Mumbai: Munish Varma, a managing partner at SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund, stepped down from the board of One97 Communications Ltd., the parent company of India payments pioneer Paytm.
Varma resigned on March 14 due to “personal commitments and other pre-occupations,” Paytm said in an exchange filing late Tuesday. Varma also quit from the board of PB Fintech Ltd. the same day, according to a company filing.
Paytm pulled off the largest-ever initial public offering in India in November, but has since suffered a raft of challenges. Its shares tumbled 27% on the first day of trading after the IPO and now trade more than 70% below the offer price.
On Friday, the Reserve Bank of India barred the company’s Paytm Payments Bank venture from accepting new customers, adding pressure to the company’s stock. The RBI decision is based on certain “material supervisory concerns” and the restrictions will continue pending a comprehensive audit of its information-technology systems, the central bank said in a statement. Paytm said in response that it is taking steps to comply, including the appointment of an external auditor. Existing customers aren’t affected.
SoftBank is the second-largest shareholder in the company with a stake of 17.5%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.–Bloomberg
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