SMBC’s global CEO, Toru Nakashima, recently spoke to Yes Bank employees in a town hall meeting. He assured them that their jobs are secure after SMBC acquired a stake in YES bank, the Economic Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
This comes as staff were worried about possible layoffs if the new management focused on cutting costs, the report added. In past, there have been incidents of firing of staff on change in stake ownership of a company. So the staff is worried about their future in Yes Bank.
The town hall meeting was held on October 17 at Yes Bank’s Mumbai headquarters. Nakashima said that SMBC would help Yes Bank grow further by sharing its global expertise, the report said.
After the meeting, Nakashima and Yes Bank’s top management met senior officials from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
In August, SMBC received RBI’s approval to buy up to 24.99% stake in Yes Bank from the State Bank of India (SBI) and seven other shareholders. In May, SMBC had already agreed to buy a 20% stake for $1.6 billion. This is India’s largest cross-border deal in the financial sector.
Earlier this month, Rajeev Kannan, group executive officer and head of SMBC’s India division, told Reuters that SMBC will support Yes Bank as its largest shareholder but will not take an executive role in the bank.
Kannan said, “We are not planning to increase our stake in Yes Bank beyond the regulatory limit of 24.99%. There are many areas Yes Bank still needs to improve, and we will ensure their plans are executed properly.”
