Kalyan Kumar set to lead Union Bank as Lalit Tyagi may join Central Bank amid reshuffle

Synopsis

Kalyan Kumar is expected to lead Union Bank of India. Lalit Tyagi is likely to transfer to Central Bank of India. Asheesh Pandey is dropped from consideration for a top post. The Financial Services Institutions Bureau had recommended Pandey. Reserve Bank of India had previously raised concerns about Pandey. Union Bank has been without a head since June.

Kolkata: Kalyan Kumar is likely to head the Union Bank of India while Lalit Tyagi is to move to the Central Bank of India, said senior people aware of development adding that the latest reshuffle is recommended by the department of financial services.

This will imply that Asheesh Pandey is dropped from the top post in public sector banks for the second time despite being proposed by the Financial Services Institutions Bureau (FSIB)- the nodal agency that recommends top level posting in public sector undertakings to the appointments committee of the cabinet.

Asheesh Pandey is executive director of Bank of Maharashtra.

On May 30, this year FSIB had recommended Pandey for MD & CEO post at Union Bank of India and Kalyan Kumar, currently executive director of Punjab National Bank, as MD & CEO of Central Bank of India.

Lalit Tyagi is currently executive director at Bank of Baroda.

FSIB did not respond to ET's request for comments.

Union Bank has been headless since A Manimekhalai completed her term in June while Central Bank's chief M V Rao completed his term in July this year.

Last year in April, FSIB had recommended Pandey for the top post at Indian Bank. However, within months of his recommendation Reserve Bank of India had sent a dissent note to DFS stating that his behaviour and conduct was "found not befitting his position."

Consequently, on FSIB recommendation Binod Kumar was appointed as MD and CEO of Indian bank while Pandey continued as ED of Bank of Maharashtra.

"FSIB's proposal to recommend Pandey (in May this year) to head Union Bank was intriguing and many bankers were led to believe that the RBI has withdrawn its objections," said one of the persons cited above. For Pandey, joining Union Bank was to be a homecoming as he rose to the rank of general manager at the same bank.

Manimekhalai on completing a three-year term at the top position did not seek an extension and this, many believed, was linked to the procurement of nearly 2 lakh copies of Krishnamurthy V Subramanian-authored India@100 for ₹7.25 crore without the bank board's approval.

Subramanian, the former executive director at the International Monetary Fund, had been called back from the prestigious overseas position amid alleged improprieties around the promotion of his books.

Meanwhile, Central Bank's board has not named any executive director to spearhead the operation, going against the usual practice of asking the senior most man to run the show, people aware said.

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