Behind KVS Manian's sudden exit from Kotak Mahindra Bank

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MUMBAI : KVS Manian’s abrupt exit from Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd a week after the central bank’s knuckle-rap and barely two months after he was elevated as joint managing director may have derailed the lender’s carefully scripted restructuring. Kotak Mahindra Bank informed the stock exchanges late Tuesday that it had accepted Manian’s resignation with immediate effect, stating that he had “stepped down to pursue other opportunities in the financial services sector". It appears, however, that Manian, 62, who has spent nearly three decades at the bank and had been in consideration for the top role, may not have anticipated having to leave immediately.

Manian’s exit comes at a time when Kotak Mahindra Bank is scrambling to get its credit card operations back on its feet following the Reserve Bank of India’s censure and just as the lender was settling in under its chief, Ashok Vaswani. On Tuesday, the bank’s board held a 30-minute meeting on Manian’s exit following which it accepted his resignation with immediate effect, according to its stock exchange notification. The board is expected to meet in four days to consider the lender’s fourth-quarter and full-year financial results.

There has been speculation that Manian had concerns about his new role at Kotak Mahindra Bank, and that he was in the running to lead another lender. His resignation at this moment, however, has come as a shock to banking industry insiders, especially as the Reserve Bank of India hasn’t confirmed his name for another position, say people familiar with the developments. Manian did not respond to calls and text messages from Mint.