study endeavors to throw light on the impact of rising
bank frauds on profitability of the banking sector in India. The study concludes that the number of frauds
plaguing the Indian banking sector is on a constant rise in recent years leading to a rise in NPAs and
severely impacting profitability of the banking sector in India. Stringent action by authorities along with
finding new means of fraud prevention and reduction is the only way forward for safeguarding the
credibility of Indian banks and giving a face-lift to the banking sector of the country. Even though in
India, banking frauds have frequently been treated as one of the costs of transacting business, after
liberalization their frequency, complexity and inherent costs of frauds have swelled manifold resulting in
a very grave cause of alarm for regulators due to its harsh impact on the banks profitability and
consequently on the Indian economy. The introduction of beneficial ownership provisions in the
Companies Act, 2013, Insolvency and Bankruptcy code 2016, (Eg: Section 29A), Bank’s KYC (Know
Your Client), and Anti Money Laundering (AML) Provisions etc. also require application of Forensic
audit methods to identify actual beneficiaries of funds disbursed in banking sector.
INTRODUCTION
The resilience of a growing economy is determined when its banking system is put to test. India, with its
immense growth potential, has stayed relatively stable throughout a series of global recessions and has
emerged reasonably unscathed. It is ironic however, that a steadfast system such as this, would contain a
series of vulnerabilities which have been left unaddressed; increasingly becoming gaping black holes and
tarnishing the image of the banking sector. The most evident of the issues faced by the sector and also its
primal risk factor is the resultant impact of frauds. Frauds continue to be one of the major problems in the
banking and financial services domain and the rapid growth of fraudulent activity is a testament to how
difficult fraud is to detect and prevent — a fact that criminals take advantage of. The health of a nation’s
financial and banking system facilitates in determining its production and consumption patterns of goods
and services. It acts as a direct gauge of the standard of living and well-being of its citizens. Thus, if the
banking structure is afflicted with soaring levels of frauds and consequently increasing NPAs, then it
becomes a source of worry, since it mirrors financial anguish of borrowers and clients, as well as
inefficiencies in transmission mechanisms. Even though in India, banking frauds have frequently been
treated as one of the costs of transacting business, after liberalization their frequency, complexity and
Research by ANGAD SINGH (ICAI Membership No. 538359; FAFD Batch #217) | 1
BANKING SECTOR FRAUDS
Researched by Angad Singh
inherent costs of frauds have swelled manifold resulting in a very grave cause of alarm for regulators due
to its harsh impact on the banks profitability and consequently on the Indian economy. The introduction
of beneficial ownership provisions in the Companies Act, 2013, Insolvency and Bankruptcy code 2016,
(Eg: Section 29A), Bank’s KYC (Know Your Client), and Anti Money Laundering (AML) Provisions etc.
also require and application of forensic audit methods to identify the actual beneficiaries of funds
disbursed in the banking sector.
OBJECTIVES
To review and analyze the trend of frauds plaguing the banking sector in India.
To examine the impact of frauds in the continuous rise of NPAs in the Indian banking sector.
To elucidate the impact of rising bank frauds on profitability of the banking sector in India.
To review and analyze the trend of NPA’s admitted & resolved under various resolution process
(mainly IBC)
LITERATURE REVIEW
P.K. Gupta and Sanjeev Gupta (2015) identified that the regulatory system is very weak and there is a
dire need of redefining the role of auditors in todays globalised business environment. This study assumes
that fraud could be mitigated by proactive and conscious action by auditors and corporate executives who
are willing to avoid perpetrating financial fraud despite pressures from investors, government securities
regulators and exogenous market fluctuations. The research also made a structured attempt to investigate
into the role of fraud perpetrators, quantum of frauds and the modus operandi behind frauds.
Douglas E. Ziegenfuss (1995) made an attempt to lay emphasis on local and state government fraud
survey. The research made use of questionnaire method wherein local government auditors were
interviewed to determine the amount of fraud in state and local governments. The study concludes that
fraud is a significant problem for state and local governments and finds that management is not
responding effectively to the actual frauds when they are discovered; most of the loss in fraud cases is
accounted for by misappropriation of funds, other false representation, other fraud, or false invoices.
Soni R. R. and Soni Neena (2013) made an attempt to investigate into cyber frauds plaguing the private
as well as public sector banks. The study aimed to introduce the concept of cyber frauds in banking sector
and make meaningful analysis on the same. Data from RBI website was used to support the study. The
study concluded that private sector banks and foreign banks have a significantly higher number of cyber
frauds as compared to public sector banks. It also showed that though there has been a considerable
decline in the number of bank cyber frauds the value of such frauds has not come down proportionately.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research by ANGAD SINGH (ICAI Membership No. 538359; FAFD Batch #217) | 2
BANKING SECTOR FRAUDS
Researched by Angad Singh
This study is Qualitative study and based entirely on Secondary Data and cases of the frauds committed in
the Indian banking sector. Data from RBI website, annual reports, government reports, academic journals,
archived RBI speeches and newspapers were obtained for the purpose of this study. Financial Stability
Reports of RBI over the years have also been analyzed to understand the past as well current scenario of
the banking sector in India and the various problems that plague this sector. The main objectives of this
study have to identify the preventive measures to combat loan and advance related frauds and to
accomplish the objective of the study the author has studied the multiple cases of the frauds.
ANALYSIS
As per Reserve Bank of India (2009) “Classification and Reporting of Frauds”, in order to have
uniformity in reporting, frauds have been classified as under, based mainly on the provisions of
the Indian Penal Code:
Frauds of Rs. 1 Lakh and above (A) Credit Related Frauds (B)
Amount Amount
Financial
No. of %age involved %age No. of %age involved %age
Year
Frauds Increase (in Rs. Increase Frauds Increase (in Rs. Increase
Billion) Billion)
2013-14 4306 - 101.71 - 1990 - 84.12 -
2014-15 4639 7.73% 194.55 91.28% 2251 13.12% 171.22 103.54%
2015-16 4693 1.16% 186.99 -3.89% 2125 -5.60% 173.68 1.44%
2016-17 5076 8.16% 239.34 28.00% 2322 9.27% 205.61 18.39%
2017-18 5917 16.57% 411.68 72.01% 2525 8.74% 225.59 9.72%
2018-19 6801 14.94% 715.43 73.78% 3606 42.81% 645.48 186.13%
H1:2019-
4412 - 1,133.74 58.47% 2438 - 1,104.19 71.06%
20
Source: RBI Financial Stability Report 2019
Table No. 1 outlines the number of frauds as well as their corresponding value over the six year period
beginning in 2013-14 upto 2018-19 & First Half of 2019-20. A classification of credit related frauds is
also depicted. It is exceedingly clear that the amount involved in frauds has risen drastically in
comparison to the increase in number of frauds. Majority of the frauds plaguing the Indian banking sector
Research by ANGAD SINGH (ICAI Membership No. 538359; FAFD Batch #217) | 3
BANKING SECTOR FRAUDS
Researched by Angad Singh
tend to stem from granting of credit by banks. A systemic and comprehensive check of legacy stock of
PSBs’ NPAs for frauds during H1:2019-20 helped unearth frauds perpetrated over a number of years and
this is reflected in an increased number of reported incidents of frauds in recent years
Table No. 2 – Relative share of each Fraud Category/Bank group in the overall frauds reported
(amount involved >= ₹1 lakh) as on September 2019
Table No. 2 depicts the relative share of each fraud category & bank group in the overall reported frauds
as on September 2019. It is very much evident that majority of frauds in the banking sector relate to
advances which is a cause of worry for banks in India. Also, it shows that major frauds happened in
Public Sector Banks.
59.4% 56.6%
30.9%
19.6% 18.9%
3.2% 1.5% 9.0%
0.3% 0.7%
Bills Cash Credit Term Loan - Others Term Loan - Housing Others
Loan
Figure No. 1 outlines that similar to earlier trends, loans and advances related frauds continued to be
dominant, in aggregate constituting 90 per cent of all frauds reported in 2018-19 by value. In the advance
related fraud category, cash credit / working capital loans related frauds dominated in Public Sector
Banks whereas retail term loans (non-housing) were a major contributor to advance related frauds in
Private Banks.
Research by ANGAD SINGH (ICAI Membership No. 538359; FAFD Batch #217) | 4
BANKING SECTOR FRAUDS
Researched by Angad Singh
Table No. 3 provides a comparative analysis of Gross NPA and Advances. It is evident that Gross NPAs
have risen steadily over the years along with a corresponding growth in deposits. The Gross NPAs to
Gross Advances Ratio although not very alarming, has shown a rising trend over the years. But with
stringent policies and involvement of RBI, formation of NCLT and resolving NPA’s through a resolution
process has brought down the NPA’s percentage from 11.2% to 9.10%
Assessment No. 1 - Impact of frauds on rising Non Performing Assets in the Indian banking sector
Regression Statistics
R-Square 0.5644
Coefficient 0.7513
P-Value (<5%) 0.0851
Source: Own Analysis
For the purpose of regression analysis, amount involved in frauds is considered as independent variable
and Gross NPAs are considered as dependent variable. R Square is 0.5644 which implies that 56.44%
variations in Non-Performing Assets are explained by frauds. As the coefficient is positive, It explains
that increase in fraud will give a corresponding rise to NPA level also.
Research by ANGAD SINGH (ICAI Membership No. 538359; FAFD Batch #217) | 5
BANKING SECTOR FRAUDS
Researched by Angad Singh
Figure No. 2 – Asset Quality of Broad Sectors & Asset Quality of Industry: Bank-Group Wise
Figure 2 depicts the Asset Quality of broad sectors of the economy. GNPA Ratio is considered as
indicator of asset quality within the banking sector. It is clearly seen that asset quality of industry related
advances followed by advances related to the service sector are a matter of concern for the banking sector
in India. Also, the Public Sector Banks have the worst Asset Quality against PVB and FBs.
Figure No. 3 – Sectoral asset quality indicators (Source: RBI Financial Viability Report 2019)
Figure No. 3 makes an attempt to further classify the Asset Quality of sub-sectors within the industrial
sector. It is evident that stressed advanced ratio of Basic metals and metal products followed by Mining &
Quarrying have the highest stressed advances ratios. Most of the other sub-sectors within the industrial
sector have a stressed advance ratio ranging from 8% to 25% of the total loans advances.
Research by ANGAD SINGH (ICAI Membership No. 538359; FAFD Batch #217) | 6
BANKING SECTOR FRAUDS
Researched by Angad Singh
Table No. 4 indicates the trend of profitability in the banking sector in India. It is seen that profitability of
banks is on a steady decline which needs to be an eye opener as it poses a threat to the economy. Though
the revenue is continuously increasing, but the profits have been decreasing over the years. In FY 2018-
19, the losses have reduced to 1.77% in comparison to previous Year where it was 2.66%. This shows
that the Reserve bank of India (RBI) and Government of India (GOI) are putting in line the stringent
lending and banking policies in the banking sector.
Regression Statistics
R-Square 0.6716
Coefficient (0.8195)
P-Value (<5%) 0.0462
Source: Own Analysis
For the purpose of regression analysis, amount involved in frauds is considered as independent variable
and profitability is considered as dependent variable. R Square is 0.6716 which implies that 67.16%
variations in profitability are explained by frauds. Coefficient Value is negative indicating that increase in
frauds will lead to a corresponding decrease in profitability. Therefore, it concludes that frauds have a
significant impact on profitability of the Indian banking sector.
Research by ANGAD SINGH (ICAI Membership No. 538359; FAFD Batch #217) | 7
BANKING SECTOR FRAUDS
Researched by Angad Singh
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 provides for reorganization and insolvency resolution of
corporate persons, among others, in a time bound manner for maximizing the value of the assets of such
persons to promote entrepreneurship, availability of credit and for balancing the interests of all the
stakeholders. Since the coming into force of the provisions of corporate insolvency resolution process
(CIRP) with effect from December 01, 2016 - 2,542 CIRPs had commenced by end-September 2019.
Table 5 states the number of cases under resolution. 186 have been closed on appeal or review or settled;
116 have been withdrawn; 587 have ended in orders for liquidation; and 156 have ended in an approval of
their resolution plans.
Name of Corporate Claims of Financial Creditors dealt under resolution (Rs. Billions)
Debtor Amount Admitted Amount Realized Realization as
Percentage of Claims
Electrosteel Steels Ltd. 131.80 53.20 40.38%
Bhushan Steel Ltd. 560.20 355.70 63.50%
Monnet Ispat & Energy 110.20 28.90 26.26%
Ltd.
Essar Steel India Ltd.** 494.70 420.00 85.02%
Alok Industries Ltd. 295.20 50.50 17.11%
Jyoti Structures Ltd. 73.70 36.80 50.02
Source: IBBI Quarterly Newsletter (January - March 2019). **Acquired after NCLAT order
Total Recovery from the companies being admitted and approved under NCLT averages out to 30%-50%
which affects the asset size and profitability of the banks. During July 2019 to December 15, 2019, the
Enforcement Department (EFD) undertook enforcement action against 29 banks (including 22 Indian
banks, one foreign bank and six cooperative banks) and one NBFC, and imposed an aggregate penalty of
₹47.92 crore for non-compliance with/ contravention of directions on fraud classifications and reporting
by the banks, reporting of fraud on the CRILC platform, fraud monitoring in NBFCs, discipline to be
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BANKING SECTOR FRAUDS
Researched by Angad Singh
maintained while opening current accounts, discounting/ rediscounting of bills by the banks, monitoring
the end use of the funds, creating deposits near the balance sheet date and disbursal of housing loans,
violations of directions/ guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank on know your customer (KYC) norms,
Income Recognition and Asset Classification (IRAC) norms, and the supervisory action framework; non-
compliance with licensing conditions pertaining to promoter holding, provisions of Section 10B(4) of the
Banking Regulation Act, directions on the cyber security framework, time-bound implementation and
strengthening of SWIFT-related operational controls, directions on honoring commitments under
“Guarantees and Co-acceptances”; and contravention of directions pertaining to third party account payee
cheques and prohibiting loans to directors, their relatives and firms in which they are interested, among
others.
Research by ANGAD SINGH (ICAI Membership No. 538359; FAFD Batch #217) | 9
BANKING SECTOR FRAUDS
Researched by Angad Singh
Vijay Mallya was a successful liquor businessman in the last two decades. He then tried to expand his
business empire into other domains such as air travels, liquor and sports investment. From 2000 till 2009
he was very influential in his new ventures. In addition to his business venture he was also a Member of
Indian Parliament in the Rajya Sabha. He has perfect influence over the banks and financial
organizations. Several banks both public and private came forward to fund his ventures. He started his
new airlines Kingfisher and started investing in different sports such as Cricket and Formula One. These
two businesses needed extremely critical management along with the judicious decision making.
However, frugal management of both these sectors brought the businesses down. In 2012, several of his
Kingfisher Airlines fleets were brought down to ground due to the nonpayment of the salaries of the staff.
Gradually the situation worsened and within the next one year the whole Kingfisher became out of
operation. He started selling the shares of his liquor business to cover the minimum requirements. That
was not enough to save his business and he started losing all his assets one by one. On 13 June 2016, the
Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court declared Mallya a "proclaimed offender" on a
request by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with its money laundering probe against him
in an alleged ₹9000 crore loan default case. The banks that provided him the large sum of loans now face
the losses. This is a case of misuse of influence in the public. Interestingly, now it is speculated that some
of the top bankers of the country might have colluded with him in the sanction of the loans.
Nirav Modi was a noted diamond merchant of India and he had a good influence over several financial
organizations. Panjab National Bank (PNB), a public sector bank was one of them. The upper
management of the PNB was in good business relations with him. He exploited the situation and
borrowed large amount of loans from PNB. However, later it was found that Nirav Modi has cheated
PNB in several forms. The Punjab National Bank Fraud Case relates to fraudulent letter of undertaking
worth ₹11,356.84 crore (US$ 1.4 billion) issued by the Punjab National Bank at its Brady House branch
in Fort, Mumbai; making Punjab National Bank liable for the amount. PNB has faced a big loss due to
this fraudulent deal and its top management is under scrutiny as a part of the fraud investigation. PNB has
lost credibility among several investors and its turnover has come down drastically.
In 2011, the CBI in India found that several banks of such as the Industrial Development Bank of India,
the Oriental Bank of Commerce and the Bank of Maharashtra managers opened more than 10,000 fake
accounts in the name of unknown persons and transferred money as loan in to those accounts (RBI 2017).
Research by ANGAD SINGH (ICAI Membership No. 538359; FAFD Batch #217) | 10
BANKING SECTOR FRAUDS
Researched by Angad Singh
They were supported by several insiders and outsiders in these frauds. Several managers, bank staff and
fraudsters are being prosecuted in this case.
In 2016, it was found that four different individuals had opened 380 accounts with Syndicate Bank and
different locations. They took more than 10 billion Indian Rupees using different financial means such as
bank cheques and insurance policies (RBI 2018a). The fraud was unearthed by some bank employees
who doubted the activities of the fraudsters. Collusion with the bank staff is doubted in these cases.
Finally a recent list of few big companies with big names/loan defaults facing the NCLT gauntlet:
It is evident that post liberalization era has showered new colors of growth upon the Indian banking sector
but simultaneously it has also posed some serious challenges; one of them being rise in frauds and NPAs.
This unhealthy development of rising fraudulent activities afflicting the banking sector generates not only
losses for the banks involved but also impinges their credibility adversely. Frauds and fraudulent
activities wreak severe financial dilemmas on banks and their clients, as well as cause a significant
reduction in the quantum of money accessible for economic development. While it may not probable for
banks to conduct their operations in a zero fraud milieu, proactive measures, such as conduct of risk
assessment of policies and procedures can aid banks to circumvent their risk of contingent losses resulting
from frauds. The data analysis technology can be leveraged by banks to detect frauds at the incipient
stage itself and reduce their loss causing impact significantly.
In recent years, instances of banking fraud reported in India are on a steady rise. Even though in India,
banking frauds have frequently been treated as one of the costs of transacting business, after liberalization
their frequency, complexity and inherent costs of frauds have swelled manifold resulting in a very grave
cause of alarm for regulators, due to its harsh impact on the banks profitability and consequently on the
Indian economy.
The delays in legal procedures for reporting, and various loopholes in the system have been considered
some of the major reasons of frauds. The growth in number of frauds over the years is marginal whereas
the growth in value of frauds has shown tremendous increase indicating that frauds involving larger
amounts have been happening in recent years. Growth of advances supported by a corresponding rise in
the number of frauds and Non- Performing Assets has severely affected the profitability of the banking
sector in India. Stringent action by authorities along with finding new means of fraud prevention and
Research by ANGAD SINGH (ICAI Membership No. 538359; FAFD Batch #217) | 11
BANKING SECTOR FRAUDS
Researched by Angad Singh
reduction is the only way forward to safeguard the credibility of Indian banks and give a face-lift to the
banking sector of the country.
REFERENCES
1. Reserve Bank of India (2009) “Classification and Reporting of Frauds” retrieved from
notification “RBI/2009-10/58; DBS. FrMC. BC. No. 1/23.04.001/2009-10 dated July 1, 2009
(https://www.rbi.org.in/CommonPerson/english/Scripts/Notification.aspx?Id=578#31)
2. Reserve Bank of India, (2019), “Financial Stability Report - Issue No. 20” Retrieved from
website of RBI.
(https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/PublicationReport/Pdfs/0FSRDECEMBER20198C840246658946
159CB3B94E8516F2EC.PDF)
3. Reserve Bank of India, (2019), “Financial Stability Report - Issue No. 19” Retrieved from
website of RBI.
(https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/PublicationReport/Pdfs/FSRJUNE2019E5ECDDAD7E514756AF
EF1E71CB2ADA2B.PDF)
4. Reserve Bank of India, (2018), “Financial Stability Report - Issue No. 18” Retrieved from
website of RBI.
(https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/PublicationReport/Pdfs/0FSRDECEMBER2018DAFEDD89C01
C432786925639A4864F96.PDF)
5. IBBI Website - https://www.ibbi.gov.in/
Research by ANGAD SINGH (ICAI Membership No. 538359; FAFD Batch #217) | 12
BANKING SECTOR FRAUDS
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Research by ANGAD SINGH (ICAI Membership No. 538359; FAFD Batch #217) | 13