It is rare to find a corner-room occupant being candid about an organisation’s shortcomings in the annual report. In his first note to shareholders, Sashidhar Jagdishan, 56, managing director and chief executive officer of HDFC Bank, said: “In the last 28 months, we have been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons when it comes to technology. Also, there have been deficiencies in compliance… As a bank, we are certainly sorry for what has happened.”
The statement reflects Jagdishan’s baptism by fire in the eight months since he took over from his larger-than-life mentor Aditya Puri. The Reserve Bank of