For the last one month, amidst Coronavirus, Yes Bank had been in news constantly and the customary man like us was left dumbfounded and confused on what exactly had been happening. Let’s take a glance at one among the foremost volatile shares that Indian Markets had seen.
Like most banks in India, even Yes Bank faced a crisis of non-performing assets, i.e. loans that have either gone bad or where repayments had been delayed for too long. Partly due to this, Yes Bank’s capital eroded. For the last several months, the bank had been looking for taking advantage in the shape of fresh investment. The hunt, however, came up empty.
Inspection was called upon the MD Rana Kapoor, because the Enforcement Directorate (ED) said loans worth Rs 20,000 crores sanctioned by Yes Bank when co-founder Rana Kapoor was at its helm had turned NPAs. Stressed entities had, in lieu, extended loans to 78 companies linked to Kapoor’s relations, it said. Monies raised through these loans were subsequently laundered to get land, and other assets both in India and abroad, ED told a special Prevention of cash Laundering Act (PMLA) court while seeking further custody of Kapoor. For these reasons, the market share of Yes Bank fell drastically from March 2019 and furthermore after November 2019.
Within the last 52 weeks, Yes Bank has had its highest at Rs. 286 and experienced its lowest, Rs. 5.65 on 6th March 2020, when a moratorium was placed on Yes Bank by the RBI. Furthermore, Yes Bank also faced governance issues. Consistent with a Business Today report, Yes Bank under-reported NPAs to the tune of Rs 3,277 crores in 2018-19. The report also says that the bank’s management misled the RBI by indicating to the financial institution that talks with investors on pumping in equity were likely to achieve success.
All these factors led the RBI to conclude there was no “credible revival plan” then “in the public interest, and therefore, the interest of the bank’s depositors” there was “no alternative” but to put the bank under moratorium for one month, consistent with a financial institution statement. Customers were being limited from withdrawing quite ?50,000 from their accounts, except in certain exceptional circumstances (such on cover medical aid, emergencies, education, and “obligatory expenses” for ceremonies like weddings). RBI governor Shaktikanta Das stated that the matter would be resolved, “swiftly”.
On 6 March 2020, ICRA downgraded the rating of Yes Bank’s ?526 billion in core bonds to a “D” rating, while Moody’s downgraded them to “Caa3.” The moratorium had caused major disruptions to e-commerce in India, thanks to a variety of prominent services and online stores having used Yes Bank as its payment provider for UPI. Some services using Yes Bank in tandem with other payment providers have seen fewer disruptions.
On 13 March 2020, the Union Cabinet approved the reconstruction scheme for Yes Bank which within three days of the notification of the scheme the moratorium would be lifted. During this reconstruction, seven investors infused 12000 crores in Yes Bank and Prashant Kumar has been proposed as new CEO of the bank. These investors include depository financial institution of India, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Radhakishan Damani and Azim Premji trust.
The revival didn’t happen overnight and multiple meetings were summoned by our Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman to assist the bank from closing down. Together, RBI and therefore, the government made the rescue plan for Yes Bank and thus saved it from collapsing like many other banks have. On 18th of March, the moratorium was lifted and 75 percent of the share investment above 100 shares are now locked for 3 years to secure the Bank.
This did give the account holders a certain sense of relief but the fear that they might lose their savings have been instilled in most of them. It’s just time which can tell us if the money of the account holders will remain safe and that’s how the trust will be restored among the common masses. So, even though the bank is secure, its share price remains on a roller coaster ride and also, it’ll get replaced out of all Nifty indices by Bandhan Bank.
What’s more future for the Yes Bank is yet to be known, and each investor will now patiently be spectating over its performance.
By Nikita Tiwari
Literary Sources: Livemint, Moneycontrol
