IIFT National Finance Symposium' 11

National Finance Symposium '11 : Report

2011-10-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

IIFT concluded its 6th National Finance Symposium on 6th September 2011 at Mumbai. The Symposium was a huge success with participation from eminent people from the industry and media.

Check out the Final Symposium Report @ the following link:
http://www.esnips.com/doc/7a190231-9dda-4272-a886-ec29c2339714/Symposium-Report-Final

Dr. D Subbarao, Governor RBI- Chief Guest, National Finance Symposium 2011- Inaugural Session

2011-09-05T15:02:00.000-07:00

Dr. Duvvuri Subbarao assumed office as the twenty-second Governor of the Reserve Bank of India on 5 September 2008. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Subbarao served as Finance Secretary to the Government of India from April 2007 to September 2008 and as Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council from March 2005 to March 2007.

As a member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Dr Subbarao has been a career civil servant. Over the years of 1976-98, he worked in various positions in the state Government of Andhra Pradesh and in Government of India.

Dr Subbarao was a Lead Economist in the World Bank (1999 - 2004), where his responsibilities involved advising developing countries on public finance management. He also task managed a flagship study on decentralisation across major East Asian countries which was acknowledged as innovative policy work.

Dr Subbarao received BSc (Hons) in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and MSc in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He also has an MS in Economics from the Ohio State University (1978) and was a Humphrey Fellow studying public finance at MIT during 1982-83. He earned his PhD in Economics from Andhra University for his thesis on “Fiscal Reforms at the Sub-national Level” (1998).

Dr. Subbarao came into the Reserve Bank just a week before the global financial crisis erupted in full in mid-September 2008. He led the Reserve Bank’s effort to mitigate the impact of the crisis on India and was actively engaged in the G-20 effort to coordinate an international response to the crisis. The challenges ahead for the Reserve Bank, as he sees them, are to bring inflation down, support the growth momentum of the Indian economy, take financial sector reforms forward and deepen financial inclusion.

Dr. Subbarao maintains a strong commitment to academic pursuits, and has written and lectured extensively on issues in public finance, decentralization and political economy of reforms at national and international fora.

Dr. Subbarao has consented to be th Chief Guest for the 6th IIFT National Finance Symposium to be held at Mumbai.

Mr. Sonjoy Chatterjee - Special Address, National Finance Symposium 2011- Inaugural Session

2011-09-02T15:25:00.000-07:00

Mr. Sonjoy Chatterjee is currently the chairman and co-chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs India. He is also chair of the India Operating Committee. He joined Goldman Sachs as a partner in May 2010.

Mr. Sonjoy joined the firm after a 16-year career at ICICI Bank, where he most recently served as an executive director on the Board of Directors with responsibility for Corporate & Investment Banking, Financial Institutions Group, Project Finance, Government Banking and ICICI Bank’s International Banking business. He joined ICICI Bank’s predecessor, eICICI, in 1994 in the bank’s project finance office in Kolkata. He later held various senior management roles, including head of the Strategic Group and the founding managing director and chief executive officer of ICICI Bank UK, the bank’s first overseas subsidiary and the largest Indian bank outside of India. Mr. Sonjoy worked closely with key clients, first as senior vice president of the Major Clients Group and then as head of the Global Client Group comprising the top 50 Indian corporate accounts. In 1999, he led the team responsible for listing ICICI as the first Indian company on the NYSE.

Mr. Sonjoy is on the Board of Trustees of the International Business Leaders Forum, London, a social initiative group comprising global business leaders.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a master’s degree in business administration from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB).

Mr. Sonjoy will be delivering the Special Address during the Inaugural Session of our Symposium.

Dr. Atindra Sen - Panelist, National Finance Symposium 2011 - Session III

2011-09-01T00:50:00.000-07:00

Dr. Atindra Sen is currently the Director General of Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He was educated at Loyola School, Jamshedpur, St Stephen’s College, Delhi and at the Delhi School of Economics from where he obtained a Masters degree in Economics. He earned a second Masters degree as well as a PhD in Economics from Boston University. In addition, he was a SPURS Fellow in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1993.

Dr. Sen began his career as a banker and served briefly in the Bank of India as an officer before moving to the State Bank of India. In 1978, he resigned from the State Bank of India to join the Indian Administrative Service. Dr Sen was allotted to the state of Madhya Pradesh cadre in the IAS and served in various administrative positions in the state and the Government of India. He took voluntary retirement from the IAS in 2008 and was at the time visiting professor of Economics in Miami University, Oxford, USA. He joined the Bombay Chamber as its first Director General in June 2009.

Dr. Sen has held several positions in the Government of Madhya Pradesh, including Additional Secretary, Urban Administration; Secretary Information Technology and Finance; Managing Director, MP State Cooperative Oilseeds Growers Federation and Principal Secretary, General Administration Department. While serving in the Government of India, Dr. Sen has held positions in the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, Nuclear Power Corporation, Mumbai, Registrar, Delhi University, Delhi and Member Secretary, Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi.

Dr. Sen has taught in various US colleges and universities such as University of Massachusetts, Boston University, Stonehill College and Earlham College. He has also been a Visiting Professor in Seoul University, South Korea. Dr Sen’s areas of interest include applied microeconomics, economic development and poverty studies, and public policy.

In addition, he is interested in issues of elementary education and civil service reforms. He has been a member of the Joint Review Missions of the District Primary Education Programme and its successor programme, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. He also undertakes volunteer work in primary education and is currently the President of Vikramshila Education Resources Society, a NGO based in Kolkata (www.vikramshila.org) which is active in the fields of primary education and teacher training. He was the Member Secretary of an official committee of the Ministry of Human Resource Development on Operations and Regulation of Foreign Universities in India (CNR Rao Committee) and Chairman of a committee to advice the same Ministry on GATS in relation to educational services.

Dr. Sen is a frequent speaker in workshops and seminarson civl service reforms, conomics and elemenary education. Dr. Sen is married and has two daughters. He has travelle extensively in India and abroad but calls Mumbai his home for many yeas now.

Dr. Atindra Sen will be sharing his views during Session III - Panel Discussion on “Inclusive Growth: A Utopian dream or a reality?” of the Symposium.

Mr. R Laxman- Speaker, National Finance Symposium 2011- Session II

2011-09-01T00:30:00.000-07:00

Mr. R Laxman is currently the Director of Private Equity division at Kotak. He has been with Kotak Private Equity team since 2009 bringing with him more than 17 years of varied experience within the Kotak Group. Prior to his current assignment, Mr. Laxman was with Kotak Investment Banking specialising in Mergers and Acquisition and Private Equity. During his 10 year stint at the Investment Bank, Mr. Laxman has advised several large business groups in India in the M&A and PE space. He has also successfully led cross border acquisitions for Indian and global clients in geographies including Europe and China. He had a special focus on the automobile and general engineering sectors at the Investment Bank.

Prior to the Investment Banking stint, Mr. Laxman spent 2 years in the Car Finance business of Kotak and was the Head of the Western Region. Mr. Laxman also spent 5 years in the Corporate Lease and Hire Purchase Business of Kotak.

Mr. Laxman is a post graduate from S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, University of Bombay with a specialisation in Finance. He is also a Cost and Works Accountant from The Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India.

Mr. R Laxman will be sharing his perspectives during Session II - “Changing pattern of investments - Domestic and Foreign” of the Symposium.

Mr. U. Venkataraman- Speaker, National Finance Symposium 2011- Session I

2011-08-30T13:27:00.000-07:00

Mr. U. Venkataraman is presently Executive Director, MCX Stock Exchange.

MCX Stock Exchange, India’s new exchange offers at present trading in Currency Futures in four Currency Pairs and a market leader in Currency Futures. Mr. U. Venkataraman has more than 20 years of experience in the Financial Market. His expertise and experience cover a broad business and Product Spectrum – Asset Liability Management, Foreign Exchange, Fixed Income and Derivatives.

Prior to joining MCX Stock Exchange, Mr. Venkataraman was the Head of Treasury at IDBI Bank in Mumbai, presently the 7th largest Bank in the Indian Financial Market, where he was in charge of the entire Treasury operations of the Bank.

Mr. Venkataraman has attended several training programmes in India and abroad on professional subjects such as Foreign Exchange Bourse, Market Risks & Derivatives, International Payments & Trade Finance among others. He has also conducted customer seminars on Currency Risk and Interest Rate Risk Management.

He has been a visiting faculty at a number of professional institutions such as Institute of Chartered Accountants of India; Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India, Institute of Company Secretaries of India as well as in the Special Programmes conducted by Trade Bodies and Associations like ASSOCHAM, CII, FICCI & IMC.

Mr. U. Venkataraman will be addressing the Symposium on Broad-basing capital market for Financial Inclusion through the Banking channel during Session I - “Banking in India Undergoing Metamorphosis”.

Mr. Dharmakirti Joshi - Panelist, National Finance Symposium 2011 - Session III

2011-08-30T12:17:00.000-07:00

Mr. Dharmakirti Joshi is the Director of the CRISIL Centre of Economic Research and Chief economist at CRISIL Ltd. He currently also oversees the Asia Pacific Economic Research for S&P which is done out of CRISIL. He has extensive experience in macroeconomic analysis, medium term assessment of Indian economy and demand forecasting as well as in public finance issues.

With 22 years experience in economic research and consultancy, his career began in National Council of Applied Economic Research where he spent 11 years. He then moved on to Central Electricity Regulatory Commission as Deputy Chief Economist. He has been a part of the faculty that trains senior regulatory officials from the South Asia region. He is member of the Working Group of Savings for the 12th Five Year Plan. He is also a member of the industry monitoring group of Reserve bank of India. He is the co-chairman of Economic Affairs Committee of Bombay Chamber of Commerce and member of Economic Policy Group of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Advisory Committee of Economic Research Foundation of Indian Merchant Chamber. He often writes for leading newspapers and expresses his views on the economy in the electronic media.

Mr. Joshi holds a masters degree in economics. He has attended program on Macroeconomic Policy and Management at Harvard University and was a visiting scholar to Economic Research Unit of University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Dharmakirti Joshi will be sharing his thoughts during Session III - Panel Discussion on “Inclusive Growth: A Utopian dream or a reality?” of the Symposium.

Mr. Rashesh Shah - Speaker, National Finance Symposium 2011 - Session II

2011-08-29T09:48:00.000-07:00

Mr. Rashesh Shah, Chairman and CEO of the Edelweiss Group, has over 20 years of experience in financial services in India. Prior to founding Edelweiss, he worked with ICICI, then India’s premier development finance institution and today its largest private sector bank.

In 1996, encouraged by the opportunity in the financial services sector as a result of economic reforms and liberalization in India, Mr. Rashesh founded Edelweiss with three others and Rs. 1 crore in capital.

Since then, Edelweiss has grown into a large diversified financial services house offering products and services in the Credit, Capital Markets, Asset Management, Housing Finance and Life Insurance verticals. Edelweiss recently entered into a life insurance joint venture with Tokio Marine and also acquired Anagram to fuel the expansion into the retail brokerage business. From 10 employees in 2000, Edelweiss is now 2,600 employees strong and with a net worth of over US$500 million.

Mr. Rashesh’s focus on innovation and his passion for growth through expansion into related/adjacent markets has been a key differentiator for Edelweiss. Under his leadership, the company has combined entrepreneurship with a strong focus on risk management. The company’s consistent growth can be attributed to the culture of ownership and partnership that is nurtured amongst the employees of Edelweiss. A pioneering move to reward those who built Edelweiss via ESOPs has resulted in one of the most broad-based employee-ownership models among financial services companies in India.

Mr. Rashesh has served on the Boards of various companies. He has also served on the Executive Committee of the National Stock Exchange and is serving the third term as the Chairman of the Capital Market Committee of FICCI. Recently he was invited to Chair the National Council on Capital Markets formed by ASSOCHAM. He has also been nominated on the Executive Committee of the proposed U.S.-India Investors’ Forum.

His academic qualifications include an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, a Diploma in International Trade from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, New Delhi, and a Bachelors degree in Science from the University of Mumbai.

Besides writing regularly for various leading business dailies and publications in India, Mr. Rashesh’s views on Indian economy and policy issues are regularly sought by leading Indian and global business journals and electronic media. He is also a regular speaker at various industry and economic forums.

Among the several accolades Mr. Rashesh has received are the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award from Bombay Management Association (2008-2009) and a Special Award from Zee Business for his contribution to the development of Indian stock markets.

A voracious reader and keen tennis player, Mr. Rashesh has also run the half marathon distance twice in the Mumbai Marathon.

Mr. Rashesh Shah will be sharing his outlook on Private Equity as an emerging Asset Class during Session II - “Changing pattern of investments - Domestic and Foreign” of the Symposium.

Mr. M V Tanksale- Speaker, National Finance Symposium 2011- Session I

2011-08-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

Mr. M.V. Tanksale assumed charge as Chairman and Managing Director of Central Bank of India on June 28, 2011.

Mr. Tanksale is backed by professional credentials like Associate member of the Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India (AICWA); Company Secretary (Inter) of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India; CAIIB; a Bachelor degree of Science and a Master degree in English Literature.

He joined the Union Bank of India as an Assistant Manager on August 26, 1974 at Gwalior and elevated to the rank of General Manager of the same Bank. Mr. Tanksale was Executive Director of Punjab National Bank from March 26, 2009 to June 27, 2011.

As a Visionary Banker for a span of more than 36 years, he has held several important fields and administrative positions, such as Deputy/Head - Credit Monitoring, International Banking and Planning, Research & Development, etc.

He also made extensive efforts in promoting e-banking products and third party products, viz., insurance and mutual funds, etc. In his last assignment as General Manager – he had set up ‘Transaction Banking Division’ of the bank, wherein on the strength of technology based platform, the bank could put forth a wide array of products and services for the customers.

As Executive Director in Punjab National Bank, Mr. Tanksale had effectively driven functional areas like Planning & Development, Marketing , Human Resources, Priority Sector & Financial Inclusion, IT, Inspection & Audit, Risk Management Division, Treasury Division, International Banking Division, Recovery Division, Financial Inclusion etc.. After the exit of Dr K.C Chakrabarty as Deputy Governor RBI in June’09 and prior to joining of Mr. K.R. Kamath the present CMD, Mr. Tanksale headed the bank successfully for a brief period of 4 months.

Mr. Tanksale will be sharing his views on the need for consolidation in Indian Banking space during Session I - “Banking in India Undergoing Metamorphosis” of the Symposium.

Mr. V Bunty Bohra - Special Address, National Finance Symposium 2011- Inaugural Session

2011-08-27T14:21:00.000-07:00

Mr. V Bunty Bohra is the MD & CEO of Goldman Sachs Services in India. He is responsible for oversight of staff across Operations, Technology, Finance, Global Investment Research, Investment Banking, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Legal, Compliance and Human Capital Management. He is a member of FedCom and the Archon Operating Committee. He co-chairs the India Diversity Committee and was previously co-captain of MIT undergraduate recruiting for the firm, co-chair of the Firmwide Asian Professionals Network and a member of the Structured Finance Capital Committee.

Mr. Bohra joined Goldman Sachs in 1996 in the J. Aron Currency and Commodities Division, where he traded commodities for four years in New York and London. He spent one year working on the development and launch of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), an electronic derivatives exchange and trading platform, before becoming franchise manager of the Commodities and Futures Services business units. Prior to assuming his current role in 2009, he was global head of the Structured Product Syndicate desk and oversaw warehouse financing in the Mortgage Department of the Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities Division in New York. He was also co-head of the Structured Finance Group (SFG) in the Americas. He was named managing director in 2005 and partner in 2010.

Mr. Bohra is a fellow of the Aspen Institute’s India Leadership Initiative and previously served on the Asia Society Corporate Diversity Council.

He earned dual SB degrees in Chemical Engineering and Management Science from MIT in 1996.

Mr. Bohra will be delivering the Special Address during the Inaugural Session of our Symposium.

2011-08-25T07:17:00.000-07:00

Changing phase of India's Financial System - Embarking on new growth paths

At present, most developed economies have open capital accounts coupled with liberalised domestic financial sectors. Gradually with progress, developing and transition economies also started opening up between the late 1980s and the mid-1990s. It is a widely & oft quoted remark that emerging economies are driving global growth and making a big impact on developed countries as these newcomers integrate with the global economy. In almost all Indian cities, one can find stores selling “Made in China” goods for price-conscious Indian consumers. This is the effect of globalisation, which opens up the Indian economy to a world of opportunities for ordinary people to reap benefits. Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, in his book Making Globalization Work, pointed out that China and India are growing at historically unprecedented rates, largely because of globalisation, new technologies, and financial integration.

Against this backdrop, several issues have come into sharp focus: Where does India stand in the evolving global trade pattern? We have plans for garnering 2.5% share of world trade by 2014 but is our financial ecosystem capable of supporting it?

India has undertaken important growth-enhancing reforms over the past 15 years, placing considerable emphasis on achieving macroeconomic stability, liberalising trade, strengthening the financial sector and improving the business climate. Over the years, this has resulted in higher trade and investment growth but in order to leapfrog to the next growth trajectory we need to work harder and reform our financial industry to be able to take the challenge.

A robust financial system is not much good if most people don’t have access to it. The financial system is not providing adequate services to the majority of Indian retail customers, small and medium-sized enterprises, or large corporations. Thus financial inclusion is a key priority for India, especially in rural India. As a major chunk of India’s financial sector comprises of banking, it is the first place where reforms are needed. This means providing not just basic banking, but also relevant products like crop insurance, loans against produce/future. Nearly three-quarters of farm households have no access to formal sources of credit, leaving the rural poor especially vulnerable to moneylenders. Some of the action points which are needed to move India to next phase and achieve high growth levels are:

Ø Shape a superior industry structure in a phased manner through “managed consolidation” and by enabling capital availability. This would create 3-4 global sized banks controlling 35-45 per cent of the market in India; 6-8 national banks controlling 20-25 per cent of the market; 4-6 foreign banks with 15-20 per cent share in the market, and the rest being specialist players (geographical or product/segment focused).

Ø Introduce credit guarantees and market subsidies to encourage leading public sector, private and foreign players to leverage technology to innovate and profitably provide banking services to lower income and rural markets.

Ø Create a unified regulator, distinct from the central bank in a phased manner to overcome supervisory difficulties and reduce compliance costs will help reduce decision time & complexities and take the financial sector to new heights.

Ø Work on creating effective structures & processes and move away from micromanagement. Another way is to improve corporate governance primarily by increasing board independence and accountability.

Ø Accelerate the creation of world class supporting infrastructure (e.g., payments, asset reconstruction companies (ARCs), credit bureaus, back-office utilities) to help the banking sector focus on core activities.

Ø Enable labour reforms, focusing on enriching human capital, to help public sector and old private banks become competitive.

At this point of time, Indian financial sector is at a point of inflection. Depending on the decisions we take, the sector will go in either one of the three directions:

Ø High Performance – Less regulation, proper structures, globally integrated & open sector.

Ø Evolution – Positive steps by regulators but with caution, slow movement towards integration & financial inclusion.

Ø Stagnation – Too much regulation, stifling environment; markets majorly controlled by public sector banks, unable to serve the financial needs of the fast growing economy.

While there is a will on the part of regulator for implementing key reforms, political challenges are much greater. Thus the need of the hour is to build an environment where we discuss the proposals on merit and implement them with utmost sincerity.

Contributed By:
Rohit Mittal
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi
Batch 2010-12

Overview of the Symposium

2011-08-22T04:41:00.000-07:00

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade in association with Bombay Chamber of Commerce & Industry is organizing its 6^th National Finance Symposium, on the theme “Changing face of India’s Financial System – Embarking on new growth paths”.

Date : 6th of September, 2011

Venue : Hotel Vivanta by Taj-President, Mumbai

Dr. D. Subbarao, Governor, RBI has consented to be the Chief Guest for the event.

The symposium is slated to cover the following aspects:
1. Banking in India undergoing metamorphosis
2. Changing pattern of investments -Domestic and Foreign

3. Panel Discussion - Inclusive growth: A Utopian dream or a reality?

For further details/ insights, check the tabs above.