IMI Delhi Concludes its Annual Finance Summit, Prahelika 2008

IMI Delhi Concludes its Annual Finance Summit, Prahelika 2008
Post-event Press-release

International Management Institute (IMI) played host recently to some of the most versatile, sophisticated and intellectual honchos of the Indian financial scene. The annual finance event of IMI, Prahelika 2008, brought together top intellectuals,

economists and policy-makers from organisations like SEBI, CRISIL, Standard & Poor Asia Pacific, ICRA, Standard Chartered Bank, HCL Financial Services and Jubilant Organosys for a dialogue on the Indian Debt Market, its evolution, and future prospects from the point of view of exchange trade in debt instruments and exotic derivative products.

On Day One, the discussion covered topics such as "Securitisation as an SPV for Packaging Cash Flows" and the "Importance of Regulation in the Equity & Debt Markets". The students were provided food for thought regarding the topics discussed and their questions were highly-appreciated and brilliantly answered by the speakers. Day Two chiefly concentrated on the technical issues of Exotic Derivative Products.

The event began with two eminent personalities sharing the stage - Dr. Subir Gokarn, Chief Economist, Standards & Poor's Asia Pacific and Mr. Pranab Kumar Choudhury, Vice Chairman, ICRA Online Ltd. Mr. Subir Gokarn first took the stage, and educated the audience about the various debt products, and the evolution of debt markets in India. He then led the discussion on markets, its characteristics and the various roles it plays. The analogy of RBI monetary policies being the hand-brake (Repo rates) and the foot-brake (CRR) of the Indian monetary vehicle provided an insight on their operation and impact on liquidity in a calculated manner. In another such observation, he compared a mobile phone to an ideal financial super-market where the attributes within a debt instrument would satisfy the needs of many people - just like a cell phone that caters to consumers with its various features like camera, music and internet. He also talked at length about the idea of a standard rating basis for credit rating agencies across the world.

Mr. Pranab Choudhury carried the talk forward, examining the role of a rating agency in the current market scenario. Hearing it from the horse's mouth was indeed rewarding for the students of IMI. He asked the listeners to put away any misconceptions they had about ratings being a science. According to him, it was no science, but history. He then went on to substantiate his point by quoting real life examples and situations that he had been in. The talk, tempered by a 20 years worth of experience, had a noticeable effect on the audience and the enthusiastic round of questions and answers that followed more than proved it.

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Contributed by -
Ruchi Dhona, Sumit Aggarwal & Varun S. Pilla,
Media Cell,
IMI, Delhi.

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