ICICI Bank names Kamath's successor

Mumbai, June 9: ICICI Bank today announced the appointment of M.K. Sharma, former vice-chairman of Hindustan Unilever, as its non-executive chairman for a period of five years.

Sharma will replace K.V. Kamath, who will shortly step down from the board consequent to his nomination as the first president of the New Development Bank established by the Brics nations.

"The appointment is subject to the prior approval of the Reserve Bank of India, other regulatory approvals and would be effective July 1, or the date of receipt of the RBI approval, whichever is later," the bank said in a statement.

Sharma was an independent director on ICICI Bank's board from 2003 to 2011.

He was an independent director of several leading companies and has been a member of the government committees relating to corporate law and corporate governance.

At present, he is an independent director of two subsidiaries of the bank - ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company and ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company.

"The board felt that Sharma's long experience and expertise in legal and corporate governance matters as well as companies in diverse businesses will prove invaluable in providing guidance and leadership to the board. Also, his long association with the ICICI group will provide stability and continuity," ICICI Bank said.

Last week, Kamath had stepped down from the Infosys board. Kamath had started his career in 1971 at ICICI, the financial institution that founded ICICI Bank and merged with it in 2002.

In 1988, he moved to the Asian Development Bank. He returned to ICICI as its managing director and CEO in 1996.

He retired as the managing director & CEO in April 2009 and took up the position of non-executive chairman of the private sector bank.

ICICI Bank