Raja Al Mazrouei is a visionary and influential figure within the finance and technology sectors. Her entrepreneurial spirit and passion for progression has been the driving force behind her achievements, and continue to fuel her ambition to help reinforce the UAE’s position on the global stage.
With over a decade of experience in the financial services sector, Raja has been able to develop an ecosystem for financial technology entrepreneurs in Dubai that has been a primary contributor in the emirate being named a top ten global FinTech hub. Her expertise in Marketing & Communications has enabled her to bring brands to life and foster communities in order to create business opportunities and societal impact.
Throughout her career, Raja has held senior positions within the IT, Operations and Marketing teams at Dubai Holding, the National Bonds Corporation and the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Authority. Her time working with these organisations has exposed her to cultures, systems and practices that have shaped her ethos as a leader and a pioneer in her field.
Today, Raja stands at the helm of one of the region’s most successful financial technology hubs and has contributed significantly towards building a vibrant and dynamic community of over 200 FinTech, RegTech and InsurTech firms operating in the DIFC. As Executive Vice President of FinTech Hive, she brings together leading financial institutions, government entities, technology partners and entrepreneurs to realise a common goal in driving forward the UAE’s national innovation agenda and shaping the future of financial services.
The rapid growth of the FinTech Hive under Raja’s leadership has been recognised on a global scale, with it being ranked one of the world’s best financial innovation labs. In addition, she has been named one of the top 100 Women in FinTech by Innovate Finance, the 50 Most Influential Women in Middle East Finance by Dow Jones’ Financial News, and the top 100 Power Businesswomen in The Middle East by Forbes.
Raja is an executive graduate of the Harvard Business School (HBS), serves as a member of the HBS MENA and Central Asia Advisory Board and is Vice President of the HBS Club for the GCC. In addition, she holds positions on the boards of Dubai FinTech Ventures and Al Masraf Arab Bank for Investment & Foreign Trade.
Sayer Al Shammari is the Vice President of Real Estate Investments in Muhaidib Group with over 19 years of experience. He has carried out different roles covering public equity, private equity, hedge funds and real estate. He sits on several boards, and investment and audit committees both locally and internationally. Sayer is an active participant in various roles in the real estate industry in Saudi Arabia including involvement with the National Housing Company (NHC) through its executive and investment committees. Previously, he worked at Saad Group involved in managing its local and international investment portfolios. Prior to that, he was a Field Engineer at Schlumberger. Sayer has a BSc in electrical engineering and an MBA degree both from King Fahad University of Petroleum and Minerals and is a chartered financial analyst (CFA). He served for over 10 years in different roles with the CFA Institute including the presidency of the CFA Society Saudi Arabia.
Muhsin Alrustom is the General Manager of Treasury at Oman Shipping Company since August 2018, Muhsin’s responsibilities includes managing the company’s financing, hedging, and liquidity management needs. Muhsin joined OSC bringing with him more than 15 years of international maritime and logistics experience, prior to his current role he was based in Dubai working as the Treasury Manager of Oman Trading International where he played an instrumental role in managing OTI’s financing and working capital requirements. Muhsin has also worked with DP World before joining OTI both at their HQ in Dubai and a two year’s stint at DPW’s European regional office in London. Muhsin hold a degree in Accounting and is also a qualified accountant and treasurer from CMA and ACT respectively.
Qais Bader Alsuwaidi is the lead on climate change policy at the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment. Notably, Qais manages the UAE’s National Adaptation Programme, a nation-wide, multisectoral risk assessment and adaptation planning effort to help improve the resilience of economic, social and natural systems in the UAE. He is also involved in other projects, including climate change modelling, climate legislation, and international climate negotiations. Qais holds a Bachelor in sciences from the University of Melbourne, a Master of International Law, Diplomacy and International Relations in Sustainable Development from the Paris-Sorbonne University, and a Master of Public Policy from the Mohammed bin Rashid School of Government.
Mr Steve Barnett leads the Business Development Division of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) overseeing the strategy and business development to support ADGM’s continued growth as an international financial centre. Mr Barnett first worked on the ADGM development initiative in September of 2013 as a Partner with the Strategy & Operations consulting practice in Deloitte. He made the permanent move to his current role in 2014.
Over more than 30 years of industry experience, Mr Barnett has held numerous leadership roles within major financial services consultancy firms including leading Deloitte’s Risk and Regulation practice and their Operational Effectiveness practice for buy-side and sell-side capital markets firms.
Mr Barnett holds a Bachelor of Humanities degree from the University of London and is a Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers
Halina has been the Head of Treasury at General Motors Africa & Middle East since 2010. In this role, Halina oversees a diverse team of finance professionals. Before joining GM, Halina worked with various US MNCs, including Philip Morris International in Switzerland and Informix Software Ltd in the UK, and held various roles in Treasury and Finance. Halina has BA Degree in Corporate Finance (London Metropolitan University, UK) and a Masters Degree in Business Administration with specialization in Banking and Finance (Pace University NY, USA).
Adam was appointed Chief Financial Officer at Etihad Aviation Group in May 2020, after deputising in the role from June 2019.
Previously, Adam held the position of Senior Vice President Treasury, Tax & Finance at Etihad Aviation Group, and served as Interim Chief Financial Officer during the first half of 2019. Adam’s remit includes Group Finance, Group Treasury, Investor Relations, Fleet Planning and the Group Business Support Services division.
Adam is an experienced senior finance executive with a strong background in international finance gained in the banking, retail and fast-moving consumer goods (FCMG) sectors in the UAE and UK. Before joining Etihad in 2013, Adam was Senior Vice President at National Bank of Abu Dhabi. His previous experience also includes senior roles at Tesco PLC, Kimberly Clark, Marex Spectrum and The Royal Bank of Scotland.
Outside of Etihad, Adam is a board member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers, Air Serbia, Air Arbia Abu Dhabi and the British School Abu Dhabi.
Adam is a qualified Treasurer and Management Accountant and holds an Executive MBA from the University of Hertfordshire.
Rahul Daswani is leading Microsoft’s financing initiatives for International markets covering CEE,MEA,I ndia & APAC.
Finance professional having 20+yr’s work experience in treasury and corporate finance. Successful career with Ge-Capital, Nokia, Citibank and Microsoft across Asia & Africa Geographies. Proficient is working capital, cross border transactions, treasury and credit risk management. Comprehensive understanding of Process Management, Industry trends and Managing teams during disruptive change. Strong business skills beyond finance demonstrated via high impact cross-functional projects recognized by company & industry wide awards. Effective leader with strong interpersonal and communication skills
Gianluca has more than 20 years’ experience in Corporate Treasury Management in prestigious multinational companies from oil & gas, telco, chemicals, agriculture and other sectors, specialized in M&A, Debt raise, Cash pool, Bank relationship and Risk management, Structured Financial Debt, Interest Rate coverage, Cash management and Capital Funding.
Currently he is the Group Treasury Director and Corporate Finance for Al Dahra Holding , a prominent leader in the Agribusiness fueled by an active foreign investment strategy. Prior to joining Al Dahra in 2015, for which he oversees the business in several regions managing all treasury operations aspects, Gianluca was Director of Treasury in Muntajat, the Qatar Chemical and Petrochemical Marketing and Distribution Company, developing and managing MUNTAJAT financial market risks including interest rate, liquidity, credit risk, Fx risk and insurance.
Before moving to Qatar in 2012, in his earlier career, he worked several years in General Electric, as Global Treasurer of the GE Energy Contractual Services Business and in NTT Docomo (Buongiorno) for which he held the role of Global Treasurer and Head of Investor Relations,
He has a B.A. in Business Administration from Cattolica University in Milan.
Gianluca, among his passions, is a Go-karting professional pilot and he won the 2017-2018 GCC Rotax Championship for the category RD1.
Alex is an experienced treasury professional with a strong background in corporate finance and cash management gained in the Real Estate and Aviation sectors both in the UAE and UK. Alex currently heads the cash and liquidity and middle office teams within Etihad’s Treasury & Tax department. Before joining Etihad in 2018, Alex worked for Eagle Hills Properties in Abu Dhabi and Intu Properties plc in London. Alex is a CFA charterholder.
Tony Douglas is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Aviation Group, a diversified global aviation and travel company, which is considered to be one of the world’s most acclaimed aviation brands.
Tony has nearly 20 years of international leadership experience in transportation, infrastructure, and government sectors. He joined Etihad Aviation Group from the UK’s Ministry of Defence, where he served as CEO of the Defence Equipment and Support department, responsible for procuring and supporting all the equipment and services for the British Armed Forces, managing a budget of US $20 billion a year.
Previously, he held senior leadership positions in the UAE, most notably as CEO of Abu Dhabi Airports Company and Abu Dhabi Ports Company, where he was responsible for the successful delivery of Khalifa Port.
In the UK, he held senior positions with airport operator British Airports Authority (BAA), and Chief Operating Officer and Group Chief Executive designate of Laing O’Rourke. His roles under BAA included Managing Director of Heathrow Terminal 5 project, Group Supply Chain Director, Group Technical Director, and CEO of Heathrow Airport.
Tony holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Lancaster in the UK.
Prior to joining Aldar Properties, Mr. Finucane was Corporate Finance and Treasury Manager at Emirates Steel Industries for 12 years, where he oversaw the financing of Emirates Steels $1.8 billion expansion and the establishment of a Finance and Corporate Treasury function. Mr. Finucane qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG and spent 8 years working in the financial service industry in Luxembourg.
Mr. Finucane holds a bachelor’s degree in History, Economics and Politics from the University of Limerick, Ireland and a post graduate diploma in Business studies from University College Dublin, Ireland
Dr. Rebecca Harding is an independent economist specialising in trade and trade finance and CEO of Coriolis Technologies, providing data as a service to the trade and trade finance space. She is the co-author of the acclaimed “The Weaponization of Trade: the Great Unbalancing of Policy and Economics" and “Gaming Trade: Win-Win Strategies for the Digital Era.” She frequently appears on Ian King Live, Sky News, BBC World and BBC Radio 5 live, Newsnight and Radio 4 and is cited in the Broadsheet press, including recent articles in the Financial Times, Telegraph and CityAM, and citations in the Telegraph, the Times and the New Scotsman. She is a regular guest anchor on CNBC’s Squawk Box. She has written 11 books and over 200 academic articles and public policy reports.
Rebecca is a member of the World Trade Board and is well-known in the trade and trade finance sector for her work on global trade. She is a strategic adviser to the Council of the Society of Professional Economists and until February 2017 was the Chief Economist of the British Bankers’ Association. Her senior roles in business and academic institutions include Founder and CEO of Delta Economics, CEO of Equant Analytics, Senior Fellow at London Business School, Global CEO of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Head of Corporate Research at Deloitte, Chief Economist at the Work Foundation, Senior Lecturer at the Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex, and Reader in Economics at the University of Brighton. She is currently a Fellow at Offenburg Institute for Trade and Innovation. She was a Specialist Advisor to the Treasury Select Committee and Chief Economic Advisor to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Entrepreneurship.
Alex has over 35 year’s corporate treasury experience and has worked in several different industries in that time. He has been VP Group Treasurer at Al Muhaidib Group (AMG), since 2009 where he is responsible for all treasury activities.
Prior to joining AMG, Alex spent over 7 years as Group Treasurer at Virgin Atlantic where he was responsible for all global treasury activities, including funding, risk management, investments, cash management and card acquirering. Prior to joining Virgin, Alex was Group Treasurer at the Thresher group (a major drinks company) and before that at he was Group Treasurer at Al Ghanim Industries based in Kuwait. Alex is a member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers (UK) and a member of the e Association of Chartered Secretaries (UK) and holds an MBA from Middlesex Business School (UK).
Matthew joined Mubadala over 12 years ago and is currently the Chief Financial Officer for the Alternative Investments & Infrastructure platform having joined initially as the Group Treasurer.
Prior to joining the Company, Matthew was the Group Treasurer of DSG international plc. (formerly Dixons Group), where he developed the company’s treasury framework and strategy to accommodate the Group's overseas expansion.
Matthew has worked in the finance & treasury industry for over 25 years in both the public and private sector. He is a qualified member and a Past President of the Association of Corporate Treasurers and was awarded Fellowship status in recognition of his contribution to the profession in 2009. He also holds Fellowship status with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants , Chartered Group of Management Accountants and is also an elected specialist of the Institute of Risk Management.
In 2018, Matthew was awarded the John Grout award for his contribution to the treasury, risk and corporate finance profession by the Association becoming only the second ever recipient
PhD, London School of Economics. Arthur heads the OECD Development Centre’s Unit for Africa, Europe and Middle East, which produces Africa’s Development Dynamics and Revenue Statistics in Africa, in partnership with the African Union. As lead economist, Arthur led the themes of the African Economic Outlooks (AEO). At UNDP in New York, Arthur researched for the flagship Human Development Reports. In Abidjan, he volunteered for the United Nations Operations in Côte d’Ivoire (ONUCI) during the electoral crisis. He taught at the LSE, King’s College London and Sciences-Po. Arthur gained private sector experience at Wolters Kluwer
Anish is currently working with ETG as Chief Treasury Officer (CTO) where he is responsible for treasury and corporate finance activities. He is responsible to manage the debt portfolio of more than $2 bn across 40+ banking partners and more than 10 DFIs. He also heads Corporate Marketing and Communications and Procurement divisions and holds Non-Executive Director at Board of ETG Farmers Foundation.
Before joining ETG, Anish worked with HPCL-Mittal Energy (HMEL) and Accenture consulting at various leadership roles. He has around two decades of experience in the field of consulting and finance.
Anish earned his MBA from Indian School of Business (ISB) with Magna-cum-laude. He did his under-graduation from University of Delhi with major in Economics and Accounts. He is currently based in Dubai.
Scott Livermore is the Chief Economist of Oxford Economics Middle East and based in Oxford’s Dubai office. He is also Managing Director of Consultancy in the Middle East and Asia, as well as a member of Oxford Economics’ Senior Management Team. Scott leads many of the major projects in the GCC and Asia which have recently included capacity building, macroeconomic modelling, and policy impact assessment engagements for government institutions in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman, and IFRS 9 and Stress Testing engagements in Singapore, Thailand, and Hong Kong.
After completing a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University, and an MSc in Economics at University College London, Scott joined Oxford Economic Forecasting in 1997. During his initial five years at OEF, he worked as a country analyst for a number of European countries and participated in numerous consultancy projects for a variety of international organisations, governments and multinational companies using both Oxford Economics’ Global Economic Model and bespoke economic models.
Scott rejoined Oxford Economics in 2005 as a senior economist after spending two years at the Ministry of Finance in the Slovak Republic assisting with the government's medium-term macroeconomic framework and developing the analytical capacity of the ministry to prepare such forecasts. He has also held the positions of Managing Director of Macro and Industry Services, Managing Director of Macro Consulting, and COO of Oxford Economics USA.
Sherie Morais joined ADCB in January 2018 as Head of Business Development for Transaction Banking, prior to this she has held many senior roles both in NBAD, ABN AMRO/RBS and Barclays managing global and local clients. Sherie has been in the region for seven years and has over 20 years of transaction banking experience. Sherie and has spoken at a number of conference globally, including SIBOS, as a subject matter expert.
A well regarded Treasury and banking professional with over 20 years of experience on both sides of the spectrum i.e. at banks (operations, implementation, product and sales) and Treasury at General Electric company, providing expertise for all businesses needs on the Treasury front- across, Asia, MENAT and SSA.
Staney joined GE in 2007, he has extensive exposure and responsibility towards business cash, trade, FX and financing needs across business segments, with an in depth understanding of business operations, challenges and needs across emerging markets.
In his current role at GE, he is based in the U.A.E and is responsible for Treasury related asks enabling commercial wins and aiding the demand creation process. The tough markets do provide him with the opportunity to collaborate with partners across the market and structure innovative solutions, especially on the trade front.
He was recognized with the Triple A Award for the Treasurer of the year (Regional) by The Asset magazine in 2017 and Highly Commended Treasury Professional of the Year: Private Sector 2019 by The Association of Corporate Treasurers
Princy joined National Oilwell Varco (NOV) in 2013 to setup the Regional Treasury department for the company and managed region across Middle East, Africa and India. She is part of the core regional management team which comprises of tax, legal, accounting and treasury expertise. Since setting up of the department, Princy has been instrumental in driving corporate strategic objectives in the region, aiding in setting up and restructuring of entities, designing the capital structure with optimum debt-capital mix, funding, implementing cash and liquidity management models, managing corporate credit cards program and centralized expense management system, formulating policies to strengthen internal controls, risk management, etc.
Princy is a qualified Chartered Accountant, a member of the CFTE,UK and brings varied experience ranging from the Big Four consultancy PWC to banking with Merrill Lynch Bank of America, trade finance with an oil trading firm and debt management for a regional company in the OSV (Offshore Supply Vessels) sector. Princy has been featured in ‘Treasury Today’ and other magazines as one of the leading women in the treasury profession in the region.
David is the Global Head of Cash Management Sales and a member of the Transaction Banking Senior Leadership Team, responsible for all cash management and FX sales activity for Barclays Corporate globally. In addition to this role David is Co-Executive Sponsor for Spectrum, Barclays LGBT+ network and Co-Chair of the Corporate Banking Diversity Council.
David has held a number of roles across Barclays as Head of UK Cash Management responsible for driving all payment and liquidity in all regions of the UK. Prior to this, David was the Global Payment Networks Director in Barclays Payments, responsible for all of the card payment scheme relationships with Visa, Mastercard and American Express for Barclaycard across Europe.
David began his career at American Express and has held a number of international business development, commercial and sales leadership roles.
Emirates Global Aluminium is the world’s largest ‘premium aluminium’ producer and the biggest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas. EGA operate’s aluminium smelters in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, an alumina refinery in Abu Dhabi, and a bauxite mine and associated export facilities in the Republic of Guinea. Aluminium is among the world’s most versatile metals, and our global customers transform it into products that make modern life possible – from smartphones and building materials to food packaging and car parts. Our aluminium is the biggest made-in-the-UAE export after oil and gas, bringing in billions of dollars of export revenue each year contributing to the diversification of the national economy. Four per cent of the world’s aluminium production or almost half of the aluminium produced in the Gulf Cooperation Council, is made by EGA. That means approximately one in every 25 tonnes of aluminium is UAE-made. The development of EGA since the 1970s has taken the UAE from no aluminium production to the fifth largest aluminium-producing country in the world. EGA’s homegrown technology enables us to be cost competitive and environmentally responsible while meeting our customers’ and society’s needs. EGA is owned equally by Mubadala Investment Company of Abu Dhabi and Investment Corporation of Dubai. It is the largest company jointly owned by the two Emirates.
Fatih TOKKAL is heading Yildirim Group’s (“Yildirim”) Corporate Treasury and Credit Risk Management for eight years now, a function which he took the lead in establishing in 2012 at the Group level. In his capacity as Director of Treasury, he manages relations of Yildirim with all local and international financial institutions on all matters of whatsoever nature. Thanks to his extensive experience in the industry reaching twenty four years on the both ends of the bank and corporation relations, he overcomes the casual challenges of his role as an effective problem solver and responsible team leader.
Before joining Yildirim as a seasoned treasurer, between 2008 and 2012, he worked as a vice-president in Finansbank where he was responsible for key accounts of large Turkish corporates and individuals focusing treasury transactions thereof including all related corporate banking needs and derivatives.
In his professional experience before Finansbank, he worked for several financial institutions where he gained substantial experience in investment management and analysis, via several avenues. In these roles he worked as an integral part of several senior investment teams, striving aggressively in building diversified portfolios upon multiple investment strategies.
He is a graduate of Marmara University in business administration .He holds an Executive MBA From Business school of Koç Univ.(KU)&Georgetown University McDonough School of Business ;he has also got advanced broker authorization certificates issued by Istanbul stock exchange.
Roshun Tulkens is the Group Treasurer for Mantrac Group; an authorized Caterpillar dealer, selling across three continents with revenues close to $2bn. Roshun heads the Treasury, Trade Finance and Insurance departments, with approx. 30 employees. Main responsibilities involve raising debt, cash/liquidity management, risk management, customer financing and Treasury operations. Originally from the UK, Roshun has lived in the UAE since 2014. Prior to Mantrac, Roshun was Head of Treasury at RB covering 60+ countries across LATAM, Africa, ME and APAC, responsibilities included all areas of international treasury and risk management. Prior to this Roshun was based in the UK, working for Burberry, with front, middle and back office responsibilities. Previous companies include Rexam where he supported the roll out of a TMS, for which they won the Large Cap Treasury Team of the Year award. Roshun is a Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers, he became AMCT qualified in 2012 and obtained his MCT Diploma in February 2015.
James is a senior treasury professional with over 10 years of experience in different industry roles. He is striving to improve the capabilities and reputation of treasury within his current employer as their Treasury Business Partner and across the Middle East in his capacity as part of the ACT Future Leaders in Treasury group. His focus is on both digital and people as the foundations for success in any treasury team.
He has worked for well-known corporate treasury functions at Chalhoub, GSK, Vertu and UPS focusing on digital transformation, cash management and process improvement, with a spell at Deloitte providing treasury advisory solutions and supporting transformations for clients across the UK and Europe. James is an advocate of the ACT, having completed the AMCT himself and being recognized as One to Watch back in 2016.
James is also a strong driver for change at Chalhoub, with recent successes being part of their employee wellbeing taskforce and the driver behind November becoming men’s health awareness month.
She is the co-founder of Aurora50, the social enterprise that created the ‘Pathway20’ initiative which works with market leaders to drive female representation at board level in the UAE. The initiative launched on the 8th March 2020 with anchor partner, ADNOC.
Diana has substantial experience growing businesses in the information services, training, and events industry. She has a degree in Business and Finance, and is certified in Advanced Design Thinking.
Diana is also a senior advisor to Circle of Hope, founded by Sheikha Shamma bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, and committee member for the Association of Corporate Treasurers (Middle East).
More speakers will be announced soon
The ACT Middle East Treasury Summit took place online on 9-10 November 2020
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More speakers will be announced soon.