Tamal Bandyopadhyay: Efficient regulator

BACKSTAGE

On January 20 and 21, senior executives of seven banks involved in the recent manipulation of the IPO allotment process presented their side of the story to the RBI. Exactly a day later, the RBI slapped penalty on the seven banks "" ICICI Bank, Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank, HDFC Bank, Vijaya Bank, Bharat Overseas Bank and Indian Overseas Bank "" for their role in the scam. The man behind the decision taken at electrifying speed was Deputy Governor Vittaldas Leeladhar. On January 22, the lights at his room on the 18th floor of the RBI headquarters were on till 10.30 pm. No wonder, Leeladhar today handles two of the most sensitive departments of the RBI "" department of banking operations & development (DBOD) and department of banking supervision (DBS) "" besides non-banking companies, technology and internal administration.

In September 2004, when he took over as a deputy governor after spending 35 years in commercial banking, he was given charge of relatively insignificant departments such as urban co-operative banks, rural credit, and Deposit Insurance & Credit Guarantee Corporation.

Within a short time of taking over the technology division and internal administration, Leeladhar has made noticeable changes on both fronts. RBI Governor Y V Reddy addressed the national press last week through video conferencing when he unveiled the quarterly review of the monetary policy, a first on the Mint Road. Similarly, the executives of the central bank have started feeling the unmistakable Leeladhar touch in their daily chores "" talent is recognised and hard work appreciated. He managed to get various states to sign MoUs with the RBI to improve co-operative banks.

Sebi informed RBI of the banks' role on December 16 last year, and within record time, the RBI completed its own investigation, issued show-cause notices, heard the banks and finally imposed the penalty. All in five weeks. "Over the past one year he has proved that a job given to him is done," says a banker who has been following his career graph closely over the decades.

Instead of being the deputy governor, Leeladhar could have been a high-profile corporate chief. A chemical engineer from Kerala University, he applied for a management trainee's job in Indian Aluminium when it was planning to set up its Belgaum plant. The legendary banker T A Pai lured him away to Syndicate Bank on a monthly salary of Rs 269, roughly a third of what he would have earned in Indian Aluminium. After working with five banks (Syndicate, Corporation, Bank of Maharashtra, Vijaya and Union Bank) in different capacities ranging from trainee officer to chairman and managing director, Leeladhar came to the RBI.