IDFC First Bank, which recently disclosed ₹590 crore unauthorised transactions linked to Haryana government accounts, says the incident was isolated and confined to a single branch in Chandigarh. The transactions were executed using forged cheques and manually carried out at the branch, managing director and chief executive V Vaidyanathan tells ET’s Saloni Shukla. Edited excerpts:

What went wrong, and how did these transactions occur?

Certain employees of a branch in Chandigarh, most possibly in connivance with external parties, have fraudulently transferred these amounts to beneficiaries who had accounts outside IDFC First Bank, the details of which will emerge after investigation.

Has the bank appointed a forensic auditor?

The bank is appointing KPMG to conduct an independent forensic audit to get to the bottom of this issue.

Were these transactions executed electronically or manually?
As per our preliminary assessment, the transactions were carried out using forged and fraudulent authorisation letters and cheques. So these are manual transactions done at the branch level.What internal controls and checks are ordinarily in place for handling such government-linked accounts, and how were these bypassed or compromised?

The bank has necessary controls in place, including maker, checker and authoriser for clearing cheques or debit instructions from the department. We have been in operation for over 10 years and have rolled out over 1,000 branches and have had no such incident before. As part of the control process, the bank also sends periodic system-generated statements and communications to the registered customer IDs, including mobile alerts, SMS transaction alerts, monthly bank statements and monthly balance confirmation certificates. But in this case, it appears that connivance between the employees and third parties has led to the clearing of instruments, which in hindsight are appearing forged. Prima facie third-party entities are involved in this compromise.

Is the issue strictly limited to one branch in Chandigarh?

The issue is specific to one branch and one client group and is thus an isolated instance. There is no system-level issue. All branches of the bank are running smoothly.

Could the financial impact exceed ₹590 crore?

We have put out the number as we could best assess at this point of time. The financial impact would depend upon recoveries or any additional claims, but our best estimate is that this number is appropriate to the situation. As you know the bank is well capitalised, and profitability is on a positive trajectory because of falling credit costs and expected improvement in net interest margin during the fourth quarter, and hence, this number should be manageable.

What steps are the bank taking to recover the funds? What actions are being initiated against the individuals involved?

We are making efforts to trace the flow of funds and will seek appropriate restoration of funds where possible. The bank will pursue strict civil and criminal action against the perpetrators, internal or external, involved and responsible for this incident. We are determined to get to the root of this.While the initial impact has been assessed at ₹590 crore, the final financial implication will depend on further information, validation of claims and potential recoveries. These may include lien marking on suspected beneficiary accounts held with other banks, liabilities of other entities involved in the transactions and legal recovery proceedings. The bank has sent recall requests to certain beneficiary banks to mark liens on balances in suspicious accounts.

Mumbai: Indian equities head into Monday with measured optimism after a US Supreme Court verdict declared US President Donald Trump’s tariffs illegal, setting off a fresh turn in the trade narrative. Trump followed up with a 10% levy, later raising it to 15% on all countries. Effectively, this is lower than the rates agreed earlier this month, but the fresh uncertainty around tariffs, along with simmering tensions between the US and Iran are likely to keep any optimism under check.

“The framework reached between India and the US earlier this month was already neutral, but now, since there is a question mark on those tariffs as well,” said A Balasubramanian, MD & CEO, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC. “The market is likely to see some short covering action, but the gains are not expected to be outsized. The upmove could be in the 1% range.”

Last week, the Sensex and Nifty rose as much 0.4% in rollercoaster trading as Brent crude futures firmed up, staying above the $71 mark on Friday, on fears of a potential US military strike on Iran.

The market has remained volatile for most of February, even after India and the US signed a trade deal that brought tariffs down to 18% from 50%. The higher tariffs by the US on Indian imports were seen as a key concern for the stock market before that.

While the tariffs are now seen even lower at 15%, the move does not ensure a runaway rally immediately.

“The lowered tariffs from 18% to 15% is expected to be neutral from an equity market perspective. It remains unclear whether the contours of the India-US trade deal that was anticipated to be signed soon will be renegotiated,” said Sunny Agrawal, head of Fundamental Research, SBI Securities. “Investors will have to brace for extreme volatility due to frequent changes in policy stance and pursuant macro and sector-specific impact.”
Balasubramanian said the initial knee-jerk reaction may give way to consolidation as investors look to earnings and currency cues for direction. “In terms of valuations, the markets are not very expensive nor cheap, but the animal spirits are missing due to lower nominal GDP numbers on account of low inflation and investors awaiting an earnings upgrade,” he said.

Mumbai: Traders have ramped up bearish derivative bets on India’s IT sector to the highest levels in recent times, as global AI-related developments have raised questions over the prospects of software exporters and triggered a sharp risk-off sentiment in the sector.

While most IT stock futures are seeing their biggest position build-up in 2026, bearish wagers in Infosys, Coforge and Persistent Systems are at their highest levels on record, according to SBI Securities.

The Nifty IT index is down over 17% since February 3 after San Francisco-based AI company Anthropic announced the launch of its new automation tool, Claude Cowork, a move that intensified fears of the growth trajectories of software companies.

Open interest (OI) or outstanding positions in large-cap IT stock futures has risen 39% as of February 20, compared with the average cumulative open interest between January 1, 2024 and January 31, 2026, according to SBI Securities. The increase in the case of mid-cap IT contracts stands at 70%.

“The massive rise in OI when read with the sharp fall in stock prices implies extreme short-build up in IT Stocks,” said Sudeep Shah, head – Technical and Derivative Research, SBI Securities.

The extent of the rollovers in IT stock futures to March when NSE’s February contracts expire on Tuesday will give analysts a clearer picture of how traders are positioning themselves in the near term.

“If rollovers approach previous levels in the remaining two sessions, it will indicate a significant rollover of short positions,” said Rajesh Palviya, head of Technical and Derivatives Research at Axis Securities. The rollover of positions to the March series stood at 67% as of Friday, compared with 96% in the previous expiry. Infosys has seen rollovers of 74.6% against 89.4% in the previous series, while that in TCS stands at 65.6% versus 96.4% in the February series. The nervousness around the IT stocks is palpable with the Nifty IT index closing lower on 10 out of 16 trading sessions in February. Shares of IT stocks have declined between 11% and 19% so far this month. Coforge is down nearly 19%, while LTIMindtree and Infosys have dropped about 18% each.A combined reading of derivative indicators signals absence of investor interest in these stocks. “On days when IT stocks attempted to recover, Open Interest did not rise significantly. This tells us that most upside moves were driven by short covering rather than fresh buying interest, or in other words, traders have not yet shown strong conviction to build new long positions,” said Dhupesh Dhameja, derivatives analyst at Samco Securities. Dhameja said sentiment remains cautious ahead of the monthly expiry. “The options data shows noticeable call writing at near-term resistance levels, which suggests that traders expect limited upside in the immediate term.

Put writing has been seen at lower levels, but this appears more defensive and hedged in nature rather than aggressive bullish positioning,” he said. Shah advised against trying to time purchases in IT stocks as their technical structure remains weak for now. “It is prudent to wait for the IT index to stabilise and for clear signs of strong buying interest before planning fresh exposure,” he said.

Major delivery platforms are temporarily suspending their New York City operations as a powerful blizzard slams the region and Mayor Zohran Mamdani enforces a citywide travel ban.

Grubhub told FOX Business it will shut down service in both New York City and New Jersey at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sunday and will remain closed overnight.

“We will re-assess in the morning,” a company spokesperson said, emphasizing that the safety of its delivery partners remains the company’s top priority.

DoorDash confirmed to FOX Weather that it will halt service citywide beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET Sunday — 30 minutes before the city’s 9 p.m. travel ban takes effect. The company noted operations could shut down even sooner if weather conditions deteriorate further.

THOUSANDS OF US FLIGHTS CANCELED AS NORTHEAST BRACES FOR BLIZZARD

Service is expected to remain suspended until at least noon on Monday. DoorDash said the early suspension is intended to ensure orders are completed and delivery workers are safely off the roads before streets officially close.

“New York City is bracing itself ahead of a historic blizzard — the first in nearly a decade — with a foot of snow or more and dangerous wind gusts expected,” a DoorDash spokesperson told FOX Weather. “We’re suspending operations early to keep Dashers safe and off the streets before the travel ban takes effect.”

DoorDash said it will continue tracking weather conditions and guidance from officials and will provide updates to delivery workers, merchants and customers as needed.

ESSENTIAL WINTER DRIVING TIPS AS A MAJOR STORM APPROACHES

The service changes come as a powerful “bomb cyclone” slams the Northeast, bringing life-threatening blizzard conditions, wind gusts up to 60 mph and the potential for more than two feet of snow in parts of the I-95 corridor, according to FOX Weather.

Mayor Mamdani declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm, announcing that all city streets, highways and bridges will close to non-emergency traffic starting at 9 p.m. Sunday and remain closed until noon Monday.

The blanket restriction applies to all vehicles — including cars, trucks, scooters and e-bikes — with limited exemptions for emergency movements and critical service workers.

CHRISTMAS TRAVELERS LEFT STRANDED AS AIRPORTS SEE MASS FLIGHT CANCELATIONS, DELAYS

“Please, for your safety, stay home, stay inside and stay off the roads. Hazardous conditions put delivery workers, drivers and restaurant staff at risk,” Mamdani said. “If you can do so, please look out for your fellow New Yorkers and prepare meals at home until the weather improves.”

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Other delivery platforms, including Uber Eats and Instacart, could not immediately be reached by FOX Business for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.