ICICI Bank has strengthened its board with the appointment of Ashwani Bhatia, former Whole-Time Member of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and ex-Managing Director of State Bank of India (SBI), as an Independent Director.
The appointment, approved by ICICI Bank’s Board of Directors on June 1, is for a five-year term running from June 1, 2026, to May 31, 2031, subject to shareholder approval.
The move brings one of India’s most experienced banking and financial markets professionals to the board of the country’s second-largest private sector lender. Bhatia has more than 40 years of experience spanning banking, treasury operations, investment banking, retail banking, credit and asset management.
Most recently, he served as a Whole-Time Member at SEBI between June 2022 and May 2025, overseeing critical departments including Debt and Hybrid Securities, Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs), Market Intermediaries Regulation and Supervision, and Investor Assistance and Education.
His regulatory background comes at a time when banks are navigating increasingly complex compliance, governance and capital market environments.
Before joining SEBI, Bhatia spent nearly 37 years with the State Bank Group, beginning his career as a Probationary Officer in 1985.
Over the course of his career, he rose through the ranks to become Managing Director of SBI, one of the highest positions within India’s largest public sector bank. Before that, he also served as Managing Director and CEO of SBI Funds Management Limited, giving him deep expertise across both banking and investment management.
In its filing, ICICI Bank stated that Bhatia has been appointed as an Additional (Independent) Director and confirmed that he is not related to any director of the bank and is not debarred from holding the office of director by SEBI or any other authority.
