Ashok Vaswani will be the next managing director and chief executive officer of Kotak Mahindra Bank.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved Vaswani’s appointment after Uday Kotak, the founder-promoter, stepped down as the MD and CEO of the bank last month.

Vaswani's appointment is for a period of three years from date of taking charge, which shall not be later than 1 January 2024.

The appointment is subject to shareholders’ approval, the private lender said.

Vaswani had leadership roles at both Citigroup and Barclays. He served as the CEO of Barclays Bank, UK, from 2016 to 2019. He also acted as global consumer and payments CEO for the British Bank between 2019 and 2021. He was chief digital officer at Barclays between November 2021 and July 2022.

Prior to Barclays, Vaswani was CEO, Citigroup Asia Pacific and member of the Citigroup Global Operating & Management Committees.

Currently, Vaswani is president of Pagaya Technologies, a US-Israeli  AI Fintech.  He is also on the Board of the London Stock Exchange Group, the SP Jain Institute of Global Management, UK and supports various philanthropic organisations, including Pratham, and Lend-A-Hand.

Vaswani is a bachelor of commerce, economics and accountancy, from the Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics (Bombay University), CA from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, CS from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India and Executive Education from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

On the appointment, Uday Kotak said: “Ashok is a word class leader and banker with digital and customer focus. I am proud that we bring a ‘global Indian’ home to build Kotak and India of tomorrow.”

Vaswani said, “I thank the board for entrusting me with the responsibility of leading Kotak Mahindra Bank’s journey to the next phase of growth. I am excited and honoured to carry forward the legacy of Uday who has built this world-class institution. With our proven leadership team we will take the bank to new heights.  We will ensure that Kotak Mahindra Bank plays a meaningful role in India’s journey to being one of the top 3 economies in the world in the next 5 years, delivering shareholder value.  At a personal level, l am delighted to come back home.”