HDFC Financial institution appoints former Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar to prime place
HDFC Financial institution’s board has moved to fill its prime board place by appointing former Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar as Half-time (Non-Govt) Chairman, a step the lender says will present stability because it readies for its subsequent progress part and seeks continuity on the government stage.
“We want to inform you that the Board of Administrators of the Financial institution at its assembly held at the moment i.e. on June 29, 2026… authorised the appointment of Mr. Rajiv Kumar as an Further Director (Impartial Director) of the Financial institution for a interval of 4 (4) years, with impact from June 30, 2026,” HDFC Financial institution mentioned in an alternate submitting on the NSE. The appointment as Impartial Director is “topic to the approval of Shareholders of the Financial institution.”
The board additionally authorised, topic to the approval of the Reserve Financial institution of India (RBI), the appointment, together with remuneration of Rajiv Kumar as a Half-time Chairman of the Financial institution for a interval of three years efficient from the date as authorised by the central financial institution.
The financial institution confirmed that Rajiv Kumar is just not debarred from holding the workplace of a Director, by advantage of any order handed by SEBI or every other such authority.
Why final chairman give up
The appointment ends a months-long search after Atanu Chakraborty abruptly stepped down on March 18, 2026, citing that “sure happenings and practices” throughout the financial institution… had been ”not in congruence” together with his private values and ethics.
An unbiased authorized evaluate by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Wadia Ghandy & Co. discovered Chakraborty’s allegations had been “not substantiated.”
Veteran banker Keki Mistry had stepped in as interim part-time chairman.
Rajiv Kumar’s profession graph
Kumar, 66, retired as Finance Secretary in February 2020. As Secretary, Division of Monetary Providers from 2017-2020, he “steered the clean-up of public sector financial institution stability sheets” by way of the “4R technique — Recognition, Decision, Recapitalisation and Reforms.”
His tenure noticed “a capital infusion exceeding ₹3 lakh crore into public sector banks, and the consolidation of 27 public sector banks into 12 entities.” He later served because the twenty fifth Chief Election Commissioner, overseeing the 2024 Lok Sabha polls with “roughly 642 million electors.” He has additionally been on the boards of RBI, SBI and NABARD.
With the chairman appointment now in place, the board is anticipated to take up the tenure extension of MD and CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan, whose present time period ends in October 2026. The financial institution has scheduled its thirty second AGM on August 5, 2026, with a revised discover to incorporate resolutions on Kumar’s appointment.
