Naina Lal Kidwai

Banker

CEO and Country Head of HSBC India

Naina Lal Kidwai is no unknown name today. She is presently the President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry or FICCI – the first woman to reach this position. She is also the Group General Manager and Country Head of Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) in India and Director in all over Asia – Pacific region.She has held many prestigious positions in her career and outshone all the men who think finance is essentially a domain exclusive to males.

The Padma Shri Award in 2007 for her contribution to trade, commerce and industrial sector; repeated rankings in the top 50 businesswomen all over the globe by various rating agencies such as Fortune Global and Wall Street Journal talks of her achievements and capabilities.

Early life and career

Naina’s father was a top notch professional with an Insurance company. Business ran in her blood from her mother’s lineage too, who was closely related to Lalit Mohan Thapar, the famous industrialist. Both Naina and her sister were inspired by their parents and walked on paths of success in their chosen career paths. Naina's sister is a famous golf player.

Leadership was a way of life for Naina. She was the Head Girl in her final year at school, which was in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Her youth was mostly spent in Delhi and Mumbai. She was selected for Economics Honours from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University – a premiere institute in the capital of India. She wished to pursue Management, but was turned down on grounds of being under age. She took up Chartered Accountancy instead and was among the first three women to join Price Water House Coopers in 1977.

Her “never say die” attitude urged her to pursue Strategy and Finance from Harvard Business School in 1982. This feat made Naina the first Indian woman to be an alumnus of the university.

Naina was offered a position with ANZ Grindlays Bank while she was still abroad. Within a space of few years, she rose to the position of Head, Western Region. She was only 32 then. Soon in 1989, Naina had become the Country Head for Foreign Investment Banking, being the youngest to hold this position ever. Under her leadership, the NRI investments with ANZ Grindlays tripled. In 1991, she moved on to Retail Banking to explore new avenues.

Naina joined Morgan Stanley India and JM Morgan Stanley as Head of Investment Banking. There was no looking back for her as she rapidly climbed the corporate ladder. She held prestigious positions with institutions such as Wipro, Nestle South Asia (Non executive Director on Board), City of London’s Advisory Council for India (Chairwoman), Harvard Business School (Global Advisor), National Council of Applied Economic Research or NCAER (Governing member of Board), Comptroller and Auditor General of India (Member of Audit Advisory Board), Confederation of Indian Industry or CII (Member of National Executive Committee), etc. She also has success stories of various strategic deals and moves associated with her career, such as acquisition of VSNL by the Tata Group.

AWARDS

• Naina Lal has secured the distinguished Padma Shri award for her contributions in the areas of trade and industry.
• She has also received ALL Ladies League's Delhi Women of the Decade Achievers Award 2013 for Excellence in Banking.