Mumbai: The hapless customers of Yes Bank have no choice as of now but to keep their fingers crossed and wait for the RBI revival plan to fall in place.
As per this plan, the State Bank of India is to pick up 49% stake in the sinking Yes Bank.
The game plan is that Yes Bank's market value would be revised to Rs 5,000 crore with 2,400 crore equity shares with a value of Rs 2 each. The capital infusion would happen with SBI paying at least Rs 10 per share and not the face value of Rs 2.
According to a rough calculation, at Rs 10 per share, SBI would have to fork out Rs 11,760 crore to own 49 per cent of the restructured Yes Bank.
The other measures include a new board and an assurance that Yes Bank employees would work under the same salary and terms of employment as before. "Key managerial personnel", however, could be allowed to go by the new board, if it so wishes.
The SBI has time until Monday to comment or make suggestions on the RBI's draft plan. Once the central bank finalises the plan, the SBI will likely reveal its hand. It might lead a consortium or tie up with the Life Insurance Corporation of India to invest in Yes Bank.
The investor bank will not reduce its holding below 26% before completion of three years from the date of infusion of the capital into Yes Bank. From the appointed date, the office of the administrator of Yes Bank, appointed by the RBI, will stand vacated, and a new board will be constituted.
Meanwhile, customers can only take solace in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that deposits and liabilities of the bank will not be affected.
"It is not that the Yes Bank matter has come up yesterday or today; I would like to place it on record that the RBI has been consistently monitoring the situation since 2017," she said.
At the same time, she admitted that the bank had lent to highly stressed companies – the Anil Ambani Group, the Essel Group, Vodafone, DHFL and the IL&FS – and all these prior to 2014.
According to a Business Today report, Yes Bank underreported NPAs to the tune of Rs 3,277 crore in 2018-19. The report also says that the bank's management misled the RBI by indicating to the central bank that talks with investors on pumping in equity were likely to be successful.
Sitharaman said she had asked the RBI to give her a detailed report on all the wrongdoings at the bank. ‘‘I have also asked them to tell me if the regulatory norms that are in place were adequate to prevent the current crisis at the bank.’’
But with the revival plan afloat and the SBI playing the knight in the shining armour, will the belated action save Yes Bank from tottering?
