RBI deputy governor's post: Five bankers to face interview on June 1

Five bankers will appear for an interview for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) deputy governor’s post on June 1, sources said.

Three of them are current MDs & CEOs, one is a managing director of State Bank of India, and another — Srinivasan Varadarajan — is the non-executive chairman of Union Bank of India. Varadarajan, who was a deputy managing director in private sector lender Axis Bank, was joined Union Bank on November 7, 2022.

The other four bankers are AS Rajeev, MD & CEO of Bank of Maharashtra; Soma Sankara Prasad, MD & CEO, UCO Bank; S L Jain, MD & CEO of Indian Bank; and Swaminathan J, managing director, State Bank of India.

The interviews will be conducted by the Financial Services Regulatory Appointments Search Committee, headed by cabinet secretary.

RBI Deputy Governor M K Jain’s term will end on June 21, 2023 after a five-year tenure.

Jain, a commercial banker, held the position of MD & CEO of Indian Bank and IDBI Bank earlier. As deputy governor, Jain is in charge of the supervision department, among others.

RBI has four deputy governors. Two of them are promoted from within the ranks of the central bank. Among the other two, one is an economist and the other a commercial banker.

In March this year, the government came out with an advertisement for Jain’s replacement. One of the eligibility criteria is that the candidate must be below 60 years as of June 22, 2023.

The advertisement said the appointment will be for three years and the person will be eligible for re-appointment. Applications were invited from candidates with a minimum of 15 years of experience in banking and financial markets operations, with extensive experience as full-time board members.

Experience in large corporate lending, understanding of bankruptcy and restructuring process and risk management function in a large financial institution were desirable, the advertisement said.