K.V. Kamath: Financial powerhouse

One of India's most respected bankers, Kamath has served as chairman of both Infosys and ICICI Bank, and transformed the latter into a financial behemoth

I had the privilege of getting to know Mr K.V. Kamath in the late 90s, when he had just returned from the Asian Development Bank. I learnt from him a very different perspective on finance. He was focused on growth, intent on making a paradigm shift in the Indian financial sector. Under his leadership, one of the game changing events was the merger of ICICI with ICICI Bank. Mr Kamath’s boldness in capital markets was evident when he went ahead and completed one of the largest capital raising issuances then by an Indian company in the ADR (American Depositary Receipt) market in 2004-05. In the early 2000s, he spearheaded ICICI Bank’s foray into consumer finance and consumer banking. His transformative and aggressive approach in finance was combined with a phenomenal ability to create leaders.