INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Amazingly, the allure of the triple A rated ILFS bonds now toxic was such that while both Indian private and public sector got sucked into
the honeycomb, a vast swathe of top rated multiple national corporations also decided to invest their employees hard earned savings in them
Ministry of Corporate Affairs supplementary affidavit filed with NCLAT on April 8 has revealed a treasure trove of fresh information
While IANS has been at the vanguard of exposing the extent of malfeasance at ILFS, as also naming the companies and entities which have
exposure to the virus infected bonds, the real size, scope and magnitude has now been revealed -- provident and pension funds of 1,400
firms, lakhs of employees and Rs 9,700 crore at stake and no real attempt either to cauterise the festering wound or begin a repayment
process barring the recent April 8 order, which says that some element of prioritisation needs to be factored in for the hapless working
class caught out of their comfort zones.
However, the government does not want preferential treatment for Provident and Pension Funds for it
will upset the other equally huge clutch of creditors
So, in the catch 22 that prevails, everybody loses.
Over 150 intervening petitions have been filed with NCLAT seeking resolution of this
matter for it is the working class -- blue and white collar -- which is directly impacted by this malaise
Investment banks, tech companies, pharma giants, airline heavy hitters, the list is long and the amounts large
On scouring through the long lists which run over pages and pages, IANS has now discovered that Bata India employees statutory PF, Glaxo
India, Otis Elevator, Sumitomo Indian Staff PF, McCann Erickson India EPF, Lufthansa German Airlines employees local PF, Philips Electronics
India, BASF, Novartis, Pernod Ricard, Bechtel India, JP Morgan, Nestle, shockingly Canadian High Commission India Staff, British Airways pls
staff, Texas Instruments India, Volvo India, Cisco Systems India, Sanofi India, Sapient Consulting, BBC Worldwide India, McKinsey Knowledge
Centre and Shell India.
Many of these companies have multiple exposure, for instance, Otis has several entries with different amounts
varying from Rs 55 lakh to Rs 1 to 2 crore over different years, 2012 and then again in September 2015
What is perhaps even more pertinent is that slapbang in the middle of an ongoing election, the emergence of such sloth on the part of an
entity like ILFS where the government is unable to ring fence the savings of common working class folk is something that requires urgent
attention.
Imagine the staff of American Embassy School PF, Barclays Bank Plc India, American Express India, Societe Generale EPF, British
Airways has many entries ranging from Staff Pension Fund to Cabin Crew Pension Fund, ditto for Philips, Alcatel Lucent, Mercedes Benz RD
India, Procter Gamble Executive Pension Plan, Adobe Systems, HP Globalsoft, Schlumberger, CapGemini, Cadbury India, Goodricke Group,
As one turns page after page, many of these entities have multiple entries with enhanced exposure
Caught in a maelstrom which is growing exponentially, what should be worrying for these MNCs and their employees is that they fall in the
category of unsecured creditors and their money is not at all safe due to the level of toxicity
This list compiled by MCA is as recent as December 31, 2018
