Amitabh Chaudhry of HDFC Life appointed CEO, MD of Axis Bank; to take charge from 1 January 2019

Mumbai: Amitabh Chaudhry, currently Managing Director of HDFC Life, will take over as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director of Axis Bank when current incumbent Shikha Sharma leaves office on 31 December 2018. Chaudhry's tenure is for three years from 1 January 2019  till 31 December 2021.

In a note to the exchanges, Axis Bank said: “We wish to inform you that the Board of Directors (the Board) of the Bank at its meeting held today has taken on record the approval granted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to the appointment of Amitabh Chaudhry as the Managing Director & CEO of the Bank, for a period of three years, with effect from 1st January 2019 up to 31st December 2021 (both days inclusive) and the terms and conditions relating to the said appointment, including remuneration.”

Amitabh Chaudhry, new CEO & MD, Axis Bank. Pic courtesy: HDFC LIfe

A statement from Axis Bank said, “A meeting of the Board will be convened in due course to inter alia, approve the appointment of Amitabh Chaudhry as an Additional Director of the Bank and as the Managing Director & CEO of the Bank…” under the RBI rules.

In July Axis Bank had said that it had shortlisted three candidates for current MD and CEO, Shikha Sharma.

In a regulatory filing to the bourses, the bank said: “In terms of extant Reserve Bank of India norms and the Succession Planning Process of the bank, the board of directors of the bank, at its meeting held on July 9, has recommended the names of three candidates in order of preference for the approval of the RBI.”

The bank had announced that it had appointed global leadership advisory firm Egon Zehnder to recommend a successor to Sharma.

Sharma had in April announced her decision to step down from the position of MD and CEO of the bank by the end of the year. Her term was to end in June 2021, with the board in December 2017 announcing a three-year extension of her term that was then to end in June 2018. However, RBI did not give its nod for further three-year extension.

Chaudhry, 54, holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from BITS Pilani and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. Before joining HDFC Standard Life, he was the Managing Director and CEO at Infosys BPO. He also had stints with Bank of America and Credit Lyonnais Securities.