Moody's places Yes Bank under review for downgrade; independent director Mukesh Sabharwal quits board

Rating agency Moody’s placed Yes Bank Ltd under review for downgrade on Tuesday, citing the private-sector lender’s exposure to weak companies in the country’s financial sector. “The review for downgrade takes into account Moody’s expectation that the ongoing liquidity pressure on Indian finance companies will negatively impact the credit profile of Yes Bank, given the bank’s sizeable exposure to weaker companies in the sector,” the rating agency said in a note. Shares of Yes Bank pared gains sharply in afternoon trade, and were up 2.83 percent, as of 3:40 pm. [caption id=“attachment_4179905” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Meanwhile, the bank’s independent director Mukesh Sabharwal quit the board of directors on Tuesday. Sabharwal cited personal reasons for resigning from the board. He has been on the board since April 2012. On Monday, Ajai Kumar, a non-executive director of who served as the bank’s interim MD and CEO for one month after Rana Kapoor’s exit, resigned from the board due to personal reasons. The mid-sized private lender had appointed Kumar, who had led state-run Syndicate Bank in the past, as its interim successor for a month till Ravneet Singh Gill from Deutsche Bank India took over from 1 March. The Reserve Bank had last September asked Kapoor, co-founder and Managing Director and Chief Executive of Yes Bank, to leave office by 31 January. In recent past, the bank has seen several exits, including that of former bureaucrat Ashok Chawla as non-executive chairman of Yes Bank. Earlier in January, Yes Bank senior group president and head - retail and business banking Pralay Mondal had tendered his resignation. With PTI inputs