Compulsory off for SBI staff to sniff out frauds

The banker who never goes on a holiday is suspect. Perhaps, he doesn’t want anyone to discover what he has been up to. He may have given funny loans, done fake trades, played around with clients’ money, and covered his tracks by cooking up books. The easiest way for the bank to catch him is to send the person on leave and ask someone else to do the job. In MNC banks and brokerages, it has been a customary practice for decades. Now, the country’s largest lender, State Bank of India, is trying it out. SBI has told all its officers to take compulsory ‘preventive vigilance leave’ for at least 10 days every financial year. The decision, taken by the high-powered committee of the bank’s board, was communicated to employees a week ago. It follows a string of frauds that have rattled several financial institutions in recent months. While reviewing high-value frauds, the committee found they had been perpetrated by officers who had established a reputation for being dedicated and hardworking. These are employees who did not avail of any leave earned by them. The frauds only came to light when such employees went for training or took leave for some other reason.