4 global bankers hit town today

Global bankers are flocking to India. On Monday alone, four top global bankers are visiting Mumbai, the country's financial capital.

The objectives of their visits range from launching new products to holding a tete-a-tete with the central bank and Indian companies. However, the underlying reason for all the visits is the same: exploring the emerging Indian market.

The four top guns who will be here on Monday are HSBC CEO-designate Michael R P Smith, ABN Amro Bank Chief Operating Officer Hugh Scott-Barrett, Standard Chartered Bank group head (commercial & institutional) Jaspal Bindra and Deutsche Bank Asia-Pacific head of global cash management Jimmy Yap.

Smith will take over office from outgoing CEO Aman Mehta in the next few weeks. On his maiden trip to India, the CEO-designate will meet executives at select companies and Reserve Bank of India Governor Y V Reddy, besides of course his colleagues at HSBC.

Just months after the Netherlands-based ABN Amro Bank's chairman flew down to Mumbai, his second-in-command, Hugh Scott-Barrett, will be here to take a close look at the local scene. The bank's Managing Director, Daniel Cotti, will also be in town during the week.

Deutsche Bank's Jimmy Yap will outline how the bank's global cash management initiative is progressing in India.

Stanchart Bank's Jaspal Bindra will discuss the bank's technology strategies for the future and introduce web banking.