November 26, 2019

AGM 2019 – Mumbai – Business session report

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On November 13th 2019, 66 delegates from across the world travelled to Mumbai to attend INAA’s Annual General Meeting.
Mumbai, India’s 2nd largest city and largest financial centre, provided the perfect backdrop to our stimulating conference. Surrounded by vibrant culture, history and plenty of fascinating sites, our time in Mumbai excited the mind, spirit and body.
More than half of our AGM guests attended the hour yoga session on Friday morning, offering a fascinating glimpse into India’s spirituality. Guests also had the opportunity to taste authentic India cuisine, full of spices and flavour, and watch an exquisite Bollywood show at the Gala.

We want to give a special thanks to the CNK team (our member in Mumbai), and especially to Purvi Malani, Shariq and Nasreen Contractor for making the AGM genuinely unforgettable.

What You Missed at the AGM in Mumbai

While experiencing Indian culture was an unforgettable experience, our AGM conference aimed at bringing INAA members together to discuss pressing and essential subjects. Throughout the three days, we heard from several well-respected speakers on the theme of ‘Accounting, Counting What Matters.’

Presentations

How to do business in India

Ketan Dalal, Managing Partner, Katalyst Advisors
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Biography
Ketan Dalal is a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, having qualified in 1981. He was the Joint Head Tax, All India and the Managing Partner (West) and was a member of the India Leadership Team with PwC India. He exited PwC with effect from 1st April 2017 to pursue his independent professional interests and runs a boutique Structuring and Tax firm, Katalyst Advisors LLP. He is a Director in HDFC Life Insurance, Zensar Technologies Ltd and Jio Payments Bank Ltd He was a member of the “Working group on Non resident taxation” formed by India’s Ministry of Finance in 2003. He has also served on various committees of professional and business organisations. He is a member of the Managing Committee and the Chairman of the Direct Tax Committee of IMC. International Tax Review, a leading global magazine on international tax has listed him among India’s leading tax advisors He has authored a book ‘‘Indian Taxation Decoded- An MNC Perspective” in 2018 published by Wolters Kluwer.

Summary
As one of the world’s fastest growing economies, India is clearly a “no option” destination for international investors.  From its huge domestic market to technology talent to a robust capital market, it presents a wide spectrum of opportunities; however, it also presents challenges of a nature different from what international investors are used to including certain infrastructural constraints, complex regulations and a different working culture.  In this context, Ketan Dalal of Katalyst Advisors (Former Tax Head of PwC) will attempt to provide a big picture perspective of Doing business in India.

Nuances of International Taxation and its Impact on Society

Hitesh Gajaria, Partner & Head -Tax, KPMG
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Biography
With over 34 years of tax, transfer pricing and regulatory consulting experience, Hitesh co-heads the Tax Practice at KPMG in India. Hitesh is well known and sought after for his professional insights, advice and guidance on various tax and regulatory issues and trends in India.
Prior to his role as the co-head of Tax, Hitesh led the Industrial and Consumer Market Sectors’ Corporate Tax practice and has also co-led KPMG India’s Transfer Pricing Practice.
Hitesh is a regular conference host, presenter and moderator at various international tax and transfer pricing conferences within India and overseas. He has been regularly featured in international and Indian media, newspapers and business magazines where he is asked to speak / contribute / comment on various business and tax issues.
Hitesh has co-authored BCAS’ publications - ‘Taxation of Non-Residents, FERA / FEMA’ and ‘Transfer Pricing Manual’ and was Country Reporter for India at International Fiscal Association’s Conference.
Hitesh has a passion for singing and he supports the Genesis Foundation’s “CEOs sing for GF Kids”, a program geared to raise funds for the medical treatment of heart ailments of under privilege children. He is also a mentor at KPMG in India’s, Enactus initiative, guiding college students in developing socially sustainable community projects
Hitesh has advised clients across sectors, especially pharmaceuticals, hospitality, shipping, transport and logistics, information technology, consumer goods and engineering, on various tax, transfer pricing and regulatory issues. These span cross-border structuring, joint ventures, foreign collaborations, regulatory compliances and supply chain management. He also has specialised knowledge and experience of Indian Foreign Exchange Regulations and in obtaining regulatory approvals.
Hitesh was a visiting faculty at Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Bankers’ Training college for over 12 years and he enjoys excellent relationships at the RBI, where he is often called to give his professional inputs on various tax, foreign exchange and regulatory matters.

Summary
Cross border transactions and international trade are the norm today and drive the world economy. So any restriction on the free flow of goods and services is detrimental not only to the concerned countries but also has a global impact. Tax is one such restricting factor.
Each country however, wants its fair share of the tax pie, and often this leads to conflicting positions. Each country frames its tax policy in accordance with its socio-economic background and needs, and therefore the perception of what is a fair share differs from country to country.
In spite of the network of bilateral Double Tax Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs) between countries, determination of tax liability and dividing it over jurisdictions can be a vexing exercise, given the complexity of modern business, particularly with regard to e-commerce and services transmitted digitally. As countries fight for their share of taxes, it is the taxpayers who bear the brunt of the tug of war between the countries.
The talk will elaborate on the basic nuances of international tax and its social and economic impact.

Re-imagine Reporting Beyond Financials

Salil Tripathi, Writer and Human Rights Expert
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Biography :
Salil Tripathi is a writer and human rights expert born in Mumbai and lives in London. Educated at New Era School and Sydenham College in Mumbai, Salil obtained his MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College in the United States. He has been a senior visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. As senior adviser - global issues at the Institute for Human Rights and Business, Salil has been involved with developing global standards for corporate accountability with regard to human rights. He has been researcher at Amnesty International and member of the External Sustainability Advisory Panel at Exxon, and earlier performed a similar role at GE. Salil also chairs PEN International’s Writers-in-Prison Committee. He is contributing editor at Mint and The Caravan, and has been foreign correspondent for Far Eastern Economic Review in Singapore and Hong Kong. An award-winning journalist, he has written three works of non-fiction. His next book is about the Gujaratis.

Summary :
Businesses have an important role to play in societal development. Leading companies around the world are endorsing UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, which set down targets for governments to achieve sustainable development, in partnership with business and other societal actors. But how can development be measured ? And what is the relationship between an initiative and its outcome ? Businesses know how to evaluate their performance through matrices. But sustainability includes social development, empowerment of the marginalised, and human rights. How can business measure the impact of its actions in those areas ? How are companies addressing the issue ? What works and what doesn’t work ? With governments requiring companies to spend on corporate social responsibility, and companies mainstreaming CSR activities as part of its core being, how can priorities be determined and what do lessons from politics, human rights, and economics teach us?
Salil Tripathi, senior adviser at the Institute for Human Rights and Business, will draw on examples from across the world to identify the promise and shortcomings of benchmarks and explore ways to make measurement - and development - more meaningful for the people most affected by it.

Awaken the Leader in You

Jaya Row, Creator, Vedanta Vision
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Biography :
Mrs. Jaya Row is one of the best speakers on Vedanta - the science of self-management. She brings alive the wisdom of the Vedas in a modern context. Backed by her experience in corporate life and 40 years of research on Vedanta, she motivates people to become outstanding achievers and live happy lives. Clarity, wit and zeal are the hallmarks of her presentations. Jaya Row has been invited to speak at the World Economic Forum Davos, World Bank, Young Presidents’ Organization, Apple, Google & Intel in California, KPMG, MasterCard & Deutsche Bank in New York, Shell in London, Princeton University, and Washington University to name a few.

Summary :
Vedanta provides rare insights into the human mind. It helps an ordinary person transform into an extraordinary leader. A leader inspires people with a higher goal, a common purpose. She is able to build teams, identify latent talent and help individuals become star performers.

Indian Market: The Story has Just Begun

Shiv Gupta, CEO, Sanctum Wealth Management
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Biography :
Shiv Gupta is the founder and CEO of Sanctum Wealth Management. He oversees all aspects of the wealth business, where he heads a team of more than 120 staff, including 40 Wealth Managers located across 6 offices in India.
Shiv was part of the RBS Group for 15 years where he most recently oversaw RBS’ Private Banking business in India, prior to its acquisition by Sanctum in 2016. He also had a stint as the Co-Head of Coutts Middle East business, operating from Dubai, and was one the founding members of Coutts International South Asian business, based in Singapore.
Prior to the RBS, Shiv worked with the Private Banking divisions of BNP Paribas and Citibank, in Singapore and Switzerland.
Born in India, Shiv holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics (Hons) from the Hindu College, Delhi University, and is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s general management Program (GMP).

Gandhi and His Relevance in Corporate Governance and Sustainable Growth

Rajni Bakshi, Author
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Biography
Rajni Bakshi is a Mumbai-based author. Her books include: Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom: for a market culture beyond greed and fear (Penguin, India, 2009 and Greenleaf, UK, 2012), which won two Vodafone-Crossword Awards; Bapu Kuti: Journeys in Rediscovery of Gandhi (Penguin, India, 1998) which inspired the Hindi film Swades; Long Haul: the Bombay Textile Workers Strike 1982-83 (BUILD, India, 1986). Rajni has also written several monographs including: Trusteeship: Business and the economics of well-being (2016); Civilizational Gandhi (2012); An Economics for Well-Being (2007); Let’s Make it Happen: a backgrounder on New Economics (2003); A Warning and an Opportunity: the Dispute over Swami Vivekananda’s Legacy (1994). She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Rajni was awarded the Homi Bhabha Fellowship in 2000. From 2013 to 2016 Rajni was the Gandhi Peace Fellow at Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations, a Mumbai based foreign policy think tank. She serves on the Boards of Child Rights and You (CRY), Citizens for Peace (CfP) and the Centre of Education and Documentation (CED). Rajni has a BA in Journalism and Political Science from George Washington University and an MA in Philosophy from the University of Rajasthan.

Summary
Mahatma Gandhi saw Trusteeship as a futuristic idea. This talk will explore why Gandhi anticipated the failure of both communism and capitalism. Gandhi’s emphasis on ‘purity of means’, in how profits are earned, is difficult in practice but the last few decades have seen much progress on this front.  What can we learn from the many efforts by global companies to walk this path over the last 25 to 30 years? Are today’s best efforts sufficient to save the way of life and commerce we now take for granted?

Modi 2.0: Carving a Space for India in a Changing World

Indrani Bagchi, Diplomatic Editor, Times of India

Biography
Indrani Bagchi is Diplomatic Editor and a member of the Editorial Board of The Times of India, the world’s largest English language newspaper. She has been reporting and analyzing foreign policy and strategic issues for TOI since 2004. Her news and feature stories, opinion pieces, and blog (‘Globespotting’) cover a wide range of subjects – from India’s geopolitical and economic relations with the rest of the world, to global trends viewed from a primarily Indian perspective. Prior to this, Indrani served as Associate Editor at India Today, a premier news magazine. She started her journalism career at The Statesman, before moving to The Economic Times. Indrani was a Reuters Fellow at Oxford University. She was awarded the Chang Lin-Tien Fellowship by the Asia Foundation to study US-China relations at Brookings Institution, Washington DC. She is a Fellow of the India Leadership Initiative of Aspen Institute India and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She tweets @IBagchiTOI and @horror06.

Summary
With a strong electoral mandate, Narendra Modi begins a second term focusing on his vision of a foreign policy carefully aligned to India’s developmental and security interests. This would include prioritizing the immediate neighbourhood, managing great power relationships, developing new geo-economic partnerships and more muscular responses to security challenges.

Role of Management auditors: Journey from Backroom to Boardroom (followed by a panel discussion)

Nandita Parekh, Partner, CNK & associates
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Biography
Indrani Bagchi is Diplomatic Editor and a member of the Editorial Board of The Times of India, the world’s largest English language newspaper. She has been reporting and analyzing foreign policy and strategic issues for TOI since 2004. Her news and feature stories, opinion pieces, and blog (‘Globespotting’) cover a wide range of subjects – from India’s geopolitical and economic relations with the rest of the world, to global trends viewed from a primarily Indian perspective. Prior to this, Indrani served as Associate Editor at India Today, a premier news magazine. She started her journalism career at The Statesman, before moving to The Economic Times. Indrani was a Reuters Fellow at Oxford University. She was awarded the Chang Lin-Tien Fellowship by the Asia Foundation to study US-China relations at Brookings Institution, Washington DC. She is a Fellow of the India Leadership Initiative of Aspen Institute India and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. She tweets @IBagchiTOI and @horror06.

Summary
With a strong electoral mandate, Narendra Modi begins a second term focusing on his vision of a foreign policy carefully aligned to India’s developmental and security interests. This would include prioritizing the immediate neighbourhood, managing great power relationships, developing new geo-economic partnerships and more muscular responses to security challenges.

Company introductions

ALTESTA Corporation, Japan

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WONG, LEE AND ASSOCIATES, Singapore

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