India’s Kotak Mahindra Bank Taps Outsider As New CEO To Replace Its Billionaire Founder Uday Kotak

In what is being seen as a surprising choice, Kotak Mahindra Bank, one of India’s largest lenders, announced that Ashok Vaswani, a former Barclays Bank and ex-Citigroup executive, will be its new managing director and CEO. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the appointment on Friday, choosing Vaswani from the two names submitted by Kotak Mahindra Bank as candidates to replace its billionaire founder and longtime boss, Uday Kotak. (The other candidate is believed to be a longtime insider.)