Page 3 – National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM)

Mr. Gagan Wadhwa

Mr. Gagan Wadhwa is a Deputy General Manager, HR + Board & Legal, presently on deputation to NISM as head of Human Resource Department

Mr. Wadhwa joined SEBI in May 2006 and has an Experience of 19 years. He has worked in various departments of SEBI, including Foreign Portfolio Investors & custodians division, Integrated Surveillance Department (ISD), Special Enforcement Cell (SEC), Market Intermediaries Regulation and Supervision Department, at SEBI. He was incharge of SEBI Lucknow office from 2021 till 2023 and was working with investigation department of SEBI prior to joining NISM.

Mr. Wadhwa is a Commerce graduate and also holds Masters in Commerce. He has also pursued Law from Mumbai University.

Mr. Sanjay Dhakite

Mr. Sanjay Dhakite is a Deputy General Manager with SEBI, presently on deputation to NISM (since June 2023) as head of CCB-4, Legal and Compliance.

Mr. Sanjay brings with him an experience of 16 years, primarily in the area of securities market. He joined SEBI in 2007 and has since worked in various departments including Market Intermediaries Regulation and Supervision Department, Corporation Finance Department and Foreign Portfolio Investors & Custodians division at SEBI. Before joining NISM he was in-charge of Vijayawada Local office of SEBI.

He has experience in the area of Primary markets including processing offer documents related to Initial Public Offers, Rights Issues etc. He was also member of the Committees/ sub-committees involved in review of Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements Regulations, 2018, framing of Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulations, 2015 and review of Foreign Portfolio Investors Regulations, 2019.

He was also involved in carrying out inspection of the Stock Brokers, Depository Participants, Custodians and Designated Depository Participants. He has delivered lectures on Primary market, Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements Regulations, FPI Regulations, Investor Awareness Programs and Financial Literacy programs at NISM and other forums.

Mr. Sanjay holds B.E. in Computers from Pune University and PGDM from IIM-Bangalore. He is an avid sports lover and an active marathoner.

Mr. Chaitanya Nemali

Mr. Chaitanya Nemali has been working as Deputy General Manager with National Institute of Securities Markets and heads the team that administers the Certification Examinations and Continuing Professional Education programs of NISM.

Mr. Nemali is an Engineering graduate (with the specialization in Computer Science & Information Technology) from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University and has completed his Master of Business Administration (Finance specialization) from NMIMS University.

At NISM, he has handled diverse roles and responsibilities and worked in multiple departments of NISM, both in academic (content development) and in administrative roles.

Prior to joining NISM, he was associated with McAfee Inc. as a Software Developer.

Mr. Rajesh Krishnamoorthy

Mr. Rajesh Krishnamoorthy holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Mahatma Gandhi University and a Post Graduate Certification in Cyber Security from MIT xPRO. He has been conferred with an honorary membership as a Chartered Wealth Manager (CWM) by the American Academy of Financial Management. He holds the Licensed International Financial Analyst (LIFA) charter from the International Research Association, Massachusetts.

Mr. Krishnamoorthy is currently the Non- Executive Chairman of iFAST India Holdings, Singapore, an Independent Director on the Board of PGIM India Asset Management, Member of the Board of Studies at Rajagiri College of Social Sciences and a Board observer in the startup space. He is also the Senior Venture Partner at the VC Firm, Colossa Ventures. Previously, he served as the Country Head – India for Financial Planning Standards Board (US).

Mr. Krishnamoorthy was recognized as Top 50 Financial Services Marketing Professionals in 2018 and was also awarded with the 100 Top Most Influential BFSI Leaders citation at the World BFSI Congress in 2018 and 2019. He has also been featured on Forbes, writes columns for the Mint, Economic Times, Money Control and other industry publications and is a featured speaker/panelist in many conclaves of the industry.

Mr. Arup Mukherjee

Mr. Arup Mukherjee holds a B.Com. and an MMS from Mumbai University.

Mr. Mukherjee brings nearly four decades of experience with leading institutions, particularly in stock exchanges and clearing corporations. He retired from formal services in February 2025 and was the former Managing Director & CEO of India International Clearing Corporation IFSC Ltd., a subsidiary of BSE at GIFT City, where he served for over eight years. Prior to this, he was the Chief Regulatory Officer of Indian Clearing Corporation Limited (ICCL), BSE’s clearing and settlement arm. Earlier, he spent over two decades at the National Stock Exchange (NSE), working across market operations, derivatives, debt, listing, surveillance, member interface, index services, investor services, arbitration, exchange compliance, and education and training. Prior to joining NSE, he worked for nearly four years with the Stock Holding Corporation of India, a leading depository participant and custodian.

He is currently a Consulting Director with Pivot Management Consulting Pvt. Ltd., a boutique consultancy firm, and also serves as an Independent External Professional on the Regulatory Oversight Committee (ROC) of India International Bullion Exchange IFSC Ltd., the spot and derivatives bullion exchange located at GIFT City, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Dr. Anurag Banerjee

Dr.Anurag Banerjee has earned his Ph.D and M.Phil in Banking from The University of Calcutta. He also has an M.Com and B.Com (Honours) with specialisation in Accounting and Finance from the same university. He previously worked as an Assistant Professor in Accounting and Finance at the Delhi School of Business. He has served as a Teaching Assistant at IIM-Calcutta (2017-2018) and IIM-Visakhapatnam (2021-2022) for their flagship PGP and PGPEX courses in the domain of Accounting and Finance. He also worked as a Research Assistant with Flame University, Pune on a Working Paper Series with the Asian Development Bank Institute. Before joining NISM, he has been working as an Assistant Professor with Jindal School of Banking and Finance, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India. He has published papers in ABDC and Scopus-listed journals and holds a best paper award to his credit. His research interests include unit-level data analysis and policy implications of the Reserve Bank of India (household wealth and consumer sentiments).

Teaching Interests: Financial Accounting; Banking Operations; Strategic Cost and Management Techniques; Income Tax; Corporate Finance.

Publications:

1.Rooj, D., Banerjee, A., and Sengupta, R. (2025). Economic policy uncertainty and inflation expectations of the households- insights from survey data. Indian Growth and Development Review, https://doi.org/10.1108/IGDR-05-2024-0062 (ahead of print) (ABDC-B).

2.Rooj, D., Banerjee, A., and Sengupta, R. (2025). The impact of financial stress on consumer confidence: evidence from survey data. Journal of Asian Business and EconomicStudies,27May2025;32(2):118–130.https://doi.org/10.1108/JABES-07-2024-0344 (Scopus-Q1; ABDC-B).

3.Rooj, D., Saha, A., Sengupta, R. and Banerjee, A. (2025), The impact of financial stress on house price expectations: evidence from survey data, International Journal of HousingMarketsandAnalysis,https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHMA-01-2025-0012(ahead-of-print)(Scopus-Q2; ABDC-B).

4.Rooj, D., Banerjee, A., and Sengupta, R. (2024). Economic Policy Uncertainty and Household Consumer Confidence: Evidence from Indian Household Data. The Indian Economic Journal, 72(5), 784-806. https://doi.org/10.1177/00194662241238500 (ABDC-B).

5.Rooj, D., Banerjee, A., & Sengupta, R. (2023). COVID-19 and Consumer Confidence: Evidence from India. Arthaniti: Journal of Economic Theory and Practice, 104(422). https://doi.org/10.1177/09767479231197688 (Scopus-Q2)

6.Rooj, D., Banerjee, A., & Sengupta, R. (2024). Impact of macroprudential policies on house price expectations- evidence from survey data. Economics Letters, 236(January), 111612. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2024.111612 (ABDC-A, Scopus-Q2).

7.Rooj, D., Banerjee, A., Sengupta, R., and Pathak, P. (2024). Shedding light on consumer sentiments: evidence from India. Spatial Economic Analysis, 20(1), 128–146. https://doi.org/10.1080/17421772.2024.2333412 (ABDC-B, Scopus-Q1)

Published Opinion Pieces

1.Rooj, D., Banerjee, A., and Sengupta, R. (2025), How financial stress impact consumerconfidence,https://www.ideasforindia.in/topics/money-finance/how-financial-stress-impacts-consumer-confidence.html

Award:

1.Best Research Paper (First Prize) Award, at the 5th Management Doctoral Colloquium (VGSOM Research Scholar’s Day 2019) at Vinod Gupta School Of Management- Indian Institute Of Technology, Kharagpur, among top 80 pan-India, for the research paper titled “An Analysis of determinants of Liquidity of the Indian Commercial Banks, Behaviour in Interaction with Financial Crisis”.

Mr. Nikhil Shinde

Mr. Nikhil Shinde is Deputy General Manager at the Centre for Capacity Building – 3 (CCB-3) at NISM. He has been associated with NISM for over 16 years, contributing significantly across various departments including Certifications, Test Administration, Marketing, and Capacity Building. At CCB-3, he oversees the planning and execution of academic programs, student admissions, study tours, industry interactions, examination administration, and placement-related activities.

Mr. Shinde holds a degree in Engineering from K. J. Somaiya College of Engineering and an MBA from the prestigious Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), Mumbai. Before joining NISM, he worked at Tata Consultancy Services as an Open Source Consultant. At NISM, he has led the development and implementation of various technology platforms including eLearning and proctored testing solutions, and played a pivotal role in national initiatives such as the National Financial Literacy Quiz.

Known for his hands-on approach, cross-functional leadership, and commitment to institution-building, Mr. Shinde brings a blend of academic, technological, and administrative expertise. He continues to work towards NISM’s mission of enhancing the quality of securities markets education and financial literacy across India.

Mr. Vivek Sharma

Mr. Vivek Sharma holds an M.A. in Economics, an MBA in Finance and is CAIIB qualified, along with UGC-NET in Economics and has certifications in banking, risk management, compliance, derivatives, investment management and financial planning.

He brings over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry as a senior corporate trainer, visiting faculty, and author. He has worked with SHCIL, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services and Dun & Bradstreet across equity markets, custodial and depository services, banking, treasury systems and corporate training. His roles have included compliance, clearing and settlement of securities, depository operations, treasury support and serving as Lead Business Analyst for the development of treasury systems.

He has trained more than 20,000 professionals across 150+ organizations and delivered over 1,000 days of classroom training for leading institutions such as Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Bank of America, L&T, ITC and FIMMDA. He has been a visiting faculty at institutes including NMIMS – Kharghar, ITM – Kharghar and Bharti Vidyapeeth, teaching risk management, derivatives, treasury and capital markets. He is also a columnist and author of six books, including Decoding Investment Myths (published by CNBC), and has appeared on CNBC Awaaz on personal finance programs.

Dr. Ashique Ali

Dr. Ashique Ali K A is an Assistant Professor of Accounting and Finance. He holds a PhD in Commerce from the Central University of Tamil Nadu. He has completed his M.Com and B.Com from the University of Calicut with specialisation in Finance. Prior to joining NISM, he served as an Assistant Professor at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies Deemed-to-be University, Hyderabad, for around two years.

His teaching interests include accounting, corporate finance, taxation, research methodology and quantitative techniques for business. Whereas his research focuses on FinTech, personal finance, behavioural finance, consumer behaviour and technology adoption. He has published several journal articles in ABDC-rated journals, which are indexed in Scopus and Web of Science. Additionally, he has authored book chapters published by leading academic publishers. He has presented his research papers in national and international conferences and won best paper awards three times.

Research Publications

Subramanian, R., & Ali K. A., A. (2025). Sustaining smartphone-based payment services among youth: Extending ECM with habit and pre-adoption expectancies. African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, 17(6), 900–909. https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2025.2560900 (Scopus Q2 Cite Score: 3.6; Web of Science – ESCI IF – 1.2; Taylor & Francis; ISSN: 2042-1338)
Thalhath, P., Ali K. A., A., Madathil, J. C., & Ananda, S. (2025). Investigating brand loyalty in mobile payment apps: the impact of cognitive and app-level factors. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 30, 18. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41264-025-00311-0 (Scopus Q1 Cite Score: 6.5; Web of Science – ESCI IF – 4.3; ABDC – B; Springer Nature ISSN (online): 1479-1846)
Ali K. A, A., & Subramanian, R. (2024). Determinants of continuance intention to use mobile payments: A meta-analysis. Indian Journal of Marketing, 54(6), 29–46. https://doi.org/10.17010/ijom/2024/v54/i6/173945 (Scopus Q3 Cite Score: 3.0; ABDC-C; ISSN: 0973 8703)
Ali K. A, A., & Subramanian, R. (2024). Continuance intention to use smartphone-based payment services: the role of pre-adoption expectancies, usage experience, and conventional inhibitions. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 29, 888–903. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41264-023-00240-w. (First Published Online in 2023; Scopus Q1 Cite Score: 6.5; Web of Science – ESCI IF – 4.3; ABDC – B; Springer Nature; ISSN (online): 1479-1846)
Ali K. A, A., & Subramanian, R. (2024). Current status of research on mobile Banking: An analysis of literature. Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective, 28(1), 7–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/09722629211073268. (First Published Online in 2022; Scopus Q2 Cite Score: 5.8; Web of Science-ESCI IF – 3.1; ABDC-C; Sage Publications; E-ISSN: 2249-5304)
Shanmugam, V. P., & Ali K. A, A. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on equity-oriented mutual funds: A preliminary analysis of Indian mutual funds industry. International Journal of Financial Engineering, 8(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1142/S2424786321500067. (Web of Science-ESCI IF – 0.6; ABDC-C; World Scientific; E-ISSN: 2424-7944)

Ms. Mitu Bhardwaj

Ms. Mitu Bhardwaj has been working with the National Institute of Securities Markets since April 2010. She has been instrumental in developing various certification examinations and currently leads the Content Creation Division team which curates the content for various certification examinations, CPE, eCPE programs and Skill-Development Modules (SDMs).

She is a Master of Business Economics from Devi Ahilya University, Indore and Economics (Hons) graduate from Benaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Prior to joining NISM, she has worked at the National Stock Exchange for 7 years. She has over 22 years of experience, with her area of expertise being Credentialing in Securities Markets and Financial Education. She also authors articles on various financial topics through Financial Dailies and blogs.