Uday Kotak Founder and Promoter of Kotak Bank on Saturday has stepped down as the managing director and chief executive officer effective immediately from September 1, 2023, the Bank announced through an exchange filing. Dipak Gupta, who is the joint managing director will carry on the duties of the MD and CEO until December 31, 2023, as an interim arrangement.
Kotak will now be a non-executive director of the bank. Kotak’s term as Non-Executive Director of the Bank would be for a period of five years, not liable to retire by rotation.
"He has played an important role in the institution’s growth over the past 38 years. Under Mr. Kotak’s leadership, Kotak Mahindra group established a prominent presence in every area of financial services from stock broking, investment banking, car finance, life insurance and mutual funds," the bank said in the regulatory filing.
Talking about the transition and the journey of Kotak Bank, Uday Kotak took to X, Formerly known as Twitter to say, "Succession at Kotak Mahindra Bank has been foremost on my mind, since our Chairman, myself and Joint MD are all required to step down by year end. I am keen to ensure smooth transition by sequencing these departures. I initiate this process now and step down voluntarily as CEO."
His post further read, "The bank awaits RBI approval of the proposed successor. In the interim my dear colleague Dipak Gupta - currently Joint MD, will function as MD & CEO, subject to approvals.
"As Founder, I am deeply attached to brand Kotak and will continue to serve the institution as Non-Executive Director and significant shareholder. We have an outstanding management team to carry the legacy forward. Founders go away, but the institution flourishes into perpetuity.
A long time ago, I saw names like JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs dominate the financial world and dreamed of creating such an institution in India. It is with this dream that I started Kotak Mahindra 38 years ago, with 3 employees in a 300 sqft office in Fort, Mumbai. I have deeply cherished every bit of this memorable journey, living my dream.
We are now a pre-eminent bank & financial institution, created on the basic tenets of trust and transparency. We have created value for our stakeholders and provide over 1 lakh direct jobs. An investment of ₹10,000 with us in 1985 would be worth around ₹ 300 cr today.
I am confident that this Indian owned institution will continue to play an even more important role in India’s transformation into a social and economic powerhouse."
Dipak Gupta
Dipak Gupta is subject to take over as managing director and CEO till December 31 after the approval of Reserve Bank of India and the members of the bank.
He has been a Whole-time Director of the Bank since January 1999 and had been designated as the Joint Managing Director of the Bank, since January 1, 2012.
Gupta had over three decades of experience in the financial services sector, nearly two and half decades of which had been with the Kotak Group.
At the Bank, he currently oversaw the IT including Cyber Security and Digital Initiatives and Internal Audit. He was earlier responsible for Human Resources, Marketing, Compliance, Administration, Infrastructure and Operations. He had been responsible in the past for Treasury, Wealth Management and Consumer Finance businesses. Gupta was also instrumental in forging the joint venture with Ford Credit and was the first Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Primus Limited. Post conversion into a Bank, he was responsible for various initiatives.
Gupta has also been a member/ chairman of various board and non-board committees over the years, including Chairman of the Bank’s Credit Committee and First Tier Audit Committee.
Gupta has played a key role in building various businesses for Kotak Mahindra Group. He was instrumental in forging the partnership between Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd (“KMFL”) and Ford Credit International.
Gupta was also responsible for setting up the retail business following the conversion of KMFL into a bank and was responsible for leading the Kotak Group’s initiatives into the banking arena.
