Laura Cha joins TCS board of directors
November 6, 2006

Tata Consultancy Services, the leading global IT services and consulting company, announced that at a meeting of the board of directors held today, Laura M Cha, former vice-chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission, was appointed as an independent director. Six out of eight directors on the company’s board are independent.

Cha is a member of the executive council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and non-executive chairman of HSBC Investment Asia Holdings Limited.

Between 2001 and 2004, Cha served as the vice-chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), the first person to be invited from outside Mainland China to serve in the central government of the People’s Republic of China. Her efforts were focused on improving the corporate governance of Chinese listed companies and the process of public issuance of shares in China. She is currently the vice chairman of the international advisory council of the CSRC.

Before joining CSRC, Cha had 10 years of experience at Hong Kong’s capital markets regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission, and was appointed deputy chairman in 1998. She is also an independent non-executive director of Johnson Electric Holdings, Baoshan Iron and Steel Co., and Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Ltd. She is also a non-executive director of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation as well as China’s Bank of Communications. She is a member of the International Council of the Asia Society in New York and senior advisor to Investor AB, a Swedish conglomerate. Cha has been awarded a Silver Bauhinia Star in 2001 by the Hong Kong Government for her public service.

“With her experience as a regulator and policy maker, Laura Cha’s presence on the TCS board adds a new dimension to our strong, independent board,” said S Ramadorai, CEO and MD at TCS. “Laura’s experience and counsel will be a great asset for the TCS leadership team as the company continues to expand globally at a fast pace.”

With the addition of Laura Cha to the board of directors, TCS now has six independent directors – former chairman of Deutsche Telecom, Ron Sommer; Harvard professor, Clayton Christensen; former HSBC chief, Aman Mehta; former Indian cabinet secretary, Naresh Chandra; head of Glaxo Smithkline, Asia, V. Thyagarajan. The two non-independent directors of the company are Ratan Tata, Chairman and S Ramadorai, CEO and managing director.