Yes Bank expected to overhaul board after nod from promoters; independent director R Chandrashekhar may resign

New Delhi: In a clean-up exercise, private sector lender Yes Bank is expected to overhaul its board after receiving a nod from its promoters, sources said. Besides, former telecom secretary R Chandrashekar is also likely to resign from the board Monday, they added. “The Yes Bank’s Nomination & Remuneration Committee is reviewing the performance of the board members,” the sources said. As per the preliminary information available, both the promoters groups led by its MD and CEO Rana Kapoor and Madhu Kapur are in favour of a clean-up and overhaul of the Yes Bank board. A board meeting was held on 13 November and the latest developments are the result of the same, the sources noted. [caption id=“attachment_4179905” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “The new board members will be acceptable to both the promoters group. Both promoters are in favour of overhauling the Yes Bank board to weed out under-performing members and address past governance issues,” they said. Earlier last week, former SBI chairman O P Bhatt resigned from the panel set up by the bank to find a successor for Rana Kapoor. Bhatt is under CBI’s scanner in connection with loans given to the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, promoted by fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya. Also on 14 November, its non-executive chairman Ashok Chawla had resigned as his name figured in a CBI chargesheet filed in the Aircel-Maxis case. Another independent director Vasant Gujarathi too has tendered his resignation on the same day. The Reserve Bank has asked the private sector lender to find a replacement for its founder MD and CEO by 31 January. Last month, Yes Bank had said the search panel has finalised the potential candidate profile. The RBI, it is learnt, has found corporate governance issues and under-reporting of non-performing assets, which has led to a series of negative developments in the private sector lender’s functioning in the recent past. The bank currently has seven board members – Rana Kapoor, Lt General Mukesh Sabharwal, Brahm Dutt, Subhash Kalia, Ajai Kumar, Pratima Sheorey and Rentala Chandrashekhar, as per the bank’s website.