Sima Kamil

Sima Kamil is a Pakistani banker, and since August 2020 the deputy governor of State Bank of Pakistan. In May 2017 she became the president and chief executive of United Bank Limited,^[1] the first woman to lead a major Pakistani bank.^[1][2]

Kamil grew up in Karachi; her father was also from Karachi, and her mother's family moved from East Punjab to Lahore during the Partition of India.^[3] Her parents met at a poetry reading in Lahore.^[3]

Kamil attended Karachi Grammar School, where she developed an interest in literature and history, before moving to the United Kingdom to attend university,^[3][1] graduating with a degree in business from Kingston University in 1983,^[4][1] and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from City, University of London.^[1] She was offered a place to study development economics at Oxford University, but as her family could not afford to pay, she returned to Karachi to work.^[3]

Her first career role was working as a corporate relationship manager for American Express in Karachi (1986-88),^[3][1] before she moved to a position at ANZ Grindlays Bank, first in Karachi and then Lahore.^[3][5] During 11 years at ANZ Grindlays, Kamil gradually rose up through the company ranks, spending two years working in Melbourne in the mid-1990s,^[3] before returning to Pakistan to become the head of credit for the bank, and subsequently corporate regional executive.^[3][5]

When ANZ sold its regional Grindlays operations to Standard Chartered Bank in 2000, Kamil moved to the new parent company to a role as a senior credit officer.^[3][5][1] In April 2001, Kamil joined Habib Bank Limited (HBL) to run a regional corporate banking unit, being promoted to head the corporate and investment banking division in 2004.^[3][5] She also headed the bank's wealth management division, HBL Asset Management Company Ltd.^[1] Under the mentorship of Rafiuddin Zakir Mahmood, chief executive of HBL, Kamil was prepared for management of other areas of the business,^[3] and in January 2011, Kamil was appointed as head of HBL's branch banking network,^[3][1][5] managing thousands of employees and overseeing a large expansion of their bank's branch network.^[3][1] While Kamil was managing the branch banking division, the bank recorded the highest annual average current account deposit growth in the industry, placing it first among Pakistan's banks.^[3] In 2016 she also developed and launched HBL Nisa, the bank's Women's Market Program, an attempt to promote HBL services to women,^[1][6] for which the bank was awarded the title of GBA Women's Champion by the Global Banking Alliance for Women.^[6]

In March 2017, Kamil was included in Pakistan Today's list of "Pakistan's Only Powerful Women in Business", one of 18 women on the list.^[6][7]

In March 2017, Kamil was appointed Deputy CEO of United Bank Limited (UBL),^[2][5] and it was announced that she would be taking over as president and CEO of the bank on 1 June 2017, replacing Wajahat Hussain.^[1] She is the first woman to lead a major Pakistani bank.^[1][2] In 2018, she was recognised as an "Influential Leader" by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), for her impact on diversity and inclusion.^[6][4]

Kamil has been a board member of the bank since February 2019.^[5]

On 25 August 2020, Kamil was appointed deputy governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, for a period of three years.^[8] She is the first woman to hold this position.^[9][10]

Kamil was also the director of First MicroFinance Bank, a microfinance provider.^[1]

Kamil is the chair of the board of governors of Karachi Grammar School,^[1][11] and is a board member of the Notre Dame Institute of Education,^[1][5] and the governing body of Holy Family Hospital in Karachi.^[5]

Kamil's husband is a lawyer in Karachi.^[3]