Veteran Banker Ashok Vaswani Assumes Charge As Kotak Mahindra Bank's MD, CEO

Kotak Mahindra Bank on Monday said veteran banker Ashok Vaswani has assumed charge as the managing director (MD) and CEO of the bank.

He replaced Dipak Gupta, who was the interim MD and CEO, following founder director Uday Kotak stepping down as the head of the bank, effective Sept. 1, 2023.

"Ashok Vaswani has assumed the office as the Managing Director & CEO of the Bank, with effect from Jan. 1, 2024," Kotak Mahindra Bank said in a regulatory filing.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in October 2023 approved the appointment of Vaswani as the bank's MD and CEO for a period of three years.

Like Uday Kotak, he is also an alumnus of the Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics. Vaswani is also a qualified chartered accountant and company secretary.

Vaswani had worked with Barclays in the recent past. Prior to this, Vaswani was the President of Pagaya Technologies Ltd -- a US-Israeli AI Fintech player.

He has a proven track record spanning three-and-a-half decades, initially at Citigroup and more recently at Barclays.

Besides, the regulatory filing said CS Rajan has assumed charge of chairman of the bank.

Rajan's appointment as the part-time chairman of the board follows the retirement of Prakash Apte, whose term expired on Dec. 31, 2023.

Rajan was appointed as an Independent Director on the board of the bank with effect from Oct. 22, 2022, the filing said.

An IAS officer of the 1978 batch, he retired as Chief Secretary of the Rajasthan government in 2016.

Meanwhile, the filing said, Eli Leenaars (full name: Cornelis Petrus Adrianus Joseph Leenaars) has assumed the position as an Independent Director of the Bank, with effect from Jan. 1, 2024.