SBI managing directors to look after their departments till new chief's appointment

State Bank of India (SBI) said on Tuesday that all four of its managing directors will continue to exercise their respective powers until the bank carries out the appointment of its new chairman.

"All managing directors will continue exercising their respective powers as managing director while the financial and administrative powers of the chairman shall be exercised with the approval of the board of directors or management committee of the bank," SBI, the country's largest lender, said in a statement.

The arrangement will continue till a chairman is appointed by the government, it said. The post of chairman fell vacant following the retirement of Pratip Chaudhuri on Monday.

On September 21, a government-appointed panel interviewed all the four SBI managing directors for the post of chairman. It is understood that Arundhati Bhattacharya is the front-runner.

(Read: SBI likely to get its first woman boss this week)

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by the Prime Minister, had recently suggested that all the four MDs should be called for the interview.

The ACC comprises of the Home Minister and the administrative ministry in-charge, which in this case is the Finance Ministry.

The ministry had sought exemption in regulatory guidelines so that more candidates could be interviewed for the SBI's top post.

As per the norms, a candidate for the chairman's post must have at least two years of service left before retirement to qualify for the interview. Going by this rule, only Ms Bhattacharya was eligible.

While Ms Bhattacharya, who was recently elevated as MD, will retire in March 2016, managing director A Krishna Kumar has one year and three months left before he retires in November next year.