Amitabh Chaudhry, managing director and chief executive officer of HDFC Life, has emerged as the frontrunner to replace Shikha Sharma as CEO of Axis Bank, multiple people familiar with the matter told CNBC-TV18.

B Sriram, the newly appointed MD and CEO of IDBI Bank, is second in the list of three candidates identified for the role, said these people, requesting anonymity.

Axis Bank, the third-biggest private sector bank by assets, said in April that long-time CEO Sharma will step down at the end of 2018.

The announcement came days after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was reported to have expressed concerns about the lender giving her a three-year extension.

The third shortlisted candidate for CEO is a senior executive of Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Chaudhry and Sriram did not comment for this article. Axis Bank too had no comment.

Executive search company Egon Zehnder, which was engaged by the Axis Bank board to find a successor for Sharma, shortlisted the three names and sent them to the board and then to RBI for final approval.

The board is still awaiting RBI approval for the appointment, the people in the know said.

The search for outsiders at Axis Bank began after no internal candidates were found suitable to succeed Sharma.

The board is keen that Sharma’s successor works alongside her before her exit in December.

Chaudhry has been associated with HDFC Life since January 2010 and prior to joining HDFC Life, he was associated with Bank of America and Credit Lyonnais before joining Infosys BPO Ltd (since 2003), according to the company’s website.

Sriram was named IDBI Bank CEO for three months in June. He was previously managing director (Corporate and Global Banking) of State Bank of India.

First Published:Aug 3, 2018 12:31 PM IST