SMFG India Credit
Our Management Team
Chairman, Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director
Mr. Rajeev Kannan is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of SMFG India Credit Company Limited. He is the Managing Executive Officer and Co-Head of Asia Pacific Division of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) as well as in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) since April 2022. In his role, Mr. Kannan is responsible for SMBC and SMFG’s business in Asia Pacific Region.
Prior to this role, Mr. Kannan ran the corporate coverage and banking business for Asia Pacific for 2 years and investment banking for the region for 4 years. Mr. Kannan had also spent 4 years in Tokyo covering global structured finance.
Mr. Kannan’s banking career spans nearly 30 years having held various leadership roles with global, regional and product responsibilities. Mr. Kannan has a deep experience in corporate and investment banking, structured finance, principal investments, private credit and infrastructure/ green finance and is a thought leader in this space. Mr. Kannan is also a member of the Board of Directors of Pierfront Capital Mezzanine Fund Pte. Ltd. and YES Bank Limited and also an Advisory Board Member of Singapore Green Finance Center, a partnership between SMU and Imperial College.
Mr. Kannan holds a Master’s degree in Management and Engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani. Mr. Kannan was awarded IBF Distinguished Fellow in 2019 by the Institute of Banking & Finance, Singapore.
Non-Executive, Independent Director
Mr. Murali Ramakrishnan has 37 years of experience in Banking and Financial Service Sector. He joined South Indian Bank as an Advisor on July 1, 2020, and was appointed as MD & CEO of the Bank on October 1, 2020. He has substantial experience in the various facet of banking industry viz. Retail, SME, Corporate, Project Finance, International Business, Risk, Policy, BIU etc., in both domestic and international markets. Mr. Murali Ramakrishnan is a Chemical Engineering Graduate and holds Post Graduate Diploma in Finance and Marketing from IIM - Bangalore.
Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director
Mr. Toshitake Funaki was appointed as Executive Officer & Deputy Head of India Division, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation in April 2025.
A seasoned and global banker, Mr. Funaki has over 20 years of deep international experience and has held leadership roles across SMBC’s corporate and institutional banking business during his 32 -year career at SMBC. Before being appointed as Executive Officer & Deputy Head of India Division, he was the Senior General Manager of Tokyo Corporate Banking Dept 8. Prior to this, he was Chief Executive Officer of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), India.
Since 1999, he has accumulated deep knowledge in various financial products, including real estate finance, project finance, and syndication. His expertise in capital funding has helped to support companies across the Asia-Pacific region during a period of global economic turmoil.
Mr. Funaki began his career in finance after receiving a Bachelor of Economics degree from Keio University in 1993. Upon graduation, he joined The Sumitomo Bank Ltd (now known as SMBC).
Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director
Ravi Narayanan is the Chief Executive officer and Managing Director of SMFG India Credit Co. Ltd. He also serves as a Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director of SMFG India Home Finance Company Limited. He is a member of the ULI Pricing Committee constituted by Reserve Bank of India & Reserve Bank Innovation Hub.
Ravi brings three decades of leadership experience in India’s banking and financial services sector, with a proven track record of scaling business, driving strategic transformation, and building high-performing teams. An alumnus of IIT(BHU) Varanasi and FMS Delhi, he combines deep technical expertise with strong commercial acumen.
Before taking helm at SMFG India Credit, Ravi served as an advisor to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s Retail Banking Division, advising on strategic investments in India. His work included participating in business due diligence, assessment of the investee management team and related technical and regulatory aspects. He also served as a Group Executive – Retail at Axis Bank, leading network of 5,500 branches and 58,000 employees. He was instrumental in launching the Burgundy Private wealth management platform, expanding the bank’s NRI portfolio, and strengthening its international presence through operations in the UAE. His leadership extended to governance roles as nominee director on the boards of Axis Securities and Axis Mutual Fund.
Previously, at HDFC Bank, Ravi held multiple leadership positions across two decades, including Group Head of Branch Banking, overseeing 950 branches and a INR 1.1 trillion liabilities book. He also led the Retail Trade FX business, delivering INR 1,000 crore in annual income and making a significant contribution to the bank’s treasury revenue. Earlier roles included heading merchant acquiring, cash management, and current accounts, where he built scalable business from the ground up.
Executive Director and Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Hiroyuki Mesaki is a seasoned banking professional with over 3 decades of extensive experience with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Japan (‘SMBC’), especially in planning, strategy including risk appetite framework, supporting Japanese clients who pursuing business expansion outside Japan and credit control.
Mr. Mesaki has been involved in making and management SMBC’s mid-term-management plan and implementing the concept of risk appetite framework during the period of 2015-2020 in Tokyo Home Office. He has fundamental expertise in structured finance, accounting and governance framework in banking sector as well.
Mr. Mesaki had served SMBC India as Chief Executive Officer and Country Head from April 2023 till May 2026. He also held several senior leadership positions within SMBC across multiple global locations, including Managing Director and Joint General Manager in the Strategic Planning Department of the Americas Division in New York, and Joint General Manager as well as Group Head and Senior Vice President in the Global Portfolio Strategy Department in Tokyo.
Mr. Mesaki has also served as Group Head and Senior Vice President at the Global Banking Unit in Tokyo, and led SMBC’s New Delhi Branch as Group Head and Senior Vice President. His earlier roles include responsibilities in New Delhi Representative Office, Global Advisory Department in Tokyo, and the Hong Kong Branch.
He holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Keio University, Tokyo, Japan.
Non-Executive, Independent Director
Ms. Seema Bahuguna is an Independent Director on the Board of SMFG India Credit Company Limited. She belongs to the 1983 batch of the Indian Administrative Service. She has 36 years of experience working in senior decision-making levels in the Govt. of India and the State Govt. of Rajasthan, where she was involved in formulating and implementing policies, strategies, and programmes. She has more than 14 years of experience working in the fields of Industry, Foreign Trade, Finance and the Public Sector.
As Director of Industries and MD of the Bureau of Industrial Promotion in Rajasthan, she was instrumental in formulating the Industrial Policy of the State Govt. as well as creating customised packages to attract investors into the state. As Additional Director General Foreign Trade in the Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of India, she was associated with launching the first Foreign Trade Policy of the Government of India in 2004. This marked a paradigm shift from a control-based regulatory Import/Export regime to one of Trade Promotion and facilitation.
As Secretary- Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) for about three years, she played a crucial role in formulating the standard financial and HR policies for around 260+ operating Central Public Sector Enterprises across a broad spectrum ranging from Petroleum, Coal, Power, Railways, Mines to Defence Production. This provided a great opportunity to understand the problems being faced by the public sector in India and to analyse its relative strength and weakness vis a vis the peers in the private sector. Several novel initiatives were taken during this time to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of these companies to enable them to face the challenges of a modern global environment. Their annual performance appraisal systems were made more result oriented and dynamic by introducing profitability and efficiency standards.
Measures were also taken to enhance the skills of Board level and below Board level employees through different capacity-building initiatives. These systemic improvements enabled DPE, as the nodal department for Public Sector companies, to truly become an enabler in improving their performance. As a member of the Bank Boards Bureau, she was involved in selecting the top management of Public Sector Banks and Insurance Companies like LIC. This experience gave her a unique insight into the working of this crucial sector of the economy. Mrs Bahuguna is an Independent Director/Public Interest Director on the Board of DCM Sriram and India International Gold Exchange respectively. She is also an Independent External Monitor in ONGC and National Textile Corporation of Govt of India.
Ms. Bahuguna is a MA in History from Delhi University and MSc in Development Studies from the University of Bath, UK. She has also undergone specialised training in Sustainable Development, WTO issues, and courses on Ethics and Governance at the University of California, Berkeley and Leadership and Strategic Thinking at the University of Cambridge.
Non-Executive, Independent Director
Mr. Diwakar Gupta is an Independent Director on the Board of SMFG India Credit Company Limited. Mr. Gupta has nearly five decades of experience in the financial services industry across the public sector and development banking. He was the Vice President of Private Sector and Public-Private Partnerships at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) from 2015 to 2020. Mr. Gupta oversaw ADB’s assistance to private sector projects at ADB and was responsible for building and maintaining ADB’s public-private partnership operations.
Before ADB, he was the MD & CFO of the State Bank of India. He was responsible for setting strategies and direction alongside other State Bank’s Central Management Committee members. He joined the Bank in 1974 and held several leadership positions at its various units and subsidiaries. He held the position of Deputy Managing Director (National and Rural Banking) and CEO - SBI Card & Payment Services, among others in the Bank. Mr. Gupta has also worked in an advisory capacity with India Value Fund Advisors (IVFA) and Aditya Birla Financial Services Pvt. Ltd. and as an Independent Director on the boards of leading business councils, financial services companies, and other private organizations in India. Mr. Gupta has also been the Senior Advisor (Research) in Centre for Advanced Financial Research and Learning (CAFRAL), promoted by RBI. Currently, he serves as the non-executive Chairman of National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL), promoted by government of India.
He graduated in Physics (Hons) from St. Stephen’s College (Delhi), and holds a Master’s degree in Physics from Delhi University. He is a Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB).
Non-Executive, Independent Director
Mr. C N Ram is an Independent Director on the Board of SMFG India Credit Company Limited. He is also the Chairperson and Independent Director of SMFG India Home Finance Co. Ltd, a subsidiary company. As the MD & CEO of FYNDNA Tech Corp Pvt. Ltd. since Feb 2021, he oversees the development of a modern cloud-native core digital banking platform. He has over 4 decades of experience predominantly in Banks, manufacturing, business process outsourcing, and consulting, with considerable exposure to strategic planning, data analytics, information security, technology operations, business transformation and ERP implementation. He was a consultant with Warburg Pincus India Pvt Ltd until 2023 and has worked closely with the RBI on various projects that have had a significant impact on the Banking industry.
Mr. Ram has also worked on the Customer Advisory Boards of leading Global firms like Sun Microsystems, NCR, HP and VISA International. He was the Group President & CIO of the Essar group between 2010-13, where he was responsible for mentoring the individual Business CIOs, aligning business and IT, streamlining IT governance, and improving information security. In 2008, Mr. Ram along with 5 others set up a social venture called Rural Shores Business Services that creates job opportunities for educated youth in rural India. He was the 3rd employee at HDFC Bank (14 years) and the first tech employee at Bank of America, India (12 years). HDFC Bank is recognized as one of the most tech-savvy institutions in the country and pioneered many innovative tech-enabled solutions for businesses.
Mr. Ram holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a B. Tech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in Chennai. He has won 3 lifetime achievement awards from leading publications for his stellar work as CIO in multiple companies.
Non-Executive, Independent Director
Mr. Murali Ramakrishnan has 37 years of experience in Banking and Financial Service Sector. He joined South Indian Bank as an Advisor on July 1, 2020, and was appointed as MD & CEO of the Bank on October 1, 2020. He has substantial experience in the various facet of banking industry viz. Retail, SME, Corporate, Project Finance, International Business, Risk, Policy, BIU etc., in both domestic and international markets. Mr. Murali Ramakrishnan is a Chemical Engineering Graduate and holds Post Graduate Diploma in Finance and Marketing from IIM - Bangalore.
Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director
Mr. Toshitake Funaki was appointed as Executive Officer & Deputy Head of India Division, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation in April 2025.
A seasoned and global banker, Mr. Funaki has over 20 years of deep international experience and has held leadership roles across SMBC’s corporate and institutional banking business during his 32 -year career at SMBC. Before being appointed as Executive Officer & Deputy Head of India Division, he was the Senior General Manager of Tokyo Corporate Banking Dept 8. Prior to this, he was Chief Executive Officer of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), India.
Since 1999, he has accumulated deep knowledge in various financial products, including real estate finance, project finance, and syndication. His expertise in capital funding has helped to support companies across the Asia-Pacific region during a period of global economic turmoil.
Mr. Funaki began his career in finance after receiving a Bachelor of Economics degree from Keio University in 1993. Upon graduation, he joined The Sumitomo Bank Ltd (now known as SMBC).
Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director
Ravi Narayanan is the Chief Executive officer and Managing Director of SMFG India Credit Co. Ltd. He also serves as a Non-Executive, Non-Independent Director of SMFG India Home Finance Company Limited. He is a member of the ULI Pricing Committee constituted by Reserve Bank of India & Reserve Bank Innovation Hub.
Ravi brings three decades of leadership experience in India’s banking and financial services sector, with a proven track record of scaling business, driving strategic transformation, and building high-performing teams. An alumnus of IIT(BHU) Varanasi and FMS Delhi, he combines deep technical expertise with strong commercial acumen.
Before taking helm at SMFG India Credit, Ravi served as an advisor to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s Retail Banking Division, advising on strategic investments in India. His work included participating in business due diligence, assessment of the investee management team and related technical and regulatory aspects. He also served as a Group Executive – Retail at Axis Bank, leading network of 5,500 branches and 58,000 employees. He was instrumental in launching the Burgundy Private wealth management platform, expanding the bank’s NRI portfolio, and strengthening its international presence through operations in the UAE. His leadership extended to governance roles as nominee director on the boards of Axis Securities and Axis Mutual Fund.
Previously, at HDFC Bank, Ravi held multiple leadership positions across two decades, including Group Head of Branch Banking, overseeing 950 branches and a INR 1.1 trillion liabilities book. He also led the Retail Trade FX business, delivering INR 1,000 crore in annual income and making a significant contribution to the bank’s treasury revenue. Earlier roles included heading merchant acquiring, cash management, and current accounts, where he built scalable business from the ground up.
Executive Director and Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Hiroyuki Mesaki is a seasoned banking professional with over 3 decades of extensive experience with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Japan (‘SMBC’), especially in planning, strategy including risk appetite framework, supporting Japanese clients who pursuing business expansion outside Japan and credit control.
Mr. Mesaki has been involved in making and management SMBC’s mid-term-management plan and implementing the concept of risk appetite framework during the period of 2015-2020 in Tokyo Home Office. He has fundamental expertise in structured finance, accounting and governance framework in banking sector as well.
Mr. Mesaki had served SMBC India as Chief Executive Officer and Country Head from April 2023 till May 2026. He also held several senior leadership positions within SMBC across multiple global locations, including Managing Director and Joint General Manager in the Strategic Planning Department of the Americas Division in New York, and Joint General Manager as well as Group Head and Senior Vice President in the Global Portfolio Strategy Department in Tokyo.
Mr. Mesaki has also served as Group Head and Senior Vice President at the Global Banking Unit in Tokyo, and led SMBC’s New Delhi Branch as Group Head and Senior Vice President. His earlier roles include responsibilities in New Delhi Representative Office, Global Advisory Department in Tokyo, and the Hong Kong Branch.
He holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Keio University, Tokyo, Japan.
Non-Executive, Independent Director
Ms. Seema Bahuguna is an Independent Director on the Board of SMFG India Credit Company Limited. She belongs to the 1983 batch of the Indian Administrative Service. She has 36 years of experience working in senior decision-making levels in the Govt. of India and the State Govt. of Rajasthan, where she was involved in formulating and implementing policies, strategies, and programmes. She has more than 14 years of experience working in the fields of Industry, Foreign Trade, Finance and the Public Sector.
As Director of Industries and MD of the Bureau of Industrial Promotion in Rajasthan, she was instrumental in formulating the Industrial Policy of the State Govt. as well as creating customised packages to attract investors into the state. As Additional Director General Foreign Trade in the Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of India, she was associated with launching the first Foreign Trade Policy of the Government of India in 2004. This marked a paradigm shift from a control-based regulatory Import/Export regime to one of Trade Promotion and facilitation.
As Secretary- Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) for about three years, she played a crucial role in formulating the standard financial and HR policies for around 260+ operating Central Public Sector Enterprises across a broad spectrum ranging from Petroleum, Coal, Power, Railways, Mines to Defence Production. This provided a great opportunity to understand the problems being faced by the public sector in India and to analyse its relative strength and weakness vis a vis the peers in the private sector. Several novel initiatives were taken during this time to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of these companies to enable them to face the challenges of a modern global environment. Their annual performance appraisal systems were made more result oriented and dynamic by introducing profitability and efficiency standards.
Measures were also taken to enhance the skills of Board level and below Board level employees through different capacity-building initiatives. These systemic improvements enabled DPE, as the nodal department for Public Sector companies, to truly become an enabler in improving their performance. As a member of the Bank Boards Bureau, she was involved in selecting the top management of Public Sector Banks and Insurance Companies like LIC. This experience gave her a unique insight into the working of this crucial sector of the economy. Mrs Bahuguna is an Independent Director/Public Interest Director on the Board of DCM Sriram and India International Gold Exchange respectively. She is also an Independent External Monitor in ONGC and National Textile Corporation of Govt of India.
Ms. Bahuguna is a MA in History from Delhi University and MSc in Development Studies from the University of Bath, UK. She has also undergone specialised training in Sustainable Development, WTO issues, and courses on Ethics and Governance at the University of California, Berkeley and Leadership and Strategic Thinking at the University of Cambridge.
Non-Executive, Independent Director
Mr. Diwakar Gupta is an Independent Director on the Board of SMFG India Credit Company Limited. Mr. Gupta has nearly five decades of experience in the financial services industry across the public sector and development banking. He was the Vice President of Private Sector and Public-Private Partnerships at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) from 2015 to 2020. Mr. Gupta oversaw ADB’s assistance to private sector projects at ADB and was responsible for building and maintaining ADB’s public-private partnership operations.
Before ADB, he was the MD & CFO of the State Bank of India. He was responsible for setting strategies and direction alongside other State Bank’s Central Management Committee members. He joined the Bank in 1974 and held several leadership positions at its various units and subsidiaries. He held the position of Deputy Managing Director (National and Rural Banking) and CEO - SBI Card & Payment Services, among others in the Bank. Mr. Gupta has also worked in an advisory capacity with India Value Fund Advisors (IVFA) and Aditya Birla Financial Services Pvt. Ltd. and as an Independent Director on the boards of leading business councils, financial services companies, and other private organizations in India. Mr. Gupta has also been the Senior Advisor (Research) in Centre for Advanced Financial Research and Learning (CAFRAL), promoted by RBI. Currently, he serves as the non-executive Chairman of National Asset Reconstruction Company Limited (NARCL), promoted by government of India.
He graduated in Physics (Hons) from St. Stephen’s College (Delhi), and holds a Master’s degree in Physics from Delhi University. He is a Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB).
Non-Executive, Independent Director
Mr. C N Ram is an Independent Director on the Board of SMFG India Credit Company Limited. He is also the Chairperson and Independent Director of SMFG India Home Finance Co. Ltd, a subsidiary company. As the MD & CEO of FYNDNA Tech Corp Pvt. Ltd. since Feb 2021, he oversees the development of a modern cloud-native core digital banking platform. He has over 4 decades of experience predominantly in Banks, manufacturing, business process outsourcing, and consulting, with considerable exposure to strategic planning, data analytics, information security, technology operations, business transformation and ERP implementation. He was a consultant with Warburg Pincus India Pvt Ltd until 2023 and has worked closely with the RBI on various projects that have had a significant impact on the Banking industry.
Mr. Ram has also worked on the Customer Advisory Boards of leading Global firms like Sun Microsystems, NCR, HP and VISA International. He was the Group President & CIO of the Essar group between 2010-13, where he was responsible for mentoring the individual Business CIOs, aligning business and IT, streamlining IT governance, and improving information security. In 2008, Mr. Ram along with 5 others set up a social venture called Rural Shores Business Services that creates job opportunities for educated youth in rural India. He was the 3rd employee at HDFC Bank (14 years) and the first tech employee at Bank of America, India (12 years). HDFC Bank is recognized as one of the most tech-savvy institutions in the country and pioneered many innovative tech-enabled solutions for businesses.
Mr. Ram holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a B. Tech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in Chennai. He has won 3 lifetime achievement awards from leading publications for his stellar work as CIO in multiple companies.
Non-Executive, Independent Director
Mr. Murali Ramakrishnan has 37 years of experience in Banking and Financial Service Sector. He joined South Indian Bank as an Advisor on July 1, 2020, and was appointed as MD & CEO of the Bank on October 1, 2020. He has substantial experience in the various facet of banking industry viz. Retail, SME, Corporate, Project Finance, International Business, Risk, Policy, BIU etc., in both domestic and international markets. Mr. Murali Ramakrishnan is a Chemical Engineering Graduate and holds Post Graduate Diploma in Finance and Marketing from IIM - Bangalore.