CEO Insights Magazine

In the present era, the world is surrounded by uncertainties and risks which at times become hurdles for the growth of any company. When a crisis strikes, like the COVID-19 outbreak, risk and compliance issues may get aggravated, making effective risk and compliance management even more important that eventually makes the chief compliance officer’s or the CCOs’ role supreme. Keeping KPMGs effective and efficient policies and procedures in place, Seema Rajan is playing a pivotal role in the growth of the company.

In more than 25 years of professional career, Seema Rajan has bagged an extensive exposure to a gamut of areas including operations, strategy, Risk and Compliance policies, International Commercial Arbitration, and drafting & vetting of legal documents.

In a recent interaction with CEO Insights, Seema shared about her success saga which boasts of her 10+ years of expertise in Risk & Compliance Service Delivery across India & Canada.

Throw some light on your educational and professional background? What inspired you to start your professional journey in the Risk and Compliance Service industry and what motivates you today?
I pursued my Graduation, Post-Graduation and LLB from Delhi University and then I went on to get my second law degree, LLB from University of Ottawa, Canada. My professional career has been within all of the Big 4s in the Risk Management space for the last 20 years. It has been a roller coaster journey this far as being a Risk and Compliance professional in a regulated industry such as statutory audit for a non-accountant two decades ago was unheard of.

After practicing law in the Supreme Court of India under the supervision

of some great senior advocates, I found Risk and Compliance to be my calling as it gives me enough opportunities to set the norms and also opportunities to learn new things. However, being a Risk and Compliance professional was totally accidental as I applied for a different position at another big 4, while practicing in Canada and yet landed with a role as Risk Professional. From there on, it has been a continuous learning process for me till date. I guess having a legal background helped me sail through the nuances of the regulations in the early 2000s.

It has been observed that mostly, people consider this area to be very uninteresting, but I consider myself to be an eternal learner and the Risk and Compliance function gives me immense opportunities to learn, which keeps me motivated every day in my professional life.

Define KPMG Global Services as an organization and its current position in the industry?
KPMG Global Services is a platform entity which comprises of four entities, KPMG Global Delivery Center is one of the entities providing audit related supports to the client teams. These entities provide professional services support across most of the KPMG members firms in the world. KPMG as a brand is known for its people culture and KPMG Global Delivery Center is of course no different. This helps us in delivering the best to our clients and getting accolades of being one of the best workplaces for women, for millennials, best policies on Inclusion and Diversity and many others.

Tell us about the unique services provided by KPMG Global Services that makes it stand out from the rest in the market?
My success mantra would be collaboration and transparency

which are responsible for the positive outcomes that are practical and law abiding. It is not easy to understand the Regulatory and Compliance norms due to the complexities and changes that occur quite often. It is very important for professionals to understand why they need to follow the norms that are stipulated and the consequences of non-adherence. Hence collaborating with internal functions and creating a collaborative environment and educating the functional leaders on the importance of compliance and risk management is very important for any organization.

What advice would you give to the upcoming leaders of this industry?
While Compliance and Risk Management go hand in hand, they are still very different fundamentally. Compliance is more straightforward in what can be done and what cannot be done, where as Risk management is more subjective and judgmental. Both are large portfolios and to succeed in this profile, one needs to be nimble and agile to adjust and make changes according to the changing regulations and also one should have a logical rationale in taking decisions- big or small. Another advise to the budding professionals is to indulge in continuous learning and be abreast of the latest developments in this field and be an enabler for the internal functions.

Seema Rajan, Chief Compliance Officer KPMG Global Delivery Center
A senior Leader having more than 25 years of experience including 15 years in Risk & Compliance Service Delivery across India & Canada and 10 years in Legal & HR functions, Seema is overseeing compliance within KPMG Global Delivery Center, and ensuring compliance with laws, regulatory requirements, policies, and procedures.

Hobbies:Painting, Watching documentaries, Psychological assessments
Favorite Cuisine:Homely meals
Favorite Book:Complete works of Shakespeare
Favorite Travel Destination:West Canada
Awards & Recognition:
Multiple organizational performance awards