MUMBAI: HDFC Bank has appointed former Financial Services Secretary, Rajiv Kumar, as its part-time chairman for a four-year term with effect from June 30. Kumar's appointment has received the approval of the Reserve Bank of India, the lender said late Monday.
Kumar (66), a seasoned public policy leader and financial sector reformer, is widely credited with playing a key role in revitalising India's banking and financial system during a period of significant stress between 2017 and 2020.
During his tenure, he strengthened governance, risk management and regulatory oversight across banks by institutionalising specialised monitoring of large exposures and introducing technology-driven risk assessment systems.
There was no material concern beyond what I’d already written: HDFC's Atanu Chakraborty
Earlier this month, HDFC Bank had received RBI approval to extend the tenure of interim part-time Chairman Keki Mistry by three months, until September 18 or until a new non-executive chairman was appointed. Kumar succeeds former Financial Services Secretary Atanu Chakraborty, who resigned on March 18, citing certain practices at the bank that he said were "not congruent" with his value system. The resignation sent shockwaves through India's banking sector and triggered an immediate decline in HDFC Bank's share price.
But a legal review later found no merit in Chakraborty's claims, the lender said, confirming an earlier ET newsbreak.
