Building bridges with India

Mr. V. Balasubramaniam (Bala) is the founding Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of India International Exchange IFSC Ltd. (India INX) the first International Exchange from India in GIFT City International Financial Services Centre Special Economic Zone which started its operations from January, 2017 and a subsidiary of BSE (Asia’s first stock exchange). He also holds board position in the following organizations:

• • BSE Institute Limited
  • India International Clearing Corporation (IFSC) Limited.
  • India INX Global Access IFSC Limited
  • India International Bullion Holding IFSC limited
  • India International Bullion Exchange IFSC Limited
  • India International Depository IFSC Limited

In addition to the above, he is also a member of following committees of IFSCA:

• • Committee of Experts on Sustainable Finance
  • Committee of Experts on Investment Funds
  • Committee of Experts on positioning IFSC as a hub for offshore trading in INR

Prior to this, he was the Chief Business Officer of BSE heading the business development encompassing all business segments viz. Equities, Equity Derivatives, Debt, Interest Rate Futures, Currency Derivatives, Mutual Fund Distribution platform and SME platform. In addition to the markets business, he was also responsible for the listings and data business of BSE and managing the entire trading operations and membership operations.

He has over 31 years of experience in the Capital Markets industry and has previously worked with Reliance Group as Vice President and was also as co-founder of BSE Technologies Private Limited which was acquired by BSE. •He was also part of the core team involved in setting up the National Stock Exchange of India. He was instrumental in creating the Capital Market segment, Nifty Index creation, setup of NSCCL as the first clearing corporation in India, NCFM certification creation and the Futures and Options segment inter-alia.

He has served in the board of Central Depository Services (India) Limited, Futures Industry Association – Asia, Co-Chair of FICCI Capital Market Committee etc.

He has a Masters in Commerce from the University of Mumbai, Rank holder from the Institute of Cost Accountants of India, Diploma from the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India and is a Certified Information Systems Auditor.

Julie Becker has been at the helm of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) since April 2021. She joined LuxSE in 2013 and was appointed to its Executive Committee in 2015, before being named Deputy CEO in 2019, and CEO two years later.

Her career in the financial sector in Luxembourg spans over two decades and includes positions at the Central Bank of Luxembourg and Dexia. In 2016, Julie Becker founded the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX), the world’s leading platform for sustainable securities. A recognised expert in the field of sustainable finance, Julie Becker has represented LuxSE and LGX at numerous, international expert forums and conferences over the past years, including the EU High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance from 2017 to 2019 and the United Nations High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development in 2023.

Julie Becker is a member of the board of directors of several Luxembourg-based financial industry associations and the Chairwoman of LuxCMA, a capital markets industry association established in 2019. She was awarded The inventor” by Global Landscape as part of their campaign “16 Women Restoring the Earth” in 2019 and was named the “Most Influential Economic Decision Maker in Luxembourg” in the 2022 edition of the Paperjam Top 100.

Julie Becker played a crucial role in the founding of the Luxembourg Women in Finance Charter. She is a member of the Luxembourg Gender Finance Task Force, launched in 2023, and the EIB’s Women Climate Leaders Network, launched in 2024. She was appointed as a member of the University of Luxembourg’s Board of Governors in 2023.

Julie Becker specialises in regulatory and legal matters linked to capital markets. She holds a Master’s Degree in European & Comparative Law and a Master’s Degree (DEA) in Private Law from the University of Nancy II, France. She is also an alumna of the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Anjani, is a Finance & Accounting professional having 25+ years’ experience, mostly in Investment Management / Private Equity Real Estate Industry with a focus on providing Accounting & Audit services. He has In-depth experience in working on Multinational clients with a presence in various jurisdictions for implementation and reviewing of Governance, Risk, and Internal Controls including Business Process Reviews. He has a strong strategic, commercial, and value-driven orientation with excellent skills in Accounting & Audit related services (External / Internal / Integrated Audits), Financial Analysis, Business Planning and Development, Cost Reduction initiatives, Business Process Improvements, and Operational synergies.

Anjani is the Chairman of the Luxembourg Chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), which is the second largest accounting body in the world. http://www.icailux.lu/

In his voluntary role as Chairman of Lux Chapter of ICAI, he helps and guides in Business development activities by creating a corridor between Luxembourg – India (Outbound & Inbound) business opportunities based out from Luxembourg. His key achievement includes as a Lead Coordinator for Trade delegation to India, collaboration on bilateral matters with High Commission of India in Brussels, Local Luxembourg-based nongovernmental agencies, Luxembourg based Chamber of Commerce, and various other Luxembourg professional bodies such as LPEA, Lux Innovation, etc.

In his previous experience, he has in-depth exposure to Onboarding and Settling Indian business houses in Luxembourg.

His professional journey includes working with Big 4 accounting firms in various jurisdictions across the world including London, New York & India. He is in Luxembourg since September 2012.

On a professional qualifications perspective, he positions himself with a unique skill set of one and only person of Indian origin of having triple qualifications of Chartered Accountancy profession from Luxembourg (Ordre des Experts-Comptables “OEC”), Certified Public Accountant (USA) and Chartered Accountant (India).

Anand has 25 years’ experience in Information Technology and the financial sector.

Anand sits on various boards of corporate structures and Alternative investments funds domiciled in Luxembourg and provides independent consulting and advisory services to Asian asset managers on Luxembourg fund structure set-up and service provider selection.  He is also the Founding partner of esgwize, an AI driven technology solution for Asset manager’s ESG compliance needs based in Luxembourg and Mumbai.

His career began in 1995 as an IT instructor, systems administrator and team lead for Software Solutions Integrated in India. He then worked for Citicorp Information Technologies (now Oracle), before he moved to Luxembourg in 1999 as an IT manager with European Fund Administration (EFA). From 2001 until 2015, Anand worked with major depositories and fund administrators, including BNP Paribas and Citibank, leading their technology transformation, business support, strategic projects and key client on-boarding / migration teams. He also spent almost five years in Relationship Management, Sales and Business Development roles with Carne Group and ONE group solutions covering Asia.

Lynn Robbroeckx is Secretary General at Luxembourg for Finance (LFF), the agency for the development of the financial centre.

She currently also serves as Secretary General of PROFIL, the Luxembourg Financial Industry Federation, and is a member of the board at the Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Initiative (LSFI) and LuxFLAG.

She holds a Master Degree in Sinology from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium and studied Chinese at Chengkung University in Taiwan.

Prior to joining LFF, Lynn served as Head of Communication at the Luxembourg Space Agency (LSA) and SpaceResources.lu initiative. She began her career at the Luxembourg Embassy in Beijing and later on worked for the world’s leading steel and mining company, ArcelorMittal, in China and London.

Avi Satwalekar is President of Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) Private Limited. In this capacity, he is responsible for leading Franklin Templeton’s retail and institutional business in India.
Previous Assignments:

– Country head and CEO of Franklin Templeton Asset Management Malaysia (2017 to 2022) and was responsible for the success of the Malaysia business.
– CEO and CIO for Franklin Templeton joint venture in Vietnam (2012 to 2017) overseeing the business & investment activities of the group and instrumental in launching one of the first open-ended retail fund in Vietnam.
– Vice President, portfolio manager and research analyst for Franklin Small Cap Growth portfolio management team and was the lead manager for the private small cap accounts (1998 to 2012)
– Vice President and research analyst for Franklin Equity Group. He specialized in the analysis of the computer software industry and IT service companies (1996 to 1998)

Mr. Satwalekar received a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Bombay, India and an M.B.A. in finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of San Francisco (CFASF).

Nilesh Shah is Group President & Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co. Ltd.

He has over 30 years of experience in capital markets having worked in ICICI Group, Axis Bank Group and Franklin Templeton.

He has been part of the teams that received the “Best Fund House of the Year” Award at Franklin Templeton, ICICI Prudential and also at Kotak Mutual Fund.

Nilesh is a Board Member of AMFI, a Member of SEBI’s CoBoSAC committee and a part-time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister.

Dr. Pranjul Shah is the Head of the Incubator at the University of Luxembourg responsible for expanding the UL entrepreneurial ecosystem. He is an active educator, entrepreneur, innovator, investor and acts as mentor to over 70+ university startups. He is the chief architect behind the University’s entrepreneurship, venture mentoring, and acceleration programs. Since 2021, he is a faculty on the MIT Catalyst Innovation program. He actively teaches innovation programs at KU Leuven, Uni. of Barcelona, TU Delft, among others.

He holds a PhD in Physics and Nanotechnology from the Technical University of Denmark and a Masters in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Glasgow. He was born in Ahmedabad (India) and lived there until his undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering from the Gujarat University. In 2009, he was selected as a Danish Kauffman Scholar by the Kauffman Foundation and embarked on an entrepreneurial learning journey to MIT, Stanford and Harvard University.

Alessandro Silvestro is Lemanik Managing Director for Asia Pacific since 2018.

Based in Hong Kong, he is a member of the company’s Global Strategic Committee. Graduated with a Master degree in Law (LLM), Alessandro brings more than two decades of international experience in the investment fund industry. Over the course of his career, he has developed Operational, Distribution and Relationship Management expertise in both Europe and Asia.

Before joining Lemanik, Alessandro lead the Insurance Sales team in Asia for Standard Chartered Hong Kong and held various senior positions with RBC Investor Services in Luxembourg, Milan and Hong Kong where he was a Member of the Management Committee.

Alessandro is a regular speaker in international funds conferences, an active member in several key funds associations and Board member in several investment funds.

Lokdeep Singh is the global CEO of Talkwalker, the leading consumer intelligence company that combines social and owned data into actionable insights, that help customers close the gap between their brand and their consumers.

He is a highly experienced, successful, and well-regarded business leader who has contributed to the success of multinational tech companies such as Synchronoss Technologies and Syniverse.

Growing up in India, Lokdeep has lived in the USA, Russia, Brazil, and Finland, before moving to Luxembourg. With extensive time spent in Japan and Iceland. His combination of global experience, knowledge, and dedication to customer success enhances Talkwalker’s mission to empower brands to drive innovation, create more successful campaigns, and provide an enhanced customer experience.

Since joining the company last year, Lokdeep has earned respect and recognition from board and staff members alike thanks to his leadership style, persistence, technical knowhow, and work ethic, along with his immediate impact on Talkwalker’s product roadmap.

Philipp von Restorff currently is Deputy CEO at Luxembourg for Finance (LFF), the agency for the development of the Luxembourg financial centre.

Prior to his appointment at LFF, he was serving as Head of Communication of The Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL), where he also held the position of Secretary of the Board of Directors.  Philipp has been Chairman of the European Banking Federation’s Communication and CSR Steering Committee from 2014-2018. Before joining the ABBL he worked for the Luxembourg Information and Press Services of the Luxembourg Ministry of State. 

He is elected member of the Board of Directors of LuxFLAG, the Luxembourg Finance Labelling Agency, as well as of the Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Initiative. Philipp is lecturer at the Luxembourg House of Training and financial education volunteer at “Jonk Entrepreneuren Luxembourg”, a branch of the Junior Achievement Network (JA).