Shikha Sharma to end her tenure with Axis Bank
The controversy about another term of Shikha Sharma as Managing Director & CEO of Axis Bank comes to an end. The banking veteran has decided to shorten working tenure and it will end in December 2018.
Reserve Bank of India raised concern about the fourth term of Shika Sharma as MD &CEO. Earlier this month, RBI wrote to the board of Axis Bank asking to reconsider their decision of giving the fourth term to Sharma as MD & CEO raising worries over rising bad loans in the country.
In an unexpected move after working with one decade with the bank, she decided to step down. The Axis Bank board has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange about her exit.
The announcement says, “Shikha Sharma, Managing Director & CEO of the Bank has requested the Board to reconsider the period of her re-appointment as the Managing Director & CEO of the Bank to be revised from 1st June 2018 up to 31 st December 2018.The Board has accepted her said request, subject to the approval of the RBI.”
It can be recalled that in July last year, Axis Bank Board has reappointed Shikha Sharma as the Managing Director & CEO of the Bank, for three years w.e.f. 1st June 2018. Shikha Sharma has more than three decades of experience in the financial sector. She began her career with ICICI Ltd in 1980. During her stint with the company, she was instrumental in setting up ICICI Securities.
During her long carrier, she has also served as a member of RBI’s technical advisory committee, RBI’s panel on financial inclusion, etc. She has also been the Co-Chairperson of FICCI’s Banking & Financial institutions Committee 2013-15.
Under Sharma’s leadership, Axis Bank has received many awards particularly, 'Bank of the Year in India' for the year 2014 by The Banker Magazine, Financial Times. The Bank was conferred with the Certificate of Recognition for Excellence in Corporate Governance by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), for the year 2015. It was ranked No. 1 company to work for in the BFSI sector - 'The Best Companies to Work for' survey by Business Today in 2013. As an acknowledgment of her efforts, Harvard Business School published a case study on Managing Change at Axis Bank in 2013.