Mumbai: HDFC Bank on Wednesday said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has advised it to wait for the new managing director to take over later this year before submitting proposals for two key board appointments.
In November last year, the bank had initiated the appointment of Sashidhar Jagdishan and Bhavesh Zaveri as additional directors and executive directors of the bank, subject to RBI and shareholder approval.
“We are now in receipt of a communication dated 7 April from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stating that since these are important positions in the bank, the bank is advised to examine and submit the proposal after a new MD and CEO assumes charge later this year," it said in a regulatory filing, adding that the bank shall comply with RBI’s instruction.
It added that Jagdishan and Zaveri shall continue as additional directors on the board till the ensuing annual general meeting.
Jagdishan joined the bank in 1996 as a manager in the finance function and is currently the group head of finance, human resources, legal and secretarial, administration, infrastructure, corporate communications and corporate social responsibility. Zaveri joined the bank in 1998 in the operations function and is currently the group head for operations, information technology (IT) and cash management.
In November last year, the lender had also informed stock exchanges that it kick-started the much-awaited process of finding a successor to its longest-serving chief Aditya Puri, whose tenure ends on 26 October. In May 2018, Puri had told analysts that the bank will start the process of identifying his successor. At the annual general meeting last year, Puri had said that his replacement should be better than him and should not require 18 months handholding for the job.
