New Delhi, June 13 (IANS) Prashant Kumar will continue as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Yes Bank for six more months, the private lender said on Friday.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved his extension, which will be effective from October 6.

The extension will last either for six months or until a new MD and CEO is appointed, whichever happens earlier.

The announcement was made by Yes Bank through an official notification to the stock exchange.

The bank did not disclose how long it had requested the extension for. Prashant Kumar was first appointed as the administrator of Yes Bank in March 2020, when the troubled lender was reconstructed with the support of the RBI, the government, and a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI).

After the successful reconstruction, Prashant Kumar was named the MD and CEO of the bank. Before joining Yes Bank, he served as Deputy Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer at the SBI.

His first formal term as MD & CEO began in October 2022, for a period of three years, set to end in October 2025.

Now, with the new extension, he will continue to lead the bank while the process of appointing a successor is underway.

According to reports, Yes Bank has hired a headhunting agency to find a new MD & CEO, especially in light of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp’s (SMBC) reported plan to acquire a 20 per cent stake in the bank from the SBI and other participating lenders.

The deal is estimated to be worth over Rs 13,000 crore.

Yes Bank is currently one of the two private banks in the country actively looking to appoint a new CEO.

IndusInd Bank is also in the process of finding a replacement after its MD & CEO, Sumant Kathpalia, stepped down.

Meanwhile, Yes Bank’s stock closed 1.27 per cent lower on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) at Rs 20.16 on Friday.

--IANS

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