In Conversation With Surender Sharma, Whole-time Director & VP - Legal, Secretarial & Corporate Affairs, Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd

Mr Sharma, would you please take us down memory lane and share with our readers what motivated you to pursue law as a career? You are a qualified company secretary, was pursuing a law degree a natural consequence in terms of career progression?

At the outset, I would like to thank you so much for giving me this opportunity to talk about my journey.  I am a first-generation lawyer in my family.  You will be surprised to know that I am a Chemistry Hons. Graduate. After graduation, I decided to pursue Company Secretary as a professional course and you are right, a law degree was a natural additional course which combines well with a CS course for career progression.  However, I soon realized the dynamism and complex nature of our laws which makes one's job professionally stimulating.  Hence I started spending more time helping businesses in dealing with complex legal issues which have helped me reach where I am today.

Tell us about your team size and your roles and responsibilities as a Whole-time Director & VP - Legal, Secretarial & Corporate Affairs at Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd

Like any multinational corporation, I have a very lean team.  We are a team of 8 professionals taking care of entire Legal, Company Secretarial & Corporate Affairs issues. 

My role like any other General Counsel is of a business enabler along with upholding the best-in-class Corporate Governance Standards in a constantly evolving business and regulatory environment.  This involves risk identification and mitigation, Compliance with applicable laws and proactively identifying the challenges from the new rules and regulations which impact the organisation.

Being a part of a listed company, we are subject to stringent Corporate Governance framework established by SEBI.  It is part of my role to ensure that we are ahead of the curve.  With technology invading the legal areas, my focus is now to understand the challenges thrown up by technology and keep ourselves ready to face them.

As an important cog in the wheel, how would you rate India's overall corporate governance framework? Any glaring grey areas that require urgent attention?

India’s Overall Corporate Governance framework is one of the most stringent one and ahead of many developed countries and it is continuously evolving. Pace of changes in the regulations on Corporate Governance is quite high, of late leaving some areas subject to interpretation but none of them as glaring one.  One area which is not a level playing field between listed and unlisted companies is the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Report (“BRSR”) norms.  The BRSR framework is currently applicable only for listed companies. Central Government should take some steps to make this framework applicable to large unlisted companies as well.

Amid inflationary pressures, how would you rate Budget 2023 for the manufacturing and consumer durables sector?

Lower personal taxes should increase disposable income and drive consumption. Capital investment at Rs.10 trillion (vs 7.5 trillion in previous year) should drive growth in the construction, transport & energy  sectors which should help overall growth and create jobs. These measures will surely help, the manufacturing, FMCG and Consumer durable sector.

Any favourite book or movie/series that you'd like to recommend to our readers.

I love watching Action Thriller movies/series which depicts lot of planning and handling of stressed situation.  I have recently watched Fauda, a series based on Israel Intelligence Agency. 

What has been the secret sauce to your success? What advice would you give young lawyers wanting to tread a similar path?

Constant focus on finding a solution to complex legal issues impacting the business and that too within the legal framework is something which has helped me reach where I am today. I firmly believe that there is no single recipe to success. It’s a combination of many traits - professional and personal.  On the professional front, one needs to constantly update the knowledge of the law and understand the nuances of the business you are supporting.   On the personal front, one needs to have strong interpersonal skills, the ability to handle the stressful situation without losing one’s temper and a flexible mindset.