Madhu Kapur writes to Yes Bank board, says send Rana Kapoor on leave till Jan 31

As the Yes Bank board prepares to meet today to discuss the appointment a new chief executive officer, promoter Madhu Kapur has written to board members, urging them to send Rana Kapoor on leave till January 31 next year, his last day as incumbent CEO, according to a report in The Economic Times.

Kapur sent this letter to eight board members, the company secretary and Kapoor, a day before the board was scheduled to meet, saying that he must be prevented from influencing the process of finding a new CEO for the bank.

On September 19, the Reserve Bank of India asked Kapoor to step down as CEO at the end of January 2019, in a move that was seen as a response to Yes Bank's handling of NPAs. The central bank has previously forced Yes Bank to declare previously-undisclosed NPAs.

In the letter, Kapur also asked for a forensic audit on loans sanctioned by him. “There is information in public domain that influential defaulting customers’ accounts have been camouflaged to avoid disclosures to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI),” Kapur said in her letter, asking for such disclosures to be made.

“It is absolutely necessary at this juncture that the board gives a message not only to the RBI as the banking regulator but also to all the stakeholders that the board is serious in addressing the real issues that affect the bank and are taking decisions and actions accordingly,” the letter read.

Yes Bank was started by Ashok Kapur and Rana Kapoor. After Kapur's death in the 26/11 attacks, his widow Madhu entered into a protracted legal battle with Rana Kapoor.

In 2015, the Bombay High Court granted Madhu Kapur and her children Shagun Gogia and Gaurav Kapur the right to nominate directors to the bank board.

Kapur wrote that RBI's refusal to extend Kapoor's tenure raised questions about the well-being of the bank. “The media publicity has increased fear of all shareholders about the bank’s uncertain future and ability to remedy its wrongs that have occurred due to deliberate machinations rather than any other factors,” she said.