Swaminathan J and Ashwini Kumar Tewari take charge as MDs of SBI

By Edil Corneille

Swaminathan J and Ashwini Kumar Tewari have taken charge as the Managing Directors of the State Bank of India (SBI) and they would be holding the position for up to 3 years.

Prior to his appointment as the bank’s MD, Swaminathan was the Deputy Managing Director (Finance) at the bank where he was overseeing budgeting, capital planning, financial reporting, taxation, audit, economic research, investor relations, and secretarial compliance. Swaminathan – in his career spanning over three decades with SBI – has held various assignments across corporate and international banking, trade finance, retail & digital banking, and branch management. He also served the bank as Chief Digital Officer – heading the Digital & Transaction Banking vertical. Swaminathan has been instrumental in driving the digital transformation of the bank with YONO SBI. Priorly, Swaminathan served as the CGM of Hyderabad Circle and also had a stint in SBI’s New York office. He is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) as well as Certified Documentary Credit Specialist (CDCS).

Tewari was serving SBI Card as MD & CEO – managing all facets of SBI’s card business – before he was appointed as MD of SBI. Tewari, who started his career with SBI in 1991 as a Probationary Officer, comes with a rich experience of over three decades in SBI handling several assignments for the bank, across various locations in India and abroad. Before taking over the card business, Tewari was the Country Head of the US Operations of SBI for more than three years, which included its offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Sao Paulo (Brazil). He has also worked from Hong Kong where he oversaw the business development and control of SBI in Hong Kong, China, Japan, Korea, and the neighbouring region. Tewari is an Electrical Engineer and a Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB). He is also a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) and has done a Certificate Course in Management from XLRI.

The bank is said to be the largest commercial bank in terms of assets, deposits, branches, customers, and employees. It is also said to be the largest mortgage lender in the India.