Mamata Banerjee among 50 most influential people in world of finance

NEW DELHI: West Bengal chief minister MamataBanerjee ranks among the 50 most influential people in the world of finance, according to the Bloomberg Markets magazine. Banerjee heads the group of Policy Makers in the magazine's second annual list, which does not include Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who is widely believed to be India's most powerful politician.

"Her Trinamool Congress party, part of the ruling coalition, has stalled Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's economic reform agenda by opposing foreign retailers," says the magazine, referring to the Congress-led government's decision to defer implementation of its decision to allow foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail after Banerjee's party, the second-biggest member of the ruling United Progressive Alliance, opposed it.

Besides Banerjee, the list features three persons of Indian origin - Anshu Jain, co-CEO of Deutsche Bank; Preet Bharara, who won 66 insider-trading convictions during his tenure as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York; and Rajat Gupta, former MD of Mckinsey & Co who has been convicted of insider trading. The list has been divided into four other groups: Corporate Power Brokers, Money Managers, Thinkers and Bankers.



"The ability to move markets or shape ideas and policies. The clout to affect the price of a security or the structure of a deal. These are the attributes that define the people who hold sway in the world of finance," the magazine says about its selection, which includes the likes of Warren Buffet and Mark Zukerberg.