RBL CEO Ahuja goes on leave after RBI appoints additional director to bank

RBL Bank on Saturday said its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Vishwavir Ahuja has proceeded on leave with immediate effect a day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) put one of its chief general managers in the bank as an additional director.

The bank, in its notification to exchanges, did not give a reason for Ahuja’s leave, but said, “other terms and conditions of his appointment, such as remuneration, would remain unchanged.”

The bank has named Rajeev Ahuja, currently the executive director, as the interim MD & CEO of the bank, subject to regulatory and other approvals.

Ahuja’s leave coincides with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) appointing one of its chief general managers Yogesh Dayal as an additional director in the bank for a period of two years effective December 24.

The bank’s board welcomed Dayal to the board, and said it will benefit the bank “considering his rich experience with the highly respected regulator.”

Dayal is currently in charge of the department of communication at the central bank. In his 25 years of experience as a central banker, Dayal has held several positions in RBl’s various offices, including the Monetary Policy Department and Department of Banking Supervision as well as Regional Offices at Bangalore, New Delhi, and Lucknow in the departments of Banking Supervision, Information Technology, Currency Management, and Payment and Settlement System etc.

In his past, he was also a director on the board of J&K Bank, making the bank recognise bad debts, jack up its provisions, resulting in a loss in the bank.

RBL Bank, however, assured the investors that it is “well placed to execute its business plan and strategy, as communicated during our earnings, call dated October 28, 2021.”

“The business and financial trajectory continues to be on improving trend, post absorbing the challenges due to Covid 2 pandemic,” the bank said in a separate notification.

The financials of the bank is “robust with a healthy capital adequacy of 16.3 per cent, high levels of liquidity” as reflected through Liquidity Coverage Ratio of 155 per cent, stable Net non-performing assets (NPA) of 2.14 per cent, credit deposit ratio of 74.1 per cent and a leverage ratio of 10 per cent, for the quarter ended September 30, 2021.

“In addition, the Bank has also improved the granularity of its deposits and advances,” the bank said.

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