France’s largest lender BNP Paribas has appointed, effective January 1 2023, Rupa Balsekar as its head of transaction banking for Southeast Asia (SEA) and Shreeram Sethuraman as its head of transaction banking for India.
Balsekar will be responsible for leading the SEA transaction banking teams in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam to deliver the bank’s 2025 strategic plan, focusing on revenue growth, digitalization and sustainability. She will report hierarchically to Joris Dierckx, regional head for SEA, and functionally to Chye Kin Wee, head of transaction banking for Asia-Pacific.
Having joined BNP Paribas 15 years ago, Balsekar has held various roles across its transaction banking business, and she has been heading transaction banking in India since 2015. She has helped the business to grow multifold and has built an outstanding franchise, supporting the bank’s corporate clients. She has also spearheaded digital innovation in cash management and trade, delivering a number of industry firsts in the Indian market.
Sethuraman will be responsible for leading the India transaction banking team to deliver a fully integrated platform, offering cash management, global trade and transaction banking foreign exchange solutions to corporate clients across all segments. He will report hierarchically to Sanjay Singh, CEO of India, and functionally to Wee.
Having joined BNP Paribas in 2018 as head of financial institutions coverage for India, Sethuraman has successfully led the institutional coverage team for the past four years. Under his leadership, the business has achieved significant growth, placing the bank in a leading position among foreign banks in the league table for capital raising for financial institutions.
“SEA and India are fast-growing and important markets for our corporate clients,” Wee says. “Balsekar and Sethuraman bring extensive client experience and product expertise to the transaction banking franchise, and we are confident that they will further the bank’s growth ambition.”
