2017: A year of controversies for Axis Bank

Private lender Axis Bank has been in a tight spot for over a year now for more reasons than one, some of which, the bank considers, could have been easily prevented. The Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (Sebi’s) probe into the alleged loopholes in its operations to stop information leaks was the latest.

There were instances of security breaches in some of its branches while handling cash transactions in December 2016. More than 19 employees were suspended for flouting norms.

This was also the time when rumours flew thick and fast that the financial organisation was on the verge of losing its banking licence in the wake of alleged irregularities. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had denied claims of any move in this regard.

On two occasions, the bank was asked to explain the yawning gap between its assessment of bad loans and the RBI estimates — once for the financial year 2015-16 and again for 2016-17.

The lender was also rumoured to be a target for a merger, given its vast network of outlets, franchise and rich talent resource. The bank’s executives have always bragged about their organisation's independent existence and robust business prospect.

A buzz in the middle of the year was that its managing director and chief executive officer Shikha Sharma would be vacating the post to head the financial vertical of another business house. The board scrambled to put an end to such reports and re-appointed her as managing director and chief executive officer for another three years, starting June 2018, in a calculated attempt to prove stability at the top for long-term interests.

In between fighting rumours, the private lender made an acquisition in the digital banking space. It bought FreeCharge, a mobile wallet player, from e-commerce player Snapdeal for Rs 300 crore in July 2017. It is expected to boost digitisation of financial services.

To give confidence to the capital market and prepare for opportunities when the business cycle turns, the bank raised equity capital of Rs 11,626 crore in November.

Private equity major Bain Capital and a clutch of affiliated entities pumped in Rs 6,854 crore. Life Insurance Corporation, its principal promoter, has also poured in Rs 1,583 crore.

The equity will bolster the capital adequacy and provide growth capital for the core business.

Towards the end of the calendar year, Sebi hauled up the bank for alleged leak of its June-quarter earnings on social media platform WhatsApp.

Sebi's probe brought to light the holes in the bank’s internal systems. The probe revealed that the text messages circulated on various WhatsApp groups almost matched with the financial results of Axis Bank for June 2017. It gave the bank three months to conduct an internal inquiry to indict those responsible for the leak.