The board of Kotak Mahindra has formally approved Ashok Vaswani's tenure as MD & CEO, commencing on January 1, 2024, for a three-year term. The Reserve Bank of India granted its consent to this appointment in October. With an extensive career spanning more than three decades in banking, Vaswani formerly occupied the role of Chief Executive Officer at Barclays Bank in the United Kingdom. Subsequently, he led their global consumer, private, corporate, and payments sectors as CEO.
Before his role at Barclays, Vaswani held the position of CEO at Citigroup Asia Pacific and was a member of both the Citigroup Global Operating & Management Committees. Vaswani's appointment comes after Uday Kotak's resignation as MD and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank in September. Kotak, who is also the bank's founder, led the institution for 21 years, concluding his tenure on December 31. Since the bank's inception in 2003, Uday Kotak has been the MD and CEO.
In March, the board of the bank approved Kotak's appointment as a non-executive, non-independent director for a duration of five years. In his annual letter to shareholders, Kotak hinted at his plan to step down, stating, “Looking ahead, I envision my role as a non-executive board member focusing on governance and as a long-term strategic investor nurturing the growth of an exceptional institution”.