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“GCs need to have a Futuristic Approach: Pro-active Action & Strategic Decision Making” – Amit Deshpande, Company Secretary and Corporate General Counsel, Sterlite Technologies

“GCs need to have a Futuristic Approach: Pro-active Action & Strategic Decision Making” – Amit Deshpande, Company Secretary and Corporate General Counsel, Sterlite Technologies
The Professional You
Briefly, tell us about your role in the organization and the mandates you handle?

I am currently the Company Secretary and the Corporate General Counsel of Sterlite Technologies Limited, a Vedanta Group Company. I play an active role in Secretarial, Corporate Legal, Ethics & Compliances, In-Organic initiatives etc.

I graduated in Commerce and Law from Symbiosis and ILS Law Colleges, Pune and also am an associate member of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI).

I recently was featured in the Top 100 GC Powerlist 2018 and Top 100 GC Powerlist Teams 2017 by Legal500. Sterlite was also recognised as winner of the ‘Golden Peacock Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance’ for the year 2017.

Tell us something about your journey so far as a General Counsel in India?

I am a senior legal professional having extensive experience of over 16 years in various areas including corporate laws, M&As, corporate restructuring, financial closures, legal due diligences, statutory compliances, international commercial contracts, arbitrations, land acquisitions and more. I joined Sterlite in 2010 and have played an active role in secretarial, legal, ethics and compliances and inorganic initiatives among others. Prior to Sterlite, I have worked with companies like Vishay Components (India), Kirloskar Oil Engines and Tata Auto Comp.

Immediately after joining Sterlite, I made innovations including setting up a comprehensive online statutory compliance framework system in the organisation which covered over 10 manufacturing and office locations in India and abroad and covering a responsibility matrix of over 100 employees. In 2014, I was involved in boarding a new investor in the company’s power business who invested around US$41M. I also handled the 2015 acquisition of Indian Software Company subsequently merging the same with Sterlite Technologies. In 2014 to 2015 my team arrived at an amicable settlement in a dispute with a Spanish customer under a complex ICC London Arbitration with a claim amount of over US$8.1M. During 2015-16, I spearheaded a complex demerger of the power business of the company into a separate unlisted company requiring multiple regulatory approvals. In 2018, I was involved in acquisition of an Italian manufacturing entity with deal size of Euro 60M. Over the span of my career, I have also initiated contracts standardization with focus on risk mitigations and have also standardised and benchmarked various processes.

Overall, I believe myself to be an internal conscience keeper, an Ethical watchdog driving 100% compliance.

Do you feel that the role of General Counsels is evolving in today’s business scenario? And if so, how?

The role of a General Counsel, as a valued partner to the leadership team, in a dynamic business scenario, is to support business intelligence with legal acumen by establishing and maintaining a fine balance between business interests and risk mitigation with focus on zero tolerance for legal or regulatory risks.

The General Counsel needs to have a futuristic approach that helps in taking proactive action and making strategic decisions.

What are the key challenges that General Counsels have to deal with on a regular basis, irrespective of the industry sector?

In today’s VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world, General Counsels have an important and critical role to play with challenges (which actually are opportunities) covering the following –

  • To maintain delicate balance between fulfilling the role of trusted advisor and managing compliances, being a “business partner” as opposed to “business roadblock.”

  • To focus on “adding value” to the business and specifically controlling risk in the context of adding value.

  • Ability to set up systems and processes to ensure benchmarking against the best and endeavour to be trendsetter.

  • Ability to manage multiple/conflicting priorities with strong track record of delivery.

  • To maintain the highest standards of Integrity, Ethics, Judgment, Transparency and Corporate Governance.

What are your thoughts on improving synergies between law firms and corporate in-house legal teams?

To maintain the highest standards of Integrity, Ethics, Judgment, Transparency and Corporate Governance.

What are your thoughts on improving synergies between law firms and corporate in-house legal teams?

The critical aspect in improving the overall synergies between law firms and corporate in-house legal teams is the ability to work as a ‘team’, with a ‘common goal’, with an objective to understand and appreciate business strategy and exigencies well and work to find sustainable and compliant solutions.

What are some of the key tools that General Counsels can use for continued learning education (CLE)?

Up-Skilling, Cross-Skilling, Unlearning and Re-learning are key attributes to remain ahead of curve for any General Counsel. Key Tools/Networking for CLE can be – Active and Relevant Legal Professionals WhatsApp Groups; Publications from leading law firms across multiple geographies; Linked-In Groups with Global Participation etc.

Any advice for someone exploring a legal career as an in-house counsel?

Dream Big, Keep Learning and build Business Acumen with focus on taking new initiatives by challenging the ‘status-quo’ – Be Relevant and Agile. Also remember – ‘Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing towards what will be’.

FAVOURITES

Gadget – iPhone

App – Chess Lv100

Automobile Brand – BMW

Favourite Writing Instrument – Fountain Pen

Favourite Holiday Destination – Lakshadweep & Goa

Favourite Cuisine – Chinese & Italian

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