IndusInd Bank Appoints New Internal Audit Head Months After Massive Accounting Discrepancy Row

IndusInd Bank Ltd. has appointed Pragati Gondhalekar as the head of internal audit, and senior management personnel with immediate effect, according to an exchange filing on Monday.

The appointment comes months after a massive accounting discrepancy row hit the private lender, which adversely impacted its finances, raised cloud over leadership and eroded trust.

Gondhalekar has 27 years of experience of global audit and consulting within the financial service sector, according to the exchange filing. Prior to this, she served as the country head, group audit - India at Deutsche Bank and has held leadership roles at L&T Financial Services, PwC and other organisations.

She has expertise in strategic audit leadership, regulatory compliance, risk management, digital transformation, and board governance.

Gondhalekar's appointment comes days after IndusInd Bank shareholders approved Rajiv Anand as the lender's chief executive officer and managing director for a three-year term. Last month, the Reserve Bank of India and the lender's board had approved his appointment.

IndusInd Bank also plans to fill key management positions, including those of treasury head, chief financial officer as these roles have remained vacant in recent months due to resignations and upcoming retirements, and the bank has mandated headhunting firms to identify candidates.

The bank is also working to address governance and control gaps. In March, it disclosed a Rs 2,000-crore loss linked to a derivatives accounting portfolio. Then managing director and CEO Sumant Kathpalia and former deputy CEO Arun Khurana said the matter had been under review since October 2024.

However, subsequent findings suggested that both executives had allegedly been aware of the issue for a longer period. They stepped down from their roles in April.

The bank also uncovered significant accounting issues in its microfinance portfolio, resulting in further losses. For the quarter ended in March, IndusInd reported its biggest-ever quarterly loss of Rs 2,329 crore. In the June quarter, it returned to profitability, posting a net profit of Rs 604 crore after adjusting for one-time charges.