Quick Take :
- New CCO: Abhilash Ankathil — former executive/counsel at Reserve Bank of India
- Company: Fino Payments Bank (FSN listed fintech; India’s first Payments Bank to get SFB in-principle approval)
- Effective: April 6, 2026 | Tenure: 3 years
- Replacing: Aashish Pathak — resigned March 13, 2026; last day March 31
- Mandate: Rebuild compliance infrastructure; steer SFB conversion; manage post-CEO-arrest regulatory scrutiny
- Q4 FY26 Context: ~7 Lakh new accounts in Q4; total CASA base ~1.75 Cr; record deposits Rs 2,900 Cr
Fino Payments Bank has appointed Abhilash Ankathil, a former counsel and executive at the Reserve Bank of India, as its new Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) for a three-year term beginning April 6, 2026. The board-approved appointment fills a critical gap created when previous CCO Aashish Pathak resigned on March 13, citing personal reasons, with his last working day on March 31.
The timing is deliberate and the profile is pointed: Ankathil’s RBI background gives Fino direct regulatory intelligence at a moment when the bank is simultaneously navigating a CEO governance crisis, an RBI ‘fit and proper’ review of MD Rishi Gupta, and a race against the clock to complete its conversion from a Payments Bank to a Small Finance Bank within the RBI’s 18-month window.
StartupFeed Insight
What this signals: Fino is not hiring a compliance box-ticker. An ex-RBI executive as CCO is the clearest possible signal that the board is prioritising regulator relationship management above everything else — a rational response to a moment when the SFB conversion license is both its greatest opportunity and its biggest vulnerability.
What’s improving:
– Record Rs 2,900 Cr deposits hit in mid-March 2026, despite CEO arrest turbulence — customer trust in the institution is holding
– Q4 FY26 referral loan disbursements (~Rs 630 Cr) are 90% of the full 9-month FY26 total — credit distribution momentum is accelerating, not stalling
– New account additions (~7 Lakh in Q4) continued, taking total CASA base to ~1.75 Cr despite leadership disruption
What’s concerning:
– The CCO seat was vacant for nearly one week (March 31 – April 6) at precisely the moment the bank needs airtight compliance for its SFB application
– Q3 FY26 revenue fell 15% YoY due to regulatory changes in domestic remittance and micro ATM revenue models — the PAT drop of 47% YoY signals the income model is in transition, not yet restabilised
– Interim CEO Ketan Merchant’s 3-month RBI term expires around May 27, 2026 — another leadership decision looms in weeks
Our prediction: Ankathil’s appointment will accelerate RBI confidence in the SFB transition process. We expect the bank to clear the ‘fit and proper’ compliance hurdle for its SFB application by Q2 FY27. ICRA’s rating watch outcome will be the near-term market signal to watch — a stable outcome would re-rate the stock from its post-arrest lows.Profile: Abhilash Ankathil
| Aspect | Details |
| Name | Abhilash Ankathil |
| New Role | Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), Fino Payments Bank |
| Effective Date | April 6, 2026 |
| Tenure | 3 years (April 6, 2026 – April 5, 2029) |
| Previous Background | Former executive / counsel at Reserve Bank of India (RBI) |
| Replacing | Aashish Pathak (resigned March 13, 2026; last day March 31, 2026) |
| Appointment By | Fino Payments Bank Board of Directors |
| Mandate | Rebuild compliance framework; support SFB conversion; manage heightened RBI regulatory scrutiny post-CEO arrest |
Ankathil brings the single most valuable credential a bank navigating intense RBI scrutiny can hire: direct regulatory experience from inside the central bank itself. Former RBI executives understand how the regulator thinks, what documentation it prioritises, how it reads compliance filings, and where it focuses its examination energy. For a bank mid-conversion to SFB status and under active scrutiny, this profile is not a nice-to-have — it is a strategic necessity.
Why Now — The Context Behind the Appointment
Fino Payments Bank has been navigating one of the most complex six-week periods in its history. The sequence of events since late February 2026 has tested the institution’s governance framework at every level:
- February 27, 2026: MD & CEO Rishi Gupta arrested in a GST-related probe. The bank’s board immediately tasked CFO Ketan Merchant with day-to-day leadership.
- March 6, 2026: RBI approved Merchant’s appointment as Interim CEO for 3 months — the regulator moved quickly to ensure operational continuity.
- March 10, 2026: ICRA placed Fino Payments Bank’s credit rating on watch following the CEO’s arrest — a standard response to leadership uncertainty at a regulated financial institution.
- March 13, 2026: CCO Aashish Pathak resigned, citing personal reasons. This removed Fino’s most critical regulatory interface role at the worst possible time.
- March 31, 2026: Pathak’s last working day. The bank entered April without a permanent CCO.
- April 6, 2026: Abhilash Ankathil appointed as CCO for 3 years. The compliance seat is filled — from the highest-quality pipeline available.
The speed of the CCO replacement — just 6 days after Pathak’s exit — suggests the bank had already identified Ankathil as a candidate before the resignation formally closed. The 3-year tenure also signals this is not a stop-gap hire: Fino is backing Ankathil to lead the compliance function through the entire SFB transition and into the first years of its operation as a small finance bank.
Fino’s Leadership Landscape — April 2026
| Leader | Role | Status |
| Rishi Gupta | MD & CEO (founder-era leader) | Arrested in GST probe (Feb 2026); RBI ‘fit and proper’ status under review; bail granted; NRC reassessment pending |
| Ketan Merchant | Interim CEO (also CFO) | RBI-approved from Feb 27, 2026 for 3 months; leading operations and SFB transition |
| Aashish Pathak | Former CCO / Principal Officer | Resigned March 13, 2026; last working day March 31, 2026. Cited personal reasons. |
| Abhilash Ankathil | New CCO (Ex-RBI) | Effective April 6, 2026. 3-year term. Board-approved. Regulatory expert hire to stabilise compliance. |
The single most urgent governance question for Fino’s board is what happens after Merchant’s interim CEO term expires in late May 2026. If Rishi Gupta’s ‘fit and proper’ status is not cleared by then, the board must either seek another RBI-approved extension or identify a permanent successor. The compliance and leadership stability that Ankathil’s appointment signals will be critical to managing RBI confidence through that next decision.
Q4 FY26 Business Metrics — Operations Holding
| Metric | Q3 FY26 | Q4 FY26 | Signal |
| New Accounts Added | 8.7 Lakh | ~7 Lakh | Slight moderation; CEO crisis impact |
| Total Customer Base (CASA) | 1.68 Cr | ~1.75 Cr | Sequential growth continues despite leadership disruption |
| Total Deposits | Rs 2,496 Cr (avg) | Rs 2,900 Cr+ (record) | Record high hit mid-March 2026; customer trust holding |
| Referral Loan Disbursements (Q4) | Part of Rs 700 Cr (9M) | ~Rs 630 Cr (est.) | 90% of full 9-month total in one quarter; strong rural demand |
| Full Year FY26 Referral Loans | — | ~Rs 1,300 Cr | Target on track; credit distribution momentum intact |
| Merchant Network | 20 Lakh+ | 20 Lakh+ | Covering 97% of India’s pin codes |
The most telling Q4 FY26 number is the deposit figure. Despite the CEO’s arrest in late February, Fino’s total deposit balance hit an all-time high of Rs 2,900 Cr as of March 13, 2026 — a 9% jump in just two weeks. Approximately 1.5 lakh new accounts were opened between February 27 and mid-March, at a daily pace of roughly 10,000 new accounts.
This tells a specific story: Fino’s customers operate at the grassroots level — rural and semi-urban India, often with limited access to alternative banking — and their relationship is with the Fino merchant network, not the CEO. The leadership crisis at the top has not percolated down to ground-level customer trust.
Financial Snapshot — Historical Context
| Metric | FY24 | FY25 | Q3 FY26 |
| Revenue from Operations | Rs 1,478 Cr | Rs 1,847 Cr | Rs 394 Cr |
| Revenue Growth YoY | +20% | +25% | –15% (reg. impact) |
| EBITDA | Rs 191 Cr | N/A | Rs 63.9 Cr |
| EBITDA Margin | ~13% | N/A | 16.2% of Rev |
| PAT | Rs 86 Cr | N/A | Rs 12.2 Cr* |
| Customer Base (CASA) | ~1.0 Cr | 1.43 Cr | 1.68 Cr |
| Avg Deposits | N/A | Rs 1,849 Cr | Rs 2,496 Cr |
| Annual Throughput | Rs 3.6 L Cr | Rs 4.6 L Cr | N/A |
Q3 FY26 PAT decline includes a one-time impact of Rs 3.1 Cr from the new labour code implementation. Adjusted PAT was approximately Rs 15.3 Cr.
The revenue headwind from regulatory changes in Fino’s legacy domestic remittance (DMT) and micro ATM business is real — and was already underway before the leadership crisis. The business model transition toward CASA renewal income, referral lending, and digital UPI is progressing but not yet at the revenue scale to fully replace the shortfall. FY25 revenue of Rs 1,847 Cr grew 25% YoY; FY26 is unlikely to match that growth rate given Q3’s decline.
The SFB Conversion — Why the CCO Appointment Matters Most
In December 2025, the RBI granted Fino Payments Bank an in-principle approval to convert into a Small Finance Bank — making it the first payments bank in India to receive this approval. The bank has an 18-month window from that date to complete the conversion and receive a final SFB license.
An SFB license is transformational for Fino. It would allow the bank to begin lending directly — generating net interest income on its balance sheet, not just fee-based referral income. Combined with Fino’s Rs 2,900 Cr deposit base (acquired at a cost of funds of just 1.9%), the lending margin opportunity is significant: low-cost liabilities + new lending capability = a materially different business model.
But the RBI will not grant a final SFB license to a bank with a compliance vacuum, a CEO under investigation, and a governance structure under active review. Ankathil’s appointment is the bank’s most important SFB transition action since receiving the in-principle approval. A credible, experienced CCO signals to the regulator that Fino has the institutional capacity to operate as an SFB — not just the business model for it.
Key Risks and Mitigants — Investor Watch List
| Risk | Detail | Mitigant / Watch |
| CEO Leadership Vacuum | Rishi Gupta under RBI ‘fit & proper’ review; interim CEO term (3 months from Feb 27) expires May 2026 | Ketan Merchant leading operations; RBI to take final view soon |
| Compliance Gap | CCO Aashish Pathak resigned March 13; Fino had no permanent CCO for ~3 weeks ahead of SFB transition | Ankathil appointment effective April 6 closes the gap; ex-RBI profile provides regulatory credibility |
| SFB Conversion Timeline | 18-month window from Dec 2025 in-principle approval; leadership crisis adds execution risk | Bank says transition focused and on track; compliance rebuild is critical milestone |
| Credit Rating Watch | ICRA placed rating on watch following CEO’s arrest in March 2026 | Stable operations and record deposits are positive signals; rating review outcome pending |
| Revenue Headwinds | Q3 FY26 revenue fell 15% YoY due to regulatory changes in AePS and micro ATM business models | CASA renewal income, referral lending, and digital UPI volumes providing offsets |
What’s Next
The next 60 days are the most consequential in Fino Payments Bank’s history. The RBI will need to take a view on Rishi Gupta’s ‘fit and proper’ status — either clearing him to resume as CEO, or effectively ending his tenure at the bank. Ketan Merchant’s interim appointment expires around May 27, 2026, adding a hard deadline to the process.
Simultaneously, Fino must demonstrate to the RBI that its compliance and governance infrastructure is SFB-ready. With Ankathil now in the CCO seat, the bank has the right profile in place. Whether his first weeks on the job are spent firefighting or building is a function of how quickly the CEO situation resolves.
ICRA’s credit rating review outcome — expected in the coming weeks — will be the first external signal of how the market and rating agencies view Fino’s governance recovery. A stable rating outcome would likely trigger a partial stock recovery from the ~16% decline seen in the week following Gupta’s arrest.
StartupFeed prediction: Ankathil will file his first compliance report with the RBI board within 60 days, signalling operational stability. Fino will complete the SFB final license application by Q3 FY27, ahead of the 18-month window deadline. The CEO question will be resolved — one way or another — before June 30, 2026.
What do you think? Will Fino’s SFB conversion stay on track amid the governance turbulence? Share your view on X @StartupFeed_official
