Between Peter and Paul: Banks continue to be blindsided on dud loans

The information asymmetry on credit continues to plague banks

In July 1997, Tata Tea did away with its unwieldy decades-old State Bank of India (SBI)-led consortium of a dozen banks to sip on Mint Road’s new brew for India Inc — multiple banking, which was the first by a borrower. 

You could shop bilaterally for loans from banks, avail of “bespoke” structuring and pricing. A tad over two decades on after the maiden breakaway, the lines between consortium and multiple banking have blurred. Its fallout — “visibility” on the state of credit is less than adequate; and the huge information asymmetry on matters credit is one of the key reasons