RBI asks Dhanlaxmi Bank CEO Shivan J K to continue till successor assumes office

Dhanlaxmi Bank, in a notification to exchanges, later confirmed the development. "Reserve Bank of India, vide letter dated January 30, 2024, has conveyed its approval for extending the term of Shri J K Shivan as Managing Director & CEO of the Bank till his successor assumes the office," the bank said.

The Board of Directors of the Bank has already approved a panel of candidates for the position of the MD&CEO of the Bank, the bank said.

"As per the extant RBI norms, the Bank has already submitted its application to Reserve Bank of India with the names of the candidates seeking approval for the appointment of the new MD & CEO," the bank added.

Prior to joining Dhanlaxmi Bank, Shivan, who has over three and half decades of experience in banking, has handled various areas in commercial banking at SBI. Shivan has headed corporate banking, international banking, forex operations and was also involved in retail advances and agriculture credit in SBI.

Shivan retired as Chief General Manager of Stressed Assets Resolution Group of SBI. At SBI, Shivan was retail branch head for six years in Kerala in rural and urban centres of the bank. Besides,  Shivan has also handled sectoral teams handling stressed accounts in the infrastructure and commercial real estate and then in the Airlines, Telecom, Trading, Gem & Jewellery, Food Processing, and edible oil processing.

Race for CEO post

Earlier, Moneycontrol had reported that a total of five names have been shortlisted after the interview for Dhanlaxmi Bank's CEO post and these names are now under the scrutiny of the RBI.

Among the shortlisted candidates are Ajith Kumar K K, who is currently working as a senior executive at Federal Bank, and Madhav Nair, who is currently working as country head and CEO of Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK).

A total of five names have been shortlisted after the interview. These names are now under the scrutiny of the RBI. Interestingly, Ajith Kumar was part of the final list of candidates for the CEO post on two earlier occasions also.

Kumar, currently serving as the President and Chief Human Resource Officer at Federal Bank, is a veteran banker with over three decades of experience in the industry across verticals.  During his tenure, Kumar has worked across SME, commercial banking verticals among other departments.

Madhav Nair took over as the country head of BBK in August last year. Nair too is an experienced banker with stints across Mashreq Bank, Standard Chartered and HDFC Bank. Nair has experience both in India and middle east over decades.