Manappuram Appoints Sanjay Nambiar as Group Counsel & Ashish Chandak as Compliance Chief

Valapad, Kerala, Dec 9:Manappuram Finance Ltd today announced two significant additions to its senior leadership team with the appointments of Mr Sanjay Nambiar as Group General Counsel and Mr Ashish N. Chandak as Group Chief Compliance Officer (Group–CCO). Both appointments are effective immediately.

These strategic inductions reinforce the Company’s continued commitment to strong governance, robust compliance, and the highest ethical standards across all business verticals.

Mr Nambiar brings 31 years of legal experience, including over 25 years in the banking and financial services sector. His career began as an advocate at the Calicut Bar Association and the Kerala High Court, where he built deep expertise across multiple legal domains.

He has held leadership roles at several important institutions, including:

Most recently, Mr Nambiar served as Group General Counsel at YES Bank, leading a team of 80 legal professionals and advising the Board on complex legal, regulatory, and governance matters.

He holds a BA, LLB, and LLM from Government Law College, Calicut, and has completed a Senior Management Programme at IIM Kozhikode. Widely respected for his expertise in banking regulation and corporate governance, he played an important role in navigating major legal challenges, including the reconstruction of YES Bank.

A respected thought leader within the industry, Mr Nambiar has been a prominent speaker at numerous banking and legal forums, sharing insights on key regulatory issues and industry trends. In his new position, he will play a pivotal role in formulating the NBFC’s legal strategies and ensuring the highest standards of corporate governance and compliance.

Mr Chandak joins the Manappuram Group as Group Chief Compliance Officer, bringing nearly three decades of extensive experience across the BFSI sector in Business Development, Credit Risk, Advisory, Governance, Compliance, AML, and Fraud Risk Management.

He previously served as Chief Compliance Officer at YES Bank during its critical post-reconstruction phase, where he strengthened the Bank’s compliance and governance framework.

His diverse experience includes:

In his most recent assignment, he headed the Fraud Risk Management function at YES Bank, managing a team of nearly 400 professionals to mitigate fraud risks across the institution.

Mr Chandak is also a respected industry trainer and speaker, having conducted advanced programmes on Risk, Compliance, the SPARC Framework, and Project Finance Modelling. He has represented India at major global industry forums, including IMARC in Melbourne, and has spoken extensively on AI/ML applications in Governance, Risk, and Compliance.

An academic gold medallist in both Engineering and Management from the M.S. University of Baroda, he is also an avid endurance athlete who has completed the Comrades Ultramarathon in South Africa and several other international marathons.

His deep expertise, leadership acumen, and forward-looking perspective will be instrumental in strengthening Manappuram’s compliance, risk, and governance framework and in supporting the Board’s long-term vision.

Commenting on the appointments, Mr V.P. Nandakumar, Chairman and Managing Director of Manappuram Finance Ltd, said;
“These appointments reflect Manappuram’s strategic focus on building a world-class leadership team. The combined expertise of Mr Nambiar and Mr Chandak in legal strategy, compliance, risk, and governance will significantly strengthen our organisational framework and support our long-term vision.”