Management change in ICICI in May under Kochar

Mumbai, Dec 19 (IANS) ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank, will see structural changes in its management next May, chief executive-designate Chanda Kochar said here Friday.

'There would be no changes in the management for now. But there will be some structural changes in the management in May. We have a strong process of corporate governance and will select candidates accordingly,' she said at a media briefing.

Kochar will take over from K.V. Kamath May 1, 2009. Kamath, chief executive since 1996, will become non-executive chairman replacing N. Vaghul.

It is not going to be a smooth ride for the high-flying executive of one of the biggest lenders in the country as Indian grapples with the current meltdown.

However, Kochar said that the global slowdown and high interest rate would not have much of an impact on the credit quality of the bank's loan portfolio, which was growing between 5 to 10 percent in 2008-09.

Kamath, also present at the media briefing, said he was optimistic about the overall financial scenario. 'We will see an environment of single-digit lending rates and double-digit growth about a year from now,' he said.