The survival of the fittest

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.The annual bankers’ conference - BANCON (earlier known as the Bank Economists’ Conference) is one of the India’s most popular conferences for discussing key issues affecting Indian banking industry. The theme of this year’s conference (BANCON 2007 scheduled on 26th & 27th Nov.07) is ‘Indian banking - Towards global best practices’. Even though Indian banking sector is stronger than ever before, challenges abound. In the broader context, the challenges originate from volatile economic environment, increasing inflows of portfolio capital and consequent monetary tightening measures, cross currency movements, oil price shocks, etc. Only those banks that have robust risk management capabilities and sufficiency of capital will be able to survive in the long-run. Gradually, a case for merger between stronger banks is also gaining ground in India. With the liberalisation of entry norms for foreign banks post-April, 2009, “consolidation” will gather significant momentum in our banking sector. This will have a significant impact on the business models and operational strategies of Indian banks.