The Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL) has announced the appointment of Mr. M. Rajeshwar Rao as Independent Director and Non-Executive Chairman, marking a significant leadership transition at the country’s systemically important financial market infrastructure institution. He succeeds Mr. R. Gandhi, who recently retired as Chairman of CCIL.
Mr. Rao brings over four decades of experience at the Reserve Bank of India, with deep expertise spanning regulation, financial markets, enforcement and institutional risk oversight. In his most recent role as Deputy Governor of the RBI, he provided strategic direction to critical functions including Regulation, Enforcement, Legal Affairs and Risk Monitoring, playing a central role in strengthening the resilience and governance of India’s financial system.
Earlier, as Executive Director at the RBI, Mr. Rao oversaw key departments such as Financial Markets Operations, International Department and Internal Debt Management, giving him hands-on exposure to market infrastructure, sovereign debt operations and global financial engagement.
His appointment places him among a distinguished lineage of CCIL Chairpersons, following the leadership of Dr. R. H. Patil, Mrs. Shyamala Gopinath, Mrs. Usha Thorat and Mr. R. Gandhi. The move is widely viewed as reinforcing CCIL’s governance framework and strategic continuity at a time when financial market infrastructure faces growing complexity, regulatory scrutiny and systemic risk considerations.
From a risk-awareness perspective, Mr. M. Rajeshwar Rao’s long stewardship as Deputy Governor of the RBI reflects a career spent strengthening regulatory vigilance, enforcement discipline and systemic resilience at the highest levels of India’s financial architecture.
His transition to CCIL underscores the growing imperative for market infrastructure institutions to be led by leaders who have not merely observed risk but have actively governed it through multiple economic and market cycles.
