India's Kotak Mahindra Bank CEO Vaswani to step down for personal reasons (updated)

Kotak Mahindra Bank

27/06/2026 12:26

Adds analyst quote in 5,6, CEO's quote in 8,9. Shares closing in para 10
By Gopika Gopakumar and Rishika Sadam

    June 27 (Reuters) - Kotak Mahindra Bank KTKM.NS said on Saturday its CEO and managing director, Ashok Vaswani, will not seek reappointment after his term ends on December 31, 2026 for personal reasons, prompting India's fourth-largest private lender to begin a search for a successor.
The bank said the process will be completed within applicable regulatory timelines. Vaswani, a former Barclays and Citigroup banker, took charge as CEO on 1 January, 2024.
The succession process comes as Kotak Mahindra Bank emerges from a period of regulatory scrutiny and looks to accelerate growth. The bank is aiming to become India's third-largest private lender by after-tax profit, Vaswani told Reuters earlier this month.
His resignation adds another bank to the list of large lenders with management uncertainty and could lead to a correction in the stock, Executive Director Anand Dama from market research firm Nuvama Institutional Equities said.
"Vaswani served for just one term and hopefully a credible long-term replacement, either internally or externally, should ease the concerns and then the stock should track its fundamentals," he said.
Kotak Mahindra reported a 13% rise in its net profit to 40.27 billion rupees in the fourth-quarter of 2025-26, helped by stronger lending growth and lower provisions.
In an internal letter to employees, seen by Reuters, Vaswani said he would work with the chairman and the board, calling the six months ahead "some of the most important months in Kotak's journey." 
The bank's shares closed at 409 rupees on Thursday.
     
     
     

(Reporting by Gopika Gopakumar and Ashwin Manikandan in Mumbai; Writing by Rishika Sadam, Editing by Andrew Heavens, Alexandra Hudson)
((Rishika.Sadam@thomsonreuters.com;))