HDFC Bank chief Anup Bagchi will be India's highest-paid bank CEO when he takes charge at the end of October, with an annual compensation of about $3.7 million, regulatory disclosures showed.
Bagchi, a veteran banker who spent nearly three decades with the ICICI Bank group, is slated to lead India's largest private lender following the departure of Sashidhar Jagdishan in one of the most closely watched leadership transitions in India's banking sector.
The proposed annual remuneration comprises a fixed pay of 89 million rupees and a performance-linked variable pay of up to 269 million rupees, of which 88.8 million rupees will be in cash and 180.4 million rupees in share-linked instruments.
HDFC Bank has proposed paying Bagchi a one-time joining bonus of 73.5 million rupees in restricted stock units and stock options. Including the bonus, Bagchi's total potential compensation linked to his appointment in the first year could reach about 432.4 million rupees.
India's central bank has approved Bagchi's compensation package, though it still needs approval from shareholders, who are voting in a postal ballot that closes on November 6.
The proposed package puts Bagchi ahead of peers at other major lenders and above his predecessor Jagdishan, whose remuneration stood at 151.3 million rupees. It also exceeds the 193.4 million rupees earned by Kotak Mahindra Bank CEO Ashok Vaswani.
A large portion of the compensation is tied to Bagchi's performance and stock-linked awards, meaning the final outcome could vary.
Bagchi takes over at a time when HDFC Bank is navigating governance-related scrutiny and facing a slowdown in growth after its merger with former parent HDFC.
