January 24, 2006
by Daijiworld News Network

Mangalore's Pride : Meet CEO of ICICI Bank - K V Kamath

Mangalore has produced some of the best, world-calss talents. There are a number of Mangaloreans shining in different fields. Banking sector is a special field where many Mangaloreans have excelled. If you look at the India's leading banks, Corporation, Canara and Syndicate, besides Vijaya and Karnataka,  were founded in Mangalore and the Mangaloreans have been the power and the driving force behind these banks.

But many people still do not know, the founder of the a internationally recognised ICICI Bank is a Mangalorean!

Yes, we are talking about K V Kamath who has made a revolution in the Indian banking sector.

Kamath was born on December 2, 1947, in Mangalore, Karnataka where he spent most of his early years.

An alumnus of St Aloysius College Mangalore and Karnataka Regional Engineering College (now National Institute of Technology, Karnataka - NITK), Suratkal, Kamath is the visionary, whose initiative has brought Internet banking to India. Not only that, K V Kamath is the man responsible for the introduction of ATM Cards in India!. 

After completing Higher Secondary and Pre-University from St. Aloysius, he joined the Karnataka Regional Educational College (KREC) for a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering. After graduating from KREC in 1969, he joined the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) for a Masters Degree in Business Administration. The two-year curriculum at IIMA served as a valuable input in the process of his development as a manager and future business leader. 
 
After graduating from IIMA in 1971, Kamath started his career with ICICI in the Project Finance division and moved on to different departments to gather a rich and varied experience which included setting up of new businesses such as leasing, venture capital, credit rating as well as handling general management positions. As part of his general management responsibilities he initiated and implemented ICICI's computerisation programme. Substantial investments in technology right from the early years have resulted in systems that are today a competitive advantage for ICICI.

At a time when banking was synonymous with the physical banking approach of public sector banks, Kamath introduced the ATM mode of banking that was soon emulated by most other banks. With more than half of the bank's customers accessing its services through ATMs, Internet banking and the like, ICICI Bank has shown the way for Indian banks to take their services to the next level.

K. Vaman Kamath is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ICICI Bank Limited. ICICI Bank (NYSE: IC) functions as a universal bank through itself and its associate companies in the areas of corporate finance, commercial banking, investment banking, asset management, non-banking finance, investor services, broking and insurance.
 
Kamath started his career in 1971 at ICICI - the parent organization of ICICI Bank - he has worked ceaselessly to stretch the borders of ICICI's businesses to evolve it into a modern, savvy and technology-enabled financial organization catering to almost all the financial needs of corporate and retail customers. 
 
In 1988, Kamath joined the Asian Development Bank, Manila in their Private Sector Department. His principal work experience at ADB was in various projects in China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh and Vietnam. He was the ADB representative on the Boards of several companies and this experience offered him considerable insight into the working of global firms.
 
During his years in South East Asia, Kamath worked in most of the developing countries in the region including China, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam and this provided a rich experience in terms of exposure to a variety of business situations many of them typical to emerging markets.
 
In May 1996, Kamath returned to ICICI as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. The strategic initiatives and structural changes subsequently instituted
by him across the ICICI Group have helped ICICI to re-draw its boundaries and increase its business potential.
 
A firm believer in the concept of Universal Banking - the ability to provide complete financial services to different classes of customers -  Kamath has been
instrumental in expanding the Group's services to the retail customers. Under him, ICICI has made significant progress in creating a strong retail focus and building the personal financial services business.

The most critical driver in the personal financial services business is the customer and ICICI has made substantial efforts to strengthen its relationship with the customer enabling it to build a strong retail franchise with about five million retail customer accounts, five million bond holders and an established market presence.
 
Kamath believes that the foremost ingredient for ICICI Group's success has been the ability to continuously evolve both organizational structure and product
offerings, thereby remaining on the cutting edge of financial services. The robust growth achieved during a period, otherwise marked by modest economic growth, has been entirely on account of capitalizing on market opportunities, which enabled ICICI to re-write the boundaries of its business. Looking back to the changes in the environment, he believes that financial, human, technology and speed capital, would drive the financial services sector in the future and draw the boundaries for achieving leadership. His strategy has therefore revolved around augmenting these Capitals.
 
Often on the trail of deregulation, there is a significant amount of merger and acquisition activity as industry uses the opportunity to extract locked values in the system.

Kamath initiated this process of consolidation in the Indian financial sector through a series of acquisitions of non-banking finance companies in 1996-98. With the acquisition of a private bank in March 2001 and the recent merger between ICICI Limited and ICICI Bank, Kamath has achieved the objective of creating the first universal bank in India. 
 
Kamath currently resides in Mumbai. He is married and has a son and a daughter. He is an avid reader and has lectured extensively both in India and abroad. Kamath is a Member of the Governing Board on various educational institutions including the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad, Indian School of Business, National Institute of Bank Management and Manipal Academy of Higher Education. Kamath is also a member of the national council of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The Asian Banker Journal of Singapore had voted Mr. Kamath as the most   e-savvy CEO amongst Asian banks.

Recently, the Mumbai Management Association conferred on him the Finance Man of the Year award and the World HRD Congress in its Mumbai session in November 2000, voted Kamath as the best CEO for Innovative HR practices.
 
Kamath was awarded the Asian Business Leader of the Year at the Asian Business Leader Award 2001, organized by the business television network CNBC Asia Pacific and the leading business logistics Solutions Company TNT.

With input from ICICI Bank Official Website