Sethurathnam Ravi, former BSE Chairman talks about the different facets of Bank Merger

Sethurathnam Ravi (S Ravi) is the former BSE Chairman and founder of Ravi Rajan & Co. In his past career he held the position of Union Finance & Revenue Secretary at India Ministry of Finance. Presently, Mr. Ravi holds the position of Non-Executive Chairman of Tourism Finance Corp. of India Ltd. and Director & Managing Partner at RRCA & Associates. Sethurathnam Ravi affirms that bank mergers are not a small task and requires an enormous understanding and movement in order to ensure that all cogs in the wheel fit seamlessly to ensure success.

Sethurathnam Ravi BSE Fmr Chairman

Sethurathnam Ravi (S Ravi) is the former BSE Chairman and founder of Ravi Rajan & Co. and currently is the Non-Executive Chairman of Tourism Finance Corp. of India Ltd. and Director & Managing Partner at RRCA & Associates. Mr. Ravi is also Associate Member at Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Member of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Director & Managing Partner at Ravi Rajan & Co. and Member-MOU Department at India Department of Public Enterprises and on the board of 15 other companies. Mr. Ravi received a graduate degree from Rani Durgavati University.

Sethurathnam Ravi voiced his views on the merger of the banks and the mammoth task it has taken form into. As per the announcement made by Sethurathnam Ravi, the amalgamation scheme listed the merger of various popular banks like Indian Bank merged with Allahabad Bank, Canara Bank merged with Syndicate Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce and the United Bank of India merged with Punjab National Bank, and lastly, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank merged with Union Bank. The announcement of the merger came with a huge impact on the 308732 employees of the banks, 37492 domestic branches, 45448 ATM centers, and Rs. 3179304 crore deposits.

However, S. Ravi asserts that the impact of the merger is not only limited to all these. It is much more than the figures and facts that are mentioned in the papers. As per the former BSE Chairman, these mergers come with a huge impact on the fixed deposit holders, savings account holders, employees, shareholders, borrowers, and the public. “The primary aim of these mergers was to create large banks that are more capable of solving financial issues. Also, the merger was introduced to eradicate any kind of disparity between the small banks and large banks, cost savings from compliances and network overlaps, creating large middle management for selecting eligible candidates, risk management and much more. Overall, the mergers would improve the efficiency of restructuring and decision-making on high-leading banks,” says Mr. Sethurathnam Ravi.

The success of any merger relies on the capability of managing the repercussion while supporting the changes. When the merger is used in the form of an unconnected initiative due to a lack of reinforcements that would weaken the primary aim of the merger that results in inefficiency, details the former BSE Chairman. According to Sethurathnam Ravi, the collaboration of the strong bank changes should be completely determined to imbue restored good faith among Public Sector Banks which will rely upon the initiative directing the cycle thinking about the mammoth difficulties of taking care of asset incorporation, data innovation stage reconciliation, administrative compliances, rebranding, and repositioning and control on Non-performing Assets with the public authority giving the necessary catalyst every once in a while.

Henceforth, Sethurathnam Ravi concludes that bank mergers are not a small task and requires an enormous understanding and movement in order to ensure that all cogs in the wheel fit seamlessly to ensure success.