Independent Director Certification Programme

Programme overview

Companies Act 2013 (Section 149) has mandated listed public companies to have 1/3rd of total directors as independent directors.

In 2024, approximately 1200+ Independent Director positions will be vacant.

Companies are looking for visionary leaders to fill the independent director positions for their boards.

Who is this programme for?

This programme is best suited for senior professionals with 20+ years of leadership experience.

Senior leaders: A senior professional with significant leadership experience in public, private, government, and nonprofit organisations.
Retired leaders: A retiring or retired leader exploring a position on company boards.
Family business: A senior professional and controlling shareholder of a family business.
Consultants: An independent consultant/advisor to the board.
Existing independent director: An existing independent director who wants to upgrade their knowledge and skills.

Snapshot of participant profiles from our past four cohorts

Total participants

170

Cumulative years of experience

4424+

Average years. of experience

25+

Key programme takeaways

Gain practical insights on all aspects of board membership

Learn how to effectively respond to challenging board-room situations

Develop a deeper perspective on key issues confronting boards today such as mergers and acquisitions, ESG, digital, and cybersecurity

Expand your network with experienced board members and industry executives

Understand what it takes to position yourself as an Independent Director

Course outline

Module 1: Introduction to being a board member
Module 2: Governance frameworks and Independent Director’s position
Module 3: Finding your place in a board committee
Module 4: Professional discipline, compliance, and ethics
Module 5: Interpreting financial statements
Module 6: Basics of risk and governance
Module 7: Select regulatory focus areas
Module 8: Stakeholder management and investor relations
Module 9: Human capital and diversity

Module 10: Board effectiveness and evaluation
Module 11: Anti-bribery, fraud, and corruption
Module 12: Family business governance
Module 13: Mergers and acquisitions
Module 14: ESG
Module 15: Cyber
Module 16: Digital strategy and transformation using emerging technologies
Module 17: Getting your first directorship
Module 18: Continuous professional development

Meet the faculty

Ritesh Tiwari
Partner and Lead - Board Leadership Center

Expertise: Corporate governance and board matters
Karan Marwah
Partner

Expertise: Capital Markets
Suveer Khanna
Partner

Expertise: Forensics, Risk Advisory, Finance
Meenakshi Sharma
Technical Director

Expertise: Investor Relations, Governance
Namrata Rana
Partner

Expertise: ESG
Shivananda Shetty
Partner

Expertise: ESG
Nitin Shah
Partner

Expertise: Cyber Security
Subhro Bhattacharya
Associate Partner

Expertise: Finance & Accounting
Udit Sethi
Partner

Expertise: Digital
Sandeep Chatterjee
Associate Partner

Expertise: People and change
Venkatesh Sethuraman
Industry Leader

Expertise: M&A

Certificate from KPMG in India

Follow our easy application process to enroll for the Independent Director Certification Programme.

Step 1: Submit your resume

Step 2: Profile evaluation by KPMG in India’s panel. If shortlisted, you will be notified and called for a virtual interview

Step 3: Submit your Statement of purpose (SOP) post the interview

Step 4: If selected, you will be offered a seat in the programme

Programme success stories

“The role of independent directors in corporate governance and strategy is becoming increasingly crucial. Towards that, it was a rewarding learning experience to go through the ten-week intensive ‘Independent Director Certification Programme’, conducted by KPMG in India. The journey was filled with a lot of learning, discussions, case studies, and peer interactions as well as a board simulation, which was extremely enriching, to say the least. And the best part was making some great friends in the process! ”

CEO, Indian technology, and software development firm
“The ‘Independent Director Certification Programme’ was a comprehensive learning journey with 50+ hours of immersive learning via live online classes conducted by domain experts from KPMG in India. The programme covered all aspects of business – ethics, corporate governance, finance, fraud mitigation, digital transformation, cyber security, human capital, and many more. Plenty of real-life case studies were discussed to ensure we get a very good understanding of all the topics. Most importantly, as the programme title suggests, why the independence of directors is so important – was a key takeaway for me. Thanks to the entire KPMG in India team, led by Ritesh Tiwari and Vijay Gogoi. ”

Retired Sr. VP, Global direct selling FMCG company
“This foundational course, taught online by practitioners, weaves in real-life case studies and group discussions, honing the theory and concepts taught. The programme is truly intensive! Every weekend, over almost 4 months, was devoted to classes covering all topics relevant to today's business and regulatory environment, such as independence and governance frameworks, regulatory focus areas, digital strategy and cyber security, human capital and diversity, finance skills, ESG, and many more. This programme teaches several useful things: the most important being – learning to develop an independent mindset and contributing effectively to benefit all stakeholders. Thanks to Vijay Gogoi, Ritesh Tiwari, Varun Kapoor, and the wonderful team at KPMG in India. ”

Experienced non-executive director and Senior advisor, Leading global professional services firm
“It is a privilege to learn from the vast and rich experience of Ritesh - he makes the session so engaging, he is extremely kind in giving his valuable time and doing an additional session just to take care of all the questions being asked by the cohort. He ensures nothing is felt rushed up. The content, the flow, the perspectives shared all through, are extremely rich and showcase excellence.

The content as well as the knowledge of both the facilitators was par excellence. Really liking the pre-reads, case studies and post reads on the LMS. Also would like to call out that the answering of all queries on the chat by Ritesh was very insightful and made the session super-engaging, Thank you to the entire KPMG team. ”
“ One of the best session I have gone through. Although I couldn't join in online session but going through recording felt that this was so enriching and presented in such an elaborate manner. The questions response and new insights gave a whole new perspective to me. ”
“Good session, with good case studies and a good teacher ”
“ Thanks to the entire KPMG ID leadership,faculties and learning team for hosting such an amazing network event. It was such an incredible experience to meet in-person with those who were our virtual weekend extended family :). Cherishing every session with the KPMG team. ”
“Amazing networking event hosted by the entire KPMG ID leadership Vijay Gogoi, Ritesh Tiwari, Varun Kapoor and the entire team…It is indeed an incredible experience to meet in-person with everyone, spend quality time, know each other a little better & great speaker sessions. ”
“An incredible experience, with an insightful panel discussion and boardroom simulation exercise. Great conversations and perspectives; thank you Vijay Gogoi and the entire KPMG team! ”
“Thanks to entire KPMG IDCP Team for hosting the networking event. It has been amazing learning experience which was blended with highly informative sessions and wonderful opportunity to meet the whole Team in person, to meet and know from the eminent guest speakers and our cohort batchmates. ”

Additional details

Course Fee

INR 2.75 lakh per participant plus GST
Non-refundable
EMI options available

Course Schedule

Next batch commences on January 2025
For more details or to register for the programme, reach out Konika

Phone: +91 9953502451
Email: in-fmsalesidcp@kpmg.com

Independent Director Certification Programme

Virtual classroom

10 Weeks

45+ hours

January 2025

Programme overview

The most sought-after profiles have:

Who is this programme for?