Insights from the Corner Office
Practitioner wisdom on credit judgment, banking culture, and professional excellence — drawn from 38 years at the helm of India's leading public sector banks.
The Wisdom Behind Sound Banking
Integrity, Tactfulness, and the Art of Credit Judgment
Banking is an exercise in human judgment as much as financial judgment. Discover the three timeless pillars — Experience, Integrity, and Tactfulness — that separate a file-processor from a genuine credit professional.
The Danger of Top-Down Credit
Lessons from the Tobacco Belt
Large loan failures are frequently sourced, approved, or recommended from the top and travel down. Discover why ground-level sourcing and an orderly credit approach are critical to avoiding disastrous loan portfolios.
The Illusion of Leadership
Lessons from an Overseas Consortium Failure
Entering complex, offshore lending portfolios without grassroots expertise is a recipe for default. Explore a classic case study of an overseas construction project in Iraq that exposed systemic faults.
The Price of Transparency
Currency Risk, ALM Mismatch, and the Rs 1,000 Crore Clean-Up
When IOB financed Indonesian JVs in US Dollars funded by short-term call money, double Rupiah devaluation and a disastrous Yen conversion triggered a massive NPA crisis. Mr. Natarajan recounts how choosing absolute balance sheet honesty over cover-ups led to a landmark recapitalization.
Breaking the Stalemate
Mandate Ownership, Cross-Border Restructuring, and the Rs 700 Crore Recovery
In this sequel, Mr. Natarajan details how taking active ownership of the lead bank role, cutting through endless multi-bank legal revisions, and visiting foreign lenders in person unlocked a stagnant joint venture file to recover Rs. 700 crores.
An Emotional Farewell
The Rise and Fall of Standard Motors
In this chapter, Mr. Natarajan chronicles the tragic shutdown of Chennai’s legendary Standard Motor Products factory due to corporate rivalry and regulatory lockouts, and how a strategic real estate sale ultimately recovered 100% of the bank's dues.
The Tick Mark That Took Courage
When Politics Weaponized Credit Against a Transformer Giant
When the director of Company H — a heavy transformer manufacturer — personally hosted a prominent national opposition leader at CMC Vellore for kidney dialysis, the company faced an unprecedented political strangulation of credit. This is the story of a banker's dissent note, an IOB Chairman's extraordinary courage, and founders who once pumped bicycle tyres on Broadway.
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