Egon Zehnder Retained by Bandhan Bank for CEO Search

April 23, 2024 – Financial services organizations, generally, are facing a new competitive landscape, regulatory challenges and a constant struggle to manage cost and efficiency. This requires strategic leaders, both men and women, with a multidimensional skill-set and competencies that often go above and beyond any typical job description. But there’s a big problem: In most countries, while women represent about half of the financial services industry, few of them reach leadership positions. That puts a number of top searches in a great vortex right from the start.
Like all financial institutions, banks continue to turn to executive recruitment firms to find new leaders. The recruiters, in turn, have been working to expand their candidate slates to include large numbers of women. The push for diversity is on, they say, and with it new pressures to produce candidates from a multitude of backgrounds, ethnicities, and genders to fill an ever expanding set of search assignments based on far more inclusive corporate agendas.
The latest search: Leadership advisory firm Egon Zehnder has been called in by Kolkata, India-headquartered Bandhan Bank. Chandra Shekhar Ghosh recently announced he would retire in July. Egon Zehnder has begun work to identify candidates for the top job at the bank, said a person familiar with the development. “The bank has hired Egon Zehnder for the CEO search. It will take some time before the agency gives its shortlist to the bank,” the person said.
“After leading the bank for almost a decade, including three consecutive tenures as CEO, I feel that the time has come for me to assume a larger strategic role at Bandhan group level,” Mr. Gosh said. “Hence, I have decided to retire from the services of Bandhan Bank at the end of my current tenure as CEO on July 9.”
Related: Egon Zehnder Recruits CEO for Blue Diamond Growers
Bandhan Bank is a banking and financial services company. It is present in 35 out of 36 states and union territories of India, with 6,250 banking outlets and 3.26 crore customers. Having received the universal banking license from the Reserve Bank of India, Bandhan Bank started operations on August 23, 2015, with 501 branches, 50 ATMs and 2,022 banking units.
Top 5 Search Firm
Egon Zehnder currently ranks as a Top 5 global executive search firm, according to Hunt Scanlon Media. With more than 500 consultants in 68 offices and 40 countries around the globe, Egon Zehnder works with public and private corporations, family-owned enterprises, and non-profit and government agencies to provide board advisory services, CEO and leadership succession planning, executive search and assessment, and leadership development solutions. Since 1964, the firm has been at the forefront of defining top leadership in the face of changing economic conditions as well as major transitions in the executive search field.
Egon Zehnder Recruits CFO for the NFL
After an intensive executive search, leadership advisory firm Egon Zehnder recently assisted in the recruitment of Christine Dorfler as the new chief financial officer of the National Football League. She replaces 31-year league veteran Joe Siclare, who served 11 years as CFO before taking on a more senior title in 2022.
Ms. Dorfler joins the NFL as league and team finances are reaching new heights due to media rights revenue increases, despite continuing concerns over economic headwinds in the tech and media sectors. Mr. Siclare will be expected to guide Ms. Dorfler, commissioner Roger Goodell wrote. According to sources, the NFL will “continue to benefit” from Mr. Siclare’s “extensive institutional knowledge and experience as he continues to play a critical role in providing support and guidance to Christine and the clubs for the foreseeable future.”
Egon Zehnder’s global wholesale and investment banking practice works closely with international and regional banks and advisory firms to address executive hiring needs and support strategic assessment and development of individual leaders and teams. It has more than 45 consultants worldwide who are serving clients in this sector, advising boards, CEOs and executives on industry-specific leadership strategies, and are career advisors to many top professionals in the industry.
Recent Assignment
Egon Zehnder recently assisted in the recruitment of Murray Auchincloss as the permanent CEO of BP. Mr. Auchincloss, who has been interim CEO since September 2023, will continue as a member of the BP board. His appointment has been made following a robust and competitive search process, carried out by the board over the past four months with support from Egon Zehnder. This included detailed consideration of a range of candidates, including external to BP. “Since September, BP’s board has undertaken a thorough and highly competitive process to identify BP’s next CEO, considering a number of high-caliber candidates in detail,” said Helge Lund, chair of BP. “The board is in complete agreement that Murray was the outstanding candidate and is the right leader for BP.”
“Many already know Murray well, and few know BP better than he does,” said Mr. Lund. “His assured leadership, focus on performance and delivery, and deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges in the energy transition will serve BP well as we continue our disciplined transformation to an integrated energy company.”
Related: Egon Zehnder Recruits CEO for Primedia Group
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor; Lily Fauver, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media