Existing shareholders of YES Bank woke up to a rude shock after the government late on Friday imposed a three–year lock in for investors holding 100 shares or more for 75 per cent of their total investment.

Retail investors collectively held 48 per cent in the private lender at the end of December quarter, the highest ever compared with 29.9 per cent at the end of the September quarter. The retail shareholding rose very fast since June 2018 quarter, when it stood at a mere 8.8 per cent.

Mutual funds’ holdings in the bank came down to 5.1 per cent in December quarter from 11.6 per cent in June 2018 quarter, while foreign institutional investors’ (FIIs) holdings dropped to 15.2 per cent from 42.5 per cent.

Government-owned State Bank of India will be joined by private lenders ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank as well as investors Damani, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and the Azim Premji Trust in the rescue plan for the beleaguered bank to invest more than Rs 12,000 crore, ET reported on Friday.