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Accenture pledges $25 million for Covid relief in India
KERALA: Software giant Accenture has pledged $25 million (about Rs 185 crore) to support the Covid relief efforts in India. Additionally, the company will also give access to Covid vaccines for over two lakh eligible employees and their families in India.
“Safety and well-being of our people continue to be our top priority and we are providing care, support, and access to vaccines for our eligible people in India who are facing an unprecedented challenge,” Accenture said in a statement.
The Ireland-based MNC will also provide PPE kits to frontline workers, and food and home care kits to the poor people in the nation. The company is also working closely with the government to support vaccination camps and provide local language call-centre support.
Accenture India chairperson & senior managing director Rekha M Menon said that the company stands in solidarity with India.
“We have made a fresh pledge of $25 million for pandemic relief efforts in addition to the ongoing investments in our people and communities. The local and global efforts include providing ventilators, oxygen concentrators, and medical kits,” wrote Menon on her Linkedin page.
A few days ago, Hyundai Motor India Foundation (HMIF), the philanthropic arm of Hyundai Motor India, had also announced Rs 20 crore relief package in the midst of the raging second wave of the pandemic in the country. After announcing the relief package, Hyundai Motor India said that the funds will be used to deploy resources to set up oxygen generating plants in hospitals, to aid critical patients, and help hospitals become self-sufficient in oxygen.
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HSBC names Gautam Anand to head global India private banking unit
The bank taps a 25-year veteran to run its franchise as the war for wealthy NRI clients heats up
MUMBAI: HSBC has handed Gautam Anand the keys to its global India private banking business, betting that a seasoned operator can squeeze more out of one of the world’s most lucrative pools of offshore wealth.
Anand, who joined HSBC Private Bank in December 2023 as global co-ordinator for Global India, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, steps up to lead the franchise outright. He will run the operation across India and its key international outposts in Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Kingdom, putting him squarely in the middle of the corridors through which Indian money flows abroad.
The appointment is a signal of intent. HSBC only launched its global private banking business in India in 2023, pitching hard at high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients as part of a broader assault on Asian wealth management. The bank now wants Anand to turn that beachhead into a fortress.
He comes well-armed. Before HSBC, Anand clocked time at UBS, Credit Suisse, ANZ and ABN Amro, a CV that reads like a roll-call of the banks that have long competed to manage the fortunes of India’s affluent diaspora.
With Indian wealth exploding at home and spreading fast across global financial centres, the race to capture it is only getting fiercer. HSBC is backing Anand to make sure it does not finish second.
