Axis Bank's Chief Financial Officer Puneet Sharma has resigned after more than six years of service, with the bank announcing his departure in a regulatory filing dated June 28, 2026. Sharma tendered his resignation on Sunday and will be relieved from the bank's services at the close of business on August 31, 2026, and will cease to be a key managerial personnel and part of the senior management of the bank with effect from that date, as confirmed by the latest regulatory filing. The bank has not announced a successor to replace him, leaving the finance function leadership position vacant during this transition period. This resignation coincided with Bandhan Bank's CFO Rajeev Mantri also resigning within an hour, each citing career growth reasons, as reported by Business Standard. The timing of these back-to-back exits at the closing business hours of the last Monday of Q1 FY2026-27 has fueled speculation of an industry-wide leadership reshuffle.
Sharma has been serving as Axis Bank's Group Head and Chief Financial Officer since March 2020, overseeing the lender's finance, legal, and investor relations functions. According to the bank's website, he has been responsible for overseeing the bank's finance function, as well as legal, secretarial, investor relations and procurement functions. Before joining Axis Bank, Sharma spent 12 years at Tata Capital, where he served as Group Chief Financial Officer from 2014. Earlier in his career, Sharma held roles at Citibank N.A. spanning treasury operations, structured cash solutions and risk monitoring, and worked as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group. A qualified Chartered Accountant, Sharma is an alumnus of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. At Axis Bank, Sharma was also a nominee director on the boards of Axis Finance Ltd and Axis Securities Ltd.
In his resignation letter to Axis Bank's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Chaudhry, Sharma stated he had largely achieved the objectives he set when taking over as CFO more than six years ago. He wrote that his core mandate was to build a strong team with deep functional strength, robust financial controls and reporting discipline, incorporate prudent financial practices, build a resilient balance sheet and improve shareholder trust. Sharma emphasized that these objectives have largely been completed, stating it has been professionally and personally fulfilling to successfully work with the bank's legal team, secretariat, corporate real estate, and administration functions and serve on the bank's subsidiaries. He remains fully committed to ensuring a seamless and responsible handover of his duties and will step down from the board of the subsidiary in due course before the effective date of his resignation. The bank has placed on record its appreciation for Sharma's contribution during his tenure and wishes him the very best in his future endeavours.
Separately, Axis Bank's board approved several key reappointments alongside the CFO transition. The board approved the reappointment of CH S S Mallikarjun Rao as an independent director for a second term of four years from February 1, 2027 to January 31, 2031, subject to shareholder approval. Additionally, the board approved the reappointment of Munish Sharda as whole-time director, designated as executive director, for a further three-year term from February 27, 2027 to February 26, 2030, subject to approvals from the Reserve Bank of India and shareholders. The bank clarified that neither Mallikarjun Rao nor Sharda has been debarred by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) or any other statutory authority from holding the office of director.
Shares of Axis Bank closed 1.48% lower at ₹1,356.80 per unit on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, June 29, following the CFO announcement, according to latest market data. The market reaction reflects investor concerns about the leadership transition and the absence of a successor announcement. The significant decline suggests market uncertainty about the bank's financial leadership continuity during this transition period. However, the stock has shown resilience with a 1% gain in the past week and 6% over the month, and has risen 7% on a year-to-date basis. The stock hit a 52-week high of ₹1,418.30 on February 3, 2026, and touched a year's low of ₹1,042.50 on August 29, 2025. Axis Bank has a total market capitalisation of ₹4.25 lakh crore as of June 29, 2026, according to NSE data. Meanwhile, Bandhan Bank's CFO Rajeev Mantri's last working day is September 25, 2026, as reported by Business Standard.
