H.E. Dr. Obaid Al Zaabi

Dr. Obaid Saif Hamad Al Zaabi has over 25 years of work experience in financial legislation, accounting, banking, finance and investment, and shari’ah-compliant finance from many leading financial institutions in the United Arab Emirates, such as the U.A.E. Central Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Amlak Finance, and the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA).

Dr Mohamad Omran

Mohammed Omran is the Executive Chairman of The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), the single Regulatory Authority for Non-Banking Financial Institutions & a Professor of Finance at the Arab Academy for Science and Technology. Prior to his recent appointment, he was the Executive Chairman of the Egyptian Exchange for 6 years. He was also the Chairman of the Federation Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS). He served as a Vice Chairman for Operation of the Insurance Holding Company for one year and the Vice Chairman of the Egyptian Exchange for four years from 2006-2010.
Professor Omran holds an MSc from Cairo University and Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Plymouth. UK. He was a visiting Professor in several research and academic institutions such as University of Plymouth, University of Oklahoma, the World Bank, University of Laval, and Vaasa University. He served for several years as an Economist at both the Arab Monetary Fund in Abu Dhabi & the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C. He was an advisor to the Minister of Investment and an Acting Executive Director of the Egyptian Institute of Directors.
He had been awarded several research grants and prizes. Recently he was the Winner of the Capital Market Personality of the year 2017 in Africa. He’s one of 9 selected globally and the First and Only Egyptian to get the Distinguished Hubert Humphery Leadership Award.

Neeraj Agrawal

Neeraj Agrawal is the Executive Director in charge of overseeing Crescent Enterprises’ operations and investments. He has been instrumental in the Company’s transformation throughout the years, fostering its investments and nurturing its various sectors.

In his capacities as a board member and as the Chief Financial Officer of the Crescent Group, Neeraj is responsible for the Group’s finance functions. He is also responsible for building the Group’s relationships with the investment and banking community.

Neeraj’s numerous achievements throughout his 27 years with the Crescent Group include securing several joint ventures within the international energy industry and leading the development of the Group’s energy operations across the Middle East and North Africa region. Neeraj was also instrumental in the formation and capitalisation of Dana Gas, and the US$1.2bn acquisition and financing of Centurion Energy International Inc., and the Middle East’s first forward-looking accelerated US$1.2 billion sukuk issued by an associate company in 2007, which was hailed as the ‘Restructuring Deal of the Year’ in 2013.

Prior to joining Crescent Petroleum, Neeraj worked as a management consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers and in the audit and management consultancy division of Ernst & Young.

Neeraj holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree from the University of Delhi. He is a Chartered Accountant, fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, and member of Indian Business & Professionals Council and The Indus Enterpreneur Dubai.

Neeraj contributes significantly to the communities in the UAE and India through volunteer service.

Mohamed Farid Saleh

Prior to his appointment as the Executive Chairman of the Stock Exchange, Mr. Farid served as the Chairman and the CEO of Dcode EFC, a leading economic forecasting and advisory firm in Egypt. Furthermore, between 2013 & 2016, Mr. Farid was an external consultant on Venture Capital and Financial Leasing for the World Bank Group in Egypt, and was a member of the Capital Market Advisory Committee established by the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority [EFSA]. Additionally, he was the Vice Chairman of the Egyptian Exchange in 2010-2011.

Prior to his appointment as EGX Vice Chairman, he served as a Senior Financial Economist and Head of Capital Markets Unit at the Ministry of Investment, whereby he participated in the formulation and implementation of the two phases of the Non-Banking Financial Sector Reform Plans adopted by the Egyptian Government. During his tenure as EGX Vice chairman, Mr. Farid was responsible for developing a detailed plan for the establishment of derivatives market, as well as the preparation of the legislative rules governing the market.

Mr. Farid holds a BSc in Foreign Trade and Economics from Helwan University. He also holds an MBA from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport (ASST), an MSc in Economics, Finance & Investment from York University, United Kingdom, an MSc in Quantitative Finance from CASS Business School in the United Kingdom and a certificate in Venture Capital form UC Berkley, the United States of America. He also served as a part time lecturer on Financial Markets, International Finance, Financial Derivatives at the American University in Egypt (AUC) and at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (ASST).

Sami Saliba

Prior to his appointment as Executive Board Member at the Capital Markets Authority, Mr. Saliba held several responsibilities, as Head of the Accounting and Financial Control at the Bank of Beirut and the Arab countries between 2005 and 2012, Director of Financial Control and the Department of Informatics, Managing Director at Bank of Beirut between 1998 and 2005. Mr. Saliba also worked as finance director for the LINORD Project between 1995 and 1998, Consultant Director at BankMed between 1993 and 1995, Head of the Department of Studies and banking relations/section of investments in the Arab Monetary Fund, Abu Dhabi – between 1985 and 1993, and Registered Representative at Merrill Lynch International New York – Dubai between 1983 and 1985.

Mr. Saliba holds a master’s degree in International Business Administration from the Western New England College in the United States, and a BA in International Management from the University of Lowell in the United States.

Salah Shamma

Salah Shamma is the head of Investment and portfolio manager at Franklin Templeton Investments (ME) Limited. Mr. Shamma has been in the investment industry since 2002 and joined Algebra Capital in January 2007 as an equity portfolio manager. The firm is now known as Franklin Templeton Investments (ME) Limited, in the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region. During his employment at Algebra Capital, Mr. Shamma was involved in the establishment of the firm’s flagship equity funds and was a member of the Equity Investment Committee. Currrently, Mr. Shamma is responsible for the investment process, research and performance of FTIME MENA equity team. He is the co-fund manager of the Franklin MENA Fund and Franklin Middle East and North Africa Fund. He is also a member of FTIME’s Equity Investment Committee. Prior to that, Mr. Shamma was with SHUAA Capital’s Debt Asset Management departmenet as co-fund manager of the first Arab bond fund (TAIF). Mr. Shamma holds a B.A. in business with an emphasis on finance from the American University of Beirut.

Samer Abuzahra

Samer Abuzahra is the Executive Vice President at Mubasher Financial Services (DIFC) Ltd. Samer, who is based in Dubai, has extensive experience in Banking and Financial Services Products Sales and Operations. He has held various positions within HSBC Bank Middle East and Canada, Thomson Reuters Middle East, and Mubasher Financial Services.

Before rejoining Mubasher Group in 2014 as Head of Sales, Samer was heading the Equities business for Thomson Reuters in MENA. His mandate at Thomson Reuters was to build connectivity between Stock Markets participants on both the buy and sell side. Currently, in his recent post, he manages a strong team of Sales, Trading and Operations professionals focusing on providing Institutional clients access to trade Regional and International Markets.

Rashed AlBlooshi

Mr. Rashed Al Baloushi has been the Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange since March 5, 2012. Mr. Al Baloushi served as Director of Clearance, Settlement and Depository Department at ADX since his joining in 2000. He served as Deputy Chief Executive at ADX since 2007. He has redefined ADX’s strategy, created a more robust establishment upon which ADX can flourish, and strengthened ADX’s portfolio through his constant dedication and innovation. He served as the Head of Registrar & Depository at the Abu Dhabi Free Zone Authority from October 1997 to April 2000. He was in full charge of the exchange during the period from January 2006 to September 2007, when the trading at ADX reached all time peaks, handling efficiently the influx of transactions during the period. He also played a major role in all the developments that took place in the exchange since inception, including all technical and legal achievements and that includes, among many things, upgrading the trading system, developing market rules and regulations, introducing new facilities and enhancing the e-services provided by the exchange. He received his MBA from the UAE University majoring in Leadership, while he received his BSc Computer Information Systems from Benedict College, Columbia, South Carolina.

Dr Tilman Kruse

Dr. Tilman Kruse is heading DEG´s private equity business in FSU, SOE, Turkey and the Middle East. DEG is one of the largest European bilateral DFI with a portfolio of EUR 8bn. With his investment team based in Istanbul, Moscow and Cologne, Tilman covers primary fund investments, co-investments, directs and mezzanine on a full-cycle basis. He serves on the LPACs of leading emerging markets GPs. In previous roles, Tilman was DEG´s Director Russia, based in Moscow, and lead counsel to KfW Group, based in Frankfurt, on KfW´s PE/VC risk capital and fund-of-funds business in the German speaking countries. He started his career as a senior associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer based in Munich, London and Cologne, advising blue chip strategic and financial investors on multi-billion, cross-border M&A mainly on the European Market.

Akhilesh Baveja

Akhilesh Baveja is widely regarded as one of the leading Fund Managers in the MENA equity space. The fund most recently managed by him was recognized as best fund in various categories for three consecutive years. Akhilesh was also rated as the top non- US fund manager in 2016 by the funds data and research portal citywire.com. He has more than 17 years of experience managing Emerging Market Equities, of which the last 12 years has been covering the MENA region. Most recently he was the lead portfolio manager of the Magna MENA Fund at Charlemagne Capital in London. Prior to that he worked with Société Générale Asset Management and GLG partners in London and in the region.

Khawar Ansari

Mr. Khawar Ansari has over thirty years’ professional experience advising boards and senior management teams in large financial institutions and publicly traded companies based in emerging and developed markets. In his role at IFC, Khawar has managed numerous corporate governance assessments of companies and banks across the MENA region. He has led project teams in analyzing the companies’ current corporate governance practices, developing recommendations for improvement and defining plans for implementation. He has also advised various regulators to develop Corporate Governance laws and codes across the MENA region, and, trained more than 250 board directors and executives on these subjects in MENA. Khawar has been chairman, CEO and non-executive director on boards of companies in Europe and MENA.

Mohammed Ali Yasin

NBAD has appointed Mohammed Ali Yasin, a well-recognized capital markets specialist, as the Managing Director of its Brokerage company, NBAD Securities, in November 2012. Since joining NBADS, he was able to turn it around to become the leading brokerage company in the UAE with more than 9.5% market share in 2014 and 2015, which elevated NBADS to the number one brokerage company in terms of traded value in combined UAE markets (ADX & DFM that year.

Mr. Yasin is a highly trusted authority and financial analyst of regional financial markets for over 18 years, and is widely regarded as an opinion leader that is widely quoted by local and international media beside social media networks on the MENA economic activities. He is also a member of the select brokerage committees nominated by the Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority (ESCA), Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) which help in drafting new laws and regulations and advise on new market challenges and developments in the UAE.

Mr. Yasin joined NBAD Securities from “CapM Investment”, where he served as its Chief Investment Officer and board member since 2010. Mr. Yasin has also served as Chief Executive Officer of “Shuaa Securities” between 2006-2010; and before that as Managing Director of Emirates Securities since 1998.

He is a University of London – Queen Mary & Westfield College graduate with a B.Sc in Computer Science.

Mr. Yasin Social media accounts:
Twitter @myasin1
LinkedIn email: myasin@eim.ae

Taha Abdulsalam

Taha Ahmed Abdulsalam Al-Rubaye received both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in economics from Baghdad University. After finishing his studies in 1991, he began working with the Baghdad Stock Exchange and rose to the position of Manager of the Exchange’s Research Department. In 2004, he left his post with the Ministry of Finance to help transition the Baghdad Stock Exchange into the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX) and he has served as the ISX CEO since then. As CEO, he has overseen the exchange’s most impressive developments, helped to form a board of governors, consulted on both laws and regulatory bodies and spearheaded efforts to accommodate electronic trading on the ISX. This last project successfully transitioned the ISX to an automated trading system in 2009.
In addition to his impressive achievements with the exchange, Mr. Al-Rubaye remains devoted to education, teaching a class in financial institutions at his alma mater Baghdad University and, on top of that, he serves on several boards and commissions including the Union of Arab Securities Companies and the Euro-Asian Exchange Federation. Mr. Al-Rubaye has long been committed to engaging the West and the United States specifically in the activities of the ISX, as demonstrated by his participation in the 2009 Investment and Economic Partnership Conference in New York and DC. He resides in Baghdad with his wife and four children.

Dr Fadi Khalaf

Dr. Fadi Khalaf is appointed as Secretary General of the Arab Federation of Exchanges since September 2009.

Prior to this appointment, Dr. Fadi Khalaf was the Chairman of the Beirut Stock Exchange for 10 years (1999-2009).

Before moving back to Beirut, Dr. Khalaf worked as a Financial Consultant in France for 6 years (from 1994 to 1999).

Dr. Khalaf has over 30 years of experience in the financial markets and banking fields.

Dr. Fadi Khalaf holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Paris I – Sorbonne in France, a Masters Degree in Business Administration and the Diploma of Technical Analyst from Paris.

He is one of the founder members of the French Association of Technical Analysts (AFATE) in Paris and a member since 1991.

Dr. Khalaf worked closely with the Lebanese Ministry of Finance on the draft of the Capital Market law and defended it in the Lebanese Parliament.

To his credit various research, publications and regional and international conferences in the field of financial markets, both in academic and professional level.

Fadi Al Said

Fadi Al Said is a Portfolio Manager on the Middle East and North African Equity (MENA) team. He began working in the investment field in 1998. Prior to joining Lazard in 2014, Fadi was Head of Investments and Portfolio Manager for ING Investment Management Middle East. Previously, he was a senior fund manager in the Asset Management division at NBD Investment Bank where he managed the two flagship funds (MENA Equities and GCC Balanced Funds). Prior to that Fadi was at Noor Capital where he was a Senior Vice President heading up the Asset Management division. He also worked for Damac Invest as a Senior Portfolio Manager, where he co-managed a multi-billion Dirham portfolio invested in the MENA region. He was responsible for leading a team covering Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and other emerging markets. Prior to that, Fadi was the Head of Research at Al Jazira Bank in Saudi Arabia. He started his career working in the Arab Bank in Jordan. Fadi holds an MBA from Cass Business School (London City University) and a BSc in Economics from the University of Jordan

Tobias Bessone

As an Entrepreneur and Economics graduate from the National University of Cordoba (Argentina), Tobias Bessone is currently General Manager of Wavetec, a multi-national technology company with its Headquarter in Dubai, UAE. Wavetec is owned by three engineers who have a vision to be a global player & to promote entrepreneurship. Selected by the Chairman & CEO, from a team of highly competent set of professionals in Wavetec, Mr. Tobias has led the global expansion of Wavetec by opening new offices in Kenya, Chile, and recently New York and with an active involvement in consolidating the Distribution Channels in more than 40 countries. During his young carrier, Mr.Tobias has been involved in managing the group Business Development & Marketing, Supply Chain, Operations and Human Resources along with the implementation of ISO 9001:2000 Certification.

Mr. Tobias participated as speaker in the Arab Federation of Exchanges held in Muscat, Best Practice presentation in Dubai Silicon Oasis event organized in collaboration with Quality Unlimited (Dubai Media Incorporated) and Award presentation of “Most Innovative African Bank” held in Washington among other events.

Mr. Tobias is passionate about entrepreneurship, innovative technologies and the need for continuous personal growth.

Jalil Tarif

Jalil Tarif currently serves as the Secretary General of the Union of Arab Securities Authorities (UASA). Tarif started his career in the Central Bank of Jordan and held the positions of Executive Director and Deputy Director General in Amman Financial Market between 1992 and 1999, where he oversaw Jordan’s entire capital market. Through his role as Deputy Director General, Tarif assisted in writing the securities law that implemented the three separate entities that make up Jordan’s Capital Market today. In 1999, Jalil Tarif was appointed as the first Chief Executive Officer of Amman Stock Exchange. He left his position as CEO in December 2012 to become the Secretary General of the Union of Arab Securities Authorities located in Dubai. Some of the roles Tarif has held during his career include: President, NSC-Unix user group, Atos-Euro Next Market Solutions; Chairman of IOSCO Self-Regulatory Organization Consultative Committee; Member, OECD Corporate Governance Working Group, MENA region. In addition, he participated in meetings with the IMF, IBRD, IOSCO, WFE, FEAS, COMCEC and UNCTAD.

Zin Bekkali

Zin co-founded Silk Invest in 2008 and brings 16 years of diversified financial experience to the firm. Zin has held executive positions at ING, Bain & Company and Fortis Investments. He holds both a Bachelor’s degree in Econometrics and a Master’s degree in Science and Operations research and Management from the University of Amsterdam. He is also a CFA charter holder and completed his executive MBA at London Business School.

Zin is a both a Dutch and Moroccan national and is based in Dubai.

Adel Merheb

Adel Merheb is a seasoned financial professional with over a decade-long experience in regional (GCC) and global financial markets. He is the Chief Investment Officer at Al Fozan Holding Co., a prominent group headquartered in Khobar, KSA. Adel began his career working in a start-up hedge fund that focused on trading derivatives. He then moved to Dubai to work with the investment banking and capital market teams at mashreqbank. From thereon he assumed research and advisory roles with Shuaa Capital p.s.c.

Adel is the author of many research publications and opinion articles featured on The National and Arabian Business. He also appears as a regular market expert on various channels such as Al Arabiya and CNBC Arabia.

Adel holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business (Finance) from the American University of Beirut and he is affiliated with the CFA institute and the Market Technicians Association.

Anil Dixit

Anil is the Senior Vice President – Investments for Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company where he manages a global multi-asset portfolio. He has extensive experience of the insurance sector and has worked in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. In ADNIC Anil heads the investment function and is responsible for overall asset allocation, manager selection as well as management of the fixed income portfolio. Prior to ADNIC, he was with Allianz for over 12 years and worked with them in a number of countries. Anil has an MBA Finance from Manchester Business School.

Oliver Schutzmann

Oliver has worked at the heart of the investor relations industry for over two decades and is regarded as a leading practitioner in this field. Credited with introducing international best practice investor relations to the Arabian Gulf region in 2006, he works with public and private companies, financial institutions and government entities; providing strategic advice on designing, building and executing successful investor relations programs. Having seen the investor relations industry evolve, Oliver helps organizations and leaders protect their downside and unlock their potential in a constantly changing communications and capital markets environment.

Prior to Iridium, Oliver was a member of the senior management team at SHUAA Capital, a DFM-listed investment bank where he established the investor relations function. He started his career at Euromoney and has worked at The Economist and Charles Barker, a leading investor relations and financial communications consultancy in Europe. Oliver served as a founding board member and Chairman of the Middle East Investor Relations Association where he devised the Certified Investor Relations Officer (CIRO) accreditation program, and trained over 150 board members, C-level executives and IR professionals.

Dr. Vijith Kannangara

Vijith provides leadership to a multi-cultural enterprise with business across nine countries in the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East regions. The enterprise comprises three groups of companies. Viz. Smart Media The Annual Report Company which has won for their clients more than 300 international ARC awards in New York; Affno, a specialist in workplace automation software with a strong record in high profile eGovernment deployments; and Q&E, a boutique advertising agency providing a 360 brand communications solution.

Smart Media The Annual Report Company has the distinction of having produced over 70 integrated reports and have also contributed to the global body of knowledge on the subject.

Vijith also serves on the boards of The Children’s Heart Project of Sri Lanka, The National Stroke Association of Sri Lanka, and Jetwing Symphony PLC which has developed a chain of innovative resort hotels in key destinations around Sri Lanka.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing in UK conferred an Honorary Fellowship on Vijith in 2006. He was picked by LMD magazine as one of the top ten captains of business, commerce and industry in Sri Lanka in 2012.

Affno Ventures, a company he co-founded in 2016 leverages the creativity, technology, branding and communications expertise and experience of his Group’s 100+ team of professionals. It develops disrupter business ideas. The first two ideas are currently in the stage of raising seed capital.

His personal interests include the future of education, global citizenship, environment, natural health and regenerative agriculture.

Michael Ourabah

Michael Ourabah is BSO’s CEO and founder, starting the company in 2004 with his business partner, Charles Antoine Beyney. Michael is responsible for all aspects of BSO’s business globally.
During his 13 years building the organisation, Michael has demonstrated a fresh approach to leadership in the telecommunications industry. He created BSO from humble beginnings when studying for a Masters in computer science and had one clear aim in mind: to build an international, ultra-high performance network, with client satisfaction at its core.
Michael’s hands-on management approach ensures BSO stays true to his founding vision. A technologist at heart, Michael inspires the team through his love of engineering and problem-solving, unique leadership attributes that helps BSO maintain its leading position in global connectivity, hosting and cloud services.
Michael holds a Masters in Computer Science from EPITECH university and is a dedicated Paris-Saint-Germain football fan.

Charles Monchau

Mr. Charles Monchau joined Al Mal as Managing Director – Head of Investment Management. Charles was previously SEO / Head of Asset Management at SHUAA Capital and brings more than 20 years of experience in international multi-asset investing. Before moving to the UAE, Charles was heading the Asset Allocation Team for the Europe & Middle East at Deutsche Bank (2014-2016). Based in Geneva, he was in charge of a team of 25 portfolio managers running around USD 10bn in discretionary mandates. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Charles was Regional CIO for EFG Private Bank (2010-2013) and held various senior portfolio management and buy-side research roles at Rothschild Bank AG in Zurich (2009-2010), Lombard Odier in Paris and Geneva (2001-2009) and BNP Paribas in Geneva and Nassau (1995-2001). He was also an adjunct professor in Finance at the International University of Geneva. Charles has an Executive MBA from Instituto di Empresa (Madrid & Shanghai) and a MSc in Finance (University of Geneva). He is also a CFA, CMT, CAIA and CIIA Charterholder.

Dr Ghaleb Mahmassani

Dr. Ghaleb Mahmassani is the Acting President of the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE). He first joined the Beirut Stock Exchange as a non-executive Board Member and Vise President in 1999.

Dr. Mahmassani is an Attorney at Law and Legal Counsel since 1962, an International Arbitrator since 1976 and a Member of the National Committee of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague (The Netherlands). He served as a member of the International Court of Arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris from 2000 to 2005.

Dr. Mahmassani is active academically and professionally in the legal and banking sectors at international level and has many publications, lecturers, conferences, seminars and colloquiums in law. He received his licenses in French and Lebanese law from Saint Joseph University – Beirut – in 1962, a Bachelor degree in political science from the American University of Beirut (AUB) in the same year and a PhD in Law from Lyon University in 1966 upon completion of his dissertation “BANKING ORGANIZATION IN LEBANON”.

Redwan Ahmed

Redwan is the head of Investor relations at DP World and is responsible for the strategic planning, development, coordination and execution of all investor relations activities with the aim of increasing shareholder and debt investor return and enhancing DP World’s image within the investment community.

Previously, he was sell-side equity analyst for 13 years which includes eight years in London covering mostly large-cap UK media companies. More recently at EFG HERMES, the largest regional Investment Bank, he covered sectors such as media, shipping and transportation, logistics and infrastructure (including DP World).

Redwan holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Insurance and Investment from Cass Business School, City University London.

Dr Husayn Shahrur

Dr. Husayn is the Managing Director of the MENA Asset Management Department at NBK Capital. He has been with NBK Capital since May 2009. Prior to that, Dr. Husayn worked as a consultant for the Active Equity Group at State Street Global Advisors. He also served as a Professor of Finance at Bentley University in Boston from 2003 to 2009.

Dr. Husayn has several publications in leading finance journals. His research is in the area of Capital Structure, Mergers and Acquisitions, and Investments. One of his most influential papers on Mergers and Acquisitions and supply-chain linkages was published in the Journal of Financial Economics and cited in a hearing at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. He has also published leading research on how to predict equity returns using supplier-chain linkages. Factors based on this research are used in multi-factor equity models at leading international asset management companies.

Dr. Husayn holds a Ph.D. in Finance from Georgia State University and a BBA and an MBA from the American University of Beirut.

Ahmed Tabaqchali

Ahmed Tabaqchali is an experienced capital markets professional with over 22 years experience in the US and MENA markets. He is a former Executive Director of NBK Capital, the investment banking arm of the National Bank of Kuwait. Prior to this, Ahmed was Managing Director and Head of International Institutional Sales at WR Hambrecht + Co. based in London, New York and San Francisco. This followed on from his role as a Managing Director at KeyBanc in London and before that as Director and Head of Capital Markets at Jefferies in London. Ahmed has an M. Sc. in Mathematics from Oxford University in the UK, a B.Sc. (Hons, 1st class) in Mathematics from Victoria University in New Zealand and a B.Sc. in Mathematics from Canterbury University in New Zealand. Ahmed is an Iraqi & a British national.

Mr Nader Azar

Stefan Acsinte

Mr. Acsinte joined the EIB in 2008 as an advisor to the Secretary General and General Counsel, in the Secretariat General’s Governance and Coordination Division.   Prior to joining the EIB’s Operations Directorate General as a Loan Officer, he also worked as a transaction lawyer in the Legal Department and as a financial structuring advisor in the Advisory Services Department. 

Before joining the EIB, he worked as a competition lawyer in the Brussels office of the Washington DC-based law firm Arnold & Porter LLC.  

Mr. Acsinte holds a law degree from Al. I. Cuza University, an MA from the College of Europe and a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School.

Bashar Amad

Mr. Amad joined Capital Investments in 2016 as Deputy CEO and Head of Capital Markets. Mr. Amad has over 21 years of experience in investment and asset management in regional as well as international markets.

Prior to joining Capital Investments, Mr. Amad was the Deputy CEO at United Financial Investments. He also served as the Vice President at Jordan Dubai Capital; a private investments company with over USD 1.5 billion in AUM. He also headed the Capital Markets Department at a host of local prominent investment companies including Amwal Invest, Jordinvest and Capital Bank of Jordan. Mr. Amad is currently a board member of Century Investment Group (CEIG), the North Development Corporation and the CFA Society – Jordan.

Mr. Amad holds a Degree of Commerce in finance and management information systems from McGill University (Canada). He is also a CFA charterholder.

T. Ganesh

Mr. T. Ganesh is Chief Financial Officer at Bank Muscat. In his capacity, he is responsible for Group Finance, Planning and Treasury & Investment Operations. Ganesh has been with the Bank for over 19 years.

He has a vast experience in Financial and Strategic Management in the banking industry. He has a post-qualification experience of 21 years out of which 19 years have been in the banking industry. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ACA) from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Certified Management Accountant (CMA) from the Institute of Management Accountants, USA and Cost Accountant (ICWA) from the Institute of Costs and Works Accountant of India. He also holds a postgraduate diploma in General Management from Harvard Business School

Tom Attenborough

James Martin

Mr. Martin is General Manager for the Middle East & Africa Region for Nasdaq, responsible for the market development and product portfolio for existing and growth markets.

As General Manager Mr. Martin is responsible for bringing the full capability of Nasdaq’s offering to the region. Mr. Martin has been working in the region for over 10 years, previously working in Sales, Business Development and Advisory Services.

Working in the region with regulators, exchanges, clearing houses, central depositories and Ministeries; work focuses on:

• Capital market development for existing and start-up entities
• Product Development, including surveillance, indices and market data
• Technology across surveillance, trading, clearing and depositories
• Advisory services, providing strategy development and knowledge transfer

Mr. Martin currently sits on the board of a Nasdaq JV in the region and on the International Advisory Board of a further exchange.

Before working at Nasdaq, Mr. Martin worked in the finance sector in London and the United States, with focus on asset management, securities lending and custody banking.

Wytze Riemersma

Wytze Riemersma (1970), who has managed TCM Global Frontier High Dividend Equity since November 2012, has more than 20 years of experience in Asset Management and Consultancy. Based in Joure, the Netherlands he is CIO for the Frontier Markets investments of TCM. He (co) manages also TCM Africa High Dividend Equity and TCM Vietnam High Dividend Equity. He joined TCM from ING Bank, where he was responsible for the investment activities of the ING branches in the Netherlands.

He holds a Master degree in Finance and Investments from Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. He is also a Registered Investment Analyst (RBA) included in the RBA Register in the Netherlands. Citywire Ratings has rated him consistently since 2009 with monthly ratings varying between A and AAA, which put him at the top 2,5% -15% fund managers based on risk adjusted outperformance of the benchmark, during all those years.

His hobbies include traveling, tennis, running and several social functions in the local community. “What I believe as a professional investor is the idea that if you want to make better returns than the average investor, you should start by doing something completely different but in a very structured way. That is why at TCM we run our portfolios in a very structured way. Our focus is on keeping the quality of our portfolio up to our minimal standards and to deliver outperformance at a lower volatility level.”

Simon Quijano-Evans

Simon joined LGIM in July 2016 from Commerzbank, where he held the positions of Chief Emerging Markets Strategist and Head of EM Research. Prior to that, he was Chief Economist/Head of EMEA Research at ING, following EMEA-related roles at Credit Agricole Cheuvreux and UniCredit MIB. Simon has 19 years of emerging markets experience, having also worked for the Thai Ministry of Industry in the mid-1990s. He holds a Doctorate in Economics from the University of Vienna and has authored/edited a book on Turkey.

Akhilesh Baveja

Akhilesh Baveja is the lead portfolio adviser for Charlemagne Capital’s MENA strategies with responsibility for researching companies operating across the Gulf and wider Middle East. He joined the group in 2011 after two years at GLG Partners, where he specialised in Saudi Arabian equities. He was previously employed as a senior analyst at Al-Rajhi Financial Services in Riyadh, having earlier spent four years at Unit Trust of India. He holds a Master of Management Science in Finance.

Hichem Omezzine

A life journey spanning five countries in four continents and a passion for entrepreneurial investing defined Hichem’s career aspirations: to leverage the tremendous investment opportunity in growth markets.

Hichem joined Actis in 2010, taking on responsibility for originating, executing and managing transactions in Africa. Prior to that, he worked as an Associate at JP Morgan Asia IRR Opportunity fund in Hong Kong. He started his career in JP Morgan as an M&A Analyst in London.

Hichem was drawn to Actis by its people, strong track record and heritage. “When I meet with entrepreneurs across growth markets, the Actis name adds huge credibility.” He believes that Actis is more global than any other growth markets private equity fund. Personally, he thinks that Actis gives him the support and encouragement needed to make ideas happen.

Hichem holds an MBA from Wharton Business School where he was a Palmer scholar, Engineering Degrees from Ecole Polytechnique, Ecole National des Ponts and Chaussées and a Masters from Sciences-Po in France.

Souleymane Ba

Mr Ba is a Partner on the Investment Team at Helios Investment Partners. His sector focus is on Financial Institutions & Services. Helios bridges international capital and know-how to African talent and enterprise. The firm has built a record that spans creating start-ups to providing established companies with growth capital and expertise. One of the few independent pan-African private equity investment firms founded and led by Africans, Helios manages funds totalling more than $2.7 billion; and is currently in the process of raising Helios III.

Prior to joining Helios in August 2012, Mr Ba worked at Warburg Pincus, a New York based PE firm where he was focused on leveraged buyouts, growth equity and venture investments in the industrial and consumer sectors. Before joining Warburg Pincus, he worked as an associate for the Carlyle Group, a PE firm based in Washington DC. Mr Ba started his career with Morgan Stanley as an Investment Banking Analyst in the Basic Materials Group. He has a BA degree in Economics from Wesleyan University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is a Senegalese national and speaks French and Wolof.

Jean Guillaume Habay

Jean joined CDC in January 2016 as a Director in the Equity Investments team.
Prior to CDC he had spent ten years as a senior member of the private equity team at Swicorp, a Middle East and Africa firm managing over US$ 1 billion. Jean was responsible for a team managing three private equity funds with US$ 400 million under management. As such he originated, executed and monitored numerous transactions in various sectors all over North Africa, and also completed a number of successful exits, including the listing of packaging paper manufacturer Sotipapier on the Tunis stock exchange. Prior to Swicorp, Jean acquired a wealth of transactional, strategic and operational experience, first as a consultant at McKinsey and then at Salomon Smith Barney and Capital One.
Jean is a graduate of Ecole Centrale Paris and has an MBA from Northwestern Universtity’s Kellogg School.

Ross Teverson

Ross joined Jupiter in 2014 and is currently Head of Strategy, Emerging Markets. He manages the Jupiter China Fund and the Jupiter Global Emerging Markets Fund (Unit Trusts) as well as the Jupiter China Select fund and the Jupiter Global Emerging Markets Equity Unconstrained fund (SICAVs).

Prior to joining Jupiter, Ross worked for 15 years at Standard Life Investments, where he managed a global emerging markets equity fund. Ross spent 7 years in Standard Life Investment’s Hong Kong office, where he managed an Asian equity fund, and was a director of the business.

Ross is a graduate of Oxford University and is a CFA® charterholder.

Hussein Allawi

Hussein Allawi is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Frontier Exchange. He has several years’ experience in events, investor relations and conference organisation having organised a number of major forums on key frontier market jurisdictions, match-making investors with opportunities in both the public and private sectors. Previous events have brought together 350+ delegates including senior government officials, investment banks, energy and resource professionals, contractors, and frontier-focused investors.
Prior to founding Frontier Exchange, Hussein spent several years in investment and commercial banking with Credit Suisse Asset Management, Lehman Brothers International Europe, and Byblos Bank Lebanon. He has also acted as a consultant to international companies seeking investment advice and guidance on investing in the MENA region. Hussein is a graduate of the University of Nottingham and the School of Oriental and African Studies.

Tariq Abdul Razeq

• Holds Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Commerce, and is a holder of the ‘International Capital Markets Qualification’ and ‘International Investment Advisory Certificate’ from Securities Institute of London.
• Has over 25 years of experience in the regional financial markets, of which 20 years in the Omani Capital market with extensive experience in investment and portfolio management activities
• Is a registered broker with advisory license with the MSM
• He has a hands on experience in managing issues of large scale, handled the Topaz IPO offer in 1997 which collected more the RO 300 million with huge no. of applications
• He has played a dynamic role in furthering the growth of the Company. Since he joined the company in 2001, the company grew from a limited brokerage company then ranked at 13 to become one of the top 4 companies and extended services across the spectrum of investment services leading to asset management, international trading desk, launching an open ended growth mutual fund and starting the private equity department.

Tariq Taha

Prior to his current job as the Head of Marketing division at the Jordanian Duty Free Shops and Business Development for two JDF subsidiary companies, Mr. Taha graduated with a masters degree of International Relations and International Management from Oxford, UK with a scholarship provided by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

During his studies, Mr. Taha represented Jordan as a delegate at the Global Diplomatic Forum in London, where he managed to gain enough knowledge to draft his soon-to-be-published political book.

Thomas Girod

Thomas Girod is a Senior Banker at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which he joined in 2011. As part of the Financial Institutions department he supports the ‎development of a competitive and resilient financial sector in the EBRD’s countries of operation in North Africa. This is achieved throughdebt and equity investments in local financial institutions, and by promoting sector reforms through policy dialogue with the authorities.

Before joining the EBRD, Thomas worked for over 10 years in corporate finance, specialising on the financial sector coverage, and in equity capital markets, at Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and Hines Associates. He is a graduate of HEC Paris business school‎.

Dr Mohamed Omran

Dr Mohammed Omran is the Chairman of the Egyptian Exchange and Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS). Prior to his current position, he served as Vice Chairman for Operation of the Insurance Holding Company for one year and a Vice Chairman of the Egyptian Exchange for four years from 2006-2010. Dr Omran holds an MSc from Cairo University and Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Plymouth. UK. He served for several years as an Economist at both the Arab Monetary Fund in Abu Dhabi and the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C.

Dr Dara Jalil Al Khayat

Fianna Jurdant

Fianna Jurdant is a Senior Policy Analyst at the OECD. She advocates better corporate governance standards and practices globally. For over 15 years, she has analyzed and compared corporate governance frameworks and practices around the world, in diverse countries such as Russia, Indonesia, India and China. The high-level regional and country programs in Asia she manages advance corporate governance reforms among a network of influential decision makers on diverse issues such as enforcement, related party transactions, and board nomination and election.

Fianna also develops policy recommendations and advice to support corporate governance reforms of listed companies in Asia. In addition, she prepared a report and recommendations adopted by OECD Ministers on balanced boards and continues to monitor progress. She contributes to the G20 Anti-Corruption Task Force discussions on disclosure of beneficial ownership. She received the Millstein Rising Star of Corporate Governance Award in 2008. Fianna is a dual citizen of the United States and France. She was born in Moldova and is married with two children.

Brian Taylor

Brian is Managing Director of BTA Consulting Limited (BTA) the most successful central markets consultancy group. Brian founded BTA in 1991 and since then BTA has advised more than 100 clients in over 50 markets. BTA has advised a number of markets and regulators in the MENA region including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco.
While running BTA, Brian has also held a number of interim have including:
• Strategy Advisor to the CEO of SIX Swiss Exchange (2010-13);
• Chief Finance and Technology Officer of PLUS Markets (2007-8);
• CEO of the Bahamas International Securities Exchange (1999-00); and
• Interim Head of Finance for the Court Funds Office, Her Majesties Government managing a £7bn fund and £300mn of trust funds

Brian qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen & Co, worked for Merrill Lynch and Price Waterhouse Consulting, prior to establishing BTA. Brian holds a First Class Honours Degree in Geography from the Victoria University of Manchester.

Thouraya Triki

Mr Rashed Al Balooshi

Mr. Rashed Al Baloushi has been the Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange since March 5, 2012. Mr. Al Baloushi served as Director of Clearance, Settlement and Depository Department at ADX since his joining in 2000. He served as Deputy Chief Executive at ADX since 2007. He has redefined ADX’s strategy, created a more robust establishment upon which ADX can flourish, and strengthened ADX’s portfolio through his constant dedication and innovation. He served as the Head of Registrar & Depository at the Abu Dhabi Free Zone Authority from October 1997 to April 2000. He was in full charge of the exchange during the period from January 2006 to September 2007, when the trading at ADX reached all time peaks, handling efficiently the influx of transactions during the period. He also played a major role in all the developments that took place in the exchange since inception, including all technical and legal achievements and that includes, among many things, upgrading the trading system, developing market rules and regulations, introducing new facilities and enhancing the e-services provided by the exchange. He received his MBA from the UAE University majoring in Leadership, while he received his BSc Computer Information Systems from Benedict College, Columbia, South Carolina.

Mr Ahmed Saleh Al Marhoon

Ahmed Saleh Al Marhoon is the Director General and a board member of MSM. Additionally, he serves as Chairman of Muscat Clearing & Depositary Co. S.A.O.C, and acts as Director of the Capital Market Authority.

Mr.Taha Al Rubaye

Mr.Khaled Zribi

Company Founder Partner Management and Finance (CGF) – Khaled ZRIBI has over 18 years experience in the financial markets business.
Appointed in 1998 to head the CGF, independent Tunisian company operating on all trades of financial intermediation, he specialized in the fields of asset management (private and collective) and the activities of business consultancy (fundraising and high restructuring balance sheet).
Khaled Zribi is partner founder and board member of AlphaMena first independent company of equity research and financial analysis on the Maghreb and the Middle East, and soon West Africa (BRVM).
In November 2013, Khaled ZRIBI was elected President of the Center for Young Business Leaders in Tunisia.
He was elected on May 30, 2014, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Tunisian Stock Exchange.
Khaled Zribi holds a Project Economist university diploma, financial engineering DESS and a DEA in macroeconomics (all from the University of Montpellier I).

Mr.Bilel Sahnoun

Graduate engineer of the “Ecole Centrale de Lyon” in 1990, Bilel SAHNOUN began his banking career in UBCI, a subsidiary of BNP PARIBAS up to 2000.
From 2000 to 2005, he led the chain of Supermarkets BONPRIX which was bought and renamed Carrefour Market.
He then served for two years as Deputy General Manager of SIAME, a listed company on the Tunis Stock Exchange, specialized in eclectic industry and CEO of SICAME from 2007 to 2015, a company operating in the sector of mechanical industry.
In 2014 he obtained an MBA from the Mediterranen Business School.
Bilel SAHNOUN was appointed Director General of the Tunis Stock Exchange in February 2015.

Ms.Christelle Fink

Christelle Fink joined EBRD as ab Associate Director in the Local Currency and Capital Market Development team in March 2015 to lead the bank’s initiatives in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan on the topic of local capital markets development. Previously she worked for 17 years at Societe Generale in Paris and London, originating and executing capital markets, structured fiance and risk solutions for both corporates and financial institutions. As a consultant for JCRA she has also advised private equity and private debt fund on market risk management. She holds an Msc from Georgia Tech, Atlanta.

Mr.Nader Azar

Nader Azar is the Chief Executive Officer of the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE), a position he has held since Dec, 2012 after having been the Deputy CEO since the establishment of the ASE in March 1999. During this period the ASE has implemented electronic trading system and developed its governing rules and regulations. Furthermore, Mr. Azar was the project manager of the Automation of the ASE.
Mr. Azar is currently leading the efforts for transforming the ASE into for-profit shareholding company, which is the most significant strategic goal of the ASE for the coming few years.
Over the course of Mr. Azar’s tenure, the ASE witnessed several other milestones in the past years. These include: joining the membership of the WFE, updating the electronic trading system, launching the Internet Trading service, in addition to several others.
Prior to becoming the ASE Deputy CEO, Mr. Azar served as a Director of several of Departments at the Amman Financial Market (AFM) subsequently Jordan Securities Commission (JSC). He was also seconded to Muscat Securities Market, Muscat – Oman right after the launching of the exchange in 1989.
Mr. Azar represented the ASE in many conferences and workshops related to the financial markets industry, In addition he currently represents the ASE in the WFE working committee, He also represented the ASE in the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS) from 2006 – 2012, the ASE was the Vice-President of the Federation from 2010-2012, and was the Chairman of Working Committee from 2006 – 2010. In addition, the ASE was one of the founders of the FEAS in 1995.
Mr. Azar is also recognized as one of the most profound advocates for Corporate Governance, and has participated in many local and international events and conferences in this regard, along with contributing actively to the efforts aiming to foster this project.
Mr. Azar received his undergraduate degree in Financial Institutions Management from the University of Houston, Texas. U.S.A.

Dr Zouhaier Ben Khelifa

Dr. Zouhaier Ben Khelifa
Ph.D Finance Wharton School of business : 1991
Professor of finance at IHEC Tunis : 1992-2012
Senior Advisor to the President and the CEO of the Group One Tech: 1991-présent
Board member since 1995 in companies specialized in cables, printed circuit boards and electronic assembly, pharmaceutical packaging, telecom, etc
Board and Audit committee member of One Tech Holding since 2013.

Lady Olga Maitland

Mr. Abdul Razzaq Al Balushi

Abdul Razzaq brings an impressive 24 years of multi-disciplinary experience and expertise to his Ooredoo role, having held financial leader positions in finance, banking, treasury, budgets & accounts and having worked in strategy & corporate planning, as well as investment and risk management amongst other areas. Prior to joining Ooredoo, Al Balushi’s high-powered career included positions with Oman Trading International Operations in the UAE, HSBC, Oman LNG LLC, Oman Shipping Company SAOG and Aldersgate Partners.

“Abdul Razzaq will be a great asset to the Ooredoo Family. A champion of change who encourages creativity in his team, he is a highly-dynamic professional with a reputation for results. I am excited to see him apply his considerable skills to our operations,” said Greg Young, Ooredoo CEO.

A graduate of Strathclyde University UK, and the College of Banking and Financial Studies Oman with a Masters of Business Administration, Abdul Razzaq is also a Certified Treasury & Finance Professional and holds Certificates in Accounts, Banking & Trade.

Ahmad Tantash

Mr. Tantash is the Chairman and CEO of Jordinvest, the first Jordanian public shareholding company to offer a variety of integrated investment banking solutions in both local and regional markets. In June 2003, he founded Imcan for Financial Services, which specializes in brokerage ad trading services as well as market research. Mr. Tantash also sits on the board of Arab Life & Accidents Insurance Co. (P.S.C) and chairs Imcan for Financial Services. He is also the Vice-Chairman of the National Shipping Lines and First Education Holding. Mr. Tantash graduated in 1992 from George Washington University with a M.Sc. in Information Systems Technology to become a pioneer in the IT Industry in Jordan. Mr. Tantash also holds an Executive MBA from the London Business School

Mr Musa A. Shihadeh

Mr Shihadeh holds a Master degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the USA and worked in conventional banks from 5 /1961 until 5 /1980. He then joined Jordan Islamic Bank on June 1, 1980 till now. He is currently the CEO & General Manager of Jordan Islamic bank. In addition, he was a board member of Islamic banks.

Mr. Shihadeh is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the General Council for Islamic Banks, a Board Member of the Jordanian Businessmen Association and Chairman and Board Member of several public and private companies in various sectors (industrial, educational, investment and insurance). He was also a board member of the Association of Banks in Jordan since 1983 and has been the association’s Vice-President for the period 1997 to 2005 and was elected as Vice Chairman of the Association of Banks in Jordan for a new term since 25/02/2015, then a Chairman of the Association of Banks in Jordan as of 11/10/2015.

A member of several investment, social, humanitarian and international organizations and committees. He participates and lectures in several seminars related to the banking sector and the Islamic financial institutions regionally and internationally. Former member of the Accounting and Auditing Standards Board for Islamic Financial Institutions and the Chairman of the Accounting Committee (1990 to 2002). A member of the Board of Trustees of the Arab Thought Forum and member of its financial committee, Board Member of Union of Arab Banks, Advisory Board Member of the International Union of Arab Bankers and an honor-permanent member of the Society of Friends of Jordan Eye Bank and Prevention of Blindness.

Andrew Cunningham

As a consultant to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Andrew is part of teams that conduct corporate governance assessments of banks and companies in the Middle East. He has also designed and implemented corporate governance training programmes for IFC clients in the Middle East and has taught modules for the Jordan Institute of Directors’ Certification Course. Andrew advises the Secretariat of the Bahrain-based General Council of Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI) on a range of issues and he is a frequent speaker at their events. He has also worked for the Kuala Lumpur-based Islamic Financial Services Board, writing two of the Board’s Guidance Notes.Andrew Cunningham began his career as a journalist, writing about Middle East banking and finance for Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) and Middle East Economic Survey (MEES). He then spent nine years with Moody’s, the international rating agency, both as a credit analyst, assigning ratings to Middle Eastern and large Western European banks, and as the European manager of its Rating Assessment Service and a member of the firm’s Liquidity Risk Assessment committee.

Dr Ghaleb Mahmassani

Mr. Pradeep Asrani

Mr. Pradeep Asrani has over 30 years experience in banking and financial services. He is a science graduate from Bombay University with first class honors and holds a post graduate diploma in Business Management. He is also a Certified Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers.

Ahmed Tabaqchali

Ahmed Tabaqchali is an experienced capital markets professional with over 22 years experience in the US and MENA markets. He is a former Executive Director of NBK Capital, the investment banking arm of the National Bank of Kuwait. Prior to this, Ahmed was Managing Director and Head of International Institutional Sales at WR Hambrecht + Co. based in London, New York and San Francisco. This followed on from his role as a Managing Director at KeyBanc in London and before that as Director and Head of Capital Markets at Jefferies in London. Ahmed has an M. Sc. in Mathematics from Oxford University in the UK, a B.Sc. (Hons, 1st class) in Mathematics from Victoria University in New Zealand and a B.Sc. in Mathematics from Canterbury University in New Zealand. Ahmed is an Iraqi & a British national.