BANDHAN AT A CROSSROADS

THE BELEAGUERED LENDER, LED BY CHANDRA SHEKHAR GHOSH, HAS FACED A HOST OF CHALLENGES IN RECENT TIMES. IT HAS READIED A BLUEPRINT TO DEAL WITH THEM. BUT WILL IT SUCCEED WITHOUT GHOSH AT THE HELM?

- ANAND ADHIKARI

WHAT IS COMMON to Kotak Mahindra Bank, YES Bank, IDFC First Bank, and Bandhan Bank? Over the past two decades, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted universal banking licences to only these applicants. All have had their own sets of challenges, with the first three having seen their founding CEOs depart. And in April, Chandra Shekhar Ghosh, Bandhan Bank’s Founder, decided to retire as CEO, despite its board approving a three-year extension, pending RBI approval.

The first three banks have managed to overcome some of the challenges after their founder-MDs left, but Bandhan Bank will begin its journey with its founder not even being a part of its board. While Bandhan is gradually recovering from a long period of asset quality deterioration and lower profitability, why is Ghosh leaving when his top two deputies are relatively new?

Sitting in his well-appointed office at the bank’s headquarters in Kolkata, Ghosh gives his reasons. “It (retirement) was always on my mind. The question was, ‘When?’,” says the soft-spoken Ghosh, adding that he was keeping track of three factors. The first was when the bank would “achieve stability”. “Stability, to me, means that after the challenges of the pandemic, the bank’s portfolio quality and growth would be in the best position. Second, I wanted to ensure my team was strong enough to execute any strategy we devised, and I needed to have confidence in their capabilities,” he explains. The third factor was the IT transformation that was completed in October 2023. “I’ve been evaluating these three key factors every month. Once I saw that these parameters had reached an optimal level, I felt it was the right time to step aside and facilitate a smooth transition,” he says.