Brands
Ram Krishnan named CEO of PepsiCo North America
MUMBAI: PepsiCo has tapped long-serving executive Ram Krishnan as chief executive officer of PepsiCo North America, handing him the keys to its most influential market as the company fine-tunes its organisation for the next phase of growth.
Effective December 28, 2025, Krishnan will oversee PepsiCo’s North America operations, with a clear brief to bring the company’s Foods and Beverages businesses closer together. The goal is simple in theory and ambitious in practice: sharper integration, faster decisions and a closer match between what consumers want and what customers need.
For PepsiCo, the appointment is as much about continuity as it is about change. Krishnan has spent nearly two decades inside the company, rising through the ranks with a career that reads like a tour of PepsiCo’s global engine room. Most recently, he served as CEO of PepsiCo Beverages U.S., following senior leadership roles that included CEO of International Beverages and chief commercial officer.
His experience stretches across continents and functions. As CEO for Asia Pacific, based in Shanghai, he helped steer the company through fast-growing and highly competitive markets. Earlier, he shaped global commercial strategy as PepsiCo’s global chief commercial officer, blending marketing, sales and customer insight at scale.
Before that, Krishnan built a reputation at Frito-Lay North America, where he held senior marketing and customer leadership roles, combining data-driven thinking with brand storytelling. Prior to joining PepsiCo, he cut his teeth at General Motors and Cadillac, gaining experience across consulting, product development and marketing.
Beyond PepsiCo, Krishnan also brings boardroom perspective. He serves on the board of directors of Tractor Supply Company, where he currently sits on the Compensation Committee and previously contributed as an Audit Committee member.
With North America remaining PepsiCo’s largest and most strategically critical region, the company is betting that a seasoned insider with global vision and local muscle can keep the snacks and sips giant firmly in step with changing tastes. For Krishnan, it is a homecoming of sorts, and for PepsiCo, a signal that the next chapter will be written by someone who already knows the plot inside out.
Brands
Reserve Bank of India cancels Paytm Payments Bank licence
Central bank cites compliance failures; curbs tighten as wind-up looms
MUMBAI: India’s banking watchdog delivered its sharpest blow yet to Paytm Payments Bank, cancelling its licence and effectively ending its ability to operate as a bank under the law.
The Reserve Bank of India said the entity can no longer conduct banking business under the Banking Regulation Act, citing concerns that its affairs were not being run in the interest of depositors or the public and that it had failed to meet licence conditions.
The move escalates a crackdown that has been building for months. The bank had already been barred from onboarding new customers since March 11, 2022, and later faced restrictions on deposits, credit and wallet top-ups. In January 2024, the central bank ordered it to stop accepting fresh deposits, pointing to persistent non-compliance, including lapses in customer due diligence, use of funds and technology systems.
Operationally, the bank is now on a tight leash. It may process withdrawals of existing deposits and facilitate loan referrals through banking correspondents, but it cannot take fresh deposits.
The central bank said it would apply to the high court to wind up the bank.
Paytm sought to ringfence the fallout. In a regulatory filing, it said the licence cancellation applies to Paytm Payments Bank Limited, a separate entity, and should not be attributed to One 97 Communications. It added that there is no exposure or material business arrangement with the bank and that it operates independently, without Paytm’s board or management involvement.
“As informed earlier, Paytm (One 97 Communications Limited) and its services, which have been operating without interruption, will continue to operate uninterrupted. These include the Paytm app, Paytm UPI, Paytm Gold and all other services offered by its subsidiaries and associated companies,” the company said.
The distinction may reassure users of the app ecosystem, but the regulator’s verdict is unequivocal. After years of warnings, caps and curbs, the payments bank experiment at Paytm is being shut down—decisively, and with little room left to manoeuvre.
