Raj, who chaired the bank's fourth annual general meeting here on Tuesday, following PK Kaul's resignation earlier in the day, outlined some of the problems which the bank faces in the current year. These include the changeover from the high-cost wholesale banking to retail banking, bringing down the interest on high-cost deposits and introducing new products.

IndusInd's target for 1998-99 includes mobilising deposits of Rs 4,500 crore and advances of Rs 3,000 crore. Its performance in April-August 1998 shows deposits at Rs 3,750 crore while advances are Rs 2,400 crore, at the same level as the corresponding period last year.

The new products the bank has lined up to tap the retail sector include cash management for corporates which can collecttheir receivables in 24-48 hours and promoting depository services since the bank has 7,200 accounts worth Rs 5,600 crore. It is also exploring the possibility of becoming the clearing bank for stock exchanges (SEs). It is in talks with all the major SEs offering its services as a clearing bank and is believed to be close to finalising with the Calcutta Stock Exchange.

The bank has targeted an income of Rs 5 crore from fee-based activities over a 12-month period, said VB Raju, vice president and secretary. Its other fee-based activities will be offering bank guarantees, lending against dematerialised shares, stock lending and index futures.

The bank has received shareholder approval for an enabling resolution which will allow it to raise subordinated debt by the issue of debentures or bonds up to its net worth, currently at Rs 512 crore. This will apply to its Tier II capital. The resolution also provides for share buyback once the law allows it.

The AGM was marked by outbursts from upset shareholders,which centered around the issue of the diminution in the value of their holdings, since they paid a premium, and the current low prevailing market price of the bank's stock. Shareholders also raised the issue of the late receipt, and in some cases, non-receipt of the annual report. They also expressed the view that the promoter group -- non-resident Indians from the Sindhi community -- had appealed to them on the basis of that common heritage, which they had failed to make good.

Top brass reshuffled

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The decks were cleared at the IndusInd Bank's annual general meeting to facilitate top-level changes. PK Kaul submitted his resignation as chairman this morning while S Solomon Raj, who will step down as managing director on October 3, introduced KR Maheshwari as his successor.

The resignation of Kaul, whose term had still to run out, is expected to facilitate Raj's own elevation to the chairman's post. While Raj admitted that he would continue to be associated with the bank subsequent to hisretirement, he declined to comment on the exact nature of that association. He added that the RBI would take another 15 days to clear the appointment of the bank's chairman.

Maheshwari, who retired as a deputy general manager of State Bank of India, was the managing director of the State bank of Bikaner and Jaipur prior to his appointment as managing director of the IndusInd Bank.