By Arun Kumar, IANS
Washington : The US-India Business Council (USIBC), a leading advocacy group seeking stronger US-India commercial ties, has appointed James Quigley, chairman of Merrill Lynch International, to its Board of Directors.
Quigley is the fourth high-profile executive to join the board of the group representing 250 of the largest US companies investing in India and two dozen largest Indian global companies in the last three weeks.
Earlier PepsiCo’s chairman and CEO Indra K. Nooyi, Ian Thomas, president of Boeing India, and Sanjay Nayar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Citi India, joined the USIBC board.
Two other influential persons, former US ambassador to India Richard F.
Celeste and former director, Defence Security Cooperation Agency, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey B. Kohler, have joined the business lobby as senior advisors in recent months.
“Quigley is a distinguished banker who will be a wonderful addition to our Board of Directors,” said Council Chairman Charles Kaye. “As the chairman of Merrill Lynch International, he brings a unique and highly aluable perspective to the US-India Business Council.”
On his appointment Quigley said, “It is a great privilege to become a member of this distinguished board. I look forward to offering the Council both insights arising from Merrill Lynch’s leading investment banking activities in India, as well as those I have personally gained from managing Merrill Lynch businesses among the BRIC group of countries.”
Merrill Lynch is one of the world’s leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies with offices in 38 countries and territories and total client assets of approximately $1.8 trillion.
In India, Merrill Lynch holds a 90 percent stake in DSP Merrill Lynch, the pre-eminent full service domestic investment bank. DSP Merrill Lynch is a leading underwriter and broker of debt and equity securities and a leading advisor to corporations and Indian government entities.
DSP Merrill Lynch also provides financial advisory services and operates one of the most comprehensive macroeconomic, sector and company research platforms in India.
As chairman of Merrill Lynch International, Quigley serves as partner and advisor to the global business heads to maximize revenue and strategic growth opportunities across key markets in investment banking, trading and global wealth management.
As a member of Merrill Lynch and Co’s Executive Client coverage Group since May 2002, Quigley also works with the leaders of the bank’s many business groups globally to ensure client coverage and origination strategies are prioritised and implemented.
He has served head of Latin America Global Markets & Investment Banking since 2006, as well as overseeing Merrill’s Canadian operations.
Quigley thus brings to the USIBC board a wealth of knowledge and experience in how to drive revenue growth in emerging markets, as well as how to respect cultural differences and forge strong ties between countries in the process, the advocacy group said.