Uday Kotak resigns as Kotak bank MD and CEO 4 months ahead of end of tenure

Uday Kotak resigns as MD & CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank four months ahead of his tenure. Joint MD Dipak Gupta appointed interim MD & CEO. Kotak wrote a handwritten letter to Chairman Prakash Apte, citing personal & family commitments, incl. son's wedding, as reason for resignation. He will now serve as Non-Executive Director.

Uday Kotak has resigned as Managing Director and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. with immediate effect, four months ahead of the end his tenure. The board taking note of the development has appointed Joint Managing Director Dipak Gupta as interim MD and CEO.

“Uday Kotak has ceased to be the Managing Director & CEO of the Bank, with effect from September 1, 2023 on account of his resignation considered at the Bank’s Board Meeting held on Saturday and has become a Non-Executive Director of the Bank,” the bank said in a filing with the stock exchanges.

The Bank has already made an application to the Reserve Bank of India (“RBI”) for the approval of the new Managing Director and CEO, with effect from January 1, 2024.

“As an interim arrangement, Dipak Gupta, the Joint managing director, will carry out the duties of the managing director and CEO until December 31, 2023, subject to the approval of the Reserve Bank of India and the members of the bank,” the filing added.

Stating in a handwritten letter to the bank’s chairman Prakash Apte that the institution which was created 38 years ago with 3 employees has now become a pre-eminent bank with over 1 lakh employees, Mr. Kotak said: “It is time to move on.”

“Although I still have few months to go, I tender my resignation as MD & CEO of the bank with immediate effect. I have mulled over this decision for some time and believe this is the right thing for the institution,” he wrote in his letter.

“On December 31, 2023, the term of yourself as chairman, & myself as MD & CEO and Dipak Gupta as Joint MD expire. With a view to sequencing this process from a transition and stability perspective, I have decided to take this action after completion of the financial year and AGM for FY23,” he added in the letter.