The credit bureau has appointed Mr Pinto as new non-executive chairman and also promoted Kalpana Pandey as its whole time director and chief executive
Troubled and cash-strapped credit bureau High Mark Credit Information Services Pvt Ltd (High Mark) has appointed Steven Pinto as its new non-executive chairman. High Mark also promoted Kalpana Pandey, its chief technology officer as whole-time director on its board and chief executive of the credit bureau. The decision of new appointments was taken in a board meeting on 18th October.
Following several complaints and reports by Moneylife, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was understood to have directed Prof Dr Anil Pandya to step down as executive chairman of High Mark. However, the website of High Mark still shows Prof Dr Pandya as its founder and executive chairman. Out mails sent to High Mark regarding Prof Dr Pandya remained unanswered till writing this report.
Several former executives of High Mark also filed complaints regarding the appointment of Prof Dr Pandya. They claimed while appointing Prof Dr Pandya, High Mark had violated Credit Information Companies Regulations (CICR) Act, 2005 (CICRA) as well as Companies Act.
While High Mark never appointed Prof Dr Pandya on a whole-time basis, he was able to continue teaching in the US as well, and he was working with the credit bureau on a part-time basis. As per the CICR Act, when a credit bureau appoints the chairman on a part-time basis, it then must have a managing director or full-time director to look after the management and affairs of the bureau.
High Mark, the only bureau started by individuals, has been under severe financial stress following the exit of several of its top managers and the failure of its rights issue. According to sources, the company has almost run through the Rs43 crore, it raised and was about to cease operations in a couple of months, unless it finds a new investor. Last year, the credit bureau was negotiating with Italy-based credit bureau CRIF SpA for a bailout. High Mark was offered Rs30 per share by CRIF, which owns 9.09% stake in the Indian credit bureau. However, RBI rejected the proposal because of its reservations about CRIF’s ownership pattern.
Experian Credit Information Company of India Pvt Ltd (Experian India), one of the four credit information companies (CICs) in India, was in talks with High Mark and reportedly had also completed the due diligence process. According to the sources, Experian has increased its bid to Rs27 from Rs25 to buy minimum 26% stake in troubled and cash-strapped High Mark. Reportedly there is not much progress on this front as well.
Ms Pandey holds an M Tech (Computer Science & Technology) and PG Diploma (Electronics & Communication) from IIT Roorkee. She has more than 21 years of experience in providing IT support to BFSI industry in various capacities.
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