Axis Bank MD and CEO Shikha Sharma retires; Amitabh Chaudhry takes charge

Axis Bank Monday said its Managing Director and CEO Shikha Sharma has retired, effective December 31, 2018. "We wish to inform you that Shikha Sharma, Managing Director and CEO of Axis Bank Limited, has retired from the services of the bank and has accordingly ceased to be the Managing Director and CEO of the bank, with effect from close of business hours on 31st December 2018," it said in a regulatory filing.

Amitabh Chaudhry will be the new managing director and CEO of the bank with effect from January 1, 2019, it said further.

Chaudhry, the former MD and CEO of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company, was in September named the MD and CEO of Axis Bank for a period of three years, with effect from January 1, 2019. Earlier on December 8, Axis Bank had inducted Chaudhry as additional director on its board, three weeks ahead of his taking over as the new managing director and CEO of the private sector lender.

Chaudhry, 54, started his career in corporate banking with the Bank of America in 1987, where he worked in diverse roles. He is a BTech (Electronic & Electricals) from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani and an alumnus of the lndian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

In July 2017, the board of Axis Bank had approved the reappointment of Sharma, who was to start her fourth term as MD and CEO from June 2018.

However, in April this year, Sharma wanted her new term to be reduced to seven months from a three-year tenure without citing any reasons, which was accepted by the board.

It was learnt that the RBI had asked Axis Bank's board to reconsider the decision to reappoint Sharma amid concerns over rising bad loans on the bank's books. She had completed her third term as the bank's head on May 31.