Managing Partner
Divakar Vijayasarathy, founder and managing partner of the firm, is a chartered accountant by qualification with a strong passion towards domestic and international taxation law. An ex-banker with significant exposures in both domestic and international banks, founded the firm with a single-minded objective to provide value added cross border tax and business solutions to small and mid-size businesses having global aspirations.
A passionate orator and professor on the subject of international and domestic taxation laws, he has presented more than 300 seminars and authored more than 10 books most of which have been national publications. He has been part of several study groups constituted by various committees of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. A renowned expert on the subject of international tax, he was part of the expert team of ICAI for the certified course on International Taxation. He is a regular columnist and expert consultant for various national publications in India.
Regional Director
Dr. Nabeel Ahamed, an Indian by birth but effectively an Asian by upbringing -for he has spent majority of life at the Middle East and East Asian countries. Nabeel, a chartered accountant with a doctorate in Finance, heads our Regional Practice for Middle East and Singapore. Trained at various roles in the big 4 accounting firms, with unparalleled cross cultural working and business experience, Nabeel brings to the table his experience in handling clients from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds and seamless problem solving abilities.
Nabeel is also a professor on the subject of Finance at various international universities and actively engaged in various research projects at the Firm.
Director Litigation
A retired Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Chennai I and Cadre Controlling Authority, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, Mr. S. Sendamarai Kannan has a fascinating educational history. He completed post-graduation in Mathematics from Madras University and has a graduate degree in law. He also has a Diploma degree in Public Administration. Additionally, he did a specialized course in Public Finance from International Institute of Public Administration, Paris. He completed the course of MPhil in International Administration from Paris-Sorbonne University, France.
He worked for the Ministry of Finance and the Income Tax Department for more than 3 decades and has gained a rich experience in this area by working as an IRS officer in the Ministry. Mr Kannan heads our domestic tax litigation practice. He brings an unparalleled (revenue) departmental perspective which significantly helps in solving complex taxation cases.
Director – Corporate and Secretarial Law
Meenakshi Jayaraman, is a graduate in Commerce and Law, a qualified Company Secretary and an associate member of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India. She heads the Corporate Law and Secretarial Practice at DVS. Meenakshi has nearly two decades of rich experience in the areas of Secretarial, Corporate Compliance, Legal and Finance with reputed corporates including Cognizant Technology, Chola of Murugappa Group and Hinduja Finance.
Her core areas of specialization include Corporate Law and allied Legal solutions with special focus on Mergers, Demergers and Restructuring. Meenakshi is an active researcher and has presented numerous technical papers across various forums and institutes on the subjects of Company Law, FEMA and allied laws.
Partner – Tax and CFO Operations
A chartered accountant by qualification, sundar has more than a decade of experience in risk underwriting of secured and unsecured sub-prime portfolio, tax litigation and advisory verticals. Sundar has been consistently recognised by our clients for his clarity of thought and ability to breakdown complex problems.
A proven task-master, Sundar currently heads the execution team at our Tax Advisory vertical. He is an active researcher in the areas of domestic and international taxation. His areas of expertise include taxation, portfolio analysis and litigation.
Partner – Strategy & Capacity Building
Kavitha Divakar, a lawyer from the reputed Indian Law Society Pune, focuses on structuring Joint Ventures, Mergers and Acquisitions and Business set up practice at DVS. She has a natural penchant for reducing complex business agreements into simple unambiguous business documents which are practical and more importantly fair. She has authored books on the subject of Indirect Taxes and keenly follows the developments around GST in India.
Kavitha is an active researcher and an efficient executor and is, at present, focussed on institution building activities at DVS and has played a pivotal role in shaping up the internal processes and structure within the organisation.
Associate Principal – Research & Collaboration
A Chartered Accountant by qualification, Jugal has a natural flair for problem analysis and solving. Jugal has handled multiple roles at DVS from Taxation, Litigation and Advisory. Jugal is an active researcher and has focussed his research work on Transfer Pricing and International Taxation areas.
At present, he heads the research function at DVS which is one of the most active roles at the organisation. Most of the intellectual initiatives of the firm are managed by his team within the organisation.
Director Debt Syndication
Najeeb Baig, an ex-banker and a masters in business administration, heads our fund and debt syndication practice. Najeeb comes with more than a decade of significant banking experience in the secured lending space and has successfully disbursed more than USD 300 million across his various roles.
Najeeb at present, handles a team of bankers focussed on working with the secured debt and fund raising space. His team has partnered with more than 20 banks, NBFCS and funds for the purpose and is one of the leading fundraisers in South India.
Location Lead
Benazir Haji, a seasoned international banker and multi faceted professional, is a graduate in Banking and Finance from the University of London and has completed her post-graduation in Finance from The Heriott Watt University, Scotland. She has worked with leading banks and financial institutions across the East Asian region and brings on board, the practicalities of business and banking compliance coupled with money management which is a serious cause for client concerns in International business.
Benazir heads our location practice in Singapore and handles various training initiatives at DVS on aspects of compliance and international banking practices.
No 3, Apex Plaza, 6th Floor,
Nungambakam High Road,
Nungambakkam,Chennai – 600034
