The debate over performance differential between Public Sector Banks (PSBs)1 and Private Sector Banks (PVBs) in India is not new. The huge performance differential between PSBs and PVBs on GNPA (Gross NPA) of 14.8%/3.8% and Return on Assets (ROA) of -0.7%/1.2% (as of September 20182) continue to narrate the grim performance of PSBs. Through this study, we looked at how banks in India responded to the financial crisis of 2008, and its impact on their performances thereof, with specific focus on whether increased lending by PSBs led to their poor performance in subsequent years. We focused on the asset allocation strategies of banks in India for the period FY 2005-17, which covers the period of financial crisis, and measured their performances through indicators such as ROA, Return on Equity (ROE) and GNPA ratio (GNPAs/Advances). The analysis shows significantly divergent asset allocation paths taken by banks in India post the financial crisis of 2007-08, which shows that the PSBs indeed took the mantle of credit creation in the economy. PSBs significantly increased asset allocation to credit from 2007/08 in contrast to PVBs, and it continued up till FY 2013. Comparison of financial performance post FY 2013 up till FY17 shows significant underperformance of PSBs vis-a-vis PVBs. However, this study did not find any linkage between aggressive credit creation post the financial crisis (during 2007/08-2013) and subsequent poor performance of PSBs.

Banks play a vital role in channeling investors' savings. This paper investigates the probabilistic interpretation of the bankruptcy risk-evolved by Hannan and Hanweck (1988)-in Indian Public Sector Banks (PSBs) through the Z-index approach. Z-index has been used to determine the insolvency risk for 20 PSBs for the period 2010 to 2021. The secondary data was collected from the websites of respective banks and RBI. The data consists of 20 PSBs' Return on Assets (ROA) and Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR). The results show that except Allahabad Bank, all PSBs' index is more than 10, offering a better financial position during the study period. Since the Z-index measured for SBI is highest among all the 20 PSBs, its financial soundness is reported to be at the top level. Therefore, there is no risk of insolvency for those banks with a high Z-index. The paper provides insights on trends of solvency position among the selected banks. It is helpful in improving the knowledge of banks' bankruptcy prediction and in analyzing their financial soundness. The paper reveals that bankruptcy could be due to poor management and improper investment estimation, leading to insolvency among the banks. A bank should focus on its ROA to improve its quality and avoid bankruptcy. CAR is also a sound indicator for a bank to maintain good solvency. Therefore, CAR and ROA are the most critical indicators to measure the risk associated with an investment in the banking sector.

Primary (Urban) Cooperative Banks (UCBs) in India operate under the provisions of the Banking Regulation Act of 1949 - As Applicable to Cooperative Societies (AACS). Considering the large heterogeneity in their asset sizes and the absence of any regulatory cap on their leverages, the principal objective of this paper is to understand the interrelationship of their leverage and scale of operations with financial performance. The analysis, based on a three-year pooled data sample of 140 well-distributed UCBs, shows a significant difference across the capital adequacy, leverage and Net Interest Margin (NIM), based on the scale of operations, but due to heterogeneous and skewed distribution of UCBs in terms of asset size, the impact of the scale of operations on the financial performance does not manifest very clearly. It, however, shows that the scale of operations is unrelated to the incidence of non-performing advances. Further, UCBs with higher leverages do not show superior financial performance in terms of key financial variables. However, banks with higher leverage do gain in terms of their Return on Equity (ROE). These findings provide nuanced guidance to the UCBs and are also useful for regulatory policymaking on the subject.

This paper aims to discuss the risk-based policies, procedures, and controls reasonably designed to identify and minimize money laundering and other illicit financing risks associated with Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs). This paper uses the "Pandora Papers" to illustrate the vulnerability of the banking system to money laundering and other illicit financing risks associated with NPOs, and to solidify the hypothesis that effective implementation of risk-based policies, procedures, and controls can help flag illicit funds before a lengthy asset recovery process becomes necessary. This paper determines that adequate policies, procedures, and controls, if implemented, could help manage the money laundering and other illicit financing risks associated with NPOs, and ensure monitoring systems are set up to adequately detect suspicious transactions.