Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India Swaminathan J speaking at the 3rd International Finance and Accounting Conference at Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Jammu
“A product can reach ten million people within months. A credit model can approve loans in seconds. A payments platform can process massive volumes,” he said.
“This scale is powerful, but it also means that harm can scale quickly if design is poor, controls are weak, or incentives are misaligned,” Swaminathan said in his recent speech at the 3rd International Finance and Accounting Conference at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Jammu.
He noted that technology is a force multiplier, which amplifies good design as well as bad design.
“Eventually, the future will reward institutions that can combine efficiency and innovation with prudence, and growth with resilience,” the Deputy Governor said.
Swaminathan underscored that in finance, small compromises can become large losses.
“There will be moments where the easy path is tempting. A shortcut in due diligence; A small compromise on disclosure; A “temporary” relaxation of standards; or A target that encourages aggressive sales. These compromises may look small in the moment, but they compound,” he cautioned.
He emphasised that finance needs numbers, but more importantly, it also needs integrity in numbers.
“In the age of dashboards and AI, it is easy to forget that accounting is a discipline of clarity. It forces us to recognise losses, admit uncertainty, value assets prudently, and explain performance in a way that others can rely on,” he added
“In many organisations, the true difference between a good institution and a weak one is not how fast it grows, but how truthfully it measures itself,” he said.
The Deputy Governor observed that many problems in finance start small, sometimes, quite literally, in the ‘small print’.
“A fee not explained clearly; A clause buried in the terms; A loan that is easy to take but hard to repay; or A product sold to meet a target, not to meet a need,” he said.
“Over time, these small problems become big issues. They show up as complaints, disputes, defaults, and customer harm,” he said.
Therefore, finance professionals should endeavour to design and sell products that are suitable, transparent, and fair. The best leaders prevent harm before it occurs. They do not wait for problems to become headlines.
Published on March 4, 2026