B U S I N E S S

HDFC hires Deloitte to conduct separate forensic audit
Mumbai/New Delhi, March 16
Days after a “sting operation” purportedly showing bank officials helping launder money, India’s three leading private sector banks have initiated internal measures to conduct investigations. HDFC Bank said Saturday it has hired independent audit firm for conducting a forensic inquiry while Axis Bank has initiated a probe into the matter.

Boeing sees 787 Dreamliner airborne in weeks; timetable questioned
Tokyo/New York, March 16
Boeing Co said Friday its 787 Dreamliner jets could be airborne within weeks using a new battery system that includes safeguards against overheating, a prediction that drew scepticism from some regulators and industry experts.

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner jets parked on the tarmac at an airport in the United States.

HDFC hires Deloitte to conduct separate forensic audit
Bank suspends 20 employees pending probe into money laundering charges
TNS & Agencies

Mumbai/New Delhi, March 16
Days after a “sting operation” purportedly showing bank officials helping launder money, India’s three leading private sector banks have initiated internal measures to conduct investigations. HDFC Bank said Saturday it has hired independent audit firm for conducting a forensic inquiry while Axis Bank has initiated a probe into the matter.

The sting operation by the online news provider claimed that staff at ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank were helping customers do deals that violate various laws and regulations.

"The bank has appointed accounting and audit firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India to carry out an independent forensic inquiry into the allegations and reported statements, as made by Cobrapost representatives, when secretly taping bank officials," HDFC Bank said in a statement.

Besides, the bank has also appointed Amarchand & Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co to examine the breaches, if any, of the bank’s Code of Conduct & Ethical Standards, by any bank officials, it said.

HDFC Bank has also suspended 20 officials concerned till investigations are completed, sources said.

On Friday, ICICI Bank suspended 18 officials concerned till investigations are completed.

Earlier this week, the portal Cobrapost had played the contents of a purported video recording of officials of private banks including Axis Bank, allegedly agreeing to receive unverified sums of cash and put them in their investment schemes and benami (in the name of another person) accounts in violation of anti-money laundering laws.

The footage taken in ‘Operation Red Spider’ purportedly shows a number of senior executives of the three banks verbally agreeing to take huge amounts of cash from the undercover reporter and putting them into a variety of long-term investment plans so that the black money ultimately is converted into white. However, neither any account was opened nor any cash was deposited in these banks.

HDFC Bank further said internal departmental enquiry is underway to verify the truth or untruth or correctness, as the case may be, in the reported tapings of bank officials.

"The bank is committed to the highest standards of compliance, corporate governance and ethics, and has in place systems and procedures to ensure that its business is conducted in compliance with laws and regulations," it said. The statement further said internal departmental enquiry is underway to verify the truth or untruth or correctness, as the case may be, in the reported tapings of bank officials.

Meanwhile, Axis Bank also said the findings of enquiry are expected shortly and a senior-level committee has been constituted to monitor and supervise the entire investigation process on a daily basis.

Axis Bank initiates internal inquiry

Private sector lender Axis Bank said Saturday it has asked 16 concerned officials to report to administrative offices, pending investigation which has been initiated with regard to alleged money laundering activities. "The bank has initiated an internal inquiry. Pending the outcome of the inquiry, we have asked 16 concerned employees to report to administrative offices," sources in Axis Bank said. Meanwhile, ICICI Bank Ltd, India's No. 2 lender, has suspended 18 employees pending an inquiry into suspected money laundering, the bank said in a statement on Saturday. The finance ministry and the RBI are also investigating allegations of money laundering at the top private sector lenders. — Agencies

Boeing sees 787 Dreamliner airborne in weeks; timetable questioned

Tokyo/New York, March 16
Boeing Co said Friday its 787 Dreamliner jets could be airborne within weeks using a new battery system that includes safeguards against overheating, a prediction that drew scepticism from some regulators and industry experts.

Japanese regulators immediately warned that the timetable was impossible to predict, in part because investigators still do not know what had caused lithium-ion batteries to overheat on two 787s.

"At this time we are not yet in a position to say when flights will restart," said Shigeru Takano, the air transport safety director at Japan's Civil Aviation Board (CAB), which will assess and approve Boeing's proposed fix.

Boeing's confident assertion marked a shift from the May or June dates expected by airlines, and appeared to pressure regulators to quickly approve the new battery safeguards. Industry sources said U.S. regulators have signalled they expect a lengthy testing schedule sufficient to ensure the refitted, carbon-composite plane is safe.

Boeing's timetable also put the company at risk of missing a deadline if approval takes longer than expected, adding to a history of missed deadlines that has bedevilled the Dreamliner.

In explaining its optimism, Boeing said it had finished three tests of the new battery system and was performing three more this week, all in cooperation with the FAA, allowing it to predict the plane would be back in the air in weeks, not months. — Reuters

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A.N. Shanbhag