BofA seeks to rebuild India investment banking team post probe, resignations

By Anto Antony

Bank of America Corp. is rebuilding its India investment banking team after a string of senior resignations and scrutiny over share sales rocked its local operations last year, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Wall Street firm is in talks with senior bankers at rival firms to fill key deal advisory roles, including the head of its capital markets business, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. The replacements were on hold earlier as the bank reviewed its internal processes following alleged violations of share sales regulations.

The US bank is now looking to scale up operations and regain lost ground after naming Vikram Sahu — its global head of equity research — as the new India country head, and having completed a review of its processes. The bank has also picked Mandar Donde, a BofA veteran based in Singapore, to head its investment banking operations in the South Asian nation from April.

BofA’s India unit suffered a major setback in November when three top dealmakers exited the firm amid an internal investigation into alleged misconduct related to stock offerings. They were the firm’s co-head of investment banking, the country head of global capital markets, and a director in the investment banking unit.

The probe examined whether the firm’s employees had violated regulatory norms during equity transactions, including a 15-billion rupee ($174 million) share sale by Aditya Birla Sun Life Asset Management Co., the people said.

India’s market regulator — the Securities and Exchange Board of India — had also sought details from BofA on the matter as early as September, according to the people.

A spokesperson for BofA declined to comment while a representative for SEBI didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Bank of America, which began operations in India in 1964, offers investment banking services to corporates with revenues above $2 billion, financial institutions, and government entities, according to its website.