About

The extent of Bharat Vasani’s role at Tata Sons – the principal investment holding company and promoter of Tata companies, commonly known as Tata Group – is broad enough to impress even the most experienced general counsel. As adviser to the senior management of one of the world’s largest conglomerates, he oversees the legal affairs of 30 publicly-listed enterprises with a combined market capitalisation of well over $100bn and employing more than half a million people. An additional test of Vasani’s skills as general counsel (GC) comes from the diversity of the group’s holdings. With leading companies in sectors ranging from engineering and industrial products to consumer goods and services, whose operations span more than 100 jurisdictions his role is one that requires an unusually broad understanding of both macroeconomic drivers of risk and international legal systems. Vasani joined the Tata Group in 2000 and made an instant impact by restructuring of the legal department. Working with a small team of four lawyers in the early years of his reign, Vasani implemented a centralised database, allowing counsel across the group to access the legal advice issued to other group entities in past situations. Since that time he has helped to guide Tata Group’s strategy and cemented his reputation as one of India’s leading GCs. While the workload Vasani faces at Tata Group is difficult to comprehend, he has also found time over the years to serve a number of non-executive directorships and directorships, both within the Tata Group of companies and elsewhere. Prior to joining Tata, Vasani held a number of senior counsel positions at Philips, Nocil and Dow Chemicals. He is a member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India and was recently among those recognised for their contribution to global law, receiving the Harvard Law School’s Center on the Legal Profession’s (CLP) Award for Professional Excellence.