Sethu Venkateswaran is currently Founder & Managing Director of M/s Bright Bridge Consultants Co WLL and co-founder & Board member of Innosoft Solutions in Bahrain, which are set up recently to undertake multi-domain consulting activities in Finance, Risk & Operational functions as well as guidance and assistance to start-ups and distribution of state-of-the-art technology based digital solutions for various businesses.

Until recently, he was the Senior Vice-President and Group Head of Retail & Digital Banking for Arab Banking Corporations B.S.C. (Bank ABC) based in Bahrain. He retired from Bank ABC in March 2018.

He is a Finance professional with over 35+ years of extensive experience in Banking in wide range of functions such as:

•   Retail Banking

•   Digital Banking

•   Service Delivery & Service Quality

•   Distribution & Network Management

•   Product Management & Marketing

•   OR and Restructuring

•   Information Technology & Tech-related Initiatives

•   Audit/Risk management and

•   Leadership & General Management Functions viz., Finance, HR etc. as Chief

  Executive of an emerging market geography in a well-known leading multi- national Bank

  He possesses significant experience in multi-geography and multi-cultural business environment, gained over his professional career in Indian sub-continent, Middle East and North Africa Regions, besides exposure to Far-East geographies.

  He started his banking career in 1980 with Punjab National Bank, India where he managed several functions from Retail/Branch management, Small Business, Technology and Technology Audit,

In 1991 he moved to Standard Chartered Bank and served in different geographies viz., India, UAE and Bangladesh, where he held several senior positions such as Regional Head of Audit for Middle East & South Asia, Regional Head of Operations, Gulf, Head of Retail Banking, South Asis, Chief Executive Office, Bangladesh, Regional Head of Consumer Banking, Middle East, South Asia and Levant.

In 2004, he joined Bank ABC in Bahrain to lead and manage the Group-wide Retail Banking and small business activities with specific exposure to both Anglo & Francofone geographies of North Africa Region. Llater on, he added Digital Banking to his domain expertise.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in science with a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management, besides being Certified Associate from Indian Institute Bankers and Certified Information System Auditor, US (CISA).

He pioneered the ISO 9002 certification for Trade Operations for Standard Chartered Bank Middle East as early as 1996 and has also won various awards for the functions he

managed – Best CEO in Bangladesh (1999) and Best Personal Bank in the UAE (2001 for Standard Chartered Bank).