Sanjeev Nanavati
CEO, Citibank and Senior Advisor, McKinsey & Co
Sanjeev Nanavati is a seasoned banker and business executive with over thirty years of extensive international experience. He is currently senior advisor to the Asian banking practice of McKinsey & Co, involved with bank transformations in The Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan and China. He is also senior advisor to PWC, coaching and advising partners on transforming their personal performance.
Sanjeev is a thoughtful and insightful leader who writes for the Business Times, Singapore on senior management issues and is the elected President of the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce.
A business builder who has consistently accelerated revenues and profits, Sanjeev created differentiation in competitive markets and developed high performing teams. He is both strategic and execution oriented, having led complex multi product businesses and regional multicultural teams. His experience extends to branding, investor relations, crisis management, sales and marketing, and leadership development.
His operating breath is unique. Sanjeev has been tested in the East and West, has deep Asian experience and extensive senior contacts across the region. He has an exceptional track record of building senior relationships in business, government and with regulators. He has lived in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Mumbai and done business across all countries in Asia. He has also lived in Boston and New York and done business in the US, Europe and Latin America.
Previously, Sanjeev was the longest serving CEO of Citibank Malaysia, one of their largest worldwide markets. He was responsible for Citi's corporate and investment banking, transaction banking, treasury/markets, retail banking, wealth management, credit cards and off-shoring businesses which employed over 6,000 people. He successfully steered the bank during the global financial crisis, averting a run on the bank and retained customers and employees while maintaining a strong liquidity position. Post crisis, he increased revenues and market share across all businesses. He joined Citi in New York and worked in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur over a period of 13 years.
Sanjeev began his career in the United States with Bank of Boston (now Bank of America) where he spent twelve years, including five years in Hong Kong. He subsequently moved to India to join Standard Chartered Bank, to run the investment bank and subsequently the corporate and investment bank where he successfully rebuilt the business. He was with Standard Chartered Bank for six years.
He is a US citizen, has an MBA in Finance from the Whitman School of Business, Syracuse University in New York and a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Delhi University in India, and likely to qualify as an Audit Committee Financial Expert as per Sarbanes Oxley and SEC rules.
Board Positions
• CEO and executive director on the board of Citibank Berhad which included three independent directors-September 2007 to July 2014
• Chairman of the Board of Citigroup Global Markets Malaysia-September 2009 to July 2014
• President/Chairman of the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce-June 2011 to Present
Media Coverage and Speaking Engagements
• Numerous press interviews and speaker at public conferences. Published eight articles on issues facing CEO’s and boards in the Singapore Business Times op-ed column.
• Invited by CEO’s of PWC, Allianz, The Star, Kuwait Finance House and INTI University to conduct a workshop for their top leadership on “Superior Decision Making and Execution”
• Invited by the CEO of Sime Darby, the largest listed company in Malaysia, to speak to the senior leadership team on leadership, strategy, execution and building effective teams.
• Invited by Petronas, the national oil company, to speak to their next generation leaders about leading and managing in a globalized world.
