Articles & Interviews - 2010

Informationweek, December, 2010
Emerging trends in Banking Technology
While it is evident that IT investments of banks have grown in general, we share here on how Cedar finds these to be different now, and what are the emerging trends in the application architecture, their associated technical platforms and the supporting IT organization and practices that leading banks are beginning to adopt. more...

The Telegraph, November, 2010
Cedar Management Consulting Expands Global Footprint, to commence Japan Operations
Cedar Management Consulting (Cedar), the global management consulting firm today announced that it has strengthened its Asia pacific presence by commencing its operations in Japan under the leadership of Mr. Tomoyasu Ozeki. The strategic foray into the Japanese market is to augment Cedar's business expansion strategy and is in line with its commitment to its Japanese clients, as they seek to expand their investments and strategies towards the emerging markets. more...

The Standard - New England's Insurance Weekly, September, 2010
Capacity Constraints- A Good Problem
The recession has forced companies to match revenue declines with reduced costs. As the economy improves, we are faced with the question of how to increase output for a minimum of cost and risk? Hugh D. Pinkus, Senior Director, Cedar Consulting shares his views on the same with focus on underwriting… more...

Arabian Computer News, September, 2010
Who said IT wasn’t a risky business?
Over the years, risk management has become paramount across all functions of a company and IT is no exception. Different regulations, standards, frameworks and overlapping concepts have evolved in this area. Abhijit Pendse, Senior Engagement Manager at Cedar Management Consulting International elaborates further on the same… more...

Banker Middle East, August, 2010
Best Advisory- Cedar Management Consulting International
CPI Financial has profiled the 29 winners of the Banker Middle East Industry Awards 2010, recognizing both corporate and individual distinctions amongst top performers in the industry. The profile of the winners also include the nominees and the shortlisted firms which were competing in the respective category. Cedar has been profiled as the winner of the Best Advisory firm along with the photograph of the Cedar team at the awards function… more...

FORBES, July 2010
Cedar recommends Infosys' Finacle for T-Bank, Turkey
Cedar has won the mandate of project management of Turkland Bank, Turkey. As part of the evaluation for its core banking project, it has recommended Infosys' Finacle. This project will lead to one of the first full fledged core banking replacements in Turkey, making it a landmark in Turkey's banking industry...more...

Network Middle East, June 2010
Your guide to data warehouses
Business Intelligence has been a popular buzzword among the C-Suite executives in the past couple of decades. The business folks always look towards it as a panacea for all analytics, but for the CIOs it has been a perennial headache. Balancing the business expectations and the technology possibilities within an acceptable timeframe is a game which not many CIOs have won in the complex maze of dimensions and cubes of data warehouses.Understanding the requirements and strategies of data warehousing is the key to a successful deployment, according to Abhijit Pendse, Senior Engagement Manager, Cedar Management Consulting International. ...more...

CTO FORUM, June 2010
Striking a Balance
The divide in the roles between the CFO and the CIO is sharper now than before. CFOs typically have the task to look at business plans and the operational goals of the organisation, and accordingly build budgets with capital allocation plans. The CFO is driven by metrics and measures investments by their returns; technology is seen as a cost centre and in the process the element of subjectivity has a likelihood of being lost. Active engagement between the CFO and the CIO in the decision making process can help overcome many hurdles. V Ramkumar provides an analysts' perspective on this subject of discussion and debate in the corporate corridors...more...

The Week, June 2010
THE ROAD AHEAD
The IRDA- SEBI tussle and its impact on ULIPS in the Indian Market might not have a big impact as in developing countries like India, for want of even basic knowledge of finance and money management, people are sold investment solutions. They do not actively go out and buy investment products. Alpesh Patel, Principal Consultant, Cedar Management Consulting, shares his views on the sale and growth of ULIPs against the regulatory clash...more...

Banker Middle East, June 2010
Banker Middle East Reveals the Winners of its 2010 Industry Awards
Winners were predominantly from the Gulf region. Al Watany Bank of Egypt wins Best Developing Bank award. Michael Hardwick Tomalin, Group Chief Executive of National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) honoured with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. R. Seetharaman, Chief Executive Officer of Doha Bank, and Adnan Ahmed Yousif, President and Chief Executive Officer of Al Baraka Banking Group, given awards for ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Industry’ and ‘Banker of the Year’ respectively...more...

IRDA Journal, June 2010
Claims as a Core Value Proposition of Insurance
The insured pays (in terms of premium) to the insurance company for years and expects benefits only when he/she faces the unfortunate event of a claim incident. Claim benefit thus becomes the core value proposition that an insurance company offers to the insured. Not only is the promise to service a (genuine) claim, a legal contract between the insured and the insurer, it is also a social and moral responsibility of the insurer. An insurer’s reputation too is at stake while dealing with claims and its processing. Alpesh Patel explains how a proper and quick processing of a genuine claim goes a long way in building the reputation of the insurer while an indiscriminate repudiation is bound to affect its goodwill... more...

Banker Middle East, May 2010
Do the right thing
Do Middle Eastern banks need to have more of an international outlook if they are to succeed in a crowded local market and what will they need to do to stay in top at a retail and commercial level? Sanjiv Anand gives Mike Gallagher some tips on how a bank can use a combination of positioning, branding, and intent to stay ahead of its rivals... more...

May, 2010
Cedar nominated for Banker Middle East Industry Awards
Cedar Consulting has been featured as one of the select nominees for the Banker Middle East Industry Awards 2010. This nomination, in the category of Best Advisory Firm, is a reflection of the fact that Cedar since the last 10 years, has advised over 50 financial institutions and Banks in the UAE/Middle East, in the development and execution of its growth strategy and the transformation of their operations. Well before many of the more recognized consulting firms came to Dubai, Cedar was there, committed in helping the shareholders, boards, CEO’s and senior management in the transformation of their banks. CPI Financial, publisher of Banker Middle East with the aim to showcase those institutions that are truly innovative and pioneering in their respective areas, will be hosting the annual Banker Middle East Industry Awards in June 2010.

Banker Middle East, April, 2010
Cedar Sponsors Banker Middle East Product Awards
Cedar Management Consulting was the official sponsor for the Banker Middle East Product Awards that were declared today at a major event held at the Godolphin Ballroom in Emirates Towers Hotel, Dubai. Speaking at the event Mr. V Ramkumar, Director observed that “Cedar has extensively worked with leading banks and financial institutions in the Middle East and is proud to be associated with this prestigious event”.  The event was attended by more than 200 senior professionals from the banking industry... more...

Promontory, April, 2010
Growing importance of Mobile payments
Mobile phones are fast becoming a substitute for underdeveloped or nonexistent financial infrastructure in developing countries. It is estimated that the number of mobile payment users will be more than 30% of the MENA regional subscriber base by 2012. In this article V Ramkumar, Director & the Global Practice Head of Business Technology at of Cedar Management Consulting, opines about the growing importance of mobile payments in MENA region in an interview with Promontory (a Research Journal published by TATA Consultancy Services’ BaNCS group - a compendium of high-quality research articles featuring opinions and insights from leading thinkers in financial services concerning global banking, capital markets and insurance trends and technology)... more...

Wealth, March, 2010
India's Wealth Management Opportunity
The top 100 Indians accounted for wealth of $276 billion (25 percent of India's GDP), compared to $170 billion for the top 100 Chinese. This creation of wealth has not resulted from a long history of private banking or wealth management expertise in India. In fact till a few years ago, excessive wealth and the display of wealth was frowned upon. Some of the wealthy in India will remember days of 100 percent income tax. More importantly, most of the wealth never stayed in India, but found its way to Swiss bank accounts. Wealth management services in India are currently under-developed. Assets under management (AUM) are less than three percent of GDP compared to 25 percent in Europe or the US. There is an urgent need for many family businesses to create a formal family office, an option provided by wealth management firms. Mr. Sanjiv Anand, Managing Director of Cedar Management Consulting, says that while the world struggled economically last year, in India the rich got richer... more...

Banker Middle East, March, 2010
It's Time to Go International
For years, banks and businesses across the GCC have talked about having an international business portfolio. The execution, however, has been opportunistic, or at a minimal level. The challenge in the financial services space, especially banking, is even greater, as central banking regulations and politics makes it even more difficult. For example, while most GCC banks would like to have a strong presence in Saudi Arabia, getting approvals is difficult - for many years Emirates NBD has wanted to grow beyond its one-two branch operation. While there is a tendency to blame regulatory challenges for limited success in international markets, the challenge is mostly internal and is about the need to execute better. Mr. Sanjiv Anand, Managing Director of Cedar Management Consulting, claims recent challenges in the UAE economic and banking context have again brought to the forefront the criticality of having a diversified international business book, both from an opportunity and a risk management perspective... more...

Business India, March, 2010
Eight Degrees of Separation
The banking sector has had turbulent changes after the economic downturn. While India escaped a lot of the ills, it was still affected. I believe that successful Indian retail banks will have to find the eight degrees of separation from their competition to sustain their competitiveness. Low personnel cost is a double-edged sword. For years we thought it gave India the edge. Instead we watched our compensation levels climb with little regard to revenue / employee and we underleveraged the ability of technology to optimize cost. The operating cost / income ratio is 44 percent in India compared to around 38 percent in Malaysia. So our cost structure is no better than others. Mr. Sanjiv Anand, Managing Director of Cedar Management Consulting, discusses some of the ways Indian retail banks can differentiate themselves from their competitors in a challenging economic environment. It is in every bank's interest to manage its risk better by not being overdependent on interest income... more...

Business India, February, 2010
Dubai 2.0
In my column after the collapse of Dubai's real estate markets, I had indicated that the worst was still to come. As I had expected, it did get worse and the scale of Dubai's financial woes of $80 billion-plus are there for the world to see. Despite the significant Abu Dhabi short-term assistance, investors and others are concerned about Dubai's future. From a financial standpoint, some of the short-term action that Dubai is taking is appropriate, though in hindsight it could have been done a little earlier, more transparently, and in a more structured way. Dubai is not the first to go through this, and it will not be the last. Mr. Sanjiv Anand, Managing Director of Cedar Management Consulting, discusses Dubai's recent challenges, and the ways in which the city can rebuild. A three-legged model of Trade, Tourism and Industry can make Dubai rock again... more...