The Managing Director and CEO of Dhanlaxmi Bank, Mr Amitabh Chaturvedi, called it quits on Monday. His resignation comes, reportedly, on account of differences of opinion with the board of directors.
Mr P. G. Jayakumar, Executive Director, has been given the charge as MD and CEO of the bank, subject to the Reserve Bank of India's approval. Mr Kumar has been with the bank for 34 years.
Mr Chaturvedi had been at the helm of the old generation private sector bank since October 2008.
In October 2011, the Reserve Bank of India had conveyed its approval for re-appointment of Mr Chaturvedi as MD and CEO of Dhanlaxmi Bank for a further period of three years.
His stint at the top was marked, among others, by attempts to convert the 85-year-old bank into a new-age bank, change in the name of the bank from ‘Dhanalakshmi Bank' to ‘Dhanlaxmi Bank', and shifting of the corporate headquarters to Mumbai from Thrissur.
Then Mr Chaturvedi also had to tackle industrial relations problem involving the officers.
According to Mr P. V. Mathew, Senior Vice-President, All-India Bank Officers' Confederation, what irked the old guard at the bank was that higher salaries and perks were being given to new hires at the top which were not in line with the volume of business.
Further, Mr Mathew said the bank had high exposure to non-banking finance companies dealing in gold loans.
Merge with PSU?
Pointing out that bank caters to important religious institutions such as the Guruvayoor and Travancore Devaswom Boards in Kerala, Mr Mathew said Dhanlaxmi Bank should be merged with a public sector bank.
Mr Vishwas Utagi, General Secretary, All-India Bank Employees Association, said just like Nedungadi Bank was merged with Punjab National Bank, so too Dhanlaxmi Bank should be merged with a public sector bank.
Share of Dhanlaxmi Bank closed down 2 per cent at Rs 56.30 per share on the BSE, against the previous close of Rs 57.45.