HDFC Bank succession: RBI puts on hold key board appointments, says recruit new CEO first

In a major decision related to key board appointments at HDFC Bank, the Reserve Bank of India has asked the country's top private lender to fill these positions only after new chief executive officer takes charge this year. Notably, HDFC Bank on November 28, 2019, intimated the apex bank about the appointment of Sashidhar Jagdishan and Bhavesh Zaveri as additional director and executive director (whole-time director), subject to the RBI and shareholders' approval.

"A communication dated April 7, 2020, from Reserve Bank of India stating that since these are important positions in the Bank, the Bank is advised to examine and submit the proposal after a new MD and CEO assumes charge later this year," HDFC Bank informed the stock exchanges.

HDFC Bank said it would accordingly ensure compliance with the Reserve Bank's instruction. Jagdishan and Zaveri would continue as additional directors on the HDFC Bank Board till the ensuing Annual General Meeting, the bank added.

Reports suggest HDFC Bank has chosen global executive search firm, Egon Zehnder, to identify a successor to current Managing Director and Chief Executive Aditya Puri. The lender last year constituted a six-member search committee to replace Aditya Puri as managing director and chief executive officer of the bank. Puri, who has been the managing director of the bank since September 1994, will act as an advisor to the search committee.

Puri has been at the helm of HDFC Bank since its inception, making him the longest-serving chief executive of any private-sector bank in the country. He has over 40 years of experience in the banking sector in India and abroad, and is credited with building India's biggest bank in terms of market valuation from scratch.

The HDFC Bank stock is trading 2.1 per cent or Rs 19.10 higher at Rs 907.5 on National Stock Exchange and up Rs 19.75 on the Bombay Stock Exchange from its previous close of Rs 888.95.

Edited by Manoj Sharma

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