Landscape of Financial Services and possible opportunities

Speaker : Sounak Chakrabarti, AVP, DBS Bank Date : 27th August 2019 Time : 5:30 pm Mr. Chakrabarti spoke to the students at MDAE on the 27 th of August 2019. With over 10 years of experience in the BFS sector and 6+ years in coverage banking, Mr Chakrabarti has worked with large corporates such as Aditya Birla and Vedanta to name a few. The talk was deeply insightful, giving the students a clear understanding of the opportunities the finance and banking sector has to offer, as well as changing trends and the future of the sector.  Mr. Chakrabarti explained the role bankers play in the financial system, while elaborating on the different types of bankers in the industry. He used granular examples, to which the students could easily relate, e.g the role consumer bankers play in accepting fixed deposits and giving loans.  Building on these examples the speaker went on to explain the functions of the treasury and markets department in liquidity management, investment, capital management and risk management amongst others.  Mr. Chakrabarti then went on to explain the importance of corporate banking, particularly for the raising of funds for companies, while elaborating on the various ways this debt may be raised i.e through debentures, company papers, ECBs and working capital loans to name a few. Mr. Chakrabarti also talked about the skill set the BFS sector demands at various stages of the corporate ladder. He provided the students with much more than just “a day in the life of a banker”, taking them through each role they will play in the years to come, from that of an analyst, an associate, a senior associate to ultimately an assistant vice president and vice president. Touching upon the role played by supporting divisions such as risk analysis; giving the students a truly wholistic picture. Lastly Mr. Chakrabarti spoke about the future of the banking industry, a crucial point for young aspirants. He talked about the current condition of the industry while elaborating on the importance of data and the role disruptors such as Google and Amazon are playing through their payment apps, providing the students an insight of what to expect in the years to come. The session concluded with Mr. Chakrabarti and the students discussing the recent NBFC crises in India, as well as the 2008 financial crises. It involved a sharing of opinions and ideas and provided the class with a chance to have a candid conversation with the speaker.