IndusInd Shortlists 3 for Top Job

Rajiv Anand of Axis Bank, Anup Saha of Bajaj Fin, Rahul Shukla of HDFC shortlisted candidates

- BENN KOCHUVEEDAN @ Mumbai

Troubled IndusInd Bank, which has been headless since April when chief executive Sumant Kathpalia and deputy Arun Khurana resigned owning moral responsibility for the losses in its forex derivatives trading book, has reportedly shortlisted three names -- Rajiv Anand of Axis Bank, Anup Saha of Bajaj Finance, and Rahul Shukla of HDFC Bank -- to lead the lender.

While Anand is currently deputy managing director (MD) of Axis Bank, Saha is MD of Bajaj Finance, and Shukla is group head of commercial and rural banking at HDFC Bank and is on a sabbatical from the largest private sector bank.

While Kathpalia resigned on April 29, Khurana did so a day before. Both had cited moral responsibility for the scam for the decisions to leave the bank, which came in well after seven weeks since the crisis came out.

Both have been banned by the SEBI from the market for insider trading—they had pocketed ₹157 crore from selling the bank's shares in 2023-24.

Since their resignations, the bank is run by an RBI-approved executive committee comprising its consumer banking head Soumitra Sen and the chief administrative officer Anil Rao.

As per a source in the know of the development, the board of the Hinduja group-promoted bank is expected to clear these names and submit the list to the Reserve Bank for approval any day now before the regulatory deadline of June 30.