Naina Lal Kidwai

Naina Lal Kidwai

A prominent personality of the corporate world, she is the first woman to guide the functioning of a foreign bank in India. At present, she is working as the Group General Manager and Country Head of HSBC India.

Personal  Life:

• She was born in the year 1957.
• Raised in Mumbai and Delhi, she did her schooling from Simla. Alumna of Delhi University.
• She is the first Indian woman to have graduated from Harvard Business School.
• She is the mother of two children, who is maintaining a great balance between work and home.
• She is very fond of Indian classical as well as western music.
• She loves to go on trekking tours to the Himalayas.
• She is a nature lover, who has a keen interest in observing the wildlife.
• Naina is married to Rashid Kidwai, who runs the NGO, Grassroot Trading Network for Women.

Carrier:

• She began her career in the year 1982, when she joined the ANZ Grindlays Bank, which is now known as the Standard Chartered Bank.
• She took up a variety of banking assignments before moving to Morgan Stanley‘s India operation.
• She played an important role in NYSE listing of Wipro.
• She was instrumental in facilitating the cellular phone services nationwide through a deal involving the Tatas and Birlas.
  
  • During 1994-2002, she worked at Morgan Stanley as Vice Chairman of JM Morgan Stanley and Head of the Investment Bank in India.
  • At HSBC she has held positions as Chief Executive Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Bank in India and Managing Director and Managing Director of HSBC Securities and Capital Markets India Private Limited. She became the group’s country head in 2009.
  • Her other positions include being a non-executive director on the board of Nestle SA, Chairman, City of London’s Advisory Council for India, Global Advisor, Harvard Business School.
  • She is on the Governing Board of NCAER, Audit Advisory Board of the Comproller and Auditor General of India, and on the National Executive Committee of CII and FICCI.
  • Her interests include microfinance and livelihood creation for rural women and environment.
  • Naina, also supports the world’s largest youth driven organization - AIESEC as a National Advisory Board Member to AIESEC India.
  • Last November, she became the Managing Director of the HSBC bank.

Achievement:

• In the year 2000, the Fortune magazine declared her as the third most powerful businesswoman in Asia.
• Kidwai ranked 12th in the Wall Street Journal 2006 Global Listing of Women to Watch ad listed by Time Magazine as one of their 15 Global Influentials 2002.
• In 2007, She received the Padma Shri, for her work in the promotion of Trade and Industry.