Sources said in a late evening communication, the government told the SBI management till a new chairman was appointed, all the four managing directors should hold charge of their respective areas of operation. None of the managing directors was given interim charge of the chairman's post, which has led to speculation a new chairman would be appointed soon.
Government sources indicate a new chief would be appointed in a couple of days.
Though the appointment of a chairman at the bank was delayed on the last two occasions, a managing director was given interim charge of the post on both occasions. When A K Purwar retired, T S Bhattacharyya was appointed interim chairman till O P Bhatt was appointed. On Bhatt's retirement, R Sridharan was given interim charge, till Chaudhuri took charge.
This time, all the four SBI managing directors - A Krishna Kumar, H Contractor, S Viswanathan and Arundhati Bhattacharya - were interviewed for the top post. Among these candidates, Bhattacharya has the longest tenure left - two and half years.
LONG INNINGS ENDS
State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Pratip Chaudhuri demitted office on Monday after completing a two-and-a-half year term. Chaudhuri, who took charge in April 2011, saw asset quality worsening amid macroeconomic headwinds. The immediate priority of his successor - the government is yet to announce the name - will be to finalise the half yearly result and also to announce the name of the associate bank which will be merged. Here are five key challenges for the new SBI chief:
* Rein in stressed asset book - galloping non-performing assets and restructured loans
* Improve capital adequacy for business and mergers
* Boost resource (deposit) mobilisation to fund rising credit book
* Choose merger candidate from among associate banks
* Tone up investor confidence
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