Mumbai, Sep 9 (IANS): Lending major Axis Bank's long serving Chief Executive and Managing Director Shikha Sharma's reign will come to an end on December 31, 2018 and she will be succeeded by Amitabh Chaudhry.

On Saturday, the bank announced that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Chaudhry for a period of 3 years, with effect from January 1, 2019 up to December 31, 2021.

Sharma has served as the bank's Managing Director and CEO for around 9 years. In this period, she has been credited with the bank's next stage of growth.

However, the rise in the bank's NPA levels became a major cause of concern during her tenure.

The incoming Chief Executive and Managing Director of the lending major, Chaudhry, 54, is the Managing Director and CEO of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company.

In April, the lending major had commenced the "succession process to appoint a new Managing Director and CEO".

The company' Board had appointed Egon Zehnder, a global leadership advisory firm, to conduct the succession process and evaluate candidates.

On April 9, Axis Bank accepted Sharma's request to be re-appointed for a shorter duration of time, subject to regulatory approval.

Sharma had requested to be on a revised re-appointed period from June 1, 2018 up to December 31, 2018.

The board had earlier decided to re-appoint Sharma for a period of 3 years from June 1, 2018, subject to approvals.