Deutsche’s Gill to replace Kapoor at Yes Bank

MUMBAI:

Deutsche Bank

India MD & CEO

Ravneet Gill

has been appointed as a successor to Yes Bank chief Rana Kapoor after the RBI cleared his appointment on Wednesday. Shares of Yes Bank, which had taken a beating in recent months, gained more than 8% to close at Rs 214 on Thursday as markets cheered the end of uncertainty over the bank’s leadership. In August last year, the RBI had cleared Kapoor’s appointment for only up to end-January 2019, causing a crash in the lender’s share price.

The RBI has cleared Gill’s appointment in less than a fortnight after the bank’s board recommended candidates. Gill is expected to join the bank latest by March 1, and his appointment is for a period of three years after joining. The appointment is subject to shareholder approval in the annual general meeting scheduled for June 2019.

Earlier in the day, the bank had reported a 6.7% decline in its net profit for the quarter ended December 2018 at Rs 1,002 crore after provisions for IL&FS Group and a drop in non-interest income.

Besides the CEO appointment, the bank also named Maheswar Sahu and

Anil Jaggia

as independent directors on its board. The board also recommended to the RBI the appointment of Ashish Agarwal as executive director. It is scheduled to meet on January 29 to decide on the “interim transition”, its senior group president Rajat Monga told reporters.

Gill has been with Deutsche Bank for over 25 years. While Deutsche Bank is the 11th largest in the world, it has been facing setbacks due to regulatory fines and losses in market share. The bank had pulled back on retail and has been focusing on wholesale business. Gill is seen as a good fit at Yes Bank, which is also predominantly a corporate lending bank. He was recently re-appointed as the MD & CEO of Deutsche Bank, India for the third term by the RBI.