MUMBAI, 10 October, 2019: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan's SPJIMR has set up a Centre for Financial Studies (CFS) to focus on research in finance and to help bridge the gap between industry and academia in a sector that is at the core of India's growth story.

The CFS has been set up at a time when India is looking to a new phase of growth as policy makers push to increase investments, build infrastructure and become more business friendly.

The CFS was formally launched on Oct. 10 at a function attended among others by, Mr Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC and Chairman of the Governing Council of SPJIMR; Ms Arundhati Bhattacharya , Former Chairperson, SBI; Mr Samiran Chakraborty, MD Chief Economist, Citibank; Mr Nimesh Shah, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI Prudential AMC; Mr Ketan Dalal, Managing Partner, Katalyst Advisors LLP; Mr Alok Kshirsagar, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company; Prof. Ananth Narayan, Associate Professor, Finance, SPJIMR and Former Regional Head, Financial Markets, ASEAN & South Asia; Prof Harsh Vardhan, Executive in Residence, SPJIMR and Senior Advisor, Bain & Co and Ms Latha Venkatesh, Banking Editor, CNBC TV18.

The CFS is headed by Prof Neeraj Swaroop, former Regional CEO of Standard Chartered Bank and now a Professor of Finance at SPJIMR.

Mr Deepak Parekh said: "The launch of a Centre for Financial Studies in Mumbai by a top school of management like SPJIMR is a very welcome step. It will benefit the business community as a whole and finance professionals in particular, and will enable them engage with academics on current and futuristic issues. We hope to make full use of this Centre to encourage exchange of ideas and knowledge between various stakeholders in the wider finance community, including regulators and policy makers."

The Centre Head Mr Neeraj Swaroop added: "The vision for CFS is to be the knowledge partner to the industry in the area of finance and to establish itself as the authoritative source of research, policy advice and education."

SPJIMR Dean Dr Ranjan Banerjee said: "The financial sector is dynamic, competitive and complex. Rigorous practice-oriented research and executive education is a felt need from senior practitioners, and this Centre will influence practice by filling this gap."