Axis Bank released a statement that rubbishes the claim of the news report, which said chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) Shikha Sharma is likely to join the Tata Group, The Economic Times (ET) reported.
"Your assertions are untrue and unfounded. There is a laid down process that the board undertakes at regular intervals, but to conclude that there is going to be a change of leadership is entirely premature and speculative," the bank said in a statement.
Shikha Sharma is likely to join the Tata Group to lead its financial services vertical, BloombergQuint reported earlier on Tuesday.
The report further said that Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran has selected the managing director and chief executive officer of India's third largest private lender to head the vertical that will include companies like Tata-AIA Life Insurance and Tata Capital.
India's third largest private sector bank, Axis Bank, has appointed executive search firm Egon Zehnder to identify a new CEO as Sharma's term ends next year, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.
Sharma took over as the MD & CEO of Axis Bank in 2009, after a long stint of 29 years with ICICI Bank. She expanded Axis Bank's operations in corporate and retail lending, besides venturing into investment banking. The bank's loan book grew more than four-fold to Rs 3.73 lakh crore during her term, the report claimed.
"We request you to exercise utmost caution in airing your speculative assertions because such malicious reports may only cause spread of unnecessary apprehensions and concerns that neither is at the best interest of the bank nor its stakeholders," the Axis Bank statement further said.
Sharma and Tata Sons haven't confirmed anything to media.
