Subprime Tsunami on Indian Shores: Communication Crisis Hits ICICI

Authors: Juneja, Chetan; Bajaj, Gita
Source: Richard Ivey School of Business; Indian School of Business
Year: 2012
Company Name: ICICI
Number of pages: 21

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Abstract:

The collapse of Lehman Brothers, a major Wall-street investment bank, sent shockwaves through financial markets as global liquidity dried up and investor confidence touched an all time low. Banks with exposure to complex financial instruments in high debt environments were considered particularly vulnerable. ICICI bank - India's largest private sector bank with maximum international exposure among Indian banks - was hit by rumors about its exposure to Lehman assets. Solvency fears drove its depositors to withdraw large sums of money and the bank's stock value started to erode. The ICICI management responded to the crisis by initiating an intense public relation effort: the bank released information on its exposure and supported its position through media appearances of its top executives and statements issued by rating agencies, the regulator and the government of India. Its messages emphasized the strength of its balance sheet, the limited exposure to risky assets, adequate provisioning and a more than mandated cash reserve ratio. It alleged malaise and motivated rumour-mongering on the part of market intermediaries as the reason behind the crisis and denied any threats to the solvency. The bank used both national and regional, print and broadcast media to address the public. The communication effort had barely concluded when another episode of stock collapse and customer withdrawal started, leaving one to wonder what was left undone. The case presents the context of the crisis including the financial and reputation assets of the ICICI bank, the crisis communication effort and the impact of the communication effort. The case provides students an opportunity to evaluate the crisis communication efforts in the age of new media and its linkage with other aspects of business and reputation. The student in the role of a PR consultant must decide why the efforts failed. What else could be done to restore trust?