Mumbai, March 14: YES Bank depositors will soon be able to withdraw their money as the government has notified the reconstruction plan for the crisis-hit private lender. The government has said the moratorium or withdrawal limit imposed on depositors will be lifted within three working days. The Union Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday approved the Yes Bank Ltd Reconstruction Scheme, 2020, which was proposed by the State Bank of India or SBI. Rana Kapoor, Founder of Crisis-Hit YES Bank, Arrested by ED Under PMLA.
Under the notified scheme, a clutch of investors led by SBI will rescue YES Bank. As part of the rescue plan, the moratorium or withdrawal limit will be lifted within three working days after the scheme is notified. Currently, YES Bank depositors are allowed to withdraw Rs 50,000. A new board, having at least two directors of SBI, will take over YES Bank within seven days of the issuance of notification.
The Reserve Bank Of India (RBI) placed YES Bank under a moratorium, capped deposit withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month and superseded its board on March 5. It also appointed former SBI chief financial officer Prashant Kumar as administrator. Kumar will vacate the office seven days after the moratorium is lifted, said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at a press conference on Friday.
As part of the rescue plan, SBI will invest up to 49 percent of equity in YES Bank. On Thursday, SBI informed the exchanges that its board had approved a proposal to invest Rs 7,250 crore in YES Bank by purchasing 7,250 million shares at Rs 10 apiece.
YES Bank ATMs ran dry at several locations last year after depositors rushed to withdraw money following shocking developments. This also disrupted Unified Payments Interface (UPI) offered by fintech firms such as PhonePe. The number of UPI transactions across the country saw a sharp dip last Friday largely because PhonePe couldn't operate as it is plugged into YES Bank to provide UPI-based account-to-account transfer services.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested YES Bank founder Rana Kapoor and booked him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). A separate investigation carried out by the Central Bureau of Investigation has revealed that he and his family members were paid Rs 600 crore as kickback by DHFL promoter Kapil Wadhwan in the garb of a "builder loan".
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 14, 2020 08:44 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).