The Imperial Bank of India, the predecessor outfit of SBI, had set up the CAO in Kolkata in 1928 in order to c... Read More

KOLKATA: After almost 100 years of its existence in Kolkata, the prestigious Central Accounts Office (CAO) of top government-run lender State Bank of India (SBI) has been shifted to its headquarters in Mumbai. It means that the SBI’s fourth quarter as well as annual financial results will no longer be signed and announced in the City of Joy.

The Imperial Bank of India, the predecessor outfit of SBI, had set up the CAO in Kolkata in 1928 in order to carry out centralized accounting jobs of the bank. After the formation of SBI in 1955, the tradition was continued to be followed by the new board.

Following its historic initial public offering (IPO) through which SBI got listed on the stock exchanges in the early ’90s, the first AGM of the country’s largest lender was held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here.

The most important job undertaken at the CAO was the compilation and finalization of the bank’s annual balancesheet and the quarterly and half-yearly profit-and-loss accounts. The annual balancesheet has been signed by the bank’s central board and its auditors in Kolkata every year till 2017. The annual and the fourth quarter results of SBI, too, used to be declared from here till May 2017. However, from this year, the practice has been discontinued ending an over-50-year-long tradition.

The ‘Save SBI CAO, Kolkata Forum’ has already written to top management of the bank against the shifting of CAO from Kolkata. Top SBI officials in Mumbai have only said that it was a top-level decision to centralise work for convenience. However, an employee of CAO argued that the department was working efficiently and was mitigating all the challenges. “With the changing financial scenario in the country and the rapid technological upgradation in the SBI, the work process and format of the bank’s annual balancesheet have also changed over the last two decades. The CAO has successfully met all the challenges and delivered the goods to the bank year after year,” the employee said.

The CAO Kolkata employees argued that in spite of this, a parallel functioning was started at the Corporate Centre in Mumbai a few years ago. On objection from the officers and employees at the CAO, Kolkata, an assurance was given that this was a mere back-up being set up at the bank HQ.

“However, suddenly, the job was discontinued in CAO Kolkata this year and the signing ceremony, too, was shifted to Mumbai. There is no explanation or valid reason for such a blow to this iconic and prestigious office of the bank,” a forum member said.

