James is responsible for raising the ACT’s profile and building relationships with stakeholders worldwide, in particular with key customers such as corporates, banks, educational and professional bodies. Until recently he directed the ACT’s international professional development programmes, delivering short course training and professional qualifications in treasury, risk management and corporate finance. James started his career in engineering and speciality chemicals; he is a UK Chartered Accountant, MCT qualified, and he has some 20 years’ experience in treasury, corporate finance and risk management, gained in substantial international public and private companies.
Rowan Austin,Head of Trade & Working Capital | Product & Capital Management | Commercial & Private Banking, NatWest
Rowan Austin hails from London but has a career that spans stints in the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. Working across corporate and investment banking in roles with Barclays, Goldman Sachs and Europe Arab Bank, Rowan joined NatWest in 2010 where he is currently Head of Trade & Working Capital, responsible for working with all elements of the Bank’s extensive SME and multinational corporate customer base.
With experience in debt advisory, corporate finance, trade finance, and Supply Chain Finance, he has recently led the transformation of the of trade and invoice finance businesses into a core offering for customers.
A qualified member of the ACT, Rowan regularly contributes to UK banks’ regulatory engagement in key changes affecting financial services, and works particularly closely with UK Export Finance.
Stephen Boyle, Chief Economist, NatWest
Stephen Boyle is Chief Economist of RBS and a director of the Bank’s main pension fund. He is a trustee of the David Hume Institute and a member of the Policy Committee of the Centre for Economic Performance at LSE.
Richard Crook, Head of Innovation Engineering, NatWest
Richard leads a team of engineers and innovators looking at emerging technologies and their application across RBS to reduce costs, gain efficiency and better customer experiences. His current focus is on the application of distributed ledger technology including block chain across RBS. Richard has a 15 year career in investment banking technology, specializing in the building of financial ledgers and regulatory reporting for the largest financial service institutions.
Brian Shanahan, Founder, Informita
Brian Shanahan is the leader and founder of Informita since 2012. Informita assists companies in the areas of working capital and procurement. Before Informita Brian spent 19 years in management consultancy, 5 years in financial accounting roles in the UK and 3 years in retail in Ireland. Brian has worked with over two hundred clients in 37 countries across 4 continents. Brian is also the founder of TermsCheck.com, a service that allows you to compare customer and supplier payment terms with other companies’ actual terms. In the media, Brian has been quoted many times in the financial press and is the author of five booklets that can be purchased at Amazon.com.
James is responsible for raising the ACT’s profile and building relationships with stakeholders worldwide, in particular with key customers such as corporates, banks, educational and professional bodies. Until recently he directed the ACT’s international professional development programmes, delivering short course training and professional qualifications in treasury, risk management and corporate finance. James started his career in engineering and speciality chemicals; he is a UK Chartered Accountant, MCT qualified, and he has some 20 years’ experience in treasury, corporate finance and risk management, gained in substantial international public and private companies.
Rowan Austin hails from London but has a career that spans stints in the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. Working across corporate and investment banking in roles with Barclays, Goldman Sachs and Europe Arab Bank, Rowan joined NatWest in 2010 where he is currently Head of Trade & Working Capital, responsible for working with all elements of the Bank’s extensive SME and multinational corporate customer base.
Stephen Boyle is Chief Economist of RBS and a director of the Bank’s main pension fund. He is a trustee of the David Hume Institute and a member of the Policy Committee of the Centre for Economic Performance at LSE.
Richard leads a team of engineers and innovators looking at emerging technologies and their application across RBS to reduce costs, gain efficiency and better customer experiences. His current focus is on the application of distributed ledger technology including block chain across RBS. Richard has a 15 year career in investment banking technology, specializing in the building of financial ledgers and regulatory reporting for the largest financial service institutions.
Brian Shanahan is the leader and founder of Informita since 2012. Informita assists companies in the areas of working capital and procurement. Before Informita Brian spent 19 years in management consultancy, 5 years in financial accounting roles in the UK and 3 years in retail in Ireland. Brian has worked with over two hundred clients in 37 countries across 4 continents. Brian is also the founder of TermsCheck.com, a service that allows you to compare customer and supplier payment terms with other companies’ actual terms. In the media, Brian has been quoted many times in the financial press and is the author of five booklets that can be purchased at Amazon.com.