About

Bringing over a decade of private practice and telecoms experience, Sudhanshu Rai has served as AkzoNobel’s head legal for India, Thailand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh since May 2016 handling all legal affairs and compliances for the region. To proactively de-risk various businesses in the region, he supported the compliance, ethics and integrity initiatives of AkzoNobel by implementing global compliance programs in the region including anti-trust, export control, privacy and anti-bribery, and more recently, the implementation of the new GDPR regime. He is also the designated privacy manager for the region, in which capacity he ensures the business remains compliant to GDPR and also to their local privacy laws in various activities and projects. When Rai joined,the team was relatively new. Under his guidance the team has successfully handled and is handling multiple jurisdictional issues, undertaking new responsibilities and resolving complex challenges with its hard work and integrity. He identifies that, ‘we worked towards empowering the business to handle their routine business processes with minimal day-to-day legal involvement’. The team has been involved in standardising contracts, created various SOPs as a checklist and guidance notes for the business to follow for their regular activities, enabling the business to analyse and close their low value recovery matters by themselves. In line with AkzoNobel Group’s strategy for the establishment of two “focused, high-performing businesses” with sustainable growth plans, Rai has handled and successfully closed separation of the company’s specialty chemical business in India. This was a high value and complex restructuring exercise, AkzoNobel being a listed entity in India. In past two years at AkzoNobel, Rai has been involved in various expansion projects including helping in the setting up phase of AkzoNobel’s Powder Coating plant in Maharashtra and a first of its kind specialty coatings production facility and colour laboratory in Noida to service its customers in different sectors. Rai, describing his role, identifies that, ‘the role of an in-house counsel is being both, a conscience keeper and a business enabler and the success is all about the balance one is able to create. As an in-house counsel it is equally important to be approachable, collaborative and prompt in providing solutions to the business, which can only [operate] by not only understanding the position in law, but also placing equal importance on understanding the industry, the business, the products and the market forces affecting the business’.