Hari Misra is the co-founder of Finsight group.  He is the key driving force for the company’s strategic vision and its execution, and is responsible for propelling the company on an innovative growth track. Prior to co-founding Finsight, Hari was Chief Editor for the Indian Edition of the Journal of International Banking Systems (IBS) UK, and was also its India correspondent for the global edition. During his stint with IBS, Hari tracked core banking selection and implementation by banks in Asia, and brought out IBS Publishing’s ‘The Who, What Where Guide to Banking Systems Suppliers in India’ for three years. Before joining IBS, he had founded BTEG, a consulting firm offering technology consultancy to banks, and also had a short stint with IMS, teaching CAT aspirants.

A postgraduate in Solid State Physics, Hari was a UGC research scholar, when he joined a large multinational bank in India as an officer. He has a rich experience of 16 years in operational banking and 12 years of information technology experience in the corporate office of the bank. During his tenure in the information technology function of the bank, he headed the bank’s mainframe data centre, set up corporate email using VSATs, and led two major technology migration projects. He was also responsible for managing the corporate database and technology acquisition and was a key resource at the bank for evaluating innovative projects.

Hari has published a number of research reports jointly with the Indian Banks' Association (IBA). He has reviewed quite a few books on finance, and is a member of IBA’s editortial committee for its flagship journal, The Indian Banker. He is also the editor of Finsight’s flagship journal Compliance, Risk & Opportunity (CRO). He has moderated most of the panel discussions in various events organized jointly by Finsight and IBA for the banking community.

Hari has interests in chaos, fractals, complexity theory, will, and application of theories of natural sciences to financial risk management, analytics and innovation.

Chandra Sekaran has over 36 years of industry experience in Banking, across a wide spectrum of functions such as Audit, Operational/IT Risk Assessment, Compliance/ AML/KYC, Project Management, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning. He has also managed a variety of banking application projects in varying capacities across different locations in Europe, Middle East and Africa.

A science graduate with distinction in Statistics, and a postgraduate degree in Economics, Chandra Sekaran is also a Law Graduate from ILS Law College, Pune. He has diplomas in TQM from Sheffield Hallam University, UK; and banking & finance, international marketing, and systems analysis & design diplomas from various Indian universities, besides the CAIIB certification. He holds CISM, CISSP, CIDA, CISA and CIA certifications of the US and has passed the uniform CPA examination. He was the first to obtain the highest aggregate marks in the Certified Bank Auditor (CBA) exams, a US certification. In addition, he has successfully completed all the four parts of the Director Development Program from Mudara Institute of Directors, Dubai, UAE and has earned the GrMIOD – the Graduate Membership of the Institute.

His last banking assignment was with Bank Sohar S.A.O.G., Muscat, Oman as its Head of Compliance. As the first head of compliance for the bank, he had set up the bank’s compliance policies, standards and procedures that conformed with the regulatory and legal framework of the country. He was also involved in the development of the Corporate Governance Framework for the bank and provided ongoing consultancy services and guidance to businesses on issues pertaining to Governance, as well as Risk and Compliance.

Prior to that he had a 13-year stint with ABN AMRO Bank NV in the Middle East from 1994 to 2007, during which he held various positions which include Head of Private Banking Operations, Head of Payments, Country Compliance Officer, Country Head of Financial Control and Resources, Country Head of Internal Audit, Regional Risk Consultant and Senior Project Manager responsible for supporting country operations and managing country/region specific projects, including offshoring/outsourcing of banking operations, as well as coordination of the regional control environment. During this period he was also a member of the bank’s Security - Corporate Architecture Team, which was responsible for framing the bank’s Security Policies at the corporate level. Prior to that, he worked as an audit officer with The Saudi British Bank, Saudi Arabia where in addition to various on-site internal audit responsibilities, he was the audit point-man in the project for centralisation of Trade operations and the HUB Core Banking implementation.

In India, his 20 years of work experience included IT, compliance audit and special (fraud) investigations, and operational banking functions at a large domestic multinational bank. His key strengths lie in cross-border payments, GRC, IT security and audit, business continuity and DR.

Amita has been an integral part of the Finsight team. Prior to her current position, she headed the research and communications team for our flagship journal Compliance Risk and Opportunity (CRO). In her earlier assignment, she was instrumental in redefining, and expanding the scope and coverage of CRO by bringing the world's leading financial institutions and technology firms into its fold. 

Amita holds an Honours degree in Economics from MS University and has also received a post graduate diploma in Apparel Marketing and Management from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, India. She has previously worked in a variety of marketing positions for Aditya Birla Nuvo Group, Triburg Consultants Pvt Ltd and K Mohan and Co, where she managed account relationships with leading global brands including Gap, Ralph Lauren, Polo Jeans Co, Van Heusen, Geoffery Beene, Lane Bryant, Vetir, Decathlon and Marks & Spencer.           

Currently based in Bangalore, she loves to travel.