‘There exist books on specific scams. Harshad Mehta being a case in point. But I can’t readily think of books that straddle a variety of scams. On that count alone, V. Pattabhi Ram and Sabyasachee Dash have produced a remarkable book, so that citizen angst and government countervailing action is better informed.’ -Bibek Debroy, Economist and Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India On 24 December 2036, the price of a blue-chip stock, the National Bank of Hindustan, crashes after a leak of the forensic auditors’ report. This triggers a series of conversations between Lobin Stephen Senior, one of the senior-most bankers in the country, with his two great-grandchildren. In an easy conversational style, The Great Bank Robbery: NPAs, Scams, and the Future of Regulation captures the basic functioning of commercial and public sector banks. Vast amounts of public money have vanished from banks over the last few decades, with no remedial measure having been effectively put in place. The victim invariably ends up being the lay Indian citizen. The book discusses 11 scams that have rocked the nation since Independence. Without sensationalizing the dramatic content, the book examines how the frauds took place: the strategies used by the scamsters, the regulation loopholes they used, and the lasting consequences thereof. It also discusses the role of prime stakeholders in the banking and finance sectors, such as auditors, company boards, the regulator and rating agencies. A simple but not simplified primer into the world of banking and finance, this book is an engaging and timely discussion directed at the Indian citizen.
