Yes Bank seeks fresh audit into whistleblower complaints of irregularities against lender, founder

Yes Bank’s auditor has reportedly demanded a fresh audit into the allegations of irregularities raised by a whistleblower against the bank and its founder Rana Kapoor. The bank’s statutory auditor BSR & Co found that the special audit done by JLN US & Co is inconclusive, according to a Mint report. This year, Yes Bank’s board had ordered a special audit after a whistleblower, in September 2018, raised complaints of irregularities in the operations of the lender, potential conflict of interests in relation to Kapoor and incorrect classification of non-performing assets (NPAs), the report said. [caption id=“attachment_5595711” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] In July this year, Yes Bank said that its audit committee had engaged an external firm to independently examine the matter based on further inputs and deliberations in December 2018, said a report in Financial Express. “The bank, at the direction of the audit committee and with the assistance of this external firm, is continuing to analyse the allegations in the whistleblower complaint. Based on work done and findings till date, the bank has not identified any material financial statement implications. The bank will consider the implications of ongoing work once the examination of this matter is completed,” the report said citing the bank’s notes to accounts for the June 2019 quarter. In October this year, Kapoor and his group entities sold 2.16 percent stake worth Rs 510 crore in the lender. The stake sale was done through an open market transaction on 26-27 September, reported PTI. As many as 255.03 crore shares of face value Rs 2 each were sold, with Kapoor and his family-owned entities—Yes Capital (India) Private Ltd and Morgan Credits Private Ltd—netting Rs 510.06 crore from the stake sale. Post-this, Kapoor and his group entities’ stake has now come down to 4.72 percent in the bank. After the death of Yes Bank co-founder Ashok Kapur in the November 2008 terror strikes in Mumbai, Rana Kapoor had dragged the next of kin to court. There were reports of the two promoter families, who are related, reaching a truce in the days leading to Kapoor’s exit. On 31 October this year, the lender said it had received a binding offer for $1.2 billion (approximately Rs 8,500 crore) funding from an overseas investor by December who was willing to give new investors a seat on the board. Following this report, shares of the private sector lender zoomed 34.94 percent to Rs 76.65 apiece on the BSE in intra-day trade. The bank, which has claimed that it is in discussions with potential suitors who are willing to pump in up to $3 billion (around Rs 21,156 crore) collectively, said it may raise the money either through the North American family office, which has made a binding offer to pump $1.2 billion, or through a combination of investors. — With PTI inputs