Author: Ayush Joshi

The story of India’s most unusual bank that operated outside RBI regulation for over five decades being told for the first time Ayush Joshi & Paranjoy Guha Thakurta In India’s intricate and highly-regulated financial system, virtually every bank, large or small, a scheduled commercial bank or an NBFC (non-banking financial company), has to perforce answer to a single, omnipotent referee: the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s central bank and apex monetary authority. Among other things, the RBI regulates banks’ capital reserves and supervises how audit ledgers should be prepared, to ensure that the savings of ordinary citizens are…

Ayush Joshi and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta For decades, the First Leasing Company of India (FLCI) projected an image of itself as a firm that was robust and healthy, reporting impressive growth and securing high credit ratings. The facade crumbled in 2013 when a Reserve Bank of India (RBI) inspection alleged that the company had falsified its financial statements to hide an asset discrepancy of approximately ₹1,676 crore. Among the victims of the so-called scam are employees of a Rajasthan government company who claim they have been waiting for years for their dues. They feel cheated that the legal system and…