Mr Rana Kapoor, Founder and CEO of YES BANK, was in London last week as President of The Associated Chambers of Commerce of India, or ASSOCHAM. Mr Kapoor was the keynote speaker at an evening conference held Thursday 2nd July at St James’s Court (Taj Hotel) in London, which heralded the opening up of India for business. The Asian Voice was granted an exclusive session to talk to Mr Kapoor about ASSOCHAM and YES BANK prior to the event.
Briefing documents describe ASSOCHAM thus; it “Endeavours to establish a conducive platform to global investors for engaging and exploring investment opportunities in India as well as improve Ease of Doing Business, promote cross-border business development and initiate strategic collaborations and partnerships.”
Discussing ASSOCHAM, Mr Kapoor described it as one of the top three chambers of commerce representing India, with over 450,000 members.
He said that India should play to its strengths. “China decided to enter manufacturing in a wholesome way over 30 years ago and India is tapping into that opportunity so much later but there will be gaps where we are just as good. In auto parts we are among the best in the world. Pharmaceuticals, lifestyle products, genetics. We have to find our niche and not replicate China’s strengths. There are lots of gaps where we need to catch up with China but not necessarily compete with it.”
In a week that Greek’s referendum “No” result has caused weak economies to have panic attacks, Mr Kapoor is reassuring. “India’s overall balance of payments today is almost $350 billion. The current account deficit is around1% today. India has built a buffer, safety nets; a cushion in the economy to overcome these global setbacks.” He said that the situation had improved a lot over the last two years because of a focused effort by the Reserve Bank of India and over the last year due to what the Indian Government had been doing.
Turning to the undisputed success story that is YES BANK, its rise has been remarkable. With Mr. Kapoor at the helm, YES BANK completed 10 years of institutional excellence in 2014. Within a decade of its operations, YES BANK became India’s fifth largest private sector bank, and is consistently rated as the best, strongest and safest bank in its segment.
YES BANK recently launched its first international representative office in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. It has also signed up with OPIC, the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, and Wells Fargo, to support MSME growth in India.
What has Mr Kapoor learnt from his distinguished history in banking, stretching back long before YES? Prior to establishing YES BANK, Rana Kapoor was CEO and Managing Director, and main Managing Partner of Rabo India Finance (RIF) Pvt. Ltd. (a corporate finance and investment banking organisation). Prior to starting Rabo India, he was the General Manager & Country Head: ANZ Grindlays’ Investment Bank (ANZIB, from 1996-98). He spent 15 years at Bank of America, where he last headed the Bank’s wholesale banking businesses and held several positions of increasing responsibility, including assignments in Asian countries.
Mr Kapoor’s profile fairly gleams with awards and prizes but his achievements are self-evident by the successful outcomes of all his projects to date. He said that he is “Still going through a sharp learning phase despite a 35 year banking career.”
He pointed out that 45% of the Indian population now has bank accounts.
He unlocked some of the big features he has introduced at YES BANK.
Grasping compulsive decision making.
The ability to create an environment of problem solving, which means a good sound risk architecture, a risk culture, accompanied by a brand that is resonating today in India. “So the brand is resonating on Twitter and Facebook.”
Mr Kapoor said that when he started the bank 12 years ago, there were three priorities.
The creation of a Professional Entrepreneurship Programme, called YES PEP. “Today we have 900 management graduates in the programme out of 11,000 executives.”
Having a YES personality, which is tied with commitment to a service culture.
Commitment to YES BANKS being community hubs. Mr Kapoor wants his 650 YES BANK branches to be like community halls where the town hall experience can be created.
In one column it’s impossible to describe all the learning the YES BANK/ASSOCHAM President imparted, but Mr Kapoor will surely continue to lead some of India’s banking sector from the front.
