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HDFC Bank's board approved two names for managing director and chief executive officer and sent the shortlist to the Reserve Bank of India for approval.
The move follows current MD and CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan's announcement last month that he would not seek reappointment after his second term ends on October 26.
Jagdishan, 61, took over the role in October 2020, succeeding founder CEO Aditya Puri, and was reappointed for a further term in 2023.
As one of India's largest private lenders and a systemically important bank, HDFC Bank needs RBI's sign-off before any new CEO can formally take charge.
Kaizad Bharucha, the bank's deputy managing director since 2023, emerged as a strong internal candidate to succeed Jagdishan.
Other names reported to be in contention for the role include Anup Bagchi, MD and CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, Tata Capital's Rajiv Sabharwal, and CSB Bank's Pralay Mondal.
HDFC Bank formally sent two shortlisted names to the RBI for its consideration, though the identities of the finalists have not been made public. The RBI will assess the candidates and approve one of them before Jagdishan's term concludes.
Separately, the bank's board also approved the appointment of Jimmy Tata as an executive director for a three-year term, effective from the date of RBI approval. This appointment adds another layer to the leadership changes currently underway at the bank.
The CEO search comes as HDFC Bank also faced an internal review involving senior executives, following an internal probe into the bank's deposit-related arrangement with MSRDC dating back to 2017 and 2021.
The bank issued warning letters and imposed a Rs. 1 lakh monetary penalty each on three senior executives, including Jagdishan, chief financial officer Srinivasa Vaidyanathan, and group head of retail assets Arvind Vohra.
A special disciplinary committee of independent directors will review the case. As the bank moves toward finalizing its next CEO, this backdrop adds extra scrutiny to how smoothly the leadership transition plays out over the coming months.
