Upendra Poudel, former president of the Nepal Bankers’ Association (NBA) and CEO of NMB Bank, recently hung up his boots after a three-decade-long career in the banking industry. Just before riding off into the sunset, the veteran banker organized the ninth annual meeting of the Global Alliance for Banking on Values in Kathmandu. It was a challenging task to bring together 120 participants including CEOs and senior executives of 43 financial institutions from 28 countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and North America. But Poudel’s meticulous planning and dedication as co-organiser made the event a grand success. 

The success of the programme is just one of the many feathers in Poudel’s cap. He was at the helm of the NBA during what was probably the most challenging time in the Nepali banking industry, which was reeling from the effects of two devastating earthquakes and an unofficial trade embargo by India.

Due to the frequent aftershocks which followed the massive earthquakes, everyone feared for their life. The banking sector, one of the most professionally run industries in the country, had to continue routine operations in a bid to restore the confidence of the private sector and the general public.

“It was a difficult time, but I coordinated with all the players in the industry so that the banking system continued to provide very essential services after the earthquake,” said Poudel. “Working with the central bank, we managed to work out various initiatives including concessional loans for earthquake victims.”

Anil Shah, the current NBA president who was serving as vice-president under Poudel, described his leadership style as being calm and collective. “Anyone can captain a ship when the sea is calm, but the real test is to captain it when there is a storm,” said Shah. “Many leaders panic when things go wrong. On the contrary, Poudel made sure banks reopened for business on day two.”

When the banking industry and the country were just beginning to recover from the effects of the earthquake, there was a disruption in supplies throughout the country due to a protest by Tarai-based political parties over the constitution drafting process. The constitution was promulgated despite their boycott, and it led to a greater problems. Subsequently, India imposed a blockade on Nepal disrupting trade between the two countries.    

The country faced an acute shortage of daily essential commodities including fuel, and the daily lives of the common citizens were crippled. “For the economy and the banking industry, the trade disruption was more disastrous than the earthquakes,” said Shah.

“Banks were finding it difficult to conduct normal operations, forget about making profits. But his calmness gave tremendous support to other bankers.” He made sure that banks kept offering their services and even convinced every player in the industry to provide basic banking services in the protest affected districts, Shah added. 

Poudel never thought he would achieve this level of success in his professional life when he started his career as supervisor of the accounts department at the Hotel Soaltee in 1980. But with sheer hard work, patience and perseverance, he was able to achieve the feat that every management professional aspires for.

The half a dozen years Poudel spent at the Soaltee preparing the management information system, final accounts and budget proved to be an apt launching pad when he started his banking career in 1986 by joining Nepal Grindlays Bank, which is now Standard Chartered Bank Nepal.

Shah, who also worked in Nepal Grindlays with Poudel, recalls him as a banker who exhibited a strong relationship with customers and made them believe the bank was an integral part of their business.

“He used to look after the carpet business when it was at its peak, and he achieved a fair amount of success,” said Shah. Poudel also represented the bank at the International Carpet Fair in Germany and built up and strengthened relations with banks in Germany and carpet importers from all over the world.

He was enjoying a decent success as a banker, and one fine day he was posted to the Biratnagar branch as manager. “The branch was not doing well at the time, and he was posted there,” said Shah. “But with his skill, he was able to attract new customers, build strong bonds and turn the branch around as one of the best performing branches of the bank.”  

The big moment in his career came when he joined NMB Finance Company in 2000 as its CEO with a plan to upgrade it to a commercial bank. It was a daunting task to diversify the portfolio of the finance company besides increasing the volume of transactions to transform it into a sustainable bank, but Poudel took on the challenge.

He successfully led and managed the merger of four other development banks and finance company with the bank. Similarly, he brought in FMO, an AAA rated development bank with a majority holding of the Dutch government, as the largest shareholder with a 20 percent stake in the bank.

“I hired competent managers and empowered them, and the rest is history,” he said. “At the time I retired, the bank had 846 employees and total assets of Rs85 billion.”