Time to hang boots? Uday Kotak sees himself in non-executive role at Kotak Bank soon

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Uday Kotak now believes it’s time to hang the boots. In a letter to the shareholders of Kotak Mahindra Bank, the banking veteran indicated his willingness to play a non-executive role in the bank. “Going forward, I see my role as a non-executive board governance member and a strategic shareholder with a long term perspective of nurturing a world class institution,” Kotak said.

Kotak is confident that the alignment and commitment of the shareholders, board and the management will navigate the bank through the changing times. Uday was reappointed as the MD and CEO of Kotak Bank for three years in January 2021. He is set to complete 15 years in the role in December this year.

He has been heading the bank since its inception as an NBFC in 1985, and later as a commercial bank 2003 onwards. After starting from scratch with very little capital in 1985, valuation of the private sector lender has crossed leaps and bounds in over three decades. “An investor who invested Rs 10,000 with us in 1985 would be worth Rs 300 crore today,” Uday Kotak said.

Kotak believes that a virtuous cycle for India is on the cards, and the financial sector is in its Goldilocks period. “We are a quintessential product of the India growth story and the financial sector evolution. We are now looking at the new ‘compound’ required, given the dynamic transformation happening in the banking industry,” he said.

Kotak believes that the policy and regulatory framework for the sector needs to be aligned with the changing ecosystem. “There is a need to build regulatory trust which requires action on both sides of the aisle,” he said. While there is a need for ‘Arjuna’s eye’ on risk management, one must prevent bureaucratisation of financial services.