Ashok Vaswani to Take the Helm of Kotak Mahindra Bank as Founder Uday Kotak Steps Down

Ashok Vaswani has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) of Kotak Mahindra Bank. Vaswani will succeed the bank’s founder, Uday Kotak, who will remain as a non-executive director of the bank. The bank’s interim CEO and MD, Dipak Gupta, confirmed the development, stating that Vaswani’s appointment was recommended by the board and approved by the Reserve Bank of India.

“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 honored to carry forward the legacy of Uday, who has built this world-class institution,” Vaswani was quoted by PTI as saying.

According to the report, KVS Manian and Shanti Ekambaram were also considered for the position, but Vaswani emerged as the chosen candidate.

“Ashok is a world-class leader and banker with a focus on digitalization and customer-centricity. I am proud that we are bringing a ‘Global Indian’ back home to lead Kotak,” Uday Kotak said in a statement.

Ashok Vaswani, an alumnus of Mumbai’s Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics, currently serves as the President of the US-Israel fintech firm Pagaya Technologies. Prior to that, he served as the CEO of Barclays Bank in the UK and subsequently as the CEO of the lender’s global consumer, private, corporate, and payments businesses. He was also a member of its group executive committee. Additionally, he worked as the CEO of Citigroup Asia Pacific and was a member of the Citigroup global operating and management committees. Born in Mumbai, Vaswani has been a member of the Board of the London Stock Exchange group and the SP Jain Institute of Global Management in the UK.

Vaswani has also been involved in numerous philanthropic activities and is associated with organizations such as Pratham and Lend-A-Hand. Ashok Vaswani is a married man with a daughter working in San Francisco, USA. He attended Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics (Bombay University) and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce, Economics, and Accountancy. He is also a qualified Chartered Accountant and has completed the Executive Education program at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.

According to the Financial Times, in 2018, Ashok Vaswani received 548,538 shares of Barclays Group valued at 975,000 pounds. In 2016, he received 1.09 million Barclays shares worth 1.8 million pounds as part of his compensation package while serving as CEO of Barclays UK.

Ashok has expressed his gratitude for the appointment with a note that reads, “I am excited and honored to carry forward the legacy of Uday, who has built this world-class institution.”