'Long term view on India remains optimistic'

Deutsche Bank's co-CEO Anshu Jain has described India as a ‘strategic’ market for the Germany-based global banking major, saying that its long term view on the country remains optimistic.

"India has long been important for Deutsche Bank.

“We are a large investment bank and commercial bank there, and we have growing retail and asset management businesses in the country. We have a large amount of vital back office and mid office infrastructure in India. India is strategic for us," India born Jain told PTI in New York.

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On his bank's outlook for the country, he said: "Our long term view on India remains optimistic."

Jain was honoured by the Jewish Museum at its annual high-profile gala here as a tribute to his personal and professional relationships with the city's Jewish community.

Describing himself as an ‘Indian with a British passport who works for a German bank’, Jain said at the fund-raising event that he learnt a lot from New York's Jewish community when he first arrived in the city after completing business school at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

A Bachelor in Economics from Delhi University, Jain is among the growing number of Indian-origin executives assuming leadership roles at global corporations.

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He said people of the Indian community at the helm of global firms are a ‘comment on two factors’.

"Clearly something can be said about the Indian education system, and maybe about Indian values.

“But something important has to be said too about the Western model of acceptance and meritocracy.

"It is an opportunity to celebrate American, German and British cultures which afford people from different backgrounds an opportunity," he said, citing the example of Mastercard's India-born CEO Ajay Banga and Citigroup's former chief Vikram Pandit.

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The club of Indian-origin top executives also includes Microsoft's recently appointed CEO Satya Nadella and PepsiCo Chief Indra Nooyi.

"We should be celebrating the systems in which we are succeeding and not just our roots," Jain added.   

Jain started his career at Wall Street, working at financial major Merrill Lynch. He became the Co-CEO of Deutsche Bank in 2012, having first joined in 1995 to build

the bank’s nascent markets business.

He advises governments and industry bodies around the world and is a member of the Institute of International Finance and the Financial Services Forum.

He also advises the Monetary Authority of Singapore on industry, market and macroeconomic issues.