Rajit Punshi, Director, Operational Risk Management

Rajit Punshi is the Director of Operational Risk Management of Friday Concepts (Asia), a regional BCM, Risk Management, Governance and Islamic Banking/Finance boutique consultancy. Rajit has over 12 years of experience in the areas of Operational risks out of a banking career spanning more than 21 years. Rajit has extensive experience in all areas of Operational risk on a firmwide and industry level. Rajit holds a Masters in Management Studies from Sydenham Institute of Management, Mumbai, India. He also holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) Degree from St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, India.

Rajit was recognised as one of the 'Top 50 faces of Operational Risk globally' by the Operational Risk & Regulation magazine in 2009 for his work in the area of Operational risk at a global industry level. He has worked extensively with leading global industry regulators, trade associations and participants as part of his effort to enhance awareness of Operational risk as a risk discipline.

Rajit started his career with Standard Chartered Bank in July 1990 and was responsible for setting up the entire Operational risk management capability for the Group, including policy, processes and Basel 2 compliance, consistent with the overall Risk Management Framework. Internally, at the time of his departure from Standard Chartered, Rajit was Head, Group Operational Risk Policy & Process. He has held key Operational risk responsibilities in India, regionally (Asia, Africa, Middle-East, US) and group-wide (2002 - 2011 June). As an Operational risk practitioner and specialist, Rajit has hands-on practical experiences in the following key areas of Operational risk - Definition and classification, Integration into the overall Group Risk Management Framework, Risk Appetite, Policy, Governance, Structure, Process (Identification, Assessment, Mitigation & Monitoring), Capital, Regulatory including Basel 2 compliance, MIS, Data, Infrastructure, People and Training. He was also responsible for "New Business Approval Process" and the "Operational Risk component of Mergers and Acquisitions". On the latter, Rajit has led and participated in several due diligence and integration initiatives across Asia, Africa and the Middle-East during his tenure with Standard Chartered. Rajit has also worked in other areas within Standard Chartered, which includes Branch Operations, Merchant Banking, and Business & Operational Risk Review. He has also programme managed key initiatives for Standard Chartered including - Y2k in India, Basel 2 - Operational Risk compliance for the Group.

He was a member of the Financial Services Authority Operational Risk Standing Working Group and Expert Groups (set up post-financial crisis), the Operational Risk Working Group of the British Bankers Association (BBA), the Institute of International Finance (IIF) Working Group on Operational Risk and the Association of Banks Operational Risk Task Force in Singapore. Additionally, Rajit has also worked closely with regulators / trade associations in UAE, Taiwan, Korea and India. Until June 2011, Rajit was also a Board member of the Operational Risk Exchange (ORX), the world's leading Association and data consortium for Operational Risk. As a leading thought leader in the Operational risk industry, Rajit has been invited to present to the Financial Stability Group in Basel and is a well known key note speaker at leading risk conferences and events including Operational Risk Asia (last 5 years) and FT Global Series (last 3 years).