3 new YES Bank directors reluctantly in the spotlight

The private lender resorted to paper balloting and overall 57% of the total shareholder ownership votes were polled

The induction of directors on a bank’s board seldom gets the kind of attention that the appointments of Diwan Arun Nanda, Ravish Chopra and M R Srinivasan on YES Bank’s board have got.

The proposals to appoint them as directors in the annual shareholders’ meet was contested by the bank’s co-founder Ashok Kapur’s widow Madhu Kapur, who holds 12 per cent stake in YES Bank.

The private lender resorted to paper balloting and, overall, 57 per cent of the total shareholder ownership votes were polled. The resolutions seeking these appointments were passed with a majority of about 80 per cent.

Nanda, aged 69 years, is the founder and promoter of Rediffusion, a communication and advertising agency in India with a nationwide presence. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Nanda has directorship in 10 companies (as of March 31, 2013) including Rediffusion DY&R, Rediff.com India, Oriental Hotels, and Clariant Chemicals. At YES Bank, he is the chairman of board remuneration committee and member of nominations and governance committee, service excellence committee and a special committee on capital raising. Chopra, 65 years, has worked with the HSBC Group for nearly 44 years and served in India, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom (UK). Prior to his appointment as director of YES Bank, he was managing director of HSBC Private Bank UK.

A graduate in economics from the University of Delhi, Chopra is known for his strong relationships with the non-resident community in the South East Asia, West Asia and the UK. He has headed HSBC’s investment bank in India in the 1980s and launched the credit cards, custodial services and consumer banking services.

Chopra does not hold any directorship other than in YES Bank. Srinivasan had worked for 35 years with the Reserve Bank of India and was the chief general manager in charge of banking operations and development. He has also acted as executive director and banking advisor to IDBI and was IDBI’s nominee director in IDBI Bank.

Srinivasan has also been associated with multilateral organisations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank. A graduate in commerce from Madras University and a certified associate from the Indian Institute of Bankers, Srinivasan is the chairman of YES Bank’s risk monitoring committee and member of audit and compliance committee. He does not hold any directorships other than in YES Bank.