Sethu (A.Sethumadhavan) started his professional career very early, at the age of 19. After taking a
degree in Physics, he worked in certain Central Government Departments in North India before joining
the India Meterological Depart in Mumbai. After a couple of years in Mumbai he took a transfer to the
Met. Office, Thiruvananthapuram and then to the Met. Unit in the Rocket Launching Station, Thumba. It
was the initial phase of the evolution of the Rocket Station (then known as TERLS), after the launching
of the first rocket in November 1963 and the Met. Unit also had an important role to play in the
successful implementation of the project. Sethu joined Thumba in early 1964 and had the privilege of
working there for more than two years. Subsequently he was promoted and posted to the newly
established Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, with the well known Scientist, Dr. P.R.Pisharody as
its Director.
Subsequently, he joined the Railway Board, New Delhi. After spending a couple of years in the Railway
Board, Sethu switched over to the banking industry and joined the State Bank of Patiala as a
Probationary Officer. After an initial term of a few months in a border town in Punjab, he joined the
State Bank of Travancore in the year 1968. He had a long tenure of over 25 years in SBT and held
various important positions like the Branch Manager, Development Manager, Chief Manager, Regional
Manager, Asst. General Manager and Dy. General Manager. He had the distinction of heading the
International Banking operations of the Bank for about 7 years, during which period he was responsible
of modernising the functioning of the Foreign Exchange Department. Subsequently, he was deputed to
the State Bank of Hyderabad as Dy. General Manager, where also he headed the International Banking
operations of the Bank. Later, he worked as the General Manager at the Corporation Bank at its Head
Office at Mangalore for more than two years.
Sethumadhavan joined the South Indian Bank as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in June 1999.
During his six-year term, SIB had achieved significant growth in business, profitability and expansion of
network. He was also responsible for launching a massive and path-breaking technological upgradation
plan for the Bank by introducing the core banking solution, way back in the year 2001, in technology
partnership with some IT majors in the country.He retired from the bank’s service in June 2005.
Later, he was on the Board of the State Bank of Travancore for three years. Apart from acting as the ex-
officio Chairman of the Cochin Local Committee of the Foreign Exchange Dealers’ Association of India
(FEDAI) for about 6 years, he was also on the Board of the Travancore Cochin Chemicals (TCC),
Udyogmandal, for 5 years. His exposure to International Banking and NRI - related issues as head of
the IB and Fex departments of two public sector banks has been supplemented and strengthened by his
participation in many international conferences on Banking at London, Düsseldorf, Hong Kong and
Singapore, to name a few. Widely travelled, he had visited U.S.A., U.K, Canada, Australia, China,
Egypt, Germany, Switzerland, France, Turkey, Malayasia, Singapore and certain other European and
almost all Gulf countries.
degree in Physics, he worked in certain Central Government Departments in North India before joining
the India Meterological Depart in Mumbai. After a couple of years in Mumbai he took a transfer to the
Met. Office, Thiruvananthapuram and then to the Met. Unit in the Rocket Launching Station, Thumba. It
was the initial phase of the evolution of the Rocket Station (then known as TERLS), after the launching
of the first rocket in November 1963 and the Met. Unit also had an important role to play in the
successful implementation of the project. Sethu joined Thumba in early 1964 and had the privilege of
working there for more than two years. Subsequently he was promoted and posted to the newly
established Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, with the well known Scientist, Dr. P.R.Pisharody as
its Director.
Subsequently, he joined the Railway Board, New Delhi. After spending a couple of years in the Railway
Board, Sethu switched over to the banking industry and joined the State Bank of Patiala as a
Probationary Officer. After an initial term of a few months in a border town in Punjab, he joined the
State Bank of Travancore in the year 1968. He had a long tenure of over 25 years in SBT and held
various important positions like the Branch Manager, Development Manager, Chief Manager, Regional
Manager, Asst. General Manager and Dy. General Manager. He had the distinction of heading the
International Banking operations of the Bank for about 7 years, during which period he was responsible
of modernising the functioning of the Foreign Exchange Department. Subsequently, he was deputed to
the State Bank of Hyderabad as Dy. General Manager, where also he headed the International Banking
operations of the Bank. Later, he worked as the General Manager at the Corporation Bank at its Head
Office at Mangalore for more than two years.
Sethumadhavan joined the South Indian Bank as its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in June 1999.
During his six-year term, SIB had achieved significant growth in business, profitability and expansion of
network. He was also responsible for launching a massive and path-breaking technological upgradation
plan for the Bank by introducing the core banking solution, way back in the year 2001, in technology
partnership with some IT majors in the country.He retired from the bank’s service in June 2005.
Later, he was on the Board of the State Bank of Travancore for three years. Apart from acting as the ex-
officio Chairman of the Cochin Local Committee of the Foreign Exchange Dealers’ Association of India
(FEDAI) for about 6 years, he was also on the Board of the Travancore Cochin Chemicals (TCC),
Udyogmandal, for 5 years. His exposure to International Banking and NRI - related issues as head of
the IB and Fex departments of two public sector banks has been supplemented and strengthened by his
participation in many international conferences on Banking at London, Düsseldorf, Hong Kong and
Singapore, to name a few. Widely travelled, he had visited U.S.A., U.K, Canada, Australia, China,
Egypt, Germany, Switzerland, France, Turkey, Malayasia, Singapore and certain other European and
almost all Gulf countries.
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