In the wake of the issue of termination of the bank’s CEO Brijdina Rajan Coutinho, Maharashtra based leading UCB- Bassein Catholic Cooperative Bank board has been divided into two groups and thus pushed into a legal fight.
The fight between the board of directors started in the board meeting held on 2nd January 2021 which lasted till late night, when at around 10:00 P.M, Ryan Fernandes, Chairman of the UCB came with the letter of termination of CEO. This angered the board members and ruckus flared up in the meeting.
As soon as the ruckus on the issue started between several directors and Chairman, Ryan ran away from the meeting and the proceedings got stopped, said one of the directors to Indian Cooperative asking his name not to be quoted.
Again, the issue of the CEO’s termination came up again during the last meeting held on 16th January, where several directors demanded to reject the termination letter. In the meeting Chairman asked the directors to show who is against the letter. Out of 17 elected directors 9 opposed the termination of the CEO, 5 supported the Chairman and 3 directors remained neutral.
Following this, the Chairman adjourned the meeting and the new date for the board meeting will be announced later.
“In the board meeting held on 2nd January, the CEO’s termination was not on the agenda and no resolution was passed in this regard. The chairman arbitrarily passed the resolution and terminated the CEO from her services. How could a Chairman independently take the decision on his own when there is a board? The bank is not his fiefdom”, one of the directors said.
The director added that the matter is in the cooperative court in Thane, Maharashtra. The roles, responsibilities and powers of the Chief Executive Officer are conferred on Sixto Anton Fergose, in the capacity of Acting General Manager.
The arbitrary decision of the Chairman is harming the image of the bank and the issue is being talked about by co-operators.
“The bank Chairman has no experience in the cooperative sector and is a small builder. For his own narrow interest, he is playing these tricks to win the election of the bank. The term of board is already over but due to Covid-19, the election could not be held. The election schedule is likely to be announced soon”, the director said.
When Indian Cooperative contacted Coutinho he stonewalled and slammed the phone.
It is said that Coutinho has taken action against Manvel Lopes, Vice-Chairman of the bank, director Benold Dias and Brian Noronha for not maintaining the deposits of Rs 1 lakh.
These three directors are in the group of Fernandes and may be this was one of the reasons for the CEO’s termination. The reason for termination could also have been the delay in the election of the bank which was due in June 2020, said an official of the bank.
