The government on June 3 appointed A. Manimekhalai as managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of Union Bank of India for a period of three years with effect from the date of assumption of office or until further order, whichever is earlier.

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Currently, Manimekhalai is the executive director of Canara Bank. She will replace Rajkiran Rai, who held the position of Union Bank head since 2017. She will also be the first woman to helm Union Bank.

Manimekhalai is a seasoned banker with experience of more than three decades. She started her career in erstwhile Vijaya Bank as an officer in 1988 and rose successively as branch head, regional head, and functional head of various departments at the corporate office.

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She was instrumental in devising and implementing strategic policies covering core areas like strategic planning, setting organisational goals, growth strategies, action plans, compliance, internal control and so on.

As executive director at Canara Bank, she oversaw strategic planning, credit and related matters, inspection, marketing and financial inclusion, state level lead bank responsibilities and the functioning of regional rural banks (RRBs).

She played a pivotal role in effecting the successful amalgamation of Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank. She has extensive experience as a director on the board of five other companies, namely Canbank Factors Ltd, Canbank Computer Services Ltd, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Co Ltd, General lnsurance Corporation of India, lndia Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd and Trustee and Canara Robeco Asset Management Co.

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A member of various committees and working groups constituted by the government of India, she has actively contributed towards policymaking, including drawing the future road map of RRBs, financial inclusion, agriculture value-chain finance, banking correspondent issues and creating synergies for seamless credit flow to health aare and education.

Manimekhalai holds an MBA (marketing) degree from Bangalore University, and a diploma in human resource management from Narsee Monjee lnstitute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai. A beneficiary of various executive development programmes at leading institutes of the country, she is also a Certified Associate of Indian lnstitute of Bankers (CAIIB).

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)