INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday said it has time till Monday to respond back to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the draft scheme
for rescue of Yes Bank, India’s fifth private lender
SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar told a press conference in Mumbai that the bank’s legal team has been doing due diligence on draft scheme
proposed by RBI for bringing the bank back to health.
A day after superseding the Rana Kapoor-promoted Yes Bank board and capped cash
withdrawals at Rs 50,000 (Rs 5 lakh in exceptional situations), RBI on Friday came out with the “draft reconstruction scheme” under
which SBI will bring in Rs 2,500 crore for a 49% stake in the crisis-ridden private sector bank.
Kumar said SBI will try to implement the
resolution plan before the RBI deadline
There is no question of YES Bank's merger with the state-run bank, he said
Buying a 49% stake in Yes Bank would involve an investment of Rs 2,400 crore, that is if it decides to go alone
Kumar also said many potential investors, 23 in total, have approached SBI after seeing the investment scheme.
“Whether SBI takes a 49% or
26% stake in Yes Bank will depend on the investment involved
We are also examining the interest received from some other investors
SBI board will take the final call on this,” Kumar said.
The reconstruction scheme envisages increasing the authorised capital of the bank
manifold to Rs 5,000 crore from Rs 800 crore
Sources in the government said the RBI has decided against merging Yes with SBI because it would have put pressure on the balance sheet of
the government-owned lender.
Kumar asserted it us purely an investment from SBI’s standpoint and SBI shareholders’ interest would be
fully protected.
The scheme proposes full repayment of all deposits, dilution of equity, and write-off of Rs 10,800 crore of additional tier
Kumar refused to comment on the 81 bonds being written off in the draft scheme.