Long bankers' queue for Lakshmi Vilas Bank CEO

Senior executives from SBI, ex-RBI official among applicants

Bankers are making a beeline for the post of chief executive officer (CEO) at Lakshmi Vilas Bank. The bank has received about 55 applications for the position, people familiar with the development told Business Standard.

The applicants include senior executives from the State Bank of India, a former official of the Reserve Bank of India, and business heads of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Citibank and Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. The CEO’s post in the Tamil Nadu-based private bank has been vacant after P R Somasundaram resigned from the position late November last year. He had left the bank due to “personal reasons”.

It is learnt that when Somasundaram was hired as CEO, the bank had received only 16 applications.

The board of directors had handed over the charge to the bank’s executive director K S R Anjaneyulu after Somasundaram left. Anjaneyulu was then appointed the managing director and CEO for a temporary period from January 10.

The bank is likely to take another four to six weeks to shortlist the candidates. It will then send names of at least three candidates, in the order of their preference, to the banking regulator for approval. Appointment of the new CEO is likely to be around May 2013.

Sources said the bank was looking for a CEO who could transform the old-generation private lender into an efficient and fast-growing bank. Lakshmi Vilas Bank has recently been permitted to open 71 new branches, including 28 metro branches. The addition of new branches is seen as the first step towards expanding the businesses.

The bank currently has 292 branches across India.

In the recent past, quite a few old-generation private lenders, including Lakshmi Vilas, had recruited their chief executives from foreign banks. But not many have been successful.

Somasundaram, for instance, had joined Lakshmi Vilas from Standard Chartered in August 2010. He was the third old-generation private bank CEO to resign in 2012.

The new CEO’s immediate responsibility will probably be to ensure the bank’s fund-raising programme is successful. Lakshmi Vilas Bank aims to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore via share sale.

The fund raising is likely to happen after the new CEO takes charge.