RBI supersedes Abhyudaya Co-operative bank board, appoints administrator

No business restrictions, to carry out normal banking activities

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday superseded the Board of Directors of Abhyudaya Co-operative Bank for one year, citing poor governance standards.

The regulator appointed Satya Prakash Pathak, former Chief General Manager of State Bank of India (SBI), as 'administrator' to manage the affairs of the bank during this period.

“The above action is necessitated due to certain material concerns emanating from poor governance standards observed in the bank,” RBI said.

RBI has also appointed a committee of advisors to assist the administrator in discharging his duties. The members of the committee include Venkatesh Hegde, former General Manager, SBI; Mahendra Chhajed, Chartered Accountant; and Suhas Gokhale, former Managing Director (MD), COSMOS Co-operative Bank Limited.

The RBI stated that it has not placed any restrictions on the bank’s business and it shall continue to carry on its normal banking activities under the guidance of the administrator.

The lender started operations in 1964 and was conferred with ‘scheduled bank status’ by RBI in September 1988. On January 11, 2007, the bank was registered as a Multi-State Co-operative Bank by the Central Registrar, New Delhi. The bank’s operations are confined to three states: Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Karnataka.

The superseded board of the bank was headed by Sandeep S Ghandat as the Chairman. Premnath S Salian served as the Managing Director (MD).

According to the Mumbai-based bank’s website, it has 109 branches. Of these, 18 branches provide service seven days a week; the bank also has 113 ATMs.

As of March 31, 2021, the bank’s deposits had reached up to Rs 10,952 crore from Rs 10,838 crore in the year-ago period. The advances rose to Rs 6,711 crore as of March 31, 2021, from Rs 6,654 crore as of March 31, 2020.