Fino Payments Bank promoters vote against reappointing chairman, others

The resolution to reappoint Mahendra Kumar Chouhan and Punita Sinha was voted down by 80% of shareholders of Fino Payments Bank, which included 100% of the promoter group

In a surprise move, the promoters of Fino Payments Bank, Fino Paytech Ltd, have voted against the reappointment of its current chairman, Mahendra Kumar Chouhan, and independent director Punita Sinha in a shareholder meeting.

Fino Paytech, which is the holding company of the bank owning around 75 per cent stake, has investors like insurance behemoth Life Insurance Corporation of India, ICICI Bank, ICICI Lombard, Corporation Bank, Union Bank, The Blackstone Group, Indian Bank, and others.

The resolution to reappoint Chouhan and Sinha was voted down by 80 per cent of shareholders, which included 100 per cent of the promoter group.

In the shareholders’ meeting, the promoter has also voted against the increase in the authorised share capital of the bank and the alteration of the capital clause of the memorandum of association of the bank. It also voted against an amendment proposal to the employee stock options policy.

Fino Payments Bank in a statement said, “We at Fino Payments Bank would like to place on record the significant contribution made by our outgoing independent directors over the past five years. Their term has come to an end, we will miss their strategic steer”.

“Further as a listed entity, their extension was approved by the bank’s board and we have followed the due process and all the relevant information is in the public domain and has been communicated to the regulator and the exchanges”.

Both Chouhan and Sinha have been on the bank’s board since 2017. 

Chouhan sits on the boards of a couple of other companies as an Independent Director. Sinha too has served on the boards of many companies.

Fino Payments Bank started operations in 2017 after it was granted a license by the Reserve Bank of India in 2015. Shares of the bank were trading 2.28 per cent lower on the BSE at Rs 291.60 on Monday.

Fino Paytech, the holdco of the payments bank, wishes to clarify that these changes are only on account of a policy decision on reappointment of independent directors. In order to introduce fresh talent and experience to meet the evolving challenges of the market, the board of Fino Paytech decided to limit the tenure of independent directors to one term, the company said in a statement.

"This policy decision is applicable to all companies in the group. We thank the outgoing directors for their contribution", the company said.