Is Your Money Black?

It is - as per certain provisions of worldwide taxlaws. But why is it black? And who made it so?

The use of the word "black" is a metaphor for anything that does not fall in the realm of a normal, bright side of life. For example , we have black magic - type of magic that intends to thrive on the darker side of life. But how do we codify black money? And is money ever white?

Money is never black so long as it is classified under "acceptable" category. You pay money for groceries - acceptable, you pay money for your plane tickets - acceptable, but you pay money which is not yours - unacceptable, you pay money for a BMW but under-invoice it - unacceptable. So black money is essentially that money which represents wealth sprung up from the darker side of economy or from the darker side of life . Precisely - black money is generated from the more hideous side of a human being - the desire to cheat, the desire to usurp undue gains, the desire to hide & the desire to engage in criminal activity.

Coming to the second question - is money ever white? How do you know that the 1000rs note that you are holding in your wallet has not passed through the hands of a criminal or a tax evader or a money launderer? How do you know that the bank in which you have deposited your money, does not hold unaccounted wealth of atleast a thousand account holders? So is all money black in totality? To be fair to the black money holders - the answer is - yes.

Consider the salaried class. It gets money from a legally acceptable route. But the corporate for which they work may not have earned its profits through the lawful means. I do not want to speak about the business class because any business has to have a darker side to it.

Do we really need to catch black money? Yes. Because societies are formed on the foundations of ethics. Humans need ethics to ensure continuity of their species. The day we encourage black money, we would be encouraging unethical practices which in the long run will create a criminal-dominated society. And surely we want our children to grow up in a place where greatness is acquired through sincere efforts & not through killing each other.

Then why hasnt the black money been captured so far? Mainly, our law enforcement agencies need to have the required teeth - more manpower, more technology skills, more space & time to investigate and establish fully the genuineness of any transaction. Most importantly, it is the collective will of everyone - businessmen, chaprasi, middle class, elite class & the Govt - which is required to reduce black money from the system.

Money doesnt grow on trees. But black money certainly does & we dont need it. 

He Who Must Not be Named

..is a C.A. Yes.. the Chartered Accountant. And who else fears him the most but the banker. Let me narrate a small experience. Since the day I took charge of my branch, I have been particular in reading the daily newspaper, trying to catch the pulse of my city & the country as a whole. Day after day, there were huge SARFAESI notices issued by notable banks, prominent amont them - Bank of Baroda. By the way, for the ignorant, SARFAESI is a revolutionary act enabling the bank to secure the debtor's assets, without the interference or intervention of a Civil Court. The act is quite sweeping in its very nature. There was surely something very wrong in the fact that such huge number of bad debts have piled up on a bank. Then one fine day, a C.A came to meet me in the branch. He befriended me and tried to impress upon me that he has a very good client base & that he can ensure the growth in my advances portfolio just the way I wanted. Since he thought that I am game to his plans, he started confiding in me somethings that rang an alarm. He, very proudly said that his other C.A friends are mainly responsible for the growth in the advances portfolio of Bank of Baroda. I wonder if these same C.A's were responsible for the increasing bad debts of the bank.

Look at the large sums which have turned bad. They range from 20 lakhs to 120 crores. Is it possible, that in the normal life-cycle of a bank, so many loans will turn bad within such a short time span? It is - if those loans were advanced on the basis of fudged & forged balance sheets of the borrower. Believe it or not, some Chartered Accountants have made loan syndication a part of their profession - probably because their principal job does not pay them well. And this is one of the most freaky things I have come across in my life. Imagine, a branch manager, like me, trying to prevent his branch from falling prey to frauds, is being preyed upon by spineless C.A's, trying to extract a loan from a bank for a  borrower whose main intention is to decamp with the loan amount. And trust me, C.A's are actively & willfully conniving with willful defaulters.

This raises a serious question on the job prospects of a C.A. The profession of C.A was created to audit a firm's balance sheet so that the balance sheet reflects the true state of affairs. However, I find many C.A's in my city doing exactly the opposite. This also raises a serious question on the picture of job creation in our country. If an honourable profession like C.A is going to dogs, what can we expect of other professions? Do we not have the Satyam scam in our history books ? Could the books of Satyam Ltd have been cooked up without the active involvement of the on-roll or empanelled C.A's of the firm? This also speaks of gross underemployment among C.A's, otherwise why will they go out of their way to liasion actively with bank managers hungry for business & sinister borrowers. I know of a customer, who will call up his C.A at the slightest jitter of getting caught by the ever-vigilant bank manager. I also know of customers, who may not even know the basics of economy, but will know handy tips provided by a C.A on how to trick a banker. Time has come when both C.A's & bankers should stop generating unethical business at the cost of their dignity & at the cost of public money. I will be writing about this issue in a more methodical manner, in one of my next blogs.

Bank

4 years in banking does not give me any authority to opinionate on the larger issues concerning the banking industry. However, you might be interested, in knowing how a typical day in the life of a banker is. C'mon .. hosts of TV shows will spend a full day or even two with an army company, they may spend a day with a corporate honcho or a star-studded celebrity. Who cares about a banker? Well, if you really care, read on.

Well, we are very purpose oriented people. Unless, we have some purpose in getting up, we wont even get up from our bed. That is why, every fine morning, our business head, will either call or SMS to update us on the targets of the day. We live each day as it comes..(and almost die at the end of it). Do we reach bank to serve customers? Yes. Do we reach bank to enjoy our work? Maybe. Do we close the branch with the satisfaction of a day well-spent? Yes - if luck favours.

Even before we open the shutters of the branch, there will be people waiting to get inside it. Ever since I have become a branch manager, I think I have become some kind of a prima donna. There will be 4-5 people watching me tread as I move towards my branch. There will be the sweet-tongued security guard who will wish me "good morning" as if by rule set by his commander (i.e me). Its quite enjoyable, till I realise that the people, both customers & non-customers, may actually be cursing me from inside their hearts. And with the current scenario of customer service in most banks, coupled with the predicament of strikes, this possibility cannot be ruled out. It kind of freaks me out.

In between passing & authorising entries, we take phone calls from distressed customers, we take phone calls from our depressed seniors, we try to find out a new customer to whom we can beg with dignity for a business connection, we try to cross-sell (more about cross-selling in a later blog), & we try to control the quality of house-keeping of the branch. Now, housekeeping a branch is not easy as house-keeping a real house. All kind of records have to be preserved, all kinds of regulations have to be adhered to, all kinds of tables/formats/registers etc have to be updated etc. You wont believe, but its true. One of the banks, with which I was working has prescribed a whopping number of 128 registers to be maintained by every branch - small & big. Now, you know what we do from 10 am to 7 pm? Unfortunately, some branch managers like me, are stupid enough to take all regulations / procedures seriously and hence get stressed out.

Frankly, banks have not yet matured into the 21st century and nor have our regulators. Of course, regulators have a reason to worry. Banks deal with public money & all. It is natural for them to get paranoiac about each & every rupee of the common man. But, c'mon. To curb malpractices, our regulators are tightening screws to such an extent that the paranoia of regulators gets transmitted - almost like a contagious disease - to the captains of all the individual banks, and by natural course of hierarchy - to the poor bank managers.

Phew! So much to write about a bank manager's life. But, who cares?

Intro

Blogging is often misused for writing something what cannot be said in public. Or for something, which as per larger perception, the public is not willing to hear. This blog, unfortunately, also comes close to expressing something like that. However, as you read through, you might see what you havent seen or heard before. Because it comes from a person whose thirst for research never dies.