He led ICICI Bank, the Indian Banks' Association and AMFI, and spent decades as a trustee of the Parsee General Hospital and the Rustom Framna Agiary.
Hoshang Noshirwan "Hosi" Sinor, who led ICICI Bank in its early years and later headed both the Indian Banks' Association and the Association of Mutual Funds in India, passed away in Mumbai at about 9:15 p.m. on November 12, 2026. His cousin Farida Irani wrote that he was "relieved of his suffering but was still in good spirits right till the end."
His Paidast was held at 11:00 a.m. the next morning, November 13, at the Hodiwala Bungli at Doongerwadi. He is survived by his wife, Neki.
Four decades in banking
Sinor started his career at the Central Bank of India in 1965 and moved to Union Bank of India in 1969. He spent most of the next 27 years there, then returned to Central Bank in 1996 as Executive Director.
In July 1997 he joined ICICI Bank as Executive Director, and in June 1998 he became its Managing Director and CEO. He steered the bank's American Depositary Share issue, and in 1999 ICICI Bank became the first Indian company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
In March 2001 ICICI Bank took over the Tamil Nadu-based Bank of Madura in an all-stock merger. Sinor oversaw the integration of its roughly 265 branches, which meant moving hundreds of staff between the two banks. Later that year, on October 25, he accompanied ICICI's K.V. Kamath to the Reserve Bank of India's headquarters with the plan for the reverse merger of ICICI into ICICI Bank. The merger went through in 2002 and created India's first universal bank. Kamath became Managing Director and CEO of the merged bank, and Sinor was redesignated Joint Managing Director in charge of domestic banking operations, a post he held until he retired at the end of May 2003.
IBA, AMFI and the Banks Board Bureau
Sinor became Chief Executive of the Indian Banks' Association in June 2003 and served until July 2008. He also sat on the board of ICICI Venture.
In February 2010 AMFI created the post of chief executive and brought him out of retirement to fill it. He began by going after the mis-selling of mutual funds to retail investors: he set out to revise AMFI's code of conduct, which had not been updated in 15 years, and proposed an ombudsman for investor complaints. The industry went through sweeping regulatory changes during his tenure. AMFI reappointed him when his term ended in December 2014, and he stepped down in September 2015, when C.V.R. Rajendran succeeded him.
In February 2016 the government named him one of three expert members of the new Banks Board Bureau, chaired by former Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai, alongside Anil Khandelwal and Roopa Kudva. The Bureau advised the government on choosing the heads of public sector banks and on their governance. His term ended in March 2018. He was also an independent director on the boards of several companies.
Service to the community
Sinor was Chairman of The Zoroastrian Co-operative Bank. For decades he was an Honorary Trustee of the Parsee General Hospital in Mumbai and sat on its Executive Committee. He was a trustee of the Rustom Framna Agiary in Dadar and served on the boards of several Parsi trusts, including the Athornan Mandal.
Remembered by family and friends
Farida Irani called her cousin "a true gem" whose passing "leaves a big void not only in our family but the community at large."
Dinshaw Tamboly, his friend and fellow trustee at the Rustom Framna Agiary for at least 25 years, wrote that the loss would be felt by Neki and the family and by the many institutions "he provided his expertise and guided with sagacity."
A colleague at the Parsee General Hospital first dealt with him between 1993 and 1995, when the colleague's company banked with Union Bank of India, and remembered him as "very practical and pragmatic in his decisions." Around 2020, after retiring, the colleague was offered a role at the hospital and took it largely because Sinor was on the Executive Committee. "He was an extremely good human being with a heart of gold and a thorough professional," the colleague wrote. "May you now regale the heavens with your anecdotes Hoshi Sir."
Evan na ruwan ne Sarosh Yazadni Panah hojoji.