8 Indian Bankers Awarded Freedom Of The City Of London

Eight senior bankers from Indian banks based in the financial hub of London have been awarded the Freedom of the City of London. They were given this honor by Chris Hayward, Chairman of the City of London Corporation (CLC).

• Individuals are honoured by the CLC for their significant achievements or outstanding contributions to London life or public life.
• These Indian bankers were nominated for their “outstanding leadership and contribution” to the financial services industry in both the UK and India.

Indian bankers honoured with Freedom of the City of London :

1. Bank of Baroda - Madhur Kumar
2. Bank of India - Manish Gupta 
3. Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM) - Ashok Kumar Vartia
4. IndusInd Bank - Sharukh T Wadia 
5. India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFC) - Rakesh Kumar
6. ICICI Bank - Loknath Mishra 
7. State Bank of India (SBI) – Sudhir Kumar Sharma
8. Union Bank of India -Arabinda Kumar Chaudhary

• They have been honoured for their work on important trade relations between India and Britain. The award recognises outstanding contributions to the financial services sector in the City of London (Square Mile). The Freedom of the City of London has its origins in the 13th century. 
• The City of London Corporation is the governing body of the Square Mile of the capital of the United Kingdom (UK), which is committed to supporting a diverse and sustainable London.
• The current Chair of Policy for the City of London Corporation is Chris Hayward.

About the ‘Freedom of the City of London’ Award: 

• This awards ceremony is one of the oldest traditional ceremonies in the British capital, London. This tradition started in 1237.              
• Since 1996, this festival was limited to British or Commonwealth citizens only, but later, it started being given globally. At present, this honour is given to any person who has citizenship in any country.          

British-Indian Manish Tiwari received this honour: 

• British-Indian entrepreneur Manish Tiwari was honoured with the prestigious 'Freedom of the City of London' award in January 2023.
• Tiwari was given this award for his significant contribution to the financial centre in the British capital, London.                      

Major recipients of the Freedom of the City of London:

• Prominent recipients of this award include India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.
• Apart from him, this award has been given to late South African leader Nelson Mandela and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.