New Delhi: Axis Bank CEO Shikha Sharma plans on cutting short her tenure by nearly two-and-a-half years.In a late evening notification to the stock exchanges, the private sector bank noted that Sharma had requested her board to “reconsider the period of her re-appointment as managing director and CEO of the bank be revised from 1st June 2018 up to 31st December 2018”.In December 2017, the bank announced that it had decided to re-appoint Sharma as managing director and CEO for a period of three years with effect from June 1, 2018. This meant that she would have continued on as the bank’s chief until June 2022.Now, if accepted by the central bank, she will step down at the end of this year.“The board has accepted her said request, subject to the approval of the RBI,” the notification added.Re-appointment and Axis woesIn 2017, media reports had noted how the bank’s board had hired Egon Zehnder to look for potential CEO candidates. However, it apparently ultimately decided against going for an outside person and granted Sharma a fourth term as CEO and MD.Last week, the Economic Times reported that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had asked the banks board to “reconsider the fourth three-year term” it gave Sharma in 2017.According to the report, the central bank sent a letter to chairman Sanjiv Misra and urged him to re-consider giving Sharma another term. The reasons provided included “the bank’s performance and its deteriorating asset quality”.“If the regulator does not consider her worthy as CEO for three years, why should they consider her for an additional six months,” banking analyst Hemindra Hazari told The Wire.Demonetisation, asset quality troublesSharma took over at Axis Bank in 2009. Since then, the bank has seen a period of better-than-average growth, but has also played host to a number of concerning issues.As The Wire has documented and reported, the last few years have seen a marked slump in asset quality at the bank.While the ‘corporate lending watch list’ it released in 2016 was useful, it indicated that more than 60% of the list’s loans could become non-performing in a short period.In late 2016, The Wire also reported how the bank had sidelined its chief risk officer, in a development and new reporting structure that allowed for the creation of conflict of interest.Demonetisation brought different but equally concerning problems to Axis Bank’s front-door, with authorities allegedly unearthing more than Rs 100 crore in money laundering happening at the bank. Two employees were arrested and 19 more were suspended.