Member story: Veronique Lafon-Vinais, Associate Professor of Business Education, Department of Finance, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

1.    Describe your career path to date.

I was a banker, specialising in international debt and credit markets for about 20 years, and then embarked on my current academic career though a combination of luck and opportunity.

2. As someone who works in education, why do you think it’s important for those who work in treasury to develop themselves through qualifications?

I absolutely believe in lifelong learning. Life is not static, and technology and skills need to be updated, just like you need to tune your engine to keep your car running efficiently. Plus, I love that I learn something new everyday!

3. You have spoken at a number of ACT events, most recently on the recording 'The Group Treasurer: the first 100 days'. What three pieces of advice would you give to those within their first 100 days of a treasury role? 

Be humble – you have a lot to learn
Be adaptable – things will inevitably turn up different than you expect
Be resilient – you will make mistakes, and need to learn from them

4. You are actively involved in the ACT Treasury Network in Hong Kong. What initiative have you most enjoyed and why? 

Every event that I have been involved in with the ACT has been great, ever since the very first conference in HK. I love the audience of true professionals, they are very down to earth and practical. It is so refreshing after attending so many banking events!

5. How has the current pandemic affected your working environment? 

We had to switch incredibly fast to online teaching back in 2018 due to the HK protests and as a result had a head start when the pandemic hit. We are incredibly lucky at HKUST to have a great leadership team, who mobilised all our talents to deliver workable, efficient learning experiences to our students almost seamlessly. Now we are using “hybrid” or “mixed-mode” teaching, whereby I’m in the classroom, facing students in masks behind plexiglass “boxes” (for those who can attend face to face), and a big screen of the students online, with a teaching assistant to monitor the technology – it is hard work, but we managed it.

6. What has been the best project you have worked on and why?

I am so proud that HKUST Business School has now put sustainability and green finance as one of our top four focus areas. As someone who’s been involved in that space for over a decade (long before it became fashionable), and now working with our Dean and a team of incredibly talented faculty members, I am absolutely thrilled that we will be the first business school in Asia to offer a BSc in Sustainability and Green Finance.

7. What gadget could you not do without?

My Dean sort of propelled me, kicking and screaming, into the digital age by requiring me to adopt his favorite means of communication (WhatsApp). So now I carry a Samsung “geek” tablet, even though I still consider myself a technosaurus.

8. What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

Listen to your mother.

9. What three words would you use to describe yourself?

Technosaurus, reader, teacher.

10. What book are your reading at the moment?

I actually read several at the same time! “The Other Side of the Story” by Nury Vitacchi is about the protests in HK; “Money: the true Story about a Made Up Thing” by Jacob Goldstein is a fun history of money; and for pure relaxation, the Cormoran Strike crime novels by Robert Galbraith a.k.a J.K. Rowling.