India-based Axis Bank, which is involved in sectors including wealth management, has appointed ICICI Group's Shikha Sharma as new managing director and chief executive, after the previous holder of these posts, PJ Nayak, quit in protest after being overruled by the bank's board, media reports said.

Ms Sharma, however, declined to comment on the decision of Mr Nayak, who expressed dissent to the board and decided to quit, ending his more than nine-year association with the private sector lender where his term would have come to an end on 31 July this year, reports said.

At a meeting held today in Mumbai, the board of directors of Axis Bank decided to appoint Ms Sharma, currently managing director and CEO of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance, as its new CEO and MD for a period of five years.

In a regulatory filing, the bank said that chairman and CEO, Mr Nayak dissented with the decision and informed the board that he was quitting the bank.

In October last year, Axis entered a joint venture with Europe’s Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild Europe to start a company providing investment management and wealth services in India.