Axis Bank has in a statement to the stock exchanges on Monday said the board has accepted Chief Executive Officer, Shikha Sharma request for a shorter seven-month term (from June 1 to December 31, 2018), subject to the approval of the Reserve Bank of India. Sharma would be completing her third term as MD and CEO of Axis Bank on May 31. As per reports, with just eigth months left for Sharma's tenure to end, speculation is rife over, who will be the next CEO. Several names are doing the rounds, however, the Board sub-committee is yet to shortlist possible CEO candidates.

According to an article on Times of India, Goldman Sachs India chairman Sonjoy Chatterjee, KKR country head Sanjay Nayar, former Deutsche Bank Asia-Pacific chief Gunit Chadha and Citigroup India CEO Pramit Jhaveri are in the list of probable names for the role of CEO. Reportedly, Sharma took over as the chief of Axis Bank in June 2009 from PJ Nayak, despite some reservations from the outgoing chief who preferred that an internal candidate be only promoted to the top job.

The RBI had earlier this month dropped Axis Bank from a list of banks it has cleared to import gold and silver during the current financial year that began on April 1. ICICI Bank's Kochhar has been questioned several times in the last few weeks, for the bank's alleged involvement in the issuance of the Rs. 3,250-crore loan to the Videocon Group in 2012. Infact, with the whistle-blowers levelling pro quo charge against Kochhar in connection with the above mentioned case, her future at the helm of the bank looks in jeopardy as the board is reportedly contemplating over cutting short her tenure.

Infact, as per reports the year-end bonuses Shikha Sharma and Chanda Kochchar will be delayed. RBI has decided to crack their whip, after immense corruption started surfacing from the financial services sector. It all started with Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi allegedly duping Punjab National Bank, of over Rs 13,000 crore. Also scams and high profile names have come to the front in the last few days.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 11, 2018 09:18 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).