Infosys – By No Means A ‘Boring' Company

Infosys is no ordinary company. And uneasy lies the head which wears the crown.

- Prabal Basu Roy

There are three defining companies which epitomise the Indian financial markets – all of which with their unique characteristics have created enormous wealth through clinical execution: Reliance for its innovative ability to create wealth by leveraging itself through creative financial instruments; HDFC group for its consistent prudence in the demanding area of financial sector lending and risk management ; and Infosys for corporate governance.

The whistleblower allegations strike at the root of what Infosys stands for. In a country where large sections of the Government itself do not believe their own figures of late, Infosys has stood out as a beacon – now if investors cannot trust its financials then who do you trust in India? Valuation ultimately is a factor of trust and management quality, and thus it is not surprising that it lost $ 8 billion in market cap in one day. The question though is: will this derate the Indian markets too? Not at the moment: but if these facts are proven at a later stage it would accelerate the process of rising risk premiums in India - for more reasons than one.