Mavila Vishwanathan Nair
Mavila Vishwanathan Nair is the Chairman of the Credit Information Bureau of India Limited, India's largest credit bureau. He is also an advisor select private equity and venture capital funded companies in India.
Previously a banker, Nair was one of the longest serving chairmen in the history of Indian banking, having served as chairman and managing director of Union Bank of India for six years and Dena Bank for one year.
Early life and education
The second eldest of seven siblings. Nair was born in Kasaragod, Kerala, and grew up in Mangalore, Karnataka, graduating from St. Aloysius College, Mangalore. Later, he attended trainings at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Indian School of Business, Kellogg School of Management, and Harvard Business School.Career
Corporation Bank (1973–2004)
Nair joined Corporation Bank as a probationary officer in 1973. He worked across Hyderabad, Gujarat, and Mangalore, and was then deputed to head one bank's largest branches in New Delhi.Early success in middle management put Nair on the bank's fast track program. He subsequently went on to head the western and central region of the bank. Both the regions were the best performing regions of the bank during his tenure. After stints in the field, Nair was called on to set up a strategic business unit to boost fee based income and to position Corporation Bank as a leading player in corporate banking. Nair set up the Collection and Payment Services which created a market advantage for the bank and positioned it as a leading player in corporate banking in India.
Nair also headed various departments at the corporate office including CAPS, Human Resources, and Risk Management.
He was subsequently elevated to Executive Director of Dena Bank.
Dena Bank (2004–2006)
Executive Director, subsequently chairman and managing directorNair was promoted as Executive Director to Dena Bank when the bank was facing a severe challenge on the non-performing assets front. He subsequently served as chairman and was with the bank for 2 years.
Union Bank (2006–2012)
Chairman and managing directorNair joined Union Bank of India as chairman and managing director. He is credited with a number of initiatives during his tenure there.
- Increase in Business – When Nair joined Union Bank of India in 2006, the bank's business was Rs. 1,287 billion. As of 30 September 2010 the bank's total business was over Rs. 4,000 billion.
- CBS – Under Nair's leadership, Union Bank was the first large public sector bank which achieved 100% CBS, i.e., Core Banking Solutions was implemented across all branches in the bank.
- Project Nav Nirman – In 2006, Nair initiated "Project Nav Nirman," transforming the bank into a customer-centric marketing organisation by leveraging technology, changing processes, and empowering people.
- Overseas Banking – in 2007, Union Bank began its foray into the international scene by opening its first overseas branch, in Hong Kong. Subsequently, the bank has opened representative offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Beijing, Shanghai, Sydney, and London.
- Joint Ventures: – The bank entered into the life insurance business through a joint venture with Bank of India and Dai Ichi Mutual Life Insurance Corp, Japan. The company, Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd., commenced operations in Feb 2009. The bank also entered into a JV with KBC Asset Management of Belgium, and set up an asset management company. This AMC is expected to commence operations in January 2011.
- Human Resources – Nair emphasised large-scale recruitment, lowering the average age of employees and re-skilling the frontline staff through the Dale Carnegie Institute. He introduced fast-track career progression, and an in-house management development programme, a precursor to succession planning.
- Brand Building – in 2008, the bank's logo was successfully changed as part of the bank's brand building program. This resulted in the bank's brand value increasing by 148%.
Corporate social responsibility
- 103 villages in 4 different states were adopted for comprehensive development, mainly working as a catalyst in bringing initiatives from government and development agencies. The bank also supplemented development efforts through funding development projects like clean energy, drinking water facilities, and improvement of rural schools.
- One female primary school child was adopted by the bank in each of these villages, with resources set aside for their upbringing and overall maintenance until they graduate high school.
- Active support and fundraising were provided to the Cancer Patients / Aids Association, Mumbai for the last 10 years.
- Support was provided to the Cochin Child Foundation with a grant of Rs. 600,000 for carrying out various initiatives for improving children's quality of life.
- Support was provided to the Bhagwan Mahaveer Viklang Sahayata Samiti, popularly known for Jaipur Foot, with a grant of Rs. 1 million.
Personal life
M. V. Nair lived with his wife Indu in Mumbai, India. They have a daughter, Vidhya and a son, Aditya.Contribution to the banking industry
- Chairman, Credit Information Bureau of India Limited
- Chairman, Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications
- Chairman, Bankers' Quotient Academy
- Chairman, Indian Banks’ Association
- Chairman, Wage Negotiation Committee, Indian Banks’ Association
- Member, Sub-Group on Financial Services under the High Level Group on Services Sector, constituted by Planning Commission, Government of India
- Member, Primary Markets Advisory Committee, set up by Securities Exchange Board of India
- Chairman,Committee on Priority Sector Lending constituted by Reserve Bank of India
- Chairman, Union KBC Asset Management Company
- Director, General Insurance Corporation Re
- Member, Managing Committee, Indian Banks' Association
- Chairman of the Governing Board, Institute of Banking Personnel Selection
- Vice-President of Indian Institute of Banking & Finance & Chairman of its Executive Committee,
- Member, Governing Council of Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre established by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Government of India
- Member of the Governing Council, Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology
- Member, Governing Board, National Institute of Bank Management
- College Advisory Committee of Reserve Bank of India, College of Agricultural Banking, Pune
- Chairman, Banking and Financial Institutions Committee, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry
- Member, Committee on Customer Services in Banks constituted by Reserve Bank of India
- Member, Study Group to examine various alternative models for establishing ICT based mobile banking service centres for inclusive banking in the country constituted by Planning Commission, Government of India
- Member, High Level Committee to deliberate emergent issues concerning global development in the country constituted by Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India
- Director, Agriculture Finance Corporation Ltd
- Member, Committee to monitory flow of dollar Export Credit to Exporters constituted by Government of India
- Ex Officio Member, Board of Trustees, CGTMSE
- Member, National Board of Accreditation, All India Council for Technical Education.
- Member, Committee for conducting study of HR issues of Public Sector Banks constituted by Ministry of Finance, Government of India
- Member, High Powered Committee to review the Lead bank Scheme, set up by Reserve Bank of India
Conferences attended
- World Economic Forum, Inaugural meeting of the New Champions at Dalian, China, 2007
- SIBOS 2006, 2007, 2008
- Annual Meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, Istanbul, Turkey
- Workshop on Promoting Financial Inclusion through Innovative Policies, organised by Asian Development Bank, Tokyo
- Speaker, "Growing role of Asia in the financial stage", Asia Europe Business Forum at Brussels, Belgium
- 1st international conference of overseas offices, Hong Kong
- Addressed HK Invest conference in Hong Kong in Sept'10 – Speakers included Chief Executive of Hong Kong.
- Addressed members of the Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong in Sept'10 on Current state of Banking Sector in India and its future
Awards and accolades
- Best Manager Award, Indian Management Association
- Best Corporate Excellence Award, IIM- Ahmedabad
- Finalist, Ernst & Young "Entrepreneur of the Year, 2008”
- Global Award 2008, Kerala Kalakendram
- Winner of Skoch Challenger Award in Banking for relentlessly pursuing financial inclusion goals and driving branchless banking to penetrate banking services into the hinterland –
- Certificate of recognition by ICSI as National Award for excellence in Corporate Governance for adopting good Corporate Governance practices.