Monthly Archives: March 2019

Ved Seereeram – OC in the Spotlight

VED SEEREERAM – Lefroy 1966 Batch and School Captain 1966, fondly known as “TRINI” at school

A documentary video about Ved’s current project “LIFE IN SUGAR”.
Enjoy!

Excerpt from the StockExchange Trinidad website:

VED SEEREERAM – Director Ved Seereeram is a Financial Consultant, advising regional governments and corporations on capital market transactions, risk management and credit administration over the last 13 years. Prior to private consulting, Mr. Seereeram worked for Citibank for 8 years and was the Managing Director of Citicorp Merchant Bank. He spent 10 years at Scotiabank managing major corporate client portfolios. Mr. Seereeram holds an MBA from the University of Western Ontario and a BSc in Business Administration from the University of the West Indies. He was appointed to the Board of First Citizens Bank Limited on December 31, 2010 and to the Boards of First Citizens Securities Trading Limited, First Citizens Investment Services Limited, First Citizens Brokerage and Advisory Services Limited and First Citizens Investment Services (Barbados) Limited in January 2011. Approval was received on April 5, 2012 for Mr. Seereeram to sit on the Board of FCCR –First Citizens Costa Rica S.A., and he was appointed to the Board of First Citizens Bank (Barbados) Limited on August 27, 2012. Mr. Seereeram also manages a 60 acre farm with over 35 acres planted in trees and the remainder allocated to sugar cane as feedstock for a small sugar cane factory. In 2013, he received an award from UNESCO for dedicated work to Humanity, Society and Environment.”

Ved’s impressive bio [partial] :

1984-1986		Masters of Business Administration
		University of Western Ontario
		London, Canada
1975-1978		Bachelor of Science in Management Studies
		University of the West Indies
		St. Augustine Campus
		First Class Honours (Recipient of the Hugh Springer Award)
1972-1974		A levels
		Extra Mural Studies
		University of the West Indies
1961-1965		Senior Cambridge
		Bishop Cotton School
		Simla, India

1995-1998

Managing Director – Citicorp Merchant Bank Limited

Country Treasurer – Citibank (Trinidad and Tobago) Ltd

Vice President – Citibank

· Managed capital market activities including the origination of primary issues and distribution in the local market

Originated, structured and distributed over TT$2.0 billion in transactions generating over TT$100.0 million in fee and trading income
Structured and placed over USD50.0 million in Zero Coupon Bonds in the local market
Managed asset portfolio of over TT$2.0 billion
Managed a staff of 7 with responsibilities covering all areas of Merchant Banking and Treasury Management
Member of Executive Management Committee, Asset/Liability Committee, Credit Committee and Investment Committee of Citibank and Citicorp Merchant Bank
Managed the bank’s liquidity and price risk
Recruited and trained staff in the Treasury department in all areas of risk management
Recruited and trained staff in all areas of Merchant Banking including financial engineering

1993-1995

Assistant Vice President responsible for Product Development

Citibank (Trinidad and Tobago) Limited

Developed and marketed several new financial products for the local market
Coordinated product managers, tax consultants, accounting and legal professionals for the development of product programmes for convertible bonds, zero coupon bonds, indexed certificate of deposit, interest rate swaps, covered interest arbitrage, currency options and fx trading
Developed several innovative financial products to reduce banks funding costs
Spearheaded the development of derivatives in the local market to local clients to manage their interest rate, commodity and currency price risk
Successfully executed over USD100.0 million in interest rate swaps
Developed the first interest rate swap in local currency
Member of Citibank consulting team as consultant to the Duke/Tenneco consortium in their bid for the power generation in Trinidad
Lead Citibank financial advisory team on Severn Trent successful bid for the local Water Authority Management Contract
Originated and structured a TT$450.0 million bond issue collateralized by the first original issue Government zero coupon bond issued in the country

1990 –1993

Manager – Corporate Bank

Citibank (Trinidad and Tobago) Limited

Managed and marketed a portfolio of corporate accounts comprising Government and selected state enterprises in the manufacturing and petroleum sectors
Analyzed complex multi- million dollar credits and made recommendations to the bank’s local and regional credit committees

1986 -1990

Scotiabank (Trinidad and Tobago) Limited

Managed and marketed a portfolio of Government and corporate accounts covering several industries including petroleum and petrochemical, motor vehicle industry, cement, paint, financial and other manufacturing.
Responsible for business development and portfolio growth
Managed delinquent accounts to effect collections
Supervised and administered credit loan applications from retail branch network
Liased closely with Scotiabank International Division in Canada in the execution of duties

1980 – 1984

positions with Senior Account Manager and other managerial

SPECIAL OVERSEAS ASSIGNMENT

· Assisted Citibank Philippines in the development of capital market products

· Assisted Citibank Colombia in the development of capital market products

· Member of Citibank’s Capital Market Task Force to develop structured capital market products in the Caribbean and Central American region

Kanwar Devinder Singh [1955 Lefroy] passed on

We mourn the passing away of Old Cottonian Kanwar Devinder Singh, at Patiala .

Devinder Singh was the House Captain. He is seen sitting next to Mr E A
Cuzen. Toti Agarwal is on Mr Cuzen’s left. Other familiar faces of today
visible in miniature form e.g. Badal and Rakesh Sawhney. Devinder Singh was House Captain Lefroy 1954 and 1955

BCS Batch 1970 – Golden Jubilee coming up 2020 – looking for missing batch-mates

BCS BATCH 1970:

This page has been updated and therefore moved to https://oldcottonians.org/event/bcs-batch-1970-golden-jubilee-2020/

We are still looking to contact Anil Mendiratta – if anyone knows of him please email editor@oldcottonians.org THANKS!

Email from Mr. Ronald Goss to Sukhdev Singh Rai:

Hello Sukhdev:

Mrs. Goss and I feel greatly honoured that you still remember us and have been so kind as to invite us to your Golden Jubilee celebrations. Believe me, there is no place I would rather be, but distance is an insurmountable obstacle for a “buddha” like me who will be turning 90 in another few weeks (3rd May). Mrs. Goss is throwing a party in our condo to celebrate the occasion , and, O, how I wish all you OCs could be there to make our joy complete.

Mrs. Goss and I wish you every success as you proceed with plans for your Golden Jubilee. Kindly convey our very best wishes to all present. I am sure it will be a grand affair.

I am not very good at it, but I will try to attach a few recent pictures taken at our 60th wedding anniversary on 7 Jan, 2018. I am sorry I don’t have the facility of sending therm to you on your Whatsapp.

Thank you again. So wonderful hearing from you. With all good wishes,

Ronald Goss

(BCS 1956-64)

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

PS. Picture 1: Mrs. Goss & me with our daughter Cheryl and her husband Randy, Cheryl was born in BCS in 1960 and celebrated her 59th birthday yesterday.

Picture 2: Mrs. Goss & me with 2 children, 5 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren and 4 in-laws.

Picture 3: With our son Stephen and his wife Laura

Respect, for OC Girish Minocha

Jerry Godinho interviewed Girish Minocha [Old Cottonian] and has blogged about his story of success:

I have a deep respect for Girish Minocha. He is humble, down to earth, spiritual, aware of his surroundings and believes in giving back to society.

He started his business, knocking door to door to build clients. He graduated from one of the best engineering schools.

He follows his passion and has converted it into one of the most successful businesses.

He believes in corporate social responsibility, sustainable farming, respect for nature and he hires convicts. Yes, at any given time a couple of convicts serving a life sentence are working at his enterprise….[read the full article here]