When Neeraj Swaroop became CEO of Standard Chartered Bank for India and South Asia, even his biggest admirers would not have forecasted that he will turn India into the most profitable market for the bank within five years.
In 2005, when Swaroop took charge, the local business was Standard Chartered Bank's third most profitable market after Hong Kong and Korea with a pre-tax profit of $223 million. In 2010, it came first with an operating profit of $1.2 billion.
During his term, Standard Chartered became the first institution in India to issue Indian Depository Receipts (IDRs).
Swaroop is now tipped to be the next regional CEO of the bank in South-east Asia, which will put him in charge of at least eight countries including key markets such as Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore.
An alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) Swaroop started his career with the Unilever group in India spending nine years in sales, product and brand management.
As a banker, he worked in a number of senior positions in consumer and retail banking and. was the head of HDFC Bank's consumer banking business.