The rise and fall of a banker
8 January 2021:: Guest blog/Book extract :: Pavan Lall/Yes Man - the Untold Story of Yes Bank
Yes Bank received its license to commence banking the same time Kotak Mahindra Bank did. Yet, sixteen years later, one bank has grown through a combination of cautious lending and prudent management. The other is a different story.
The story of Yes Bank resembles that of Icarus. Flying on wings created from feathers and wax, Icarus was warned neither to fly too low nor too high - so the sea's dampness would not clog his wings nor the sun's heat melt them ignores. Icarus ignores what he was taught, not to fly too close to the sun: when the wax in his wings melted, he tumbled out of the sky and fell into the sea where he drowned. The tale of Rana Kapoor and Yes Bank, like that of Icarus, is a tale of ambition and hubris and throwing caution to the wind. It is a reminder of the deleterious impact that the absence of a governance framework, with its checks and balances, can have. In this case it broke the bank.
In this guest blog Pavan Lall quotes extracts from his just published book ‘Yes Man: The Untold Story of Rana Kapoor’ and highlights the deleterious impact that the absence of a governance framework with its checks and balances can have.
You can read an extract from the book. The extract dates back to the time when three individuals applied and obtained a bank license. Link