According to reports from The Economic Times, HDFC Bank has appointed Puneet Sharma as its new Chief Financial Officer and Jigar Shah as General Counsel, with both appointments effective December 1, 2026. The Board of Directors approved these appointments at its meeting held on June 29, 2026, based on the recommendations of the Audit Committee and Governance, Nomination and Remuneration Committee. Sharma will serve as CFO-Designate from September 1, 2026, before officially taking charge as CFO on December 1, 2026, while Shah will be General Counsel-Designate from August 20, 2026, serving as General Counsel from October 1, 2026. Both appointees will be part of the bank's Senior Management Personnel from their respective dates of joining as designates.
As reported by The Economic Times, Sharma brings over 26 years of experience in banking, financial services, and strategy, previously serving as Group Executive and CFO of Axis Bank Limited and CFO at Tata Capital Limited. He is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Post Graduate Programme in Management from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. Shah possesses over three decades of experience in legal, compliance, governance, and regulatory matters within the banking and financial services sector. His extensive career includes multiple roles at Deutsche Bank across various jurisdictions, including as head of corporate banking and securities for India, and in 2013, he joined JPMorgan Chase & Co. as managing director and head of legal for India, subsequently joining KKR in 2018 where he served as managing director and head of legal & compliance, also becoming a member of the India Leadership Team. Both appointees meet the qualifications prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India (Commercial Banks - Governance) Directions, 2025, for their respective roles.
According to the bank's regulatory filing reported by The Economic Times, Sharma has been associated with Elmcroft Consulting Services, where he led complex asset workout, restructuring and recovery mandates for a leading NBFC platform. He also served as Whole-Time Executive Director and Business Leader for KKR India Financial Services. The bank emphasized that Shah has over three decades of experience across legal, compliance, governance and regulatory matters in the banking and financial services sector. Upon assuming office, Sharma will be designated as a Key Managerial Person under Section 203 of the Companies Act, 2013, and both appointees will be designated as Senior Management Personnel from their respective joining dates. The appointments were disclosed to the exchanges under Regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.
This strategic appointment of former KKR Managing Director Jigar Shah as General Counsel-Designate highlights HDFC Bank's commitment to strengthening its legal team with experienced leadership. As reported by The Economic Times, Shah's extensive background in finance could influence the bank's legal strategies moving forward, bringing valuable insights from his diverse experience across multiple financial institutions. The appointments reflect the banking sector's ongoing trend of major financial institutions strengthening their legal and compliance leadership teams, with HDFC Bank's move being particularly significant given the comprehensive nature of these dual appointments. Shah's current role as Managing Director and Head of Compliance at a local subsidiary of bulge-bracket private equity firm KKR demonstrates his continued involvement in the financial services sector, while his LLB (Hons.) from the University of Leicester, United Kingdom, and admission as a Solicitor in England and Wales adds international legal expertise to the bank's governance framework.
According to The Economic Times, HDFC Bank has also appointed former Finance Secretary Rajiv Kumar as its next Part-time Chairman, subject to approval from the Reserve Bank of India. Kumar will succeed Keki Mistry, who took over on an interim basis after Atanu Chakraborty exited in March 2026. The appointment brings a key architect of India's banking sector clean-up to the board, as Kumar led major reforms including Public Sector Bank consolidation, bank recapitalisation and the NPA resolution framework. Kumar's extensive experience in banking sector reforms adds significant governance expertise to the bank's leadership structure, complementing the strategic appointments of Sharma and Shah in key financial and legal roles.
