They tried. They failed.
A request by the board of Yes Bank Ltd to seek an extension of Chief Executive Officer Rana Kapoor’s term until September 2019 has been rejected by the regulator, the private lender said in a notification to stock exchanges.
On 19 September, the bank had disclosed that the Reserve Bank of India had asked Kapoor to step down as MD & CEO of the bank by 31 January 2019. The regulator’s diktat came in response to the bank’s attempt to reappoint Kapoor for another three-year term.
A week after the RBI’s communication to the bank, its board decided to write to the regulator asking for Kapoor to be allowed to stay on so he can finalise financial results for the year in April 2019 and complete annual general meeting formalities by September 2019.
The RBI has now rejected that request too, leaving the bank with little choice but to find a successor to Kapoor immediately.
“The Reserve Bank of India has reaffirmed that a successor to Rana Kapoor, MD & CEO, Yes Bank, should be appointed by 1 February 2019. As communicated by the bank in the press release dated 24 September 2018, the MD & CEO will be fully guided by its board of directors, the Reserve Bank of India and other relevant stakeholders.”Yes Bank Statement
To be sure, the bank has initiated this process. It has set up a search committee, which includes two external members in the form of former Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority chief TS Vijayan and former State Bank of India chief OP Bhatt. The bank also appointed international firm Korn Ferry to assist with the search.
Kapoor is the founder CEO of Yes Bank and has been at the helm of the bank since 2003.
(This story was first published on Bloomberg Quint)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)