Ratnakar ropes in Citi's Rana for COO, as Dhanlaxmi's Chaturvedi exits

Mumbai: Even as Dhanlaxmi Bank's CEO and managing director, Amitabh Chaturvedi, is reported to have resigned from the bank - whose problems only seem to be increasing, even as it struggles with major liquidity problems and unrest from a section of its union - over human resource policies, another small regional bank, Ratnakar Bank, is making small steady strides in strengthening its foundations - first and foremost by getting stalwarts of the banking industry to consolidate a strong base.

As news of Chaturvedi's exit started floating around, Ratnakar displayed, both, its audacity and aspirations, announcing the appointment of Joginder Singh Rana as its Chief Operations Officer (COO). The private sector bank with a strong regional footprint has been on the upscale for a while attracting many banking industry stalwarts into its fold.

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Rana is a 22-year stalwart from Citibank and will be responsible for the Bank's Operations & Administration functions. He will be based in the Mumbai office and will also spearhead the Bank's Operational Risk and Compliance framework.

[caption id="attachment_205139" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Ratnakar Bankis making small steady strides in strengthening its foundation by getting stalwarts of the banking industry."][/caption]

Commenting on the appointment, Managing Director & CEO of Ratnakar Bank, Vishwavir Ahuja, said, "I am truly delighted that these individuals have agreed to take on their respective roles. We know that they are not only a highly talented group and motivated team players but truly understand how to build a strong banking platform and lead people."

Ahuja said, the appointment is part of the bank's commitment to deliver the best banking services possible. "These appointments are a significant step forward in delivering our vision and underline, our commitment to the bank's transformation. They will join a highly experienced team across India that is committed to deliver best in banking services - a culture that has been proven to benefit our clients in all regions," he said.

Over the last couple of months the bank has seen the appointments of R Gurumurthy as Head of Corporate & Institutional Banking, who was previously heading Standard Chartered's Foreign Investment Strategic Coverage Group, and Tajinder Kumar who has joined Ratnakar as the head of Human Resources. Kumar's last corporate role was as Human Resources Director (Asia-Pacific Technology & Operations) at Deutsche Bank AG in Singapore.

Ahuja, himself an industry stalwart, joined Ratnakar Bank in July 2010, before which he was the MD, CEO and India Country Manager for Bank of America.