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 100 Billion (end-Mar 2008), a network of over 1308 branches and offices, about 3954 ATMs, and 24 million customers (as of end July 2007). 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. But these data are dynamic. ICICI Bank is also the largest issuer of credit cards in India. [1]. ICICI Bank has listed its equity shares on stock exchanges at Kolkata and Vadodara, Mumbai and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, and its ADRs on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The Bank is expanding in overseas markets and has the largest international balance sheet among Indian banks. 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 the UK, Canada and Russia, offshore banking units in Singapore and Bahrain, an 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. In particular, the bank is targeting the NRI (Non Resident Indian) population
ICICI Bank reported marked-to-market loss of $264 million as of January 31, 2008 following the USA subprime mortgage crisis[2].
1955 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. (Similar financial institutions included IDBI and SIDBI). 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.
1994 ICICI established Banking Corporation as a banking subsidiary.formerly Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India. Later, ICICI Banking Corporation was renamed as 'ICICI Bank Limited'. ICICI founded a separate legal entity, ICICI Bank, to undertake normal banking operations - taking deposits, credit cards, car loans etc.
1999 ICICI became the first Indian company and the first bank or financial institution from non-Japan Asia to list on the NYSE.
2002 ICICI established representative offices in NY and London.
2003 ICICI opened subsidiaries in Canada and the United Kingdom (UK), and in the UK it established alliance with Lloyds TSB. It also opened 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 acquired 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 renamed the bank ICICI Bank Eurasia. ICICI Bank offered a high-interest (5.4% gross) internet savings account to UK customers. Also, ICICI established a branch in Dubai International Financial Centre and in Hong Kong.
2005 ICICI Bank UK launches HiSave brand. An online deposit taking brand primarily targeting UK resident Indians and secondarily the wider UK population.
2007 ICICI amalgamated Sangli Bank, which was headquartered in Sangli, in Maharashtra State, and which had 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 and from the US Federal Reserve to open a branch in New York. ICICI Bank Eurasia opened a second branch, this time in St. Petersburg.
2008 ICICI Bank launched http://www.icicibank.com/pfsuser/channels/mobile/imobile/imobile.htm iMobile, a comprehensive Mobile banking solution. iMobile is considered to be a breakthrough innovation in Indian Banking which allows a customer to do all possible transactions through a GPRS-enabled mobile phone.
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 the related news links:
Farmers vent ire on bank after suicide. ICICI Bank officials used goondas to seize the tractor [3]
ICICI Bank was fined 55 lakh Rs. for hiring goons (known coloquially as "goondas") to recover a loan. Recovery Agents had ,allegedly, forcibly dragged out a youth (who was not even the borrower) from the car, beaten him up with iron rods and left him bleeding as they drove away with the vehicle. "We hold ICICI Bank guilty of the grossest kind of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice for breach of terms of contract of hire-purchase/loan agreement by seizing the vehicle illegally,""No civilised society governed by the rule of law can brook such kind of conduct" said Justice J D Kapoor, president of the commission.[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]
4 loan ICICI employees arrested on theft charges in Punjab [12]
ICICI Bank told to pay Rs 1 lakh as compensation for using unlawful recovery methods. [13]
RBI warns ICICI Bank for coercive methods to recover loans[14][15]
ICICI Bank drives customer to suicide- Four men including an employee of ICICI bank booked under sections 452, 306, 506 (II) and 34 of IPC for abetting suicide [16]. As per suicide note they advised him - "If you cannot repay the bank loan, sell off your wife, your kids, yourself, sell everything at your home. Even then if you cannot not pay back the due amount, then it's better if you commit suicide."[17] India biggest private bank has compensated the life by money [18]
ICICI banks on huge car recovery scam in Goa - ICICI Bank invest in car-jackers to recover loans in Goa. [19][20]
Family of Y Yadaiah 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. [21]
A father while talking to Times of India, alleged that "The ICICI Bank recovery agents visited his house and threatened his family. And his son Nikhil consumed poison because of the tension". [22]
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. [23]
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. Feeling frustrated and insulted, he reportedly committed suicide. [24]
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. [25]
A dozen recovery agents of ICICI bank, riding on bikes, allegedly forced a prominent lawyer, Someshwari Prasad, to stop his car. They held Prasad at gunpoint and also slapped him to force him. A manager of the ICICI branch, Rakesh Mehta, along with four other employees were arrested. [26]
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 stealing cash and a cheque from the defaulter. [27]
In a landmark case 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. She had complained that ?goondas? were sent by the bank to harass her and forcibly took away her truck.[28][29] In same case when the Supreme Court wanted to know about the procedure adopted by the banks, ICICI Bank counsel 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". [30]
Taking strong exception to the ICICI Bank's use of 'goondas' against a defaulter, Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum president 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 recovery agents pointed a pistol at defaulter when he tried to resist. 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.[31]
Two senior ICICI bank officials were booked for abducting one Vikas Porwal from his house and keeping him hostage in the bank premises.[32][33]
The credit card division of the ICICI Bank allegedly threatened a senior citizen in Chandigarh with a fictitious arrest warrant on account of a default that never was. [34]
Consumer Commission has asked ICICI Bank MD K V Kamath to personally appear before it in respect a complaint. Borrower on protesting the forceful dispossession of car, as seen in the post-incident photographs, was roughed up and sustained the injuries. [35]
An 18-year-old boy was allegedly kidnapped and detained at the Pune branch of ICICI Bank.[36]
There have been several other minor legal cases accusing harassment by ICICI Bank [37][38][39][40][41][42]
The consumer court imposed a joint penalty of Rs 25 lakh on ICICI Bank and American Express Bank for making unsolicited call.[43]
False bankruptcy rumours
In the past, there have been several false rumors of ICICI going bankrupt.
In 2003, there was false rumor in Gujarat that ICICI is going bankrupt, and panicked people started withdrawing money from the bank's ATMs.[44]
Due to the Economic crisis of 2008 in United States, there were rumors of ICICI going bankrupt.[45] Some panicked customers started withdrawing money from the ATMs all over the world.[46] ICICI debunked the rumors and gave detailed financial position to establish that it was in a sound position with assets of over Rs 4,84,000 crore (Rs 4,840 billion) and a net worth of over Rs 47,000 crore (Rs 470 billion). The ICICI Bank also sought a SEBI probe into the "manipulation of its shares through a systematic pattern of rumours".[47] The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) joined ICICI Bank to reassure investors and customers, saying that the bank was in good financial health.[48]
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