YES Bank crisis: Raising capital immediate priority, says Prashant Kumar

YES Bank would be run independently and focus will be on turnaround to make it a robust bank and a good investment, Kumar said

Soon after taking over as administrator of ailing private sector lender YES Bank, Prashant Kumar got cracking to get the bank out of moratorium as soon as possible.

Kumar, who was inducted into the new role from his job as chief financial officer (CFO) at State Bank of India (SBI), told Business Standard that bringing stability in operations, giving customers confidence about service and raising fresh capital are his immediate priorities.

SBI’s infusion of Rs 2,450 crore for 49 per cent stake in YES Bank will be treated as part of the investment book. 

YES Bank would be run independently and focus will be on turnaround to make it a robust bank and a good investment (for SBI), Kumar said. He held review meetings with senior YES Bank executives. He even interacted with some customers.

As CFO of SBI, Kumar worked hard to improve the credit and financial profile of the country’s largest lender in the last few quarters.

SBI stepped in to salvage the ailing YES Bank at the behest of the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ensure stability in the banking system. This plan has been in works for many weeks now and was being managed by a small team of senior bankers headed by SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar and group executives said.

After the moratorium, rating agencies said a prompt resolution at YES Bank, which minimises losses to depositors and creditors, could result in stabilisation or upgrade of ratings.

However, if the moratorium is extended, it could lead to lower recovery rates for creditors and a further downgrade in ratings.

YES Bank can continue to pay off its liabilities arising from repurchase transactions (repo). 

However, the RBI’s moratorium prevents YES Bank from making full and timely payment of some other operational liabilities, such as uncollateralised derivative obligations.