Financial sector set to see churn in 2024 with major leadership changes

Das will be the longest-serving RBI governor in almost seven decades once he completes his full term. A new govt that will be formed in May will take a call on extending his term further

The Indian financial sector is likely to see a change of guard in 2024, with close to a dozen banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) set to get a new chief executive officer (CEO), apart from a completely new look monetary policy committee of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

RBI Governor and Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Chair Shaktikanta Das will complete his six-year term in December 2024. Das, who was first appointed in December 2018 for three years, was reappointed in 2021 for another three years. He will be the longest-serving RBI governor in almost seven decades once he completes his full term. A new government that will be formed in May will take a call on extending his term further.

Michael Patra, the RBI deputy governor in charge of monetary policy, will see his current term ending in January 2024. The government extended his term for a year in January 2023.

The current term of another deputy governor, M Rajeshwar Rao, will also end in October next year. His term was extended by one year this October.

Three external members of the MPC — Ashima Goyal, Jayanth Varma, and Shashanka Bhide — were appointed in October 2020. External members of the MPC have a term of four years, which is non-extendable.

A host of public sector banks (PSBs) will see new faces at the top in 2024. State Bank of India Chairman Dinesh Khara, who got an extension in 2023, will complete his term in August next year when he turns 63.

Two managing directors (MDs) and CEOs of PSBs — Atul Kumar Goel of Punjab National Bank and S L Jain of Indian Bank — will see their current term end at the end of December 2024.

Among private-sector banks, Kotak Mahindra Bank will get a new MD and CEO in Ashok Vaswani, who will assume charge in January 2024.

DCB Bank has formed a search committee to select a new CEO. The current MD and CEO Murli Natrajan will complete 15 years in April. According to RBI norms, a person can be a CEO of a private bank for a maximum of 15 years.

Federal Bank MD and CEO Shyam Srinivasan’s current term will end in September 2024. Srinivasan will complete 14 years and will be eligible to continue for another year.

Similarly, Jammu & Kashmir Bank’s MD and CEO Baldev Prakash will complete his first three-year term in December and will be eligible for extension.

Tamilnad Mercantile Bank’s MD and CEO S Krishnan resigned in September this year. Krishnan is continuing as CEO, and the bank is in the process of finding his successor.

Dhanlaxmi Bank is also looking for a new MD & CEO as J K Shivan’s term will end in January.

North East Small Finance Bank on Monday said veteran public-sector banker S K Kalra will be its interim MD anc CEO. Kalra will replace Rupali Kalita, who resigned recently.

Two non-banking finance companies will also see new faces at the helm – L&T Finance Holdings and Mahindra & Mahindra Finance. L&T Finance Holdings has announced its chief operating officer, Sudipta Roy, will take over from Dinanath Dubhashi as MD and CEO in January. Dubhashi will continue to be a director on the board until he superannuates in April to ensure a smooth transition. 

Raul Rebello will take over as MD and CEO of Mahindra Finance from Ramesh Iyer in April after his retirement.