Bhattacharya calls for spl cadre for compliance & risk management

India wants to comply with global sanctions, including US sanctions on Venezuela and Russia, but also needs to maintain its own strength and strategic interests, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in an interview on Tuesday.

The United States in January imposed the toughest sanctions yet on Venezuela’s oil industry. The move has scared away some global customers, but with few alternative suppliers of heavy oil, Indians refiner Reliance Industries has been buying Venezuelan crude from Russian major Rosneft. The company is set to resume direct oil loadings in the South American nation after a four-month pause.

Sitharaman said Indian government expressed its view to United States.

“In specific issues which are critical for India’s strategic interests, we have the has the explained to the United States that India is a strategic partner for the United States of America and you want a strategic partner to be strong and not weakened,” she said.

“We value the strong partnership with the USA, but we should equally be allowed to be a strong economy.” Mumbai, Oct. 16: Arundhati Bhattacharya, the past Chairman of State Bank, on Wednesday said there is a need to create a special cadre for compliance and risk management at every banks, given the issues lenders are facing and rued that “unfortunately” HR is the most neglected side of banking.

The comments come at a time when banks' lending practices have been repeatedly put to question in many alleged scams, an increased attention from the regulator and investigating agencies and very high quantum of dud loans.

"The time has come for us to create a special cadre for risk and compliance," Bhattacharya, who headed the nation's largest bank between 2013 and 2017, said at an event organised by sectoral lobby IBA.

She said dedicated training is now being imparted to create such officers and hence, finding the right candidates will not be difficult.

The veteran banker, under whose watch SBI merged all its five subsidiaries and also Bharatiya Mahila Bank in April 2017, also urged banks not to directly place a general banking person to these roles, and if they do they must be given sufficient time to settle down and understand the new job requirements that is a very critical function.