MAM
Havas ups Asiya Bakht as Asia Pacific Communications head; strengthens Havas Village
MUMBAI: As part of its strategy to adopt a Havas Village model, Havas has promoted Asiya Bakht to the group’s director of marketing and communications for Asia Pacific. As director of marketing and communications for Havas Asia Pacific Bakht will drive visibility and awareness of Havas in the region and report to Southeast Asia CEO Levent Guenes.
The move follows the consolidation of marketing communications function in other key markets in Asia Pacific such as Australia, China, India and the Philippines.
In her newly defined role Bakht will be responsible for driving marketing and communications for all creative, media and specialist brands of Havas Asia, which include the flagship brands Havas Worldwide and Havas Media.
“We are delighted to welcome Bakht. Her impressive performance at Havas Media and understanding of the group’s culture played an important role in her selection as a communications lead,” says Havas creative group Asia Pacific, chairman, Juan Rocamora.
“When we were looking for someone to lead marketing for Havas as a group we couldn’t think of a better person than Bakht,” adds Havas Media Group Asia Pacific, CEO Vishnu Mohan. “She is not only committed to Havas’ vision of meaningful communications and collaboration, but also shares excellent relationships with stake holders within the group.”
“Bakht’s promotion is a testament to our collaborative ‘together’ culture, which allows us to leverage skills and talent available across the network, “said Havas Creative Group Southeast Asia, CEO Levent Guenes.
“We are very excited to have her on board and looking forward to working with her to further raise Havas’ profile in the region.”
Havas Village is a client centric organisation that brings all disciplines and teams in the agency – creative, media and digital – under one roof and is the foundation of group’s collaborative culture. The Village mode aims to simplify the agency’s offering for clients by aligning resources, production, analytics and insights across divisions thus driving greater efficiency and effectiveness.
Brands
Reserve Bank of India cancels Paytm Payments Bank licence
Central bank cites compliance failures; curbs tighten as wind-up looms
MUMBAI: India’s banking watchdog delivered its sharpest blow yet to Paytm Payments Bank, cancelling its licence and effectively ending its ability to operate as a bank under the law.
The Reserve Bank of India said the entity can no longer conduct banking business under the Banking Regulation Act, citing concerns that its affairs were not being run in the interest of depositors or the public and that it had failed to meet licence conditions.
The move escalates a crackdown that has been building for months. The bank had already been barred from onboarding new customers since March 11, 2022, and later faced restrictions on deposits, credit and wallet top-ups. In January 2024, the central bank ordered it to stop accepting fresh deposits, pointing to persistent non-compliance, including lapses in customer due diligence, use of funds and technology systems.
Operationally, the bank is now on a tight leash. It may process withdrawals of existing deposits and facilitate loan referrals through banking correspondents, but it cannot take fresh deposits.
The central bank said it would apply to the high court to wind up the bank.
Paytm sought to ringfence the fallout. In a regulatory filing, it said the licence cancellation applies to Paytm Payments Bank Limited, a separate entity, and should not be attributed to One 97 Communications. It added that there is no exposure or material business arrangement with the bank and that it operates independently, without Paytm’s board or management involvement.
“As informed earlier, Paytm (One 97 Communications Limited) and its services, which have been operating without interruption, will continue to operate uninterrupted. These include the Paytm app, Paytm UPI, Paytm Gold and all other services offered by its subsidiaries and associated companies,” the company said.
The distinction may reassure users of the app ecosystem, but the regulator’s verdict is unequivocal. After years of warnings, caps and curbs, the payments bank experiment at Paytm is being shut down—decisively, and with little room left to manoeuvre.
