MUMBAI, Oct 21 (Reuters) - India's central bank has approved the appointment of veteran banker Ashok Vaswani as managing director and chief executive of Kotak Mahindra Bank (KTKM.NS), the private lender said in an exchange filing on Saturday. Vaswani's appointment comes after billionaire Uday Kotak, who founded Kotak Mahindra Bank, resigned as the MD and CEO last month in a surprise move, citing personal reasons. Dipak Gupta, currently the managing director and CEO, will carry out the chief executive duties until Dec. 31, the bank had said last month. "I am delighted that the RBI has approved our recommendation, Ashok Vaswani, as the next CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank," Kotak said in the filing, describing him as a "world class leader" with digital and customer focus. KVS Manian and Shanti Ekambaram, the two most senior bankers at Kotak Mahindra Bank, will remain on the board and keep their current roles, Gupta added.

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Persons: Ashok Vaswani, Vaswani, Vaswani's, Uday Kotak, Dipak Gupta, Kotak, Gupta, KVS Manian, Shanti Ekambaram, Siddhi Nayak, Ira Dugal, William Mallard Organizations: Kotak Mahindra Bank, Citigroup Asia Pacific, Barclays, Reserve Bank of India, Kotak, Siddhi, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI