Kotak Mahindra Bank’s Ambuj Chandna joins DBS Bank India

Chandna joins the Indian subsidiary of Singapore’s largest bank within weeks of Rajat Verma taking charge as the CEO

Kotak Mahindra Bank’s old-timer Ambuj Chandna has joined DBS Bank India as MD and Head of Consumer Banking group. Chandna was earlier President and Head of Consumer Bank (Products) at Kotak Mahindra Bank. He moved from Kotak Bank in March this year, after being associated with the bank for over 16 years.

Chandna replaces Prashant Joshi, who joined DBS Bank in August 2020 around the time when the bank acquired the distressed South India based Lakshmi Vilas Bank. With a rich career largely focused on retail lending spanning across banks including Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, Joshi is yet to reveal his next move.

Chandna joins the Indian subsidiary of Singapore’s largest bank within weeks of Rajat Verma taking charge as the CEO, making it one of the first major leadership changes in the India unit. In December last year, the bank announced that Verma who was then the head of institutional banking group would succeed Surojit Shome as DBS Bank India’s CEO from March 1, 2025.

While DBS Bank India has not officially announced Chandna joining the bank, Chandna has posted the new job update on his LinkedIn profile.

In July 2024, Kotak Mahindra Bank decided to overhaul its retail operations post which Chandna’s role changed from being President of Consumer Assets to President and Head of consumer bank – Products, which was just one part of the consumer business. Chandna joined Kotak Bank when it acquired ING Vysya Bank in 2015.