Kolkata: Bandhan Bank founder Chandra Shekhar Ghosh is likely to get an executive role in Bandhan Financial Services, which is the promoter of Bandhan Financial Holding and Bandhan Bank.
Ghosh, who will retire from the bank on July 9 as managing director, will oversee Bandhan’s insurance and mutual fund ventures, besides the bank’s activity, two people familiar with the matter said.
Bandhan Financial Services will hold a board meeting on July 10 to induct Ghosh as executive director.
“He will be the executive head of the Bandhan Bank Group,” one of the people cited above said.
Bandhan Financial Services is the 100% owner of Bandhan Financial Holding, which in turn, holds about 40% in the bank. By virtue of this ownership, Bandhan Bank is accountable to Bandhan Financial Services.
The inclusion of Ghosh on the board of Bandhan Financial Services needs no prior approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). According to rules, any director needs to fulfil fit and proper criteria and his or her inclusion needs to be informed to the central bank.
Neither Ghosh nor Bandhan group responded to ET’s query on the matter.
“I am not bidding farewell to our Bandhan family. I am transitioning to a higher strategic role at the holding company level,” Ghosh had told analysts on April 8, within a few days of announcing his retirement.
“In my new role, I will pursue a strategic responsibility where I can leverage my experience and insights to contribute to the group’s overall growth and prosperity. My dedication to our bank’s vision, goal and purpose remains strong,” he had said.
In tandem with his retirement from the bank, Ghosh will also relinquish his board position in the bank, as announced in April.
“I need now to take some strategic role at the holding company level, not at a board level of the bank. So that is my plan,” he had said in the conference call with analysts.
Ghosh started Bandhan 24 years ago as an NGO and successfully transformed it to the country’s largest microfinance institution before further converting into a universal bank in 2015. By doing so,he became the first and only Bengali entrepreneur to set up a bank after Independence.
In about nine years or so, Bandhan Bank grew to a 1700-strong branch franchise having presence in almost every state and union territories with a business mix of nearly Rs 2.60 lakh crore. In the last few years, it has diversified into commercial and retail assets businesses while reducing the microfinance portfolio to below one-third of its total loan assets.
