LVB independent director resigns after RBI action, cites personal reasons

Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB) on Wednesday said its independent director Supriya Prakash Sen has resigned from its board on personal grounds.

The resignation has come days after RBI initiated prompt corrective action against the private sector lender on September 28.

Supriya Prakash Sen has resigned from the directorship of the bank on October 2, 2019, the bank said in a regulatory filing, enclosing her resignation letter with it.

"Thank you for your letter dated September 30, 2019 appointing me as a Non-Executive Independent Director of the Bank. I am sincerely touched by the confidence reposed in me by the Board and the shareholders of the Bank. I am also appreciative of the opportunity to serve the Bank as Additional Director on the Board, since the past 3 months," Sen said in the resignation letter.

"However, as discussed, there has been some recent shift in my personal priorities and therefore I regret that I cannot accept your kind offer, due to personal reasons," Sen added.

In a separate letter, she said: "I am writing to confirm that there is no other reason for my stepping down, just that I am unable to take up this formal and legal responsibility due to other personal priorities and commitments at this point in time."

Sen had been appointed additional director on the board in June 2019.

Earlier this week on Monday, Indiabulls Housing Finance had said that the RBI's action against it would not impact its merger with Lakshmi Vilas Bank.

In April this year, Indiabulls Housing Finance had announced the proposed merger of the private sector lender with itself and had applied for the RBI nod in May.

The former Chief Executive Officer of LVB Parthasarathi Mukherjee had resigned from the bank in late August on personal reasons, even though the Reserve Bank had not taken any call on the merger between the two entities.

Notably, the merger plan is keenly watched as Indiabulls is associated with the realty sector, while the RBI has been averse to allow entities having exposure to the sector into the universal banking space.