Mumbai: IndusInd Bank has appointed Rajiv Anand as its managing director and CEO, effective Aug 25 for a three-year term, following approval from the RBI. The appointment comes at a time when the bank is seeking to restore stability after internal lapses and top-level resignations.Anand, who previously served as deputy managing director at Axis Bank, brings over three decades of experience across wholesale and retail banking, capital markets, and digital banking. A chartered accountant by qualification, he was earlier the founding CEO of Axis Asset Management. At Axis, he held key roles in retail and wholesale banking and led the lender’s digital agenda.His appointment follows a Rs 1,960 crore accounting lapse uncovered earlier this year, related to internal derivative trades between the bank’s own desks. These trades were wrongly recorded, inflating profits and concealing losses across multiple quarters. Independent audits by PwC and Grant Thornton confirmed the scale of the issue.The fallout triggered the resignations of CEO Sumant Kathpalia and deputy CEO Arun Khurana. Kathpalia said he was stepping down on moral grounds. The episode drew scrutiny from the RBI, Sebi, and ICAI, with investigations launched into the bank’s internal controls and risk practices.To manage operations during the leadership vacuum, the RBI allowed the bank to constitute a committee of executives led by consumer banking head Soumitra Sen and chief administrative officer Anil Rao. The panel’s term was recently extended until Aug 28 or until a new CEO was named.The bank’s board has also taken steps to strengthen governance and improve promoter oversight. Efforts are underway to raise additional capital to bolster the balance sheet.Anand’s entry is expected to reassure markets and depositors. The board said his appointment reflects a strategic reset aimed at improving performance, restoring trust, and navigating the bank out of a difficult phase.
