Mr Shankar was previously Bank of America's senior vice president in Singapore, which allowed him to build a solid footing in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Japan, the bank said in a statement.

In his new role, Mr Shankar will be covering the whole of Southern Asia, from India to Australia.

"This is an area of strategic importance for us and his focus will be to grow our business in the region to better serve our clients," the bank's Southern Asia regional transaction banking head Jiten Arora said.

Mr Shankar will be handling a team of 40 and will report directly to Mr Arora.