Newly appointed Nouvobanq chairman meets President Michel |03 June 2006

Mr Shankar, who is the global head of the Corporate Finance at Standard Chartered Bank, has been appointed in this non-executive post by President Michel.

He replaces Anil Dua, who was the acting chairman of Nouvobanq.

Besides President Michel, Mr Shankar also met with the management of Nouvobanq and other officials in the financial market.

A press communiqué from Nouvobanq has described the appointment as "very important as it is in line with government strategy to modernise the country's key institutions."

Mr Shankar was chosen as the chairman because of his vast experience in financial matters, says the communiqué.

In his current position with the Singapore-based Standard Chartered Bank, he has overall responsibility for Mergers and Acquisitions, Leverage Finance, Private Equity, Project and Export and Structure Finance Business.

Prior to joining the Standard Chartered Bank in September 2001, he worked with the Bank of America for 19 years where his last position was managing director for Asia-Pacific Investment Banking and chief executive officer of BA Asia Limited based in Hong Kong. In these roles, he was responsible for capital raising and advisory products throughout Asia.

Mr Shankar holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and a Bachelors degree majoring in Physics from the Loyola College, Madras.  

The press communiqué explains that having upgraded the laws governing the financial sector over the last two years in accord with international standards and best practices, the government has taken the next step of consolidating the internal management of the public banks. Given its prominent position in the financial market, Nouvobanq is the first one to undergo this transformation.

Established in 1991, Nouvobanq is the trading name of Seychelles International Mercantile Banking Corporation. It has a minority share of 22% owned by the Standard Chartered Bank and is today the largest bank in Seychelles in terms of deposits and profits.