Shanti Ekambaram to Retire as Kotak Mahindra Bank Deputy MD After 30+ Years

By: WE Staff | Wednesday, 4 June 2025

• On October 31, 2025, Shanti Ekambaram will leave Kotak Mahindra Bank
• Been with the bank for more than 30 years and is currently the Deputy Managing Director
• After Uday Kotak resigned in September 2023, she leaves, joining a string of senior departures

Shanti Ekambaram, Deputy Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank and one of its longest-serving executives, will retire on October 31, 2025. Her departure marks another key leadership change following founder Uday Kotak's exit from executive duties in September 2023. Ekambaram is among the few women currently holding top executive roles in the Indian banking sector.

Having joined the Kotak Group in 1991, Shanti was instrumental in building the group from a financial services company into a top-class private sector bank. Throughout her years of service, she has spearheaded several verticals such as investment banking, capital markets, corporate banking, treasury, and consumer banking. She was elevated to the position of Deputy MD with additional duties in 2024 after joint MD K.V.S. Manian quit to take on the role of CEO of Federal Bank.

CEO Ashok Vaswani commended Ekambaram for her "entrepreneurial thinking" and "unwavering commitment to excellence," particularly during a time that has seen regulatory watchdogship and internal upheaval. Paritosh Kashyap, who is presently head of wholesale banking, has been appointed whole-time director, pending regulatory approval, as a part of the bank's leadership transition. A Kotak old-school hand with more than three decades of experience, Kashyap has in-depth insight into the bank's risk-taking businesses.

Shanti’s retirement is part of a larger pattern of top exits at Kotak Mahindra Bank after Uday Kotak's premature retirement. Some leaders who have left include joint MD Dipak Gupta, CFO Jaimin Bhatt, COO and CTO Milind Nagnur, consumer banking head Virat Diwanji, and consumer products head Ambuj Chandna.

Apart from Shanti, some of the other senior women in banking are also retiring. Bank of America India CEO Kaku Nakhate is retiring, and Union Bank of India's MD A. Manimekhalai will be retiring in June. On a positive note, Reserve Bank of India made economist Poonam Gupta Deputy Governor recently—its first female appointment to the post in almost 14 years.

Ekambaram was also President of Corporate and Investment Banking for the last 11 years prior to assuming leadership of the bank's consumer banking business. Her experience involves investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, fixed income, capital markets, corporate banking, and treasury operations.