Ashok Vaswani appointed as new Kotak Mahindra Bank CEO

Ashok Vaswani will take over the roles of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) from the bank’s founder, Uday Kotak. According to the bank’s interim CEO and MD, Dipak Gupta, Vaswani’s appointment was proposed by the board and received approval from the Reserve Bank of India, as reported by PTI.

Vaswani was quoted as saying, “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.”

According to reports, KVS Manian and Shanti Ekambaram were the top candidates for the job. Uday Kotak will stay on as a non-executive director of the bank.

Uday Kotak said in a statement, “Ashok is a world-class leader and banker with digital and customer focus. I am proud that we brought a ‘Global Indian’ home to build Kotak.”

Ashok Vaswani, currently the president of Pagaya Technologies, a fintech company in the US and Israel, brings a wealth of experience from his time at major banks like Citigroup and Barclays. An alumnus of Mumbai’s Sydenham College, he holds qualifications as a chartered accountant and company secretary. His impressive career includes serving as the CEO of Barclays Bank in the UK and overseeing its global consumer, private, corporate, and payments divisions, in addition to being part of their top leadership team. He also held the role of CEO at Citigroup Asia Pacific and was a member of Citigroup’s key decision-making bodies. Beyond his business commitments, Vaswani contributes to various boards, including the London Stock Exchange Group and the SP Jain Institute of Global Management, UK. Furthermore, he actively participates in philanthropic activities with organisations like Pratham and Lend-A-Hand.