R Gandhi, Gopalakrishnan cease to be directors on Yes Bank board: RBI

Former RBI Deputy Governor R Gandhi and professor Ananth Narayan Gopalakrishnan have ceased to be additional directors on the board of Yes Bank following a new board in place.

The move follows the RBI's directive to the bank dated July 20, 2022.

The RBI has communicated that "in view of the alternate board since constituted by the bank, it is now advised that R Gandhi and Ananth Narayan Gopalakrishnan shall cease to be additional directors on the board of Yes Bank Limited with immediate effect, the bank said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.

Earlier on March 17, the RBI directed the bank regarding the extension of terms of appointment of Gandhi, former Deputy Governor, and Gopalakrishnan, Associate Professor, SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, as additional directors on the board of the Yes Bank for a further period of one year with effect from March 26, 2022, to March 25, 2023, or till further orders, whichever was earlier.

Last month, the private sector lender had informed about forming an alternate board as it had come out of the reconstruction scheme and returned to profit in FY22 after witnessing heavy losses for two consecutive years.

The central government notified the Yes Bank Reconstruction Scheme on March 13, 2020, after the private lender faced a governance crisis, triggered by mismanagement at the top level.

The reconstruction scheme helped the bank in achieving significant progress in record time and the turnaround with FY22 as the full-year profit for the bank at Rs 1,066 crore.

The bank had posted heavy losses in FY20 and FY21.

The nine-member new board of the bank comprises current MD and CEO Prashant Kumar, Atul Malik, Rekha Murthy, Sharad Sharma, Nandita Gurjar, Sanjay Kumar Khemani, Sadashiv Srinivas Rao, T Keshav Kumar and Sandeep Tewari.

Yes Bank stock closed at Rs 13.61 apiece on BSE, up by 0.59 per cent from the previous close.