Anup Bagchi to head HDFC Bank from Oct 27

Bagchi, a veteran of rival ICICI Bank and its subsidiaries since 1992, will succeed Sashidhar Jagdishan, whose six-year stint was marred by allegations of unethical conduct and questionable governance practices

Mumbai: Anup Bagchi is set to be the next chief executive and managing director of HDFC Bank, with the Reserve Bank clearing his name to lead the largest private sector lender on Thursday.

Bagchi, who has been associated with rival ICICI Bank and its subsidiaries since 1992, will succeed Sashidhar Jagdishan, whose six-year stint in the corner office was marred by allegations of unethical conduct and questionable governance practices towards the end.

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He will take over as the MD and CEO from October 27, and the appointment is for three years, as per an exchange disclosure by the lender.

The 56-year-old Bagchi, an alumnus of IIT-Kanpur and IIM-Bangalore, has been serving as managing director and chief executive of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance since 2023 and served as executive director of ICICI Bank for six years. Before that, he was overseeing both retail and wholesale banking.

Challenges awaiting Bagchi include increasing core income, as net interest margins continue to be under pressure and curbing instances of product mis-selling, according to watchers.
HDFC Bank’s top-level leadership issues came to the fore in March this year with the surprising resignation of non-executive chairman Atanu Chakraborty, who cited issues regarding values and ethics.

This was followed by a slew of revelations on the governance front, including product misselling by its Dubai branch leading to investor losses, and also on incentives for garnering deposits for which Jagdishan was himself fined by the bank board.

Amid widespread interest in whether he will bag the reappointment, Jagdishan opted out of the race in August, followed by an HDFC Bank communique on sending two names, including an internal candidate and an external one, to the RBI.

Deputy managing director Kaizad Bharucha is widely reported to be the second name sent by the bank to the central bank. Chakraborty’s successor Rajiv Kumar had promised shareholders that he would strive to preserve shareholders’ trust with the highest standards of governance.

Bagchi’s appointment will have to be ratified by the bank’s shareholders as per the provisions of the Companies Act 2013. HDFC Bank’s ADRs (American depository receipts) jumped by over 5 per cent, reacting to Bagchi’s appointment.