An interim report of the governance assessment being carried out at BharatPe shall be submitted to the corporate’s board in just a few weeks, BharatPe’s CEO Suhail Sameer wrote in a communication to the staff on Friday. Sameer wrote that there have been “a couple of… serious allegations” of governance lapses due to which an audit was being performed by exterior companies.
Sameer additionally famous within the letter that BharatPe has “huge amounts of cash in the bank to keep building”, including that the corporate has $500 million (together with the $100 million invested in Unity Small Finance Bank) within the financial institution, and all current buyers are backing it. He additionally wrote that the corporate didn’t want to lift capital within the foreseeable future, and that it was getting “2-3 new inbound conversation requests every week” from potential buyers.
“While we don’t need to raise capital for a foreseeable future, it is great to know that both existing investors as well as potential new ones are keen to support us, if we need the capital,” Sameer wrote.
Noting that the governance assessment was being carried out by exterior companies — Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, Alvarez & Marsal (A&M), and PwC — Sameer wrote: “Based on some internal complaints, we decided to do a full audit of our governance processes. While many of the findings of the review are pretty standard for a fast-growth company of our size, there are a couple of more serious allegations, which the review is still substantiating”.
PwC was roped in by the Board late final month to research elements comparable to accounting, approval processes, bills and hirings. As a part of this course of, PwC is involving its forensic staff, which is more likely to research the findings submitted by A&M.
A&M was appointed by BharatPe by its authorized agency Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas to look into inside governance points — particularly assessing if senior executives had been making correct inside disclosures about private investments and examine for conflicts. Some of the preliminary findings by A&M allegedly contain Ashneer Grover’s spouse and the corporate’s head of controls, Madhuri Jain Grover, and famous that funds had been allegedly made into “dubious” recruitment companies with bills operating into crores of rupees spent on “non-existing” distributors and “questionable invoices” created to substantiate such spends.
An e-mail question despatched to BharatPe didn’t elicit a response. “We expect the review partners (consultants) to share an interim report with the Board in a couple of weeks,” Sameer wrote.
“Meanwhile, I would just request all of you to keep your trust on the Board of BharatPe, which comprises some of the best investors in the world and veterans of the Indian Banking Industry. Whatever the Board will decide, will be beyond doubt, in the best interests of our employees, our merchants and our consumers,” he added.
