YES Bank Audit Chief Quits After Claiming MD Misled Board

YES Bank's independent director and chairman of the audit committee Uttam Prakash Agarwal has resigned after he allege that managing director and CEO of the bank, Ravneet Gill misled the bank board, shareholders, and exchanges about a binding offer to raise capital in the bank.

Agarwal's letter to the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), as well as stock exchanges, dated January 9, alleged that the CEO did not wish to disclose to the board the name of the investor who had given binding offers.

Agarwal, who has been an independent director at the bank since November 14, 2018, stated that he was appointed by shareholders to serve a period of five years starting June 12, 2019.

In his resignation letter, Agarwal stated that there are “serious concerns as regards deteriorating standards of corporate governance corporate governance, failure of compliance, management practices and the manner in which the state of affairs of the Company are being conducted”.

Apart from Gill, he named Senior Group President, Governance and Controls, Rajiv Uberoi, and Legal Head and Board of Directors, Sanjay Nambiar in his resignation letter.

“I have left no stone unturned to discharge my duties and thus wrote a letter detailing all these matters in the attached letter dated 9th January, 2020 (which is submitted to all the regulatory authorities),” Agarwal added.

Agarwal has been an independent director at the bank since November 14, 2018 to serve a period of five years starting June 12, 2019.