SS Mallikarjuna Rao is appointed as the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Punjab National Bank.

Rao is currently the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Allahabad Bank and will head the three-way amalgamation of Punjab National Bank (PNB), Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) and United Bank of India. 

Rao will replace the current MD and CEO of PNB, Sunil Mehta.

"The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal of the Department of Financial Services for posting of SS Mallikarjuna Rao, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in Allahabad Bank as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer in Punjab National Bank, with effect from the date of assumption of office, till 18.09.2021 or until further orders, whichever is earlier," the order said.

Rao comes with an experience of over 33 years in banking. He started his career as probationary officer in Bank of Maharashtra in 1985 and had also worked in Global Trust Bank before its merger with OBC. He also worked in Syndicate Bank as executive director.

Amalgamation of PNB, OBC and UBI would create the country’s second largest bank – both in terms of business and branch network. They collectively had a business of Rs18 lakh crore at the end of March that originated through 11,437 branches amongst them. The merger is expected to come into force from April 1 next year.