India names new heads for four state-owned banks, India on Wednesday named chief executive officers for four state-owned lenders, as part of plans to reform a sector constrained by a pile of bad loans and lagging private peers in profitability.
R Koteeswaran was named as managing director and CEO of Indian Overseas Bank (IOBK.NS), while P. Srinivas will become MD and CEO of United Bank of India (UBOI.NS), a finance ministry statement said.
Animesh Chauhan was named MD and CEO of Oriental Bank of Commerce (ORBC.NS), and Kishore Sansi will be MD and CEO of Vijaya Bank (VJBK.NS). The appointments come ahead of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's two-day meeting with public sector banks, which account for nearly three quarters of banking assets in India. The appointments also break with the tradition of having the heads of state-run banks act as both chairman and managing director. The government instead wants to install non-executive chairmen at most public sector lenders.
The government will soon announce a head for Syndicate Bank Ltd (SBNK.NS), it said, but delayed naming chiefs for three bigger state-owned banks - Bank of Baroda (BOB.NS), Punjab National Bank (PNBK.NS) and Canara Bank (CNBK.NS).
For these three banks, the selection process will start afresh with a view to widen the search for candidates, the statement said.
