Yes Bank CEO hunt paused as Rs 13,482 crore SMBC deal awaits regulatory nod: Report

YES Bank

Yes Bank has temporarily halted its search for a new chief executive officer as it awaits regulatory clearance for a significant stake sale to Japan’s SMBC Group, Mint reported.

The decision follows concerns raised by some board members about appointing a new CEO during a potential shift in ownership. The board had initiated the hiring process earlier this year and had made considerable progress before SMBC’s proposed investment was announced in May.

The Japanese lender Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC) plans to acquire a 20% stake in Yes Bank for Rs 13,482 crore. This would be the largest cross-border investment in India’s banking sector to date. SMBC is a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Japan’s second-largest banking conglomerate with \$2 trillion in assets as of December 2024.

“The board had started the process and gone quite far with it before the deal, but some members of the board did not concur with it since the new investor would also like to be part of the decision,” Mint said citing sources.

While the hiring process had begun even before the deal was made public, it is now expected that SMBC’s involvement will influence the final selection of the next CEO once the deal receives regulatory approval.