India's HDFC Bank Ltd. is undergoing a significant restructuring of its top management, aiming to accelerate its mortgages business. This move comes three months after the bank's acquisition of another lender. The changes were outlined in a memo to employees on Sunday, as reported by individuals familiar with the matter.
Ramesh Lakshminarayanan, leading the bank's information technology and digital functions, will now report directly to Chief Executive Officer Sashidhar Jagdishan. This shift is part of HDFC Bank's strategy to rely more heavily on technology in offering a wider range of products and services across its branches.
Bank veteran Ashish Parthasarthy, who has led the treasury since 2009, will take on responsibility for the key retail branch business, which handles deposits and product distribution. Under Parthasarthy's leadership, the bank plans to split the geographical management of the retail branch business to handle its expansion and product plans in a more structured way. Smita Bhagat and Sampath Kumar will co-lead this effort.
Bhagat, previously the group head for government and institutional business, ecosystem banking, inclusive banking and start-ups, is one of the senior women leaders at the bank. Kumar formerly served as group head of liability products, third party products and non-resident business at the bank.
Additional changes include Arvind Vohra taking over the bank’s retail assets, excluding mortgages. Mortgages will be led by Arvind Kapil. Parag Rao will lead product liabilities and product management, including marketing. Rakesh Singh will continue to lead investment banking and private banking, with added responsibility for the offshore international business.
The restructuring follows HDFC Bank's takeover of Housing Development Finance Corp in July 2023 which made it one of the world's largest banks but also led to pressure on the lender's shares. The bank faced a rare downgrade last month from Nomura Holdings (NYSE:NMR) Inc., which cited concerns on HDFC's return on assets and pressures on loan growth.
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