About FAQ

Dr. K.P. Krishnan is educated in Economics at St. Stephen’s College and Law at the Campus Law Centre University of Delhi. He joined the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) in August 1983 and served there for 37 years. In 1999, he joined IIM Bangalore and was awarded FPM (PhD) in Economics in 2003. He is at present an Honorary Research Professor at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR).

His key roles in the Government of India include Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; Special Secretary, Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development; Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance; Secretary, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council; and Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance.

During his stint in DEA, Dr. Krishnan initiated extensive reforms in the instruments, markets, and regulatory structure in the financial sector. In the post-Lehman crisis management in India, Dr. Krishnan played a crucial role in his capacity as Secretary of the High-Level Coordination Committee on Financial Markets. He contributed significantly to the establishment and the formation of the founding team of the Universal ID Authority of India.

He was instrumental in setting up the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission, which led to an extensive re-writing of laws dealing with the financial sector regulatory architecture as well as bankruptcy law reforms.

He was the chairperson of a committee of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to create a regulatory framework for cross-border insolvency in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. He also chaired an expert committee constituted by the International Financial Services Centers Authority (IFSCA) of the Ministry of Finance on the subject of variable capital company structure for fund management activity.

Dr. Krishnan has authored several reports and published many academic papers. In 2012, he held the BoK Visiting Professorship in Regulation in the University of Pennsylvania Law School. In 2017, he was conferred with the Distinguished Alumni Award of IIM Bangalore. From August 2020 to December 2021, he served as the IEPF Chair Professor at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). He has been a Visiting Professor of Economics, Public Policy, and Regulation at the LBSNAA Mussoorie, ISB Hyderabad and Mohali, Ashoka University, and IIM Bangalore.

Mr. S Mahalingam is a chartered accountant by qualification. He started his professional career with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 1970. He has been involved in myriad aspects of the Company’s operations and growth. He was appointed as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of TCS in February 2003 and as Executive Director in August 2007. As CFO, Mr. Mahalingam led the team working on IPO of TCS. He retired from TCS in February 2013 after serving the company for over 42 years and playing a key role in making TCS a $ 11.6 billion global company with over 275,000 employees at the time of his retirement.

Mr.Mahalingam’s experience, during the formative years of the IT industry in the 1970s and 1980s, has given him significant standing within the IT industry. He has been the President of Computer Society of India. He is a former Chairman of the Southern Region of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). He was also the President of the Institute of Management Consultants of India. He is on the board of a few companies, which include Sundaram Finance Ltd, Lucas TVS Ltd, Kasturi & Sons Ltd, TVS Supply Chain Solutions Ltd, JSW Steel Ltd, Sundram Fasteners Ltd and Delphi-TVS Technologies Ltd, besides a few not for profit organisations.

He was a member of the Tax Administration Reform Commission (TARC) set up by the Government of India under the chairmanship of Dr.Parthasarathi Shome.

He was chosen as the best ‘CFO’ in various years by Business Today, International Market Assessment (IMA), CNBC TV18, CFO Innovation, FinanceAsia and Institutional Investors.

Mr. Shailesh Haribhakti is a Chartered and Cost Accountant, and a Certified Internal Auditor, Financial Planner & Fraud Examiner. He has been conferred with the Global Competent Boards Designation (GCB.D) by Competent Boards Inc. His career spans over four decades. He is currently Chairman of Shailesh Haribhakti & Associates, Chartered Accountants.

He is the Non-Executive Chairman of L&T Finance Holdings Limited, L&T Mutual Fund Trustee Ltd, Future Lifestyle Fashions Limited, NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited Blue Star Limited, Mentorcap Management Pvt Ltd, Planet People & Profit Consulting Pvt Ltd, Bluevine Technologies Pvt Ltd, and IBS Fintech India Pvt Ltd. He is Vice Chairman of GOvEVA consulting Pvt. LTD.

His other directorships are Brookprop Services Pvt Ltd (A Brookfield REIT), Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Bennett Coleman and Company Ltd (Times Group), Ambuja Cements Ltd, ACC Ltd, Bajaj Electricals Ltd, Gaja Trustee Company Pvt Ltd [Gaja Capital Group], and Epigeneres Biotech Pvt Ltd.

Mr. Haribhakti was associated with the Indian Institute of Management (IIMA) as visiting faculty from 1981-83. He frequently contributes his views on public forums, to the press and to the electronic media. He is active on all social media: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and You tube.

He also serves on Advisory Boards of Doha Bank and Gaja Advisors Pvt LTD.

Mr. Haribhakti has in the past engaged as Chairman of NPS Trust (2015-2017), Western India Regional Council, Financial Planning and Standards Board, and presided as president of Indian Merchant Chambers (IMC), Rotary Club of Bombay (July 2014 – June 2015), Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), Bombay Chapter and Bombay Management Association (BMA).

Mr. Amit Tandon is the founder Institutional Investor Advisory Services India Limited (IiAS) and has been its managing director since July 2011.

Before IiAS, Mr. Tandon was the managing director and CEO of Fitch Ratings: India from October 2001 to June 2011. He also had oversight over Fitch Ratings Lanka. Prior to joining Fitch, he was with the ICICI group for 17 years (from May 1984 – September 2001), where he rotated through various roles and businesses including project finance, leasing, and the merchant banking division. His last role with the ICICI group was as head of investment banking at ICICI Securities.

He has been a member of the Reserve Bank of India’s Technical Advisory Committee on Money, Foreign Exchange and Government Securities Markets, a member of one of the working groups convened by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to review comments received on the Companies Act and the Kotak Committee on Corporate Governance constituted by SEBI.

Mr. Tandon studied economics at St Stephens College, Delhi and has an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi and has an MPhil degree from the University of Cambridge, UK.

Ms. Kalpana Morparia is the Founder & Managing Partner of KalMor Advisors LLP, a Strategy & Corporate advisory firm. Ms. Morparia was former chairman of JPMorgan, South and Southeast Asia. She was also a member of JPMorgan’s Asia Pacific Management Committee.

Prior to joining JPMorgan, India, Ms. Morparia served in ICICI Group since 1975. Her last assignment included Vice Chair on the Board of ICICI Group Companies and Joint Managing Director of ICICI Bank from 2001 to 2007. ICICI Bank is India’s largest private sector bank and has leadership positions in banking, insurance, asset management and private equity and a growing international franchise.

Ms. Morparia serves as an Independent Director on the Boards of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Limited, Hindustan Unilever Limited and Philip Morris International Inc. She is also a Member of the Governing Board of Bharti Foundation.

A graduate in science and law from Bombay University, Ms. Morparia has been recognised by several international and national media for her role as one of the leading women professionals.

Mr. Sanjay Vasudeva is currently the managing partner of M/s SCV &Co. LLP (earlier known as S.C. Vasudeva & Co.). He has an experience of more than 25 years in the accounting profession in areas ranging from statutory audit, internal audit, companies act and FEMA. He has over the years worked with clients, both listed and unlisted across different sectors including manufacturing, services, banking and finance. He also has wide exposure to auditing and accounting standards including Ind AS, having been involved in formulation of such standards, their practical application, as well as having overseen their implementation.

He is a co-opted member of the Expert Advisory Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and a member of the Corporate Laws Committee of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and the CII National Committee on Financial Reporting.

Mr. Vasudeva was elected as a member to the Central Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for the term 2016 to 2019. He has served on various committees of the ICAI during such tenure including chairman of Financial Reporting Review Board (FRRB), the Vice Chairman of Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (AASB), Vice Chairman, Ind AS Implementation Committee and Vice Chairman, Digital Accounting and Assurance Board (DAAB). He was a co-opted member of the Accounting Standards Board, the Auditing and Assurance Standards Board, and the Research Committee of the ICAI. Also been part of various study groups on Audit, Accounting and Corporate Law constituted by the ICAI.

Mr. Vasudeva was a technical advisor on the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) of the IFAC and was a member of Data Analytics Working Group (DAWG) of IFAC. He was a member of the Committee on Auditing Standards and Quality Control of South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), member of the Quality Review Board and President of the Board of Governors of the Delhi Chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), Florida.

He has been a speaker on various seminars and conferences organised by the ICAI, (including Regional Councils, Branches and CPE Study Circles of ICAI) and Chambers of Commerce on topics such as Audit, Accounting, Corporate Laws and Ind AS.

Mr. Manoj Fadnis is the Immediate Past President of Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants (CAPA) (2017-2019), a regional international organization of 32 Professional Institutes from 23 countries from Asia and Pacific region.

He was elected as President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, (ICAI) New Delhi for the year 2015-16 and as the Vice President of the ICAI for the year 2014-15. As President, he was the Chairman of all the Standing Committees, Disciplinary Committee and the Board of Discipline of the ICAI. He was also the non-executive Director of the Insurance and Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDA), Member of the National Direct Taxes Advisory Committee of the Central Board of Advisory Committee.

He was nominated as a member of the Small and Medium Practitioners Committee (SMPC) of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) for the term January 2016 to December 2018. He had been nominated on B20 for the year 2018. He has also been nominated as a member of the Standing Committee on Accounting Issues constituted by the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDA).

Presently he is an Independent Director on the Board of Federal Bank and serves as the Chairman of the Audit Committee. He is also on the board of other listed and non-listed companies.

He was the member of the Group constituted by the ASB of the ICAI to formulate the Indian Accounting Standard converged with IFRS 17, Insurance Contracts. He was also a member of the Company Law Committee set up by Ministry of Corporate Affairs Government of India in 2015 for the amendments required to the Companies Act, 2013. Based on the report submitted by the Committee, the Companies Amendment Act 2017 has been passed.

He was nominated by State Bank of India as a Director on the Board of State Bank of Indore from 2002 to 2005.

He was also nominated by Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India as Director on the Board of two companies during 2009 to 2012.

He was the non-executive Chairman of MP Stock Exchange Ltd. from 2012-2014.

He passed his B.Com. from Indore University and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in January 1987. He holds Diploma in Information Systems Audit (DISA). He has specialized in Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standards and Direct Taxes, Corporate Laws and Foreign Exchange Management Act.

He has presented more than one thousand technical papers in seminars and conferences within India and internationally.

Mr. Sai Venkateshwaran is a senior partner in the Assurance practice of KPMG in India and serves as the lead partner on some of the firm’s largest and most complex audit clients. Mr. Venkateshwaran also globally leads KPMG’s Smart Digital Finance services, including the Digital Finance Academy and supports clients on the digital transformation of the finance function. With over 24 years of experience in advising leading Indian and multinational companies across sectors, Mr. Venkateshwaran has in-depth expertise in financial reporting, corporate governance, capital markets and finance transformation.

Till recently, he also led the firm’s CFO Advisory practice, which encompasses all of KPMG’s capabilities to serve the complex needs of the finance function. In this role, he has been closely involved in advising companies in the areas of finance transformation, financial reporting (US GAAP, IFRS and other GAAPs), regulatory reporting (covering US, UK, and India), IPOs (US, UK, Singapore and India), investor relations, post deal integration, enterprise performance management, and managed services. Mr. Venkateshwaran has been advising clients on complex corporate and financial reporting issues, particularly in the context of transactions, including capital raising, acquisitions, divestitures, etc. He has also been advising companies on the transformation of their finance function driven by regulatory changes, IPOs and post deal integration.

During this period, he has also worked closely with companies engaged in primary and secondary offerings on Indian and global capital markets, including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ), London Stock Exchange (LSE), , as well as companies involved in both domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

He has been closely involved in various initiatives around corporate governance, capital markets, financial reporting and company law, both in India and internationally, working with standard setters, regulators, industry bodies, etc. He is also a regular speaker at various conferences and workshops on matters relating to his expertise.

Mr. Khushroo Panthakey is a Fellow Chartered Accountant with 37 years of professional experience in Accounting, Auditing and Financial Services. He is currently a Senior Audit Partner with Walker Chandiok & Co LLP, an accounting and audit firm. Besides heading the Banking, Insurance & Financial Services (BFSI) Vertical, nationally, he is the responsible partner for the Public Policy affairs. He is also a member of the Partnership Board of the Firm.

Khushroo has an extensive experience in the accounting profession, both locally and internationally, and has been auditing and advising large corporations and multinationals. With a renowned international accounting firm in New York, Khushroo has hands-on experience in auditing large global insurance companies for 3 years. He has a detailed understanding and knowledge of local and International Accounting Standards / Auditing Standards, Corporate Governance, Internal Controls, Risk Management, Banking / Insurance / Financial Services, and the Public Policy affairs.

Khushroo has a diploma in the Insurance Industry from the Darden Business School in Virginia. He graduated from Sydenham College of Commerce in Bombay. He is also an eminent speaker in many Workshops, Seminars and Conferences, locally and internationally, and has presented technical papers in India, Singapore, Hong Kong, United Kingdom and USA on varied subjects and topics of technical interest.

Khushroo is a visiting faculty at select Training and Management Institutes in India and addresses on varied subjects on accounting, audit, law, financial management, financial services, corporate finance, governance, etc. He is very active with The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and has represented at its Central and Regional Committees constituted for Accounting Standards, Auditing & Assurance Standards, Sustainability Accounting Standards, Ind-AS, Internal Audit, Corporate Governance, etc. Khushroo was also a member of the Editorial Board for Diploma in Insurance and Risk Management (DIRM) and was a Technical Reviewer at the Financial Reporting Review Board (FRRB) of ICAI. He was a member of the Committee set up to finalize the curriculum and provide technical training as part of the initiatives of Centre of Audit Quality, constituted by ICAI

Khushroo is a member of National Committees constituted by Confederation of Indian Industry, such as the Committee on Financial Reporting, the Committee on Insurance & Pension, and the Committee for CFOs. From the Harvard Business School, he has completed an Advanced Program on Managing and Transforming Professional Services Firm. He is a part of Independent Advisory Board of Studies constituted for MBA Law by The Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) and is also a part of the Advisory Panel constituted by Lloyds Business School, Manesar.

Khushroo is a Trustee in select community Trusts and is involved in meaningful social responsibility activities.