Goldman Sachs appoints Sonjoy Chatterjee as new India head

Global investment banking major Goldman Sachs has appointed Sonjoy Chatterjee as chairman of its India operations, making it yet another overseas bank to sign up a local rainmaker to drive strategic initiatives and growth in Asia's third largest economy.

Some other global banks operating in India with local chiefs are JP Morgan headed by Kalpana Morparia, Morgan Stanley headed by PJ Nayak, and HSBC headed by Naina Lal Kidwai.

Chatterjee's appointment is also a rare example of Goldman assigning a non-insider as country head. He will succeed the outgoing India head L Brooks Entwistle, who was the founder of Goldman Sachs in India and its first employee in the country. Entwistle will relocate to Singapore as chairman of the company's South East Asia operations and head of investment banking in the region, according to a statement circulated by the company internally, a copy of which is with ET Now.

Chatterjee has also been appointed chairman of Goldman's India Operating Committee and will continue with his current responsibility of co-chief executive officer, the statement said.

In April 2010, Chatterjee had taken over as managing director and co-chief executive officer of the global investment banking major's India operations. The 42-year-old Chatterjee was earlier with ICICI Bank as executive director. He was on the ICICI board since 2007. Prior to that, he was MD and CEO of ICICI Bank UK. At ICICI, he was responsible for corporate and investment banking, government banking, and international banking business.

Vijay Karnani - the current managing director and partner - will be promoted as co-chief executive officer. Together, Chatterjee and Karnani will lead Goldman's expansion in India, which, the firm said in the internal note "represents a significant opportunity for Goldman". "They will coordinate cross-divisional efforts in Mumbai and align our overall India strategy with the leadership team in Bangalore," the note said.

Chatterjee, who was hands on with Goldman's recently announced deal to buy out Benchmark Asset Management Company, would "ensure that we remain disciplined, focused, and coordinated with respect to our clients, our people, and the ongoing build-out of our franchise", the note added.

Source: www.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Thanks,
Gaurav Agarwal
Head Dealer
DENIP Consultants Pvt Ltd