The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the Candidature of Sashidhar Jagdishan as the new Managing Director (MD) and CEO of HDFC Bank to replace Aditya Puri, whose Term ends on 26th October 2020. The HDFC Bank said in a statement on Tuesday, 4th August 2020 that it has approved the appointment of Jagdish for three years from the Date of his taking charge- October 27,2020. The Bank’s board will meet soon to approve the appointment of the new CEO.
Shashidhar Jagdishan Joined the Bank in 1996 as a Manager in the Finance Function and is currently the group head and was appointed as the `Change Agent’ of the bank in 2019. He has an overall experience of 29 years with the Bank. He became the Finance Head in 1999 and was appointed as the chief Financial Officer in the year 2008. Shashi was elevated to the position of `Change Agent’ in August 2019 and currently heads the functions of Finance, Human Resources, Legal & Secretarial, Administration, infrastructure, corporate communications and corporate social responsibility. Jagdishan’s Appointment signals Continuity, he has been widely seen as ex-CEO Aditya Puri’s choice given that the bank had recommended two internal names, Jagdishan and Kaizad Bharucha, who is already an executive director on the board of the bank. Sunil Garg, CEO of CitiBank was an external Candidate.
The bank ensures continuity and stability through his appointment. The Bank also believes that in an Uncertain Environment like this, a candidate who is in sync with the outgoing CEO Aditya Puri is the right choice. Shashidhar comes with an diverse Experience having handled multiple functions in the bank and the bank firmly believes that he is the appropriate choice. The markets have also welcomed his Appointment with the stock on the back up by 5% on the back of his development.
Deepak Parekh, Chairman of HDFC Bank says that Shashidhar Jagdishan was an unanimous, and there was no Argument, discussion or anything regarding his appointment and everyone agreed he was the first choice. He has interactions with International Investors for many years and there is a comfort all around. For such a big bank, an Insider is far better suited to hold the position of a CEO than a rank outsider.
The succession at the Country’s second most valuable Bank was widely tracked because HDFC Bank plays a very dominant role in Retail and is a market leader in several segments including Automobile, Cards, and personal loans.
