Kamath, India’s banking star, to head BRICS Development Bank

Nearly 10 months after the BRICS grouping of emerging economies firmed up the contours of a trailblazing multilateral bank for developing countries, India has named Kundapur Vaman Kamath as the first head of the BRICS Development

In a give-and-take, the leaders of the BRICS countries has decided at their summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, in July last year that the headquarters of the New Development Bank will be located in Shanghai and the first president of the bank will be an India.

The 67-year-old Kamath is the non-executive chairman of India’s second largest bank (by asset size and market capitalization), the ICICI bank and India’s third largest IT firm Infosys.

Kamath, an alumni of NIT, Surathkal and IIM Ahmedabad, had worked with the Asian Development, Bank for nearly a decade from 1988-1996, getting a first-hand experience of the East Asian economic crisis while he was there.

India’s industry bodies have hailed the appointment of Mr Kamath. PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry has welcomed the appointment of Mr Kamath to build BRICS into a global institution. “Kamath is one of the sharpest and finest minds in the Indian financial sector who guided the ICICI from development to commercial banking. In addition, his stint with ADB also made him contribute so much to the financial sector,” said the industry body.

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