Sabu Pullely
Thirty-five years across India and Switzerland. The trusted anchor of our Kerala network and the compliance spine of the firm.
Background
Sabu Pullely brings over 35 years of professional experience spanning both India and Switzerland, with a career built on technical depth in financial reporting, regulatory compliance, and process automation. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Kerala.
Pre-1991 FMCG distribution in Kochi
Before relocating to Switzerland, Sabu worked as a manager at a major Kochi-based FMCG distributor — the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods category that today covers chocolate, confectionery, beverages, packaged food, and personal care. The role pre-dates 1991, the year of India's economic liberalisation, which means it operated through the full Licensing Raj system: restricted imports, mandatory permits, controlled prices, hands-on relationships with retailers and wholesalers across Kerala and the broader South Indian market.
For Pullely Consulting's mandates today, that pre-liberalisation operator-perspective matters more than the academic Indian-market-entry frameworks consultants typically apply. Sabu reads an Indian distributor pitch, an import-license bottleneck, or a retail-margin negotiation the way someone who actually had to navigate them — not someone who studied them. For Swiss FMCG brands going into India, that is the difference between a deck and a deal.
Swiss financial services career
His Swiss career includes senior roles at SIX Group Services AG, Saxo Bank Switzerland, and AXA Bank Europe. Deep specialisation in IFRS reporting, Swiss OR (Obligationenrecht) statutory reporting, SNB (Swiss National Bank) and FINMA compliance frameworks, and SAP-driven process automation across finance operations.
Languages and community
Fluent in five languages: German, English, Hindi, Tamil, and Malayalam. As the founder of Bharatheeya Kalalayam Switzerland, a leading Malayalee cultural association, he has been a central figure in the Swiss-Indian community for decades. This is not a decorative footnote — it is the organic network that makes our introductions credible on both sides.
What he focuses on at Pullely Consulting
- Cultural and commercial due diligence on Indian counterparties, especially family-owned enterprises and promoter groups
- Regulatory and compliance structure design for cross-border trade and investment flows
- Direct relationships across the Kerala business and diaspora community, including retail, hospitality, and distribution leaders
- Stewardship of long-cycle client partnerships where multi-year relationship management is required