The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the reappointment of N. S. Vishwanathan as Non-Executive Chairman of Axis Bank for a further three-year term, running from 27 October 2026 to 26 October 2029, Axis Bank has confirmed. The approval was communicated in an RBI letter dated 7 July 2026, the bank said in a stock-exchange filing the same day.
The extension is subject to shareholder reappointment of Vishwanathan as an Independent Director at the bank's annual general meeting scheduled for 31 July 2026. He has been chairman since 27 October 2023.
RBI APPROVAL AND AGM STEP
The board approved the reappointment on 25 April 2026, subject to the approval of shareholders and the RBI.
The 31 July 2026 shareholder meeting will need to reappoint Vishwanathan as an Independent Director in order for the RBI-approved chairmanship to take effect.
BACKGROUND AND BANK GOVERNANCE
Vishwanathan has been chairman of Axis Bank, India's third-largest private-sector lender, since 27 October 2023. He was previously a Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, from 2016 until March 2020.
From August 2017 he was in charge of the RBI's banking supervision, non-banking supervision and co-operative banking supervision departments.
The bank said in its filing that the proposals for his reappointment as Non-Executive (Part-time) Chairman and as an Independent Director already form part of the notice of the 32nd AGM, dated 25 April 2026.
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