Shailendra Bhandari to step down from ING Vysya Bank

While his term was to end on August 31, 2015, he said he was leaving the company to pursue new challenges

Shailendra Bhandari has resigned as managing director and chief executive officer of ING Vysya Bank, a little over five years after taking charge of the Bangalore-based private lender. He will continue to be in the office till January 31, 2015.

“The board of directors, at its meeting held October 28, 2014, has approved his letter of resignation. In pursuance of its succession plan, the board, at the same meeting, proposed the appointment of Uday Sareen, currently deputy CEO and wholesale banking head, as MD & CEO, subject to approval of Reserve Bank of India,” ING Vysya Bank said in a statement.

Bhandari’s decision to step down did not surprise many at the bank. One pointed out that ING Vysya Bank had appointed Sareen as deputy CEO earlier this year, an indication that the lender was ready with a succession plan. Sareen had joined the bank in July 2007 and was the country head for retail banking before being deputed to ING Di-Ba in Germany as its chief strategy officer.

Bhandari said his decision to leave the bank had evolved over time. “I just felt that I needed to do something different with the skills and talents I have developed. So after over five years as MD & CEO, I believe this is the right time to pass on the baton.”

Bhandari joins the growing list of CEOs who have resigned from old-generation private banks before the end of their term. Bhandari’s term was schedule to end in August, 2015.

In November 2012, Lakshmi Vilas Bank’s MD & CEO P R Somasundaram had quit. While he cited ‘personal reasons’ for his exit, many believed his decision to resign was primarily because he was finding it difficult to operate in an environment where promoters were not always ready to adopt new practices.

In February 2012, Amitabh Chaturvedi had quit as MD & CEO of Dhanlaxmi Bank following a serious disagreement with other board members over the functioning and management of operations. A few months before his resignation, a section of Dhanlaxmi Bank's employees' union had accused the Chaturvedi-led management team of window-dressing the bank's financial accounts. Chaturvedi had dismissed those claims.

Tamilnad Mercantile Bank’s MD & CEO A K Jagannathan had also left the bank in February 2012, citing personal reasons.

Commenting on Bhandari’s resignation, M Damodaran — a director in ING Vysya Bank — said: “Shailendra expressed his desire to pursue new challenges. The board decided that as long as stability was ensured for our shareholders, customers, partners and employees, we would honour his wish.”

Bhandari, who holds a masters degree in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A), had taken charge of ING Vysya Bank in August 2009. He has over two-and-a-half decades of experience and has been the head of private equity at Tata Capital. He was also the MD and CEO of Centurion Bank of Punjab. Bhandari has worked with HDFC Bank — the second-largest private-sector lender in the country — and was part of the core team as treasurer and executive director.