Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Appoints John Holden as Chief Executive Officer

New Delhi, India, March 31, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited – a joint venture between two of India’s largest public sector banks, Canara Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce, and HSBC Insurance (Asia Pacific) Holdings Limited, announced the appointment of Mr John Holden as the Chief Executive Officer. He succeeds Mr Harpal Karlcut who was responsible for the successful launch and growth of business and the Company establishing itself amongst the top ten private life insurance players in India within 26 months of launch in terms of Weighted Premium Income. Mr Karlcut has now moved back to HSBC Insurance on an overseas assignment.

Mr John Holden is an internationally experienced executive with a track record of developing and implementing growth strategies across business areas, geographies and cultures. He has worked with HSBC for over 26 years in banking, marketing and insurance, spending the majority of his career in the Group’s life, pensions and investment businesses, supporting retail, commercial and private banking propositions.

Mr Holden has spent the last 13 years in Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, and the Middle East (UAE, Oman, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Bahrain and Qatar) and has been instrumental in creating extremely successful bancassurance distribution partnerships. Prior to joining Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited, he was Deputy President & Chief Operating Officer of Hana HSBC Life Insurance; a 50:50 joint-venture between Hana Financial Holdings (Korea’s 4th largest banking group) and HSBC Insurance.

Speaking on the new appointment, Mr Sunder Rajan Raman, Chairman, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company Limited and Chairman & Managing Director, Canara Bank said: “We are pleased to introduce Mr John Holden on board as the Chief Executive Officer. We are confident that John with his deep understanding of the life insurance sector and experience will provide appropriate leadership to the Company build on its growth trajectory and make valuable contribution in taking it to greater heights.”

Mr Raman further added, “On behalf of Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Company, I would also like to thank Mr Harpal Karlcut for his contribution and the role he played in the tremendous growth and success of the Company. I wish him all the very best for his new role.”

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