After RBI raises doubts, Shikha Sharma to quit Axis Bank in December

Axis Bank Managing Director and CEO Shikha Sharma has decided to cut her fourth term at the helm and is set to step down from her post at the end of the year. The RBI is understood to have raised questions as to why Sharma was being given a fourth term.

In December, the bank’s Board had decided to re-appoint her for three years from June 1, 2018, for her fourth term. It had sought permission from the Reserve Bank of India to let Sharma continue for another term.

The Bank informed the bourses in a filing on Monday that “Shikha Sharma, Managing Director & CEO of the Bank, has requested the Board to reconsider the period of her re-appointment as the Managing Director & CEO of the Bank be revised from June 1, 2018 up to December 31, 2018.”

It added that the Board has accepted her request, subject to the approval of the RBI.

Shorter term

This means that Sharma’s term has been cut down significantly and the lender will have to begin looking for her successor.

Sharma took charge as the Axis Bank chief in 2009. Her tenure has seen Axis Bank go through a period of high growth, but recently, the lender has come under a cloud over the rising level of its non-performing assets. Last month, the RBI had imposed a ₹3 crore penalty on the bank for violating NPA classification norms.