Our Banking Bureau

Mumbai, June 14: ABN Amro Bank on Thursday said that it had appointed Mr Vishnu Deuskar as the country representative for the bank’s Indian operations following the resignation of Mr Romesh Sobti.
Mr Sobti has joined Development Credit Bank (DCB) as the bank’s managing director and chief executive officer, and will be based in Mumbai.

Mr Deuskar joined ABN Amro almost seven years ago as treasurer for India and currently heads the bank’s subsidiary ABN Amro Securities (India) Ltd as managing director. Mr Deuskar will continue to be responsible for the global financial markets business unit for India and will also oversee and co-ordinate the activities of all the other business operating in the country as chairman of both the wholesale and consumer & commercial client (C&CC) country management committees.

Said ABN Amro Bank’s senior executive vice president of the new growth markets business unit, Jan Peter Schmittman: “ABN Amro Bank is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Vishnu Deuskar as the new country representative for India. This appointment, which is subject to approval from the Reserve Bank of India, follows the resignation of the current country representative, Mr Romesh Sobti, who is leaving to pursue a career outside the bank”. Said Mr Deuskar: “It is a great challenge. I have been a part of the bank for sometime now. We had an exciting time. We are here to stay in the country and grow the ABN Amro brand”. The C&CC managing committee will also have Nitin Chopra who heads the consumer bank and Meera Sanyal who is the chief operating officer for India. Said Mr Sobti: “I have worked for 18 years with leading brands. DCB offers an entrepreneurial challenge. I believe that the private bank model is a great one. A few private banks have done well, and charted a new course. And DCB can do the same”.

Mr Sobti was with ABN Amro Bank for over 10 years, of which the last five was as its chief executive for India. Previously, he had worked with ANZ Grindlays and SBI. In a statement, DCB said that Mr Sobti’s appointment is an important first step towards implementation of their plans to build a full service, universal bank model catering to both corporate and individual clients.