76 years veteran banker Rana Talwar, who was the first Indian to be on top of a global Bank — Standard Chartered, dies. Talwar, son-in-law of DLF Group chairman emeritus K P Singh, died today, the sources said. He is survived by his wife Renuka and son Rahul. He was also on the boards of other companies, such as Asahi India Glass Limited and Great Eastern Energy Corporation Limited, besides DLF.
The company is sad to say that Talwar, a non-executive director, passed away on Saturday, January 27th, 2024, due to notification from the family members who reported DLF in a regulatory filing after passing out of St Stephens College, Delhi, in 1970 and completing his terms with Citi Bank as a banker since the year Talwar was born – 1948.
During his stay at Citi Bank, Gurvirendra Singh Talwar, famously known as Rana Talwar, was in charge of developing the US-based bank’s retail businesses across the Asia Pacific and the Middle East. He later became responsible for all retail businesses that Citibank had in Europe and America. He belonged to the Citibank/Citigroup Policy and Operating Committees.
In 1996, Talwar departed Citibank to serve as Global Chief Executive at Standard Charter Bank. He was the first Asian to be appointed as a Chief Executive of an FTSE 25 company and also a major global bank. He was instrumental in positioning Standard Chartered Plc as a leading emerging markets bank including the purchase of Grindlays Bank from ANZ Bank.
In 2002, Talwar quit Standard Chartered Plc to set up Sabre Capital Worldwide as its founder chairman and a majority shareholder. In India, one of the biggest deals for Sabre Capital was the acquisition of a strategic interest in Centurion Bank. Later, Talwar also facilitated its merger with HDFC Bank.
In the regulatory filing, DLF mentioned that its company benefitted immensely from his valuable guidance and vision on board. The death of Talwar will be an irreplaceable loss to the company, and all directors and employees pass their good wishes and condolences to his family.
