Can the new India CEO Zarin Daruwala lift fortunes of StanChart?

A veteran of 26 years with ICICI Bank, 50-year-old Daruwala resigned on November 17. As India CEO of Standard Chartered, Daruwala will report to Ajay Kanwal, regional CEO, Asean & South Asia.

When Standard Chartered named ICICI Bank's Zarin Daruwala as its India head, not many were surprised.

As ICICI Bank's president for wholesale banking, which comprises corporate banking and project finance, she handles about $23 billion of loans given to India Inc.

Standard Chartered's total India loan book, which is strongly focused on corporate lending, is $20 billion.  

A veteran of 26 years with ICICI Bank, 50-year-old Daruwala resigned on November 17. As India CEO of Standard Chartered, Daruwala will report to Ajay Kanwal, regional CEO, Asean & South Asia.

The appointment is subject to regulatory approval and Daruwala will have to serve her notice period as well as go on gardening leave before she takes over the reins at Standard Chartered.

Standard Chartered has been in the news for the wrong reasons. It is axing 15,000 jobs globally, and there will be some impact in India as well.

The bank said it would reduce single-name concentrations and unsecured retail and corporate business, coupled with more active reduction in China and India.

Its India operations have large exposure to the infrastructure and metals sectors, some of which could default. It has an exposure of $2.5 billion to the Essar group alone.  

However, in an interview to Business Standard soon after she was named India CEO of the bank, Daruwala said the situation is not as worrisome as it is made out to be. But the bank's numbers are not in her favour. 

Till 2010, well after the global credit crisis, Standard Chartered was the most preferred bank for Indian companies making acquisitions abroad.

The bank financed big-ticket deals, bank-rolled a number of companies struggling to expand their capacities, or even meet their expenses, in the domestic as well as overseas markets.

The bank also underwrote bonds for Indian companies at a wafer thin margin, hoping to get future business from the clients.  

The aggressive focus on India meant that the country used to contribute roughly 20 per cent of Standard Chartered's global profit - the highest share.  

Fast forward to 2015 and the picture has reversed.  

In the six month ended June 2015, the India operations reported a pre-tax loss of $276 million against a profit of $395 million a year ago. 

The bank is now betting on Daruwala to revive its fortunes. After all, her connections with corporate India run deep.

A career ICICI banker, she is on the boards of many large companies, and has an in-depth knowledge of how Indian companies function, their pressure points and resolution mechanism, say people who have worked with her in those companies.  

People who know her say Daruwala is down-to-earth and humble. But people close to her also say she has a huge risk appetite and steely determination that few can match.  

Maintaining relationships is Daruwala's strong suit, and she is known to keep strong relationships with her clients through the years.  

"Wholesale bankers are their own kettle of fish and they require exceptional skills while dealing with corporations that are also very sophisticated. She has managed a large wholesale book and I am sure she will do well in her new role," says her ex-colleague at ICICI Bank V Vaidyanathan, who is now chairman and managing director, Capital First.  

A former colleague recalls her tenacity: one of her corporate clients required a specific product from the bank for its employees.

The product was at the blueprint stage and the launch wasn't expected for some time. However, she pushed her colleague to deliver the product even before the deadline.  

She is a chartered accountant and company secretary and was a rank-holder. Daruwala was also named one of the 25 most powerful women in Indian business by Fortune and Business Today magazines. In fact, in 2010, she was ranked number two on the Business Today list.  

Daruwala joined ICICI, the erstwhile infrastructure financier, in June 1989 as a management trainee and worked in almost all verticals of the organisation that later became ICICI Bank.