Yes Bank’s Audit Committee Chairman Quits; Board Approves Fund Raising Plan

In a statement on Friday, Yes Bank Limited said that it has received the resignation of Uttam Prakash Agarwal, an Independent Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Board of the Bank.

In the statement, the private lender disclosed Agarwal's resignation letter, wherein he raised concerns over management practices of CEO Ravneet Gill and two other senior members of the company.

YES Bank: Quotes, News

BSE 18.480.4 (-2.16%)

NSE 18.530.46 (-2.48%)

Stating his reason for resignation, Agarwal said, "There are serious concerns as regards deteriorating standards of the corporate governance, failure of compliance, management practices and the manner in which the state of affairs of the Company are being conducted by Mr. Ravneet Gill- MD/ CEO, Dr. Rajiv Ubeoi- Senior Group President Governance & Controls, Mr. Sanjay Nambiar- Legal Head and Board of Directors."

Yes Bank's statement said that the bank's Board will examine the observations made by Agarwal on governance practices.

"In this regard, the Bank would like to further intimate that the Bank was reviewing the 'fit and proper' status of Mr. Agarwal as directed by the Reserve Bank of India. In this respect, the Bank had obtained legal opinions from eminent jurists. These opinions were to be considered by the Nomination and Remuneration Committee of the Board ("NRC")/ the Board of the Bank in their meetings scheduled for today, i.e., January 10, 2020. However, prior to the commencement of the proceedings of these meetings, the Bank received the resignation of Mr. Agarwal," it added.

Shares of Yes Bank closed 4.97 percent lower at Rs 44.95 on NSE as CNBC-TV18 had reported the news of Agarwal's resignation citing sources before market closing hours.

As the news surfaced, exchanges sought clarification from the bank as Agarwal's tenure was to end in November 2023. Yes Bank made a statement on his resignation after market hours with the enclosed resignation letter.

The private lender also disclosed the outcome of its Board meeting on Friday wherein it was decided to raise Rs 10,000 crore in funds by way of issuance of securities.