The Devil’s Laugh at Corporate Governance: The Case of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC Bank) India

The trust of depositors in the Indian banking system was shaken in September 2019 when the five-page confession letter written by Joy K Thomas, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC Bank), one of the ten largest co-operative banks in India revealed gross financial irregularities, collusion and fraud in banking operations of PMC Bank from 2008 onwards. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) came into swift action and placed curbs on routine banking activities and restricted the withdrawal of money to a limited amount. Succumbing to the shock, depositors protested at several places and even, eleven depositors lost their lives. With a huge exposure of 73% of the overall loan portfolio to a single borrower, Housing and Development Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) & group companies, that too facing insolvency proceedings, the recovery of full money was almost impossible. The malice at PMC Bank is the classic case of crony capitalism, collusion and fraud, and failure of corporate governance. The case draws important lessons for reforming co-operative banking sector and strengthening banking supervision in the country.