Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. announced that its board has hired consulting firm Egon Zehnder to lead a global search for a chief executive officer to succeed its founder Uday Kotak. According to the sources, Shanti Ekambaram and KVS Manian, group presidents and whole-time directors, are the internal candidates for the job. The board is expanding the search to ensure it finds suitable external candidates, they said, requesting anonymity.

Uday Kotak, who has been leading the bank since its inception as a non-banking financial institution in 1985, has a net worth of about USD 13.4 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The banker will transition from his CEO position by the end of next year, after central bank guidelines limited tenures for Indian business heads. Ekambaram, who joined Kotak Mahindra Bank in 1991, is now its highest-ranking woman.

She oversees several functions including online saving accounts business, treasury, public affairs and human resources, the bank's website shows. She continues to lead its consumer banking. Manian, who joined in 1995, is part of the group management council, heading wholesale banking and wealth management business.

He is responsible for investment bank and institutional equities businesses, the report added.