ABOUT CYTL

The CRISIL Young Thought Leader (CYTL) competition is an endeavour to promote and recognise young
thought leaders on campus. Since its inception in 2001, CYTL has provided a unique platform to aspiring
business leaders to showcase their views on a wide continuum of contextual topics related to the business
environment, thereby strengthening the link between academia and industry. We are delighted to invite your
participation in the 16th edition of CYTL.

HR President's Message
Dear Friends,
We, at CRISIL, believe that analytical excellence, innovative thinking and the ability to see beyond the
obvious are essential leadership skills. Equally important is the passion and resolution to execute and
implement one's ideas effectively.

It is a matter of great pride for us, therefore, to see that students across premier institutes have imbibed these
leadership skills, and that they hold great promise as leaders of tomorrow. Through our endeavour, the
CRISIL Young Thought Leader (CYTL) competition, we have been involved in promoting thoughtprovoking ideas amongst these young leaders in campuses, and in recognising them.
Launched in 2001, the CYTL invites dissertations from students on contemporary business matters. Over the
years, the competition has attracted distinguished work across a broad spectrum of issues and offered a
unique platform for future business leaders.
In this context, I am happy to announce the start of the 16th edition of CYTL.
Once again, we invite young minds like you to give shape to your ideas and analyses, and share with us
unique and contextual perspectives on business issues of global or national relevance.
So grab this opportunity to raise the bar by pitching your ideas against the very best.
Thus, I wish you good luck and look forward to you setting us thinking!
Warm Regards,
Rajasekhar Kaza

TOPICS
The impact of Fundamental Review of the Trading Book on risk management at
investment banks
FRTB is loosely defined as a set of proposals made by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision as the de facto
framework for next generation rules on market risk and regulatory capital for large, internationally active banks. It is
also seen as a potential successor to the Basel III regulations. Please elucidate how the FRTB will impact both
qualitative and quantitative risk management at investment banks in future, and the consequences of compliance.

Mutual funds absorbing credit losses on investments

Recent credit defaults in debt mutual fund schemes saw asset management companies absorbing losses on behalf of
investors. Give us your argument if this is a good or bad practice, or if there is a better way.

Fostering entrepreneurship among employees and its impact on company performance

Because of globalisation and competition, sharpening the skillsets of key employees has become critical to achieving
business goals. Explain how growth-oriented organisations can strategise facilitations to foster entrepreneurial
characteristics such as innovation, agility, commercial acumen and tactics.

Analytics and machine learning

The interest in machine learning is surging because of the sheer explosion of Big Data, cheaper and ever-powerful
computational processing abilities, and increasingly affordable data storage. Machine learning delivers on the promise
of extracting value from big and disparate data sources with far less dependence on human direction. Write a thesis on
how can such analytics and data science leverage machine learning in future.

Brexit and Indian corporates

Can Indian corporates benefit from Brexit? If so, which are these, and how can they? And vice-versa? Elucidate on the
advantages and disadvantages, and what should be the strategy of Indian corporates, given the unfolding situation.

Low interest rates in a multi-speed world

In the last few months, we have seen economic growth forecasts getting tempered in many countries across the globe
including China. One of the responses these days to stoke growth is to reduce interest rates even into negative
territory. Are low interest rates a magic wand to resolve economic crises? If not, what are the options available to
governments? What are the structural ramifications if the world is forced to maintain low rates for a prolonged period?
What happens to the concept of price of money?

Regulations and Enterprise Risk Management

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) is an overarching framework responsible for managing all risks of a financial
institution. The ERM framework helps internal as well as external stakeholders to understand the risk profile of an
institution. It strengthens holistic risk coverage and drives harmonisation of frameworks. What is the impact of recent
regulatory reforms on ERM? What are the issues/challenges to meeting regulatory ERM requirements?

Issues and challenges of Model Risk Quantification

Many decisions taken by financial institutions are based on outputs of complex quantitative modelling such as a pricing
model or a risk computation model. These models are typically based on several assumptions and therefore the outputs
are not exact. One of the major reasons of the global financial crisis of 2008-09 was the failure of quantitative models
to adequately describe and measure the risks they were designed to manage. It is not always easy but very important to
quantify the risk arising from possible errors to suitably decide overrides. So far, definitions of model risk are either

application-oriented including risk induced by the statistician rather than by the statistical model or research-oriented
and too abstract to be used in practice. Identify the issues and challenges faced while quantifying the model risk at
individual and institutional level.

Impact of mandatory CSR on India's human development parameters

India is the first country to have made spending on CSR activities mandatory for corporates. Under Section 135 of the
Companies Act, 2013 and the Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014, companies with net
profit over Rs 5 crore or turnover above Rs 1,000 crore, or net worth over Rs 500 crore are required to spend at least
2% of their three-year average annual net profit on CSR in each financial year. It was a polarising proposal and had
raised much heat until it was enshrined in law. Three years on, what has been the impact of this legislation? Has it
delivered on expected lines?

How will payments banks change the financial services landscape in India?
It has been a year since RBI granted in-principle licences to 11 diverse entities to set up payments banks. Of these,
three have already opted out, reportedly citing concerns over profitability, scope of business activity and competition.
How do you see payments banks changing the financial services and financial inclusion agenda in India?

GUIDELINES
Eligibility Criteria
Select your country for the eligibility criteria
India

Students in the first or final year of their MBA or equivalent Masters programme

Dissertation Guidelines
The dissertation should be:
An individual participation
An original thought
Supported by research findings
Length and presentation of dissertation:
MS Word
Upto 2500 words (8 pages)
Without graphics (explanatory tables and charts are permitted)
Font: Times New Roman
Font Size: 12
Spacing: 1.25
Language: English / Chinese / Spanish / Polish

AWARDS
One winner would be identified for each topic. So, put on your thinking caps, participate and win yourself the
following exciting prizes:
Interview for internship at CRISIL for first year students, OR
Interview for final job placement at CRISIL for final year students *
CRISIL Young Thought Leader trophy and merit certificate
Apple iPad mini *
Apart from the prizes mentioned above, there are more prizes to be won:

The business school with maximum number of winners would be presented with the R. Ravimohan Award.
This trophy is dedicated to our former MD & CEO, late Mr. R. Ravimohan who infused the culture of
nurturing young talent in CRISIL.
Each contestant would receive a Participation Letter from the President - Human Resources, CRISIL on
receipt of their dissertation in the prescribed format.

FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS
Is CYTL competition for individuals or can teams also participate?
CYTL competition is for individual participation only.

What should be the length of the dissertation?

Upto 2500 words (8 pages), including a one-page Executive Summary. You may refer the GUIDELINES Section for
more details.

Are the listed topics indicative or specific? Can we submit a thesis work for the series?
The topics listed are specific. However, we receive queries from students on whether they can submit their own thesis
on other topics for the competition. You can do so, but cannot assure you that it will be considered for the CRISIL
Young Thought Leader 2016 competition.

What are the criteria on which the dissertations will be judged?

The dissertations will be evaluated on:
Originality of thought
Depth of research analysis

Quality of writing (style and presentation)

Effective use of data
For further queries you may write into cytl@crisil.com (mailto:cytl@crisil.com)

WINNERS
2015

2014

2013

2012

Topic

Winner

Runner-up
Impact of Disruptive Technology in businesses
Ajit Reddy Kandela (dissertations/2015/AJIT-REDDY-KANDELA.pdf)
XLRI, Jamshedpur
Khyati Jobanputra (dissertations/2015/Khyati-Bipin-Jobanputra.pdf)
JBIMS
Revival of private corporate sector investment in India
Ashdeep Kaur (dissertations/2015/Ashdeep-Kaur.pdf)
International Management Institute,
Delhi

2011

No runner up
Corporate bond market development: Is bank loans to bonds the game changer?
Ashutosh Desai (dissertations/2015/Ashutosh-Desai.pdf)
K J Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research
Lakshmi Priya Ramani (dissertations/2015/Lakshmi-Priya-Ramani.pdf)
Is Globalization of Manufacturing a viable Business Strategy?
Digvijay Verma (dissertations/2015/Digvijay-Verma.pdf)
MDI Gurgaon
No runner up
Is Cultural Diversity synergistic for a Global Corporation?
Nishiggandha Kerure (dissertations/2015/Nishiggandha-Kerure.pdf)
IIM Shillong
Joshua David (dissertations/2015/Joshua-Mark-David.pdf)
Xavier Institute of Management,
Bhubaneshwar
What does Chinese slowdown mean for India?
Paras Parekh (dissertations/2015/PARAS-PAREKH.pdf)
IIM Shillong
No runner up
Should Information Security be an essential element of Business Strategy?
Priyanka Arora (dissertations/2015/Priyanka-Arora.pdf)
Xavier Institute of Management,
Bhubaneshwar
Mridul Chakraborty (dissertations/2015/Mridul-Chakraborty.pdf)
NMIMS, Mumbai

Credit funds - are they here to stay?

Vinit Intoliya (dissertations/2015/Vinit-Intoliya.pdf)
T.A.Pai Management Institute
No runner up
How can market economies be encouraged to help reduce the global gap between rich and poor?
No Winner
No Winner
Unicorns and BRICS+A; How are emerging markets changing the global balance of entrepreneurial power?
No Winner
No Winner

REGISTER NOW
Full Name *

Date

of

Birth

Telephone No.
Email Id *
Education (Course Name)

Year of MBA or Equivalent

Institute / University Name

Campus Location

Topic of Dissertation (Any 1 out of 10 topics)

How did you get to know about CYTL?

Upload

Upload the Dissertation

SUBMIT
By submitting this form, I agree to adhere to the terms and conditions of CRISIL and of the third party banquet service provider for the event.
I confirm that in the case of any non-compliance of the foregoing, I will be personally responsible.

Privacy and Cookie Notice (http://crisil.com/crisil-privacy.jsp?productid=1) | Disclaimer

(http://www.crisil.com/crisil-disclaimer.htm) | Website Terms of Use (http://www.crisil.com/website-terms-ofuse.jsp)
2016 CRISIL Limited - All Rights Reserved