Kolkata, April 16 (Inditop) Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp (HSBC) Thursday said it has appointed the chief executive of its Indian operations, Naina Lal Kidwai, as the group chairperson and country head.

“Kidwai will assume chairmanship of HSBC Group companies in India and Stuart Davis, currently CEO of HSBC Bank Australia Ltd, will become the CEO of the bank in India,” Stephen Green, HSBC Holdings Plc group chairman, told reporters here.

The new appointments are effective from Wednesday.

“I will head the Indian management board, which has CEOs of all entities,” Kidwai said on her appointment.

Her new role would include nurturing young companies in the group, basic level integration and talking to the investor communities abroad to grow the business in India, Kidwai said.

According to reports, HSBC’s pre-tax earnings from India grew to over $666 million in 2008 from $33 million in 2004. The bank employs more than 37,000 people in India, constituting around 11 percent of HSBC’s global workforce.