RBI APPROVES ASHOK VASWANI AS KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK CEO & MD

The appointment of Ashok Vaswani as Kotak Mahindra Bank’s managing director and CEO has been authorized by the Reserve Bank of India

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Surprisingly, on Saturday, Kotak Mahindra Bank revealed that its founder, Uday Kotak, will be succeeded as managing director and chief executive officer by an outsider, Ashok Vaswani.

Vaswani has a lengthy history working with international banks including Citigroup and Barclays. Currently, he serves as president of Pagaya Technologies, a US-Israeli fintech company. The Reserve Bank of India has accepted Vaswani’s appointment for a three-year term, the bank stated in a statement.

Speculations were rife that an internal candidate was being chosen to succeed Kotak. As per norms, a lender has to send three names in order of preference and the list may include an external candidate as well.

To a specific question on whether Vaswani was the top choice for the job, Kotak Mahindra Bank’s interim chief executive officer and managing director Dipak Gupta said that Vaswani’s name was recommended by the board and the RBI has approved it.