Business Opportunities in India’s Maiden IFSC at GIFT City

Mr. Dipesh Shah has over 21 years of professional experience in International Business, Project Development, Corporate Affairs, Corporate Law & Policy matters. His most prominent achievement includes setting up and operationalizing India’s 1^st Smart City and International Financial Services Centre(IFSC). Before joining IFSCA in Dec 2020, in his  last 12 years tenure at GIFT City, City made substantial progress in getting recognition as India’s model Smart City, starting India’s first Multi Services SEZ and only approved International Financial Services Centre. He brought in the regulatory and business changes in the GIFT IFSC to bring in Banks (now transacting more thanUS$300Billion),International Exchanges, inaugurated by Hon’ble Prime Minister of India (now daily turnover>USD15bn) and Insurance & re-insurance companies for undertaking offshore transactions. He is Executive Director (Development) at IFSCA. He is responsible for the overall development of IFSC.

Mr. Shah is a Bachelor of Commerce and is Chartered Secretary from Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) & Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators, UK and has Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management(PGDM-MBA) from Nirma University, India with specialization in International Business & Finance. He is currently pursuing his Doctoral Program (PHD) in International Financial Services Centre (IFSC).

CA. Aniket S. Talati, the 71st President of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), has been elected for the term 2023-24. With strong professional ethics, technical expertise, and a vision to embrace technology, he has contributed to the profession from various professional perspectives. He has been credited with leading the Digital Transformation within ICAI, leading numerous digital initiatives and conceptualizing a futuristic CA Curriculum. As President, he is the Chairman of all Standing Committees, including Executive, Finance, and Examination Committees. He has also served as the Vice-Chairman of the Working Committee of the World Congress of Accountants, hosted the World Congress of Accountants in Mumbai, and chairs the ICAI research wing, Accounting Research Foundation, and the Indian Institute of Insolvency Professionals.

He represents India and the profession on international forums, aiming to position India as a Global Accounting Hub. As President, he supports the government and regulators as a member of the Government Accounting Standards Advisory Board, Audit Advisory Board, Insurance Advisory Committee, and SEBI’s Primary Market Advisory Committee.

CA. Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal, a Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary from ICAI, has been elected as the Vice-President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India for the term 2023-24. Agarwal has been a prominent figure in the profession, chairing committees and implementing various initiatives. He has also chaired the Professional Development Committee, Bank Branch Audit Software, and UDIN, which was a landmark initiative. Agarwal also led the ICAI Group that presented the FRRB Bill before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). He is an expert in professional ethics and has been instrumental in bringing the revised Code of Ethics after a 10-year gap.

Agarwal has also steered major refinements in processes and their implementation, including the ICAI Mobile App and the Review of the entitlement for engaging Articled Assistants. His leadership has led to the successful implementation of the Campus Placement Programmes for Newly Qualified Chartered Accountants and Experienced CAs, the first placement program exclusively for women CAs, and the CA Business Leaders 40 under 40 campaign. Agarwal has also chaired the Tax Audit Quality Review Board (TAQRB) of ICAI, where he led efforts to improve the quality of Tax Audits conducted by members.

Amit has more than 22 years of professional experience, including over 18 years in KPMG Network firm. Focusing on financial sector, he brings in multitude of experience in regulations and tax advisory. He has assisted various domestic and foreign banks, broking companies & merchant banks, and Insurance companies during their life stages, on various matters including entry strategy.

His experience also includes providing tax and regulatory advisory to Asset Managers, Private Equity Funds, Sovereign Funds / Pension Funds, Captive Service Entities. He has made representations to Government official on various tax matters. Also, he has been speaker at several International & Domestic forums on taxation & contributor to many tax articles.

Amit is currently leading KPMG India for Australia corridor on taxation and regulatory.

Keyur leads the financial services tax practice at EY. Keyur re-joined EY in 2013 and is based in Mumbai . Prior to which he was a partner with  KPMG (2009 to 2013).  Keyur had joined EY in 2002 and was associated with EY till 2009.

Keyur is a Bachelor of Commerce from the Mumbai University and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Institute to Cost and Works Accountants and a Bachelor at Law.

Keyur has over 20 years of experience in advising and assisting international financial services companies including private equity firms, banks, capital markets and asset management companies in establishing an Indian presence and in doing business in India.

Nitin Jaiswal is the Head of External Relations (Asia-Pacific) for Bloomberg, the world’s most trusted source for real-time and historical financial data, news, research, and analytics. He also sits on the Global Business Advisory Board of World Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA).

Based in Singapore, Nitin leverages Bloomberg’s global network and expertise to work with senior governments, regulators, and business leaders through strategic initiatives to help advance capital market development in emerging and developed economies in Asia-Pac, a region shaping the global economic landscape. He has held various senior leadership roles at Bloomberg managing key businesses for Asia-Pac since joining the company in India in 1997.

Nitin regularly hosts “In Conversation” series across Asia-Pac, a platform that brings together influential political, regulator and senior business leaders in a small group to discuss topics that matter most to the business community.

An active contributor on LinkedIn on the Art of Effective Leadership, Nitin feels passionate about Asian Philosophy. He strongly feels that when Asian philosophy, with its rich history and culture, is blended with Western thoughts, it can play an important role in building the next generation of influential global leaders from Asia.