MUMBAI – Uday Kotak, the helmsman of India’s third-largest private sector bank by market value for three decades, believes it is time to hang up his boots.
In a letter to Kotak Mahindra Bank’s shareholders, the banking veteran indicated his willingness to take on a non-executive role at the bank.
“Going forward, I see my role as a non-executive board governance member and as a strategic shareholder with a long-term vision to nurture a world-class organization,” Kotak said.
Kotak assures that the alignment and commitment of shareholders, board and management will navigate the bank through the changing times.
In January 2021, Uday was reappointed as MD and CEO of Kotak Bank for a three-year term. He will complete 15 years in December this year. He has headed the bank since its inception as an NBFC in 1985 and later as a commercial bank in 2003.
Starting from scratch in 1985 with very little capital, the private sector lender’s valuation has spanned over three decades.
An investor who invested Rs 10,000 with us in 1985 would be worth Rs 300 crore today, said Uday Kotak. Kotak believes that a virtuous cycle is ahead for India and that the financial sector is in its Goldilocks period. “We are an important product of India’s growth and evolution of the financial sector. We are now looking at the new ‘compound’ required given the dynamic transformation taking place in the banking industry,” he said.
Kotak believes that the sector’s policy and regulatory framework needs to align with the changing ecosystem. “There is a need to build regulatory trust that requires action on both sides of the aisle,” he said.
While ‘Arjuna’s eye’ is needed in risk management, bureaucratization in financial services should be curbed.