Kotak Mahindra Bank to appoint Ashok Vaswani as MD & CEO

Kotak Mahindra Bank on Saturday announced that the Reserve Bank of India gave its approval to the appointment of Ashok Vaswani as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank. The appointment which is subject to shareholders approval will be for a period of three years from the date of taking charge which shall not be later than January 1, 2024, the bank said.

Ashok Vaswani has wide experience as a banker and has previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of Barclays Bank, UK, and subsequently CEO of their Global Consumer, Private, Corporate, and Payments businesses and Member of the Group Executive Committee. As per the release from Kotak Mahindra Bank, Ashok Vaswani was CEO at Citigroup Asia Pacific and a Member of the Citigroup Global Operating and Management Committees. He also built and ran various country and regional businesses across geographies.

The international banker “brings with him significant exceptional experience with a high degree of compliance and industrial strength across Corporate and Consumer businesses,” the company release said.

Ashok Vaswani completed his Bachelor of Commerce, Economics and Accountancy, from the Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics (Bombay University), CA from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, CS from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India, and Executive Education from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

“I thank the Board for entrusting me with the responsibility of leading Kotak Mahindra Bank’s journey to the next phase of growth. I am excited and honoured to carry forward the legacy of Uday who has built this world-class institution. With our proven leadership team we will take the Bank to new heights. We will ensure that Kotak Mahindra Bank plays a meaningful role in India’s journey to being one of the top 3 economies in the world in the next 5 years, delivering shareholder value. At a personal level, l am delighted to come back home,” Ashok Vaswani said.

“I am delighted that the RBI has approved our recommendation, Ashok Vaswani, as the next MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank. Ashok is a word class leader and banker with digital and customer focus. I am proud that we bring a “Global Indian” home to build Kotak and India of tomorrow,” Uday Kotak, founder & director of Kotak Mahindra Bank said.

Q2 Scorecard

The appointment comes as the Kotak Mahindra Bank released its July-September results on Saturday and posted a 23.6% year-on-year jump in consolidated net profits at ₹4,461 crore from ₹3,608 crore reported during the same quarter last fiscal year. The net interest income (NII) of the bank rose 23.4% to ₹6,297 crore from ₹5,099 crore during Q2FY23.