KVS Manian steps down as Joint MD of Kotak Mahindra Bank

KVS Manian (Image: maniankvs/ X)

KVS Manian, joint managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd, has resigned with immediate effect, according to an exchange filing from the bank on April 30.

"...please note that Mr. Krishnan Venkat Subramanian (“Mr. KVS Manian”), ceases to be the Whole-time Director designated Joint Managing Director, with immediate effect on account of his resignation considered, noted and accepted the above.

Manian, who had been with the lender for almost 30 years, was elevated in a management rejig in January.

In his resignation letter to the private lender, Manian said, "I hereby tender my resignation from the services of Kotak Mahindra Bank for pursuing other opportunities in Financial Services, that I am exploring. Consequently, I would also step down from the Board of the Bank."

Manian is an alumnus of the Indian Institutes of Technology (BHU) - Varanasi, with a degree in electrical engineering and a postgraduate in financial management from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, alongside being a Cost and Works Accountant.

The bank said its deputy managing director Shanti Ekambaram will oversee the investment banking and institutional equities, and, asset reconstruction businesses which Manian used to oversee, while the bank's newly appointed MD and CEO Ashok Vaswani will have the wholesale, commercial and private bank report directly to him.

“Manian has spent over 29 years at Kotak and we are thankful to him for his association and we wish him well in his future endeavours,” Vaswani said.

Vaswani added that he is confident of the strong leadership talent at the bank and its ability to scale businesses to the next level in times to come.

The top level exit comes at a time when Kotak Mahindra Bank is facing crisis on its digital business growth after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on April 24 barred the bank from onboarding new customers and issuing fresh credit cards via the digital route.

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Most industry veterans Moneycontrol spoke to said that if KMB fails to address the central bank’s concerns quickly, it can hurt the bank’s digital banking ambitions, and put the lender behind aggressive competitors, such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India (SBI).

The Kotak Mahindra Bank scrip closed 1.01 per cent down at Rs 1,623.75 a piece on the BSE on April 30, as against a 0.25 per cent correction on the benchmark.

(With PTI inputs)