Mumbai, Nov. 29 :    Mumbai, Nov. 29:  News of the resignation of Rana Talwar, director and group chief executive of Standard Chartered plc, has come as a bolt from the blue for his Indian counterparts. Talwar's exit was 'unexpected,' say Stanchart officials. 'It was unexpected and came out of the blue,' a Stanchart official said under conditions of anonymity. His resignation comes amidst thick rumours of Stanchart being taken over by rival Citibank. However, the official response to the news was one of complete nonchalance, with most putting up a 'business as usual' face. 'These things are part of corporate life', a senior Stanchart official said. 'The board wishes to thank Rana for his invaluable contribution to the group. He took decisive action to build and strengthen the franchise, and was responsible for the landmark acquisitions of Grindlays and Chase's consumer business in Hong Kong,' the bank acknowledged in a press statement. Talwar was responsible for the foreign bank adopting an aggressive stance in the local banking arena and personally handpicked several senior Stanchart officials for the bank's India operations including Jaspal Bindra and Harpal Duggal. He was bullish on the future of emerging economies like India and China and was keen to expand Stanchart's operations in India. His exit, sources said, is expected to leave a void which the bank may find difficult to fill. In a brief statement, Talwar himself said: 'I have relished the challenges of the last three years, transforming the group. I remain confident that the group has the right strategy and direction and will continue to flourish. I recognise that now is an appropriate time to move on. After working for 33 years in the industry, I look forward to taking a break before considering other opportunities. I wish the group well.' Talwar, who rose from the ranks, already had a high profile career at Citibank before joining Stanchart, having spearheaded its consumer operations in Asia and Japan. What marked him out from other senior bankers is the fact that he was not an MBA. One of Citibank's achievers, he was the blue-eyed boy of chairman John Reed. Talwar was assigned key jobs which included devising a strategy to make Citibank a global brand.