At The Financial Express India’s Best Bank Awards held on September 17, 2011, Keki Mistry, vice chairman and CEO (chief executive officer) of HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited) won the Banker of the Year award. Mistry received the honor at the hands of India’s finance minister Pranab Mukherjee at the Taj Land’s End in Bombay in the presence of an august gathering which included Maharashtra’s chief minister Prithviraj Chavan and India’s top bankers and businessmen.
Among the awardees on stage were P. J. Nayak, chairman of Morgan Stanley India, Nandan Nilekani, chairman of the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India), Radha Dhir, managing director and head, corporate treasury sales, Deutsche Bank, India, R. N. Pradeep, CMD (chairman and managing director), Corporation Bank, Kaizad Bharucha, group head, Credit and Market Risk, HDFC Bank and a host of others.
At the FE Best Bank Awards: Keki Mistry (ext left) receiving Banker of the Year award from Pranab Mukherjee, Kaizad Bharucha receiving award on behalf of HDFC Bank
Mistry, 56, is an HDFC veteran with 30 years experience. As CEO, he guides the fortunes of one of India’s largest and most well-respected financial conglomerates. A pioneer in the home loan segment, HDFC has so far assisted 38 lakh customers to own a house and made disbursements, according to its website, of over Rs 3.02 trillion as of March 31! HDFC Mutual Fund is India’s second largest. HDFC deposit products have secured the AAA rating (the highest safety) from rating agencies CRISIL and ICRA for 16 consecutive years! Mistry was also a director of HDFC Bank. He ceased to be on the board of the Bank as of March 26, 2011, having completed his eight year continuous tenure. (As per the Banking Regulation Act 1949, no director of a banking company, other than its chairman or whole-time director, can hold office for more than eight consecutive years.) Diversifying its portfolio, HDFC has also moved into real estate venture capital and more recently education loans.
Bharucha is a career banker with 20 years experience in the field. He was previously with SBI Commercial and International Bank Limited as group head of credits. He has represented HDFC Bank as a member on the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) constituted working group to examine the role of the Credit Information Bureau and on a steering committee with regard to framing the Basel II guidelines (creation of international standards to be used by banking regulators, particularly in risk and capital management requirements, to protect the international finance system).