On 29th July, AmCham Karnataka Chapter partnered with Deloitte for an interactive session on understanding the “extended enterprise.” The speakers included Sumit Makhija, Partner – Forensic Financial Advisory, Deloitte India and Rama Prasad, VP & MD, Esterline India.

The discussion revolved around managing third party corruption risks and elaborated on the FCPA and Indian law. Case studies outlined the risk exposure due to third parties and the associated damages. The session also covered creating a framework for managing third party corruption risks.

The second part of the session featured three complex third party risk management scenarios:

Scenario A. An uncooperative third party refused to answer your questions or provide requested documentation
Scenario B. The ownership structure was so convoluted and it is impossible to determine if there is a risk of a government touch-point
Scenario C. Accounting records point to risky payments including potentially fictitious invoices and vendors
The session was attended by member organizations Nike, IBM, Cisco, 3M, Northern Trust, Brookfield, Technicolor, Exxon Mobil and others.

On 29th July, AmCham members met with the Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economic Affairs (DNSA) and Deputy Assistant to President Barack Obama, Mr. Adewale “Wally” Adeyemo, the Special Assistant to the President on International Economic Affairs, Mr. Him Das, and his team comprising of the Director, National Security Council and representatives from the U.S. Embassy, New Delhi.

Members discussed the challenges faced in doing business and key improvements in past year with the present government in defense, aviation, infrastructure, investment, smart cities etc. It was also discussed what is holding back infrastructure investment in India and how American companies can be more competitive compared to local and third country competitors. The current work force in the country, the effectiveness of U.S.- India economic dialogue structure, and its impact in advancing U.S. industry priorities was also mentioned.

The second meeting of AmCham’s HR Committee was held on 29th July 2016 in Gurgaon at the IBM office under the leadership of Mr. DP Singh, Chairman – HR Committee and VP – HR (India/South Asia), IBM India and Mr. Sameer Mathur, Co-Chair and SVP – HR, Citibank.

A presentation on AmCham and an overview of the HR committee was made.

The following charters were presented:

Labor Reforms – Seema Ajwani, ER/LR, Case Management & Appeals Leader, IBM, gave a very insightful presentation to the group. Seeing the response and excitement, it was decided that the committee would do a more thorough session on the same for other members to share knowledge. Some subject matter experts would be invited to facilitate it.

Future of Work Charter – Sarthak Raychaudhuri, HR Leader, Whirlpool India, presented the future of work charter. There was a discussion within the committee on potential key interest areas, common issues and challenges which needed to be addressed by the charter.

Mr. Singh concluded the event and thanked the committee members for their participation.

The ‘Make in India’ campaign, along with the government’s intention to ease the pain of doing business in India, has increased the competition between states to attract investment, hence, the Tamil Nadu Chapter Executive Committee felt the need to provide members with a better understanding of the complexity of the legal system in the country. On 28th July, AmCham organized a breakfast meeting focused on smart business infrastructure – the legal framework and invited Mr. P.H. Arvindh Pandian, Senior Advocate and Additional Advocate General, Tamil Nadu, to address members.

Mr. P.H. Arvindh Pandian is an expert in corporate and tax laws with over 15 years’ experience. His credentials include being a member of the committee constituted by the Ministry of Finance in 2002 for examining the provisions of section 72A of the Income Tax Act relating to mergers and demergers. He is an accredited mediator of the Tamil Nadu Mediation and Conciliation Centre under the auspices of the Madras High Court and a trainer for mediation process.

Mr. Pandian began his address to members by stating that the Indian legal system has been inherited from the British and has its own set of complex laws. This coupled with the huge backlog of cases in the courts is quite a deterrent to a business entity which needs speedy resolution to a contentious issue. He said that for winning a case in court, one needs a good case, good evidence, a good witness, a good judge and most importantly good luck.

Mr. Pandian said that to obtain speedy justice, alternate methods such as arbitration and mediation can be tried. He said that today many smart and intelligent youngsters are taking to the legal profession as it is well paying and satisfying providing challenges all the way. He added that mediation is a new and exclusive career option for the younger lawyers with sharp wit and intelligence. When the High Court deems a case to be mediated, it refers the case to a centre and allots two people, explained Mr. Arvindh Pandian. He said that, sometimes, clients directly approach a mediator for an out ­of­ court settlement. Mediation helps clients solve their problems. Everything is kept confidential and discussions are confidential. Mediation is done only by trained persons who do extensive research on client background and earn their trust. Mediators have a good rapport with their clients. Mediation is very successful and can be applied to a variety of cases such as labour­ management disputes, motor accident claims and matrimonial disputes etc.

Mr. Pandian also spoke about arbitration to resolve disputes arising from international commercial agreements and other international relationships in the country. To provide an effective mechanism for resolution of disputes through arbitration, the Arbitration Act, 1940, was introduced in the country. Subsequently, it was amended by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Arbitration is an option to providing an effective platform for resolution and reduce the burden of courts. Mr. Pandian added that the recent verdicts by the Supreme Court and high courts on the law of arbitration are in tune with international arbitration laws for disputes involving cross-border transactions.

Ambassador Richard Verma, Under Secretary Frank Kendall and Keith Webster, Director, Department of Defense met key participants from U.S. and Indian industry and discussed successful Defense Trade & Technology Initiatives (DTTI), transfer of technology and other issues. Mr. S Radhakrishnan, Director, DRDO was also present and made observations.

On 27th July, AmCham hosted an interactive session over dinner with Ambassador Robert Holleyman, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, at the Oberoi Hotel in Bangalore. The USTR team also included Dawn M. Shackleford, Deputy Assistant USTR, and Conor Harrington, IPR Director, USTR, Ken W Mcbride, Political/Economic Officer from the American Consulate in Chennai and representatives from the U.S. Commercial Services.

Ambassador Holleyman emphasized USTR’s outlook to break down trade barriers and negotiate principles towards creating a stronger, unified trade relationship between the U.S. and India. He also mentioned the upcoming 10th U.S. – India Annual Trade Policy Forum (TPF) will take place in New Delhi in October. He mentioned the new IT policy has been encouraging even though the pace of reform may be slower than desired. Some of the areas focused on for this visit included the digital economy, manufacturing, agriculture, IT and issues around the digital economy to understand where there are points of friction and try to minimize it. They also mentioned patents, trade secrets, local sourcing requirements and trade facilitation.

Ambassador Holleyman mentioned the “Digital 2 Dozen,” a list of principles embodied in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP includes cutting-edge obligations designed to promote the digital economy through a free and open internet and commerce without borders. Some of the challenges and opportunities highlighted by participants from the ICT sector were enumerated. The participating companies were HPE, Oracle, Texas Instruments and Saggezza.