RBI approves the appointment of Sanjeev Nautiyal as MD&CEO of Ujjivan SFB

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Sanjeev Nautiyal as Managing Director and CEO of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank from July 1, 2024, for a period of three years. Nautiyal had retired as a deputy director from the country’s largest lender, the State Bank of India.

Nautiyal will join the bank before taking charge as MD & CEO and will be appointed as President in the meantime.

He becomes the bank’s third MD & CEO in five years. In 2019, HDFC Bank’s group head of digital banking, Nitin Chugh, was appointed as head of Small Finance Bank (SFB).

The current CEO, Ittira Davis, took charge in January 2022 after RBI approved his appointment for one year. Last year, the bank said the regulator had approved Davis’ reappointment for two years effective January 14, 2023.

Davis will work with Nautiyal to ensure a smooth transition and the lender’s board has agreed to release him a few months before the actual end of his term, the bank said.

In his 36 years in banking, he served as Deputy Director (Financial Inclusion & Micro Markets) at State Bank of India (SBI) and was also MD and CEO of SBI Life Insurance. He is currently an independent director of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and acts as an advisor to various organizations.

Nautiyal has expertise in retail, SME, financial inclusion, operations, HR, international banking and treasury. He has a bachelor’s degree in art and a master’s degree in business administration. He is also a Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers.

Commenting on the approval, Banavar Anantharamaiah Prabhakar, Chairman, Ujjivan SFB, said, “He is a strategic retail banker with well-rounded experience in both the domestic and international markets. His expertise across the banking spectrum in creating and nurturing strong institutions, with the customer first, makes him the natural choice to lead Ujjivan into the future.”

Commenting on his appointment, Sanjeev Nautiyal said, “Ujjivan’s transformation from an NBFC-MFI to a highly successful bank makes it poised to chart new frontiers of financial and digital inclusion. I look forward to working with Team Ujjivan and all stakeholders.”

Recently, RBI also approved the appointment of Carol Furtado as Executive Director of the bank, with effect from May 1, 2024.

First print: May 4, 2024 | 1:58 p.m IST