Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has announced the joining of former Asian Development Bank (ADB) regional chief Arjun Goswami as director in its public policy practice, heading the practice area from both Mumbai and Delhi.

Arjun Goswami had been based in the Philippines as the ADB’s chief, regional cooperation and integration thematic group (RCI), since 2009.

According to CAM, at ADB he had been “responsible for operational planning, RCI corporate reporting, RCI quality and skills enhancement, innovative RCI pipeline development through operationally relevant knowledge products, key seminars and RCI resource mobilization”.

He had also had been:

• involved in “joint initiatives with sector and thematic groups”,
• “chair/member of Integrity Oversight Committee”;
• “chair, appeals committee”.

CAM’s public policy group now has three partners (who spend around half their time on work in the practice) and four full-time associates, according to CAM managing partner Cyril Shroff.

In 2013, erstwhile Amarchand Mangaldas then public policy head Suhaan Mukerji had left the firm for a short stint advising the government, shortly followed by his setting up specialist policy firm PLR Chambers.

Goswami had worked at ADB since 1996 and his many academic qualifications also include a US law degree (though not an Indian one).

He has an MSc in Financial Management from School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of London University, a BA and MA from Oxford University, an LLM in Public International Law from Cambridge University, UK and a JD (Juris Doctor) from American University, Washington, USA.

Before ADB, he had worked at Standard Chartered Bank in Mumbai as its head of legal and compliance from 1992 to 1996, and as an lawyer with Washington DC-based law firm Swidler & Berlin, from 1987 to 1992.

Goswami said in a press release announcing his joining: “At no time has the public policy reform space in India been more vibrant and urgent. So, I am especially excited to be drawing on my experience to help spearhead the firm’s public policy practice in partnership with the outstanding members of the firm.”

CAM managing partner Cyril Shroff added: “The firm has been in the forefront working with several regulatory bodies and developing feasible strategies for its clients.

"[Goswami’s] vast experience in this space will help us build the practice.”