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Equirus finance adds Mukesh Malik to its board
MUMBAI: Equirus Group has moved quickly to shore up governance at its newly minted lending arm, appointing Mukesh Malik as independent director on the board of Equirus finance, its non-deposit-taking non-banking financial company. The hire brings heavyweight banking experience to an NBFC with big ambitions—and little time to waste.
Malik arrives with more than three decades in global banking and financial services, spanning senior roles at Bank of America, ABN AMRO Bank, Citibank and Aditya Birla Capital. His track record runs deep across retail and corporate banking, technology and digital transformation, risk management and regulatory compliance, both in India and overseas. In short, a steady hand for a business that wants to scale fast, but safely.
A chartered accountant by training, Malik is a graduate of Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi. He is widely regarded for building and running large, complex financial-services operations, and for marrying technology with risk discipline—skills that NBFCs ignore at their peril.
“We are delighted to welcome Mukesh Malik to the board of Equirus finance,” said Ajit Deshmukh, managing director of Equirus. “His exceptional track record in building and scaling financial-services operations, coupled with his deep understanding of NBFC businesses, technology infrastructure and regulatory frameworks, makes him an invaluable addition to our board. His strategic counsel will be instrumental as we build Equirus finance into a leading wealth-focused NBFC with the highest standards of governance, risk management and client service.”
Malik, for his part, sounded equally bullish. “I am pleased to join the board of Equirus finance at an important phase of its strategic journey,” he said. “Equirus has built a strong reputation across investment banking, institutional equities and wealth, and the NBFC presents a natural extension of this platform. I look forward to working closely with the board and management to help build a scalable, well-governed lending franchise, anchored in prudent risk management, robust technology and a sharp focus on client outcomes.”
The opportunity is sizeable. Equirus finance plans to offer bespoke, secured lending products including loan against securities, ESOP financing, market-linked debentures, structured finance and other customised solutions aimed squarely at high-net-worth individuals, family offices and promoters. Management is targeting a high-quality loan book of Rs 3,000 crore over the next few years, underpinned by a tight compliance and risk framework.
The NBFC is also expected to dovetail closely with Equirus wealth, creating what the group calls a unified “One Equirus” experience—part advisory, part balance-sheet, all cross-sell.
Equirus Group, founded 18 years ago, operates across investment banking, institutional securities, wealth and asset management, HNI broking, NBFC and insurance. It has advised on more than 315 transactions across M&A, private equity, IPOs, QIPs, rights issues and structured finance, raising over $15bn in the process.
With Malik on board, Equirus finance is signalling intent: grow fast, govern hard—and play the long game.
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Apple bites back: the $599 MacBook Neo is the cheapest Mac ever made
The tech giant unveils a budget laptop that packs a punch — and a lot of cheek
CALIFORNIA: Apple has never been shy about charging a premium. So when Cupertino rolls out a MacBook at $599 (approx. Rs 55,000) , it’s worth sitting up straight.
The MacBook Neo, unveiled Tuesday, is Apple’s most affordable laptop to date — undercutting its own MacBook Air and taking a sharp swipe at the budget PC market in one fell swoop. It starts at $499 for students, which, for a machine with Apple silicon inside, is frankly a steal.
At the heart of the Neo is the A18 Pro chip — the same muscle that powers the latest iPhones. Apple claims it is up to 50 per cent faster for everyday tasks than a rival PC running Intel’s Core Ultra 5, and three times quicker on on-device AI workloads. Fanless and featherweight at 2.7 pounds, it runs silently and promises up to 16 hours of battery life. Try doing that on a Chromebook.
The 13-inch liquid retina display clocks in at 2408-by-1506 resolution with 500 nits of brightness and support for billion colours — sharper and brighter, Apple says, than most rivals in this price band. It comes dressed in four colours: blush, indigo, silver, and a zesty new citrus, with matching keyboard shades to boot.
Connectivity is modest — two USB-C ports, a headphone jack, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 6 — but this is a budget machine, not a pro workstation. The 1080p FaceTime camera, dual mics with directional beamforming, and Spatial Audio speakers round out a package that punches well above its weight class.
Apple senior vice-president of hardware engineering John Ternus alled it “a laptop only Apple could create.” That’s the kind of line that makes rivals wince — because, annoyingly, he might be right.
The Neo runs macOS Tahoe, with Apple Intelligence baked in for AI writing tools, live translation, and the sort of on-device smarts that keep user data away from the cloud. It also boasts 60 per cent recycled content — the highest of any Apple product — for those who like their bargains with a side of conscience.
For $599, Apple isn’t just selling a laptop. It’s selling an argument — that good design and real performance needn’t cost the earth. The PC industry had better have a decent comeback ready.
