Meet the Finance Guru Revolutionizing a Change in the Financial World- Koushik Chatterjee, CFO and Group Executive Director (Finance and Corporate), TATA Steel

A passionate financial guru, Koushik has transformed the business world with his deep-rooted financial knowledge and capabilities. He has rendered his expert services to many before joining Tata Steel in 1995. During his period in the Company, he worked in the areas of Corporate Finance and Planning. In the year 1998, he was transferred to the Tata Steel Head Office in Mumbai and subsequently to Tata Sons Limited in the Group Executive Office (GEO). He became General Manager – Corporate Finance, Tata Sons, in 2002. During his tenure in Tata Sons Limited, he was involved in Mergers & Acquisitions activities including privatisations and joint ventures. He was also the lead facilitator in the Groupwide rollout of the Economic Value Added (EVA) initiative for the major Tata companies.

He then re-joined Tata Steel on August 1, 2003 and was appointed the Vice President (Finance). During his tenure, he has led the first overseas acquisition of the Company – NatSteel Asia which has 2 mtpa finishing facilities in 7 countries in South East Asia. He subsequently led the acquisition of a 1.7 mtpa Millennium Steel (now Tata Steel Thailand) in Thailand. In 2006-07, he played a critical role in the acquisition of Corus Group plc for USD 13.7 billion, leading the Country’s largest capital raising process for the acquisition.

Well that’s not it, after the new Tata Steel Group post the acquisition of Corus, Chatterjee was appointed as Group Chief Financial Officer. He was inducted into the Board of the Company as a Wholetime Director also. As the designation got attached to him, he became more responsible regarding the roles. As CFO, he is responsible for Group Financial Reporting, Investor Relations, Financing Strategy including debt and equity raising, Corporate M&A, Risk Management and Compliance, Taxation Strategy and planning and co-ordination of statutory and management reporting.

As the Group Executive Director (Finance and Corporate), in addition to maintaining responsibility of the company’s finance function, Chatterjee is responsible for the Tata Steel Group Corporate functions including Legal and Regulatory Affairs, Corporate Communications, Strategic Procurement, Information Systems, Group Investments, Global Mining Projects and Assurance.

Today, Chatterjee is on the Board of several Tata Steel Group companies, in India and abroad, including Tata Steel Europe, NatSteel Asia Pte. Limited, Tata Steel (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Southern Steel Berhad, Malaysia, and others. He is Chairman of the Boards of Tata Metaliks Limited and the Tinplate Company of India Limited.

Chatterjee has brought many laurels in his hat for his outstanding contribution as CFO, he was declared one of India’s best CFOs by Business Today Magazine in 2005 and in 2006 and by CNBC in 2007. He has been awarded the Best Performing CFO in the Metals Sector by CNBC TV18 in March 2012. The appreciation doesn’t stops here; as in 2009 he was declared India’s “Best Executive” for 2009 by Asia Money Magazine. This apart, Chatterjee is a active speaker, he has taken part in various conferences in India and abroad including the McKinsey Global CFO Forum 2008, Economist Conferences, London Business School and CII organized conferences.

Today, he is a renowned name; a member of the Primary Market Advisory Committee on Capital Markets of SEBI, he was a member of the Takeover Regulations Advisory Committee of SEBI, which drafted the new Takeover Code. He has recently been appointed as the first Indian on the Global Preparers Forum which is advisory body of the International Accounting Standards Board, London.

Koushik holds an Honours Graduate in Commerce from Calcutta University and a Fellow Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. A Whole time Director on the Board, he was appointed as the Group Executive Director (Finance and Corporate) w.e.f. September 19, 2013.