Rana Talwar, first Indian to head a multinational bank, passes away at 76

Posted on by


Rana Talwar, who was the first Indian to head a multinational bank, passed away on Saturday at the age of 76.


Talwar, the son-in-law of real estate tycoon KP Singh, chairman emeritus of DLF, also served on the board as a non-executive director.


“…the Company regrets to inform about the sad demise of Mr. Gurvirendra Singh Talwar, Non-Executive Director of the Company on Saturday, 27th January 2024, which was intimated to the Company by the family members,” DLF said in an exchange filing.


Acknowledging the contribution of Talwar, DLF said, “We acknowledge his contributions on the Board of the Company and would like to place on record that the Company benefited immensely from his valuable guidance and vision.”


Talwar is survived by his wife, Renuka, and son, Rahul.


Born in 1948, Talwar attended Lawrence School, Sanawar, and then St. Stephens College in New Delhi, where he studied economics. After graduating from St. Stephens, he joined Citi in India and was responsible for building the US lender’s retail franchise across Asia Pacific and the Middle East. He was an Executive Vice President and Policy Committee member at Citicorp and Citibank.


He was the first Indian to head a multinational bank, British Standard Chartered Plc, serving as the Group Chief Executive of Standard Chartered Plc from 1997 to 2002. He was responsible for transitioning SCB into one of the leading emerging markets banks.


Talwar was instrumental in Standard Chartered Bank’s major acquisitions, including the Trade Finance business of UBS, Grindlays Bank in India and the Middle East from ANZ, and the Credit Card business from Chase Manhattan in Hong Kong.


He left Standard Chartered to set up Sabre Capital, a private equity firm. One of the murky deals of that time was Sabre strategic investment in Centurion Bank. Talwar was the chairman of Centurion Bank which later merged with Bank of Punjab, and was known as Centurion Bank of Punjab (CBoP). In 2008, HDFC Bank acquired CBoP.

 


Talwar, who changed the course and business strategies of banks in Asia and overseas with his impeccable deal-making skills, served on the boards of many companies, including Asahi India Glass Ltd, and Great Eastern Energy Corporation Ltd.

First Published: Jan 28 2024 | 7:38 PM IST