| ICICI Bank |
 |
| Type |
Private
BSE & NSE:ICICI,
NYSE: IBN |
| Founded |
1955 (as Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of
India) |
| Headquarters |
ICICI Bank Ltd.,
ICICI Bank Towers,
Bandra Kurla,
Mumbai India |
| Key people |
N Vaghul, K.V.Kamath, Nachiket Mor, Chanda Kochhar |
| Products |
Loans, Credit Cards, Savings, Investment vehicles, Insurance etc. |
| Revenue |
 USD 5.79 billion |
| Website |
www.icicibank.com |
ICICI Bank (formerly Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India) is India's largest private sector bank in market capitalization and second largest overall in terms of assets.
ICICI Bank has total assets of about USD 79 Billion (end-Mar 2007), a network of over 950 branches and offices, about 3500
ATMs, and 24 million customers(as of end July '07). ICICI Bank offers a wide
range of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels and
through its specialised subsidiaries and affiliates in the areas of investment banking, life and non-life insurance, venture
capital and asset management. ICICI Bank's equity shares are listed in India on stock exchanges at Kolkata and Vadodara, the Stock Exchange, Mumbai and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited
and its ADRs are listed on the New
York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
History
- The World Bank, the Government of India and
representatives of Indian industry formed ICICI Limited as a development finance institution to provide medium-term and long-term
project financing to Indian businesses in 1955.
- 1994 ICICI establishes ICICI Banking Corporation as a banking subsidiary. ICICI Banking
Corporation is renamed as 'ICICI Bank Limited'
- 1999 ICICI becomes the first Indian company and the first bank or financial institution from
non-Japan Asia to list on the NYSE.
- 2001 ICICI acquired Bank of Madura (est.
1943). Bank of Madura was a Chettiar bank, and had acquired
Chettinad Mercantile Bank (est. 1933) and Illanji Bank (established 1904) in the 1960s.
- 2002 The Boards of Directors of ICICI and ICICI Bank approve the merger of ICICI, ICICI Personal Financial Services Limited and ICICI Capital Services Limited,
with ICICI Bank. After receiving all necessary regulatory approvals, ICICI integrates the group's financing and banking
operations, both wholesale and retail, into a single entity. Also, ICICI Bank bought the Shimla
and Darjeeling branches that Standard Chartered
Bank had inherited when it acquired Grindlays Bank.
- 2002 ICICI establishes representative offices in NY and London.
- 2003 ICICI opens subsidiaries in Canada and the United Kingdom (UK), and in the UK it
establishes alliance with Lloyds TSB. It also opens an Offshore Banking Unit (OBU) in Singapore and representative offices in
Dubai and Shanghai.
- 2004 ICICI opens a rep office in Bangladesh to tap the extensive trade between that country,
India and South Africa.
- 2005 ICICI acquires Investitsionno-Kreditny Bank (IKB), a Russia bank with about US$4mn in
assets, head office in Balabanovo in the Kaluga region, and with a branch in Moscow. ICICI Bank offers a high-interest (5.4%
gross) internet savings account to UK customers. Also, ICICI establishes a branch in Dubai International Financial Centre and in
Hong Kong.
- 2006 ICICI Bank UK opens a branch in Antwerp, in
Belgium. ICICI opens representative offices in Bangkok,
Jakarta, and Kuala Lumpur.
- 2007 ICICI amalgamates Sangli Bank, which is headquartered in Sangli, in Maharashtra State, and which has 158 branches in Maharashtra and
another 31 in Karnataka State. ICICI also received permission from the government of
Qatar to open a branch in Doha.
About ICICI Bank
The Government of India established ICICI in 1955 as a Financial Institution (FI, other such
institutions were IDBI and SIDBI) with the objective to finance large industrial projects. ICICI was not a bank - it could not
take retail deposits - and nor was it required to comply with Indian banking requirements for liquid reserves. ICICI borrowed
funds from many multilateral agencies (such as the World Bank), often at concessional rates. It used these to make large
corporate loans.
All this changed in 1990s. ICICI founded a separate legal entity, ICICI Bank, to undertake normal banking operations -
taking deposits, credit cards, car loans etc. The experiment was so successful that ICICI merged into ICICI Bank in a "reverse
merger" in 2002.
At the time of the reverse merger, there were rumours that ICICI had a large proportions of Non Performing Loans ("NPA", as
they are known in India) on its books - in particular to the steel industry. Since 2002, there has been a general revival in
Indian industry (and metal based industry in particular). It is widely believed that the proportion of NPAs has come down to
prudent levels (even if it were high earlier).
ICICI Bank now has the largest market share among all banks in retail or consumer financing. ICICI Bank is the largest issuer
of credit cards in India [1]. It was the first bank to offer a wide network of ATM's and has a large network of ATM's.
ICICI Bank also has the largest market value of all banks in India, and is widely seen as a sophisticated bank able to take on
many global banks in the Indian market.
The Bank is expanding in overseas markets and has the largest international balance sheet among Indian banks. The
international banking business was set up in 2002 to implement a focussed strategy for the overseas market. The Bank now has
wholly-owned subsidiaries, branches and representatives offices in 18 countries, including an offshore unit in Mumbai. This
includes wholly owned subsidiaries in UK, Canada and Russia, offshore banking units in Singapore and Bahrain; advisory branch in
Dubai, branches in Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and Belgium; and rep offices in the US, China, United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, South
Africa, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia. The bank is targeting the NRI (Non Resident Indian) population for expanding its
business.
ICICI Bank has been endorsed by Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan. The Cheques presented to winners in the first 2 versions
of the famous game show - Kaun Banega crorepati were ICICI Bank cheques.
Controversy
ICICI Bank has been in focus in recent years because of alleged harassment of customers by its recovery agents. Listed below
are some of news links
- Family of Andhra Pradesh government employee, who had taken a loan of 15000 Rs, alleged that he was beaten to death by ICICI
Bank’s recovery agents, for failing to pay the dues. Four persons were arrested in this case. ICICI Bank has declared a
compensation of Rs. 15 lakh for the life of the borrower. [2]
- In alleged but unsubstantiated incidence of suicide, a father while talking to Times of India, stated that "The ICICI Bank
recovery agents visited his house and threatened his family. And his son Nikhil consumed poison because of the tension". But he
has not registered any such complaint with the police. [3]
- Oppressed by ICICI bank's loan recovery agents, Shakuntala Joshi (38), committed suicide by hanging herself. Suicide note
stated that she was upset with the ill-treatment meted out by ICICI Bank recovery agents and had thus decided to end her life.
Police officials believe that the overtly aggressive mode of ICICI Bank's recovery agents and consequent mental tension must have
driven the woman to commit suicide.[4]
- In another case of a suicide it is alleged that ‘goondas’ sent by ICICI Bank abused Himanshu and his wife in front of the
entire colony before taking away his vehicle. It was claimed that though Himanshu offered to pay the arrears, the bank officials
insisted that he pay an amount of Rs 44,000 for release of the vehicle. Feeling frustrated and insulted, he reportedly committed
suicide.[5]
- CLN Murthy, a scientist with the Hyderabad-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, was allegedly tortured by recovery
agents of ICICI Bank after he defaulted on his loan.“They humiliated me no end. They ripped my shirt, shaved my moustache, cut my
hair and gave electric shocks on my chest and even spat on my face" adds Murthy. [6]
- A dozen recovery agents of ICICI bank, riding on bikes, allegedly forced a prominent lawyer, Someshwari Prasad, to stop his
car while he was going to the high court. They held Prasad at gunpoint and also slapped him to force him to pay a debt to ICICI.
A manager of the ICICI branch, Rakesh Mehta, along with four other employees including the collection officer and the security
guard, were arrested.[7]
- A recovery agent allegedly working for ICICI Bank was injured in an exchange of gunfire with Lucknow police. Police said that
the miscreants opened fire at the police, who returned fire. The agent, along with three others, was trying to escape after
allegedly depriving a contractor, Jitendra Singh, of Rs 5500 in cash and a cheque of the ICICI Bank for non payment of EMIs. On
confronted by Police they opened fire on Police.[8]
- Allahabad High Court had ordered registration of an FIR against ICICI Bank branch manager, President, Chairman and Managing
Director on a complaint of 75-year-old widow Prakash Kaur. In her petition before the High Court, she had complained that
“goondas” were sent by the bank to harass her and forcibly took away her truck.[9][10] When the Supreme Court
wanted to know about the procedure adopted by the banks, ICICI Bank counsel Mr. Rohatgi said notice would be sent to a defaulter
asking him either to pay the instalments or hand over the vehicle purchased on loan, failing which the agents would be asked to
seize it. When the Bench pointed out that recovery or seizure could be done only legally, ICICI bank counsel said, "If we have
to go through the legal process it would be difficult to recover the instalments as there are millions of defaulters".
[11]
- Taking strong exception to the ICICI Bank's use of 'goondas' against a defaulter to recover a two-wheeler financed by it,
Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (North) president K K Chopra said, "The fact leaves us aghast at the manner of functioning and
goondaism in which the bank is involved for a petty amount of Rs 1,889... such attitude is deplorable and sends chills down the
spine....The bank had the option to recover dues through legal means. They have no legal right to snatch the vehicle in such a
manner which amounts to robbery,". In this case a borrower got an overdue payment notice from the bank giving him seven days'
time to pay the outstanding amount. But just two days later, he was stopped while travelling on his scooter by four persons and
was told to hand over the vehicle to them. They pointed a pistol at him when he tried to resist. ICICI bank later sold the
vehicle. ICICI bank argued that they had taken peaceful possession of the vehicle "after due intimation to the complainant as he
was irregular in remitting the monthly instalments". But the court found out that the records proved otherwise.[12]
- Two senior ICICI bank officials were booked in Indore in August 2007 for abducting Vikas Porwal from his house and keeping
him hostage in the bank premises.[13][14]
- The credit card division of the ICICI Bank allegedly threatened a senior citizen in Chandigarh with a fictitious arrest
warrant to obtain a payment of Rs 14,300 on account of a default that never was. [15]
- The Delhi State Consumer Commission has asked ICICI Bank managing director K V Kamath to personally appear before it in
respect a complaint alleging that the bank had employed musclemen for forcibly taking possession of a loaned car for which only
last 3-4 installments remained unpaid. Borrower on protesting the forceful dispossession, as seen in the post-incident
photographs, was roughened up and sustained the injuries.[16]
- An 18-year-old boy who defaulted on a credit card payment was allegedly kidnapped and detained at the Pune branch of ICICI
Bank for three hours before his father paid up.[17]
- Links for other minor legal cases accusing harassment by ICICI Bank [18]
[19] [20][21][22][23] />
- The consumer court has also imposed a joint penalty of Rs 25 lakh on ICICI Bank and American Express Bank for making
unsolicited call.
[24]
ICICI Bank Financials (as of March 31, 2007)
- Profits: USD 715 mln (prev. USD 569 mn)
- Assets: USD 79 bn (prev. USD 56.3 bn)
- Employees: over 33,000 (prev. 25,384)
Source: [25]. Social Initiatives
Social and developmental initiatives
Rural Thrust: ICICI Bank has identified rural sector as one of the major areas of growth. It is creating holistic propositions
to address this opportunity. ICICI Bank has formulated a comprehensive strategy for rural, micro-banking and agri business
encompassing a range of products and multiple delivery channels. The objective is to meet the needs of the rural economy while
building a sustainable business model. The range of products comprises six primary credit products – micro finance loans, farmer
financing, working capital financing for agri-enterprises, farm equipment financing, commodity based financing and jewel loans as
well as savings investments and insurance products. The rural delivery channels included branches at major agricultural markets,
credit franchisees, rural internet kiosks and micro-finance institution partnerships targeting speciific segments of the rural
populations.
Sustainable Development: The bank operates and supports a diverse range of social projects in the areas of primary education,
healthcare, micro-finance, environment, research & bio technology, finance & development. ICICI Bank’s work in the area
of development aims at facilitating wider participation by India’s poorer communities in social and economic process. Its efforts
are broadly divided into two spheres – partnership based development intiatives and market-based direct initiatives. For those
initiatives that seek to make a broader impact on socitey, ICICI Bank’s stategy has been to identitfy partners and work with them
to build competencies and effectiveness on the field. The Bank has taken a more market-based direct approach for those
intitiatives that directly impact the economic well-being of individuals. (www.icicicommunities.org)
Financial Counselling: ICICI Bank setup the DISHA Trust in April 2007 as part of ICICI Bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility
activity. Its main objectives are to provide free credit counselling, financial education and debt management services to
consumers and to increase awareness about financial products and services, thus promoting better understanding and decision
making.
With centres around the country, DISHA Financial Counselling provides its services FREE of cost to all customers, even to
those of other bank’s. (www.dishafc.org)
See also
External links
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