What are the most significant cases or transactions that you have been involved in over the past year?

This has continued to be a year of growth and expansion for HSBC in India. Some of the notable areas of growth have been commencement of the private banking business, integration and growth of asset management business post an acquisition, continuing to grow the wealth and home loans business on the retail side and consolidating our position as a leading wholesale bank. The focus has been both on doing more with our existing customers and increasing our customer base, while continuing to provide our customers with best in class and market leading financial services and products.

Based on your experience, what is the key to collaborating successfully with business partners?

The key to collaborating successfully with business, is to think of ourselves as a part of the business with a responsibility to grow the business. This shared sense of responsibility can be a differentiator when it comes to collaborating effectively with the business. We should think of ourselves as a strategic advisor, who can add value to the growing business needs. One of the best starting points for this is to have a great understanding of the business’ needs and to be able to weave in our expertise into business priorities. Technology has hugely impacted our lives over the past few years and will continue to be a game changer, for both business and consumers alike. A company which does not keep up with changing technology is likely to become obsolete. This is equally applicable for the legal team, as it needs to be savvy enough to reap the benefits of technology in the provision of legal services and partner with the business in their growth aspirations using technology.

How do you motivate and manage the other members of your legal team well?

In order to motivate and manage team members, the first thing that one needs to do is understand and appreciate that what motivates one team member may differ from another team member. It is critical to put ourselves in the shoes of the team member to understand what interests them and more importantly why. Once the same is done, it would be possible to curate an approach which works for the members of the team. A critical aspect of this is to invest in the learning andtraining of team members as there is no end to learning. We should not tie ourselves down into self-created silos and specialisations and should continue to find new areas to learn and develop our skills every day. These may include specialised skills that may be required to support a business area, people management skills to lead a team, contributing effectively to the growth of the organisation, making presence felt in larger industry bodies and interacting with regulators and government agencies etc. Focusing on the well being and growth of an individual is another way of motivating the team members. Some of these initiatives can lead to a meaningfully engaged team.

India is an economy that is rapidly growing and expected to be one of the economic powerhouses of the 21st Century. How do you see the role of GCs there changing in this environment?

The role of a GC has evolved considerably over the years. The role has transformed from that of a person who looked at proposals from a legal perspective to a person who is expected to review every proposal holistically keeping in mind concerns such as cross border impact, regulatory challenges, reputational risk etc. In fact, in addition to considering whether the proposal is acceptable from a legal perspective, a GC is also required to consider whether the proposal is the right thing to do keeping in mind long term aspirations of the franchise. A GC has to be a confidant of the management, who is not only invested in partnering the business on its growth story, but also protecting and safeguarding the reputation, value and culture of the organisation.