Over 15 years of IT experience in the Banking and Finance Industry. Expertise in IT Strategies for financial institutions based on the latest service oriented architectures. Expertise in architecting technology to meet the requirements of Islamic financial institutions.

Daud Vicary Abdullah is an Islamic Finance Specialist working with the Global Islamic Finance Group of Deloitte. Daud has been in the Finance and Consulting Industry for more than 35 years, with significant experience in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Since 2002 he has focused almost exclusively on Islamic Finance. Daud holds an Economic and Social History Honours degree from the University of Bristol, England, is a distinguished fellow of the Islamic Banking and Finance Institute of Malaysia (IBFIM), a Chartered Islamic Finance Professional (CIFP) and a former Board member (2003 – 2007) of the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). Daud started his career with Lloyds Bank, followed by Chemical Bank and Midland Bank, where he gained experience in Retail Banking Operations, Internal Audit, Back Office Systems, IT support and Internal Consultancy. He spent 7 years as a Partner/Director with Deloitte Consulting where he was responsible for setting up the firms Global Centre of Excellence for Islamic Finance based in Malaysia and involved in developing and running Shariah Review Programs and the transformation of financial institutions to provide Islamic Financial services. Daud was the first Managing Director of Hong Leong Islamic Bank, where under his guidance the Group successfully transformed an Islamic Banking Window into a full-fledged Islamic Banking Subsidiary. This included the set up of Shari’ah Governance abd the establishment of a Shari’ah Review program During his time at Hong leong he was also closely involved in the planning for and launch of Hong Leong Tokio Marine Takaful, where he was a Board member. Following that, Daud became Chief Operating Officer and Acting CEO at Asian Finance Bank, a brand new Islamic Bank, where he was responsible for establishing the infrastructure to support the business lines, including the establishment of the Shari’ah review process, opened new branches and established a representative office in Jakarta. Since leaving line management in Islamic Finance in late 2008, Daud is involved in delivering and coordinating the delivery of strategic and operational consulting for the establishment of Islamic Financial Institutions as well as providing training and operational insight to the running of Financial Institutions. Daud is a frequent speaker and commentator on matters relating to Islamic Finance, has been a contributor to a number of books on the subject and is currently co-authoring a book on Islamic Finance for non-Muslims due for publication in late 2009.

Mr.Ahmed brings 30 years of experience in banking, credit management and in formulating and managing strategic and operational changes in financial institutions. He brings in-depth knowledge of strategy formulation and implementation, performance improvement initiatives and change management programmes. Mr. Ahmed has held various senior management positions in the Middle East and Canada. Prior to joining A&M, Mr. Ahmed worked as CEO of Mohr Capital Ltd , an investment advisory firm, where he was responsible for executing several advisory and restructuring mandates. Previously Mr. Ahmed was at National Bank of Fujairah where he last served as General Manager. He oversaw the operations of the bank and was responsible for extending the service offerings, branch/ATM network, strengthening corporate governance (audit, compliance, KYC) and setting up the bank for Basel 2 Implementation. During his tenure, the bank achieved a 35% per annum growth in net profits for 4 consecutive years. Prior to National Bank of Fujairah, Mr. Ahmed worked for 9 years with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Toronto, where he co-led a team to successfully setup new lines of business, and increase non-traditional lending to intellectual property based business. He was also responsible for setting up a mezzanine finance program and two other quasi equity funds. He also served on the Credit Committees of these programs. Mr. Ahmed holds a master's degree in business administration from Institute of Business Administration, Karachi, Pakistan. He is also a Certified Public Accountant(CPA) from Illinois, USA, and a Certified Credit Professional (CCP) from the Credit Institute of Canada. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers (FICB) and has a diploma from the Association of International Bond Dealers. In the past, he has served as a member of both the Dubai Gold Advisory Group and the Advisory Committee of the Institute of Innovative Research, University of Waterloo, Canada. He is currently a visiting professor at SP Jain Centre of Management, Dubai. A Canadian national, Mr. Ahmed is fluent in English and Urdu.

Robert Ainey is the Chief Executive Officer of the Bahrain Association of Banks. He assumed that position in January 2008. Mr. Ainey has over thirty years of banking experience in the Gulf region and United States, primarily in financial technology. For the past 20 years Bahrain has been his home though he’s conducted business extensively throughout the GCC, India and North and South Africa He holds a Bachelors degree from the University of Pennsylvania and did post-graduate studies in information technology, accounting, law, sales and marketing, and management.

Dr. Said A. Al-Shaikh has been the Chief Economist since January 2000. In that capacity, he is charged with providing primary research and consultancy on the Saudi Economy to other Business Divisions at the Bank. His responsibilities include overseeing the preparation of financial and economic analysis of the different Saudi industries, besides the editing of the Market Review & Outlook, Saudi Economic Perspectives and several other publications. Prior to joining NCB in 1998, Dr. Al-Shaikh served as an assistant professor of Finance and Economics in the College of Industrial Management at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) for the period between 1993 and 1998. He held a number of assignments including serving as a principal researcher at the Research Institute of KFUPM. In addition to working with KFUPM, he served as a part-time consultant for the Federation of the GCC Chambers of Commerce representing the Federation in several local and regional conferences. Said A. Al-Shaikh earned a Bachelor degree in Architectural Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, a Master degree in Public Policy and Planning from University of Oregon and a PhD in Economics from Cornell University.

Mr. Salaam Al Shaksy was appointed as the CEO of Dubai Banking Group and Dubai Bank on May 6, 2008. Prior to this, he was the CEO of Dubai Islamic Investment Group, the global Shari’a compliant investment company of Dubai Group. Mr. Al Shaksy has more than 22 years experience in banking, investments and information technology. He has a BA in Economics, MBA in Financial Services and Master of Science degree in Management Information Systems from Boston University, USA. He also completed the Senior Executive Program at London Business School.

Al Tamami has a career in Managing Human Resources and leadership consultancy for more than 22 years in fields of Public sector, FMCG, Oil & Gas and Banking industry. Have in-depth knowledge of Human Resources functions, behavioral science, leadership and sales development. Therefore, his strengths are not only limited to designing and implementing HR systems, tools and HR / OD interventions, but also understanding the different values and structures in the public, semi public and private sectors.

Robin Amlôt is Managing Editor of CPI Financial, the region’s leading financial publisher, editing Banker Middle East, Islamic Business & Finance and the website www.cpifinancial.net. He has worked as an award-winning financial journalist for more than 25 years in print, radio, television and online. He has worked in Southeast Asia and the United Kingdom and covered all aspects of business and finance in his career, including as Financial Editor of Independent Radio News, UK; Senior Business Producer, Sky News; as a national newspaper columnist in the UK; and author of Dawn Trader’s Guide to World Markets (Boxtree 1992). Robin was educated in England, has a B.A. (Politics) from Lancaster University and holds the Chartered Insurance Institute’s Financial Planning Certificate.

His Excellency Dr Omar Bin Sulaiman is the Governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and the representative of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, for DIFC Affairs. In 2008, HE Dr Omar Bin Sulaiman was appointed as the Vice Chairman of the UAE Central Bank , a position with the rank of Minister in the Federal Government of the UAE through a decree issued by HH Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi. Today, the DIFC is the world’s fastest-growing financial centre and is home to more than 700 companies, including many of the world’s leading financial firms. Dr Omar, who was previously the Director General of Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFC Authority) has led the phenomenal development of the DIFC. Under his leadership the centre has established itself as the first international financial centre within the region and the world’s fastest-growing centre of its kind. The DIFC aims to be universally recognized as a hub for institutional finance and a gateway for capital and investment in a region stretching from central and eastern Africa to the Indian sub-continent. Dr Omar also led the development and successful launch of the first international financial exchange in the region, the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX),which was later rebranded as NASDAQ Dubai (www.nasdaqdubai.com). Before joining the DIFC, Dr Omar was the Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Internet City (DIC). He led the development of DIC into a major Information and Communications Technology (ICT) cluster that houses several global giants such as Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, SAP, Cisco, Sony Ericsson, Sun Microsystems, Computer Associates and Siemens. Under his leadership, DIC achieved more than 100 per cent growth in less than a year, an exceptional pace which was maintained for three consecutive years. At the same time, he also led the development of several other entities under the banner of the Dubai Technology and Media (TECOM) Free Zone Authority, the Government of Dubai body responsible for the development of knowledge clusters such as ICT, media, education, energy, etc. Dr Omar is extensively involved in business and industry through various board memberships of a diversity of businesses and institutions. He is also a committed patron of the arts, and has established the first contemporary art fair in Dubai, “Art Dubai”. In this role, he has made a prominent contribution to Dubai’s cultural development and its economic growth. He can be characterized as a visionary leader, an entrepreneur, and a perceptive strategic planner. Dr Omar holds a Doctorate in Leadership, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance, a Master of Science in Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering. He is married with two children. Board Membership and Affiliations: • Vice Chairman, Central Bank of the UAE; • Chairman, DIFC Investments LLC, the investment arm of DIFC; • Chairman, Young Arab Leaders (YAL) (www.yaleaders.com); • Member of the Board and Managing Director, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (www.cultureartsdubai.ae); • Founder, NASDAQ Dubai, previously Dubai International Financial Exchange (www.nasdaqdubai.com); • Vice-Chairman, Dubai Real Estate Corporation (www.drec.ae); • Member, Economic and Trade Committee established by the Executive Council of Dubai; • Chairman of The Board of Governors, The Capital Club (www.capitalclubdubai.com); • Chairman of Art Dubai (www.artdubai.ae); • Board Member, Institute of Management Development (IMD), Lausanne (www.imd.ch); • Board Member, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Young Business Leaders (www.sme.ae); • Group Managing Director and Co-founder, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (www.dae.ae); • Chairman, Dubai Aerospace Enterprise University (DAE University), (www.daeuniversity.com); • Board Member, Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority (www.tecom.ae); • Board Member, Knowledge Endowment Fund, Dubai; • Member, Seoul International Business Advisory Council (SIBAC); • Board member, Empower, the Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation (www.empower.ae); • Board member, Etisalat - the international telecommunications provider in the UAE (www.etisalat.co.ae); • Board member, Etisalat Misr, Egypt (www.etisalat.com.eg); one of the international telecom provider in Egypt; • Founder, Hawkamah- the institute for corporate governance (www.hawkamah.org); • Founder, Dubai Outsource Zone-first freezone in the world for outsourcing (www.doz.ae); • Co-founder, Dubai Knowledge Village (www.kv.ae); • Member of the Board of Trustees, Dubai School of Government (www.dsg.ae); • Member, Young President’s Organisation (www.ypo.org); • Vice-Chairman, Dubai Autism Center (www.dubaiautismcenter.ae)

Ann Cairns, a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal, is Head of the Financial Industry Advisory Group in Europe. She brings more than 20 years of experience working in senior management positions across Europe and the US running and improving global retail and investment banking operations. Ann is currently leading the team responsible for Lehman Brothers Holding international across Europe reporting to Bryan Marsal (current CEO of Lehman). Since September 2008 her team has been disposing of banks, equity investments and trading assets for the several hundred legal vehicles across the region as well as running some business lines as ongoing concerns until the markets improve. The team are busy retaining and recruiting investment bankers, identifying systems, developing transition services agreements and working with a range of local administrators. Significant focus is being put on unwinding the large number swaps and special purpose vehicles, in addition to loans, commodities and real estate assets across the whole organisation. Prior to joining A&M, Ms. Cairns worked with ABN-AMRO in London where she was CEO of Transaction Banking, reporting to the Group Board and serving on the bank’s Executive Committee. In this role she managed a business with over €5 billion in revenues across 50 countries, covering the retail, financial, commercial and institutional segments. She joined the Wholesale Payments business in 2002 and turned an operation which had been loss making since 1996 into one generating €1 billion profit by 2007. Prior to ABN-AMRO, Ms. Cairns worked for 15 years with Citigroup in a variety of senior operational roles. Based in the US as COO of Citi’s e-Business, she had responsibility for the US, Europe and Japan businesses, totalling over $1 billion in revenues. In this role she generated $400 million additional annual revenue in two years from a series of innovations and managed the roll-out of the world’s leading web-based banking platform in 83 countries and 26 languages. Prior to this, she was Division Leader in Operations and Technology where she headed a team of 5,000, built the bank’s low cost client service group in Dublin and Malaysia. She was also Head of the European Transaction Business where she streamlined a division of 1,000 and grew revenues by 40% over two years in a difficult market. In her first role at Citi she ran the Compliance, Control, Service and Processing area for the European FX dealing rooms, working closely with Treasury on many initiatives. Ms. Cairns earned a masters degree in statistics from Newcastle University and a first class degree in maths from Sheffield University. She was a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and attended the senior Harvard Risk Management Seminar. She is a UK national.

Dr. Jamil El Jaroudi is the Chief Executive Officer of Elaf Bank, an Islamic investment bank headquartered in the Kingdom of Bahrain. He has over 35 years of relevant financial experience, commencing in 1976 as a consultant with Booz Allen & Hamilton in the UAE and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. From 1982, Dr. Jaroudi held senior executive roles with Al-Mawarid Group, contributing to its development as a leading business conglomerate and one of the largest employers in Saudi Arabia. He drew upon his combined advisory and business experience to co-establish the Middle East Capital Group in Lebanon in 1996 – the region’s first merchant bank with a pan-Arab focus. Since 1997, he has devoted his efforts exclusively to support the growth and development of the regional Islamic banking industry. In Bahrain, this included senior positions with DMI Trust, the Islamic Investment Company of the Gulf (IICG), and Shamil Bank. He then moved back to Lebanon, where he was closely involved in establishment of Arab Finance House in 2004. In late 2006, Dr. Jaroudi returned to Bahrain to assist in the development of Elaf Bank, a specialised Islamic investment bank, of which he is the CEO. With an authorised capital of US$ 500 million and initial paid-up capital of US$ 200 million, Elaf Bank was established in June 2007, and posted a profit for its first six months of operations. Dr. Jaroudi holds an MBA from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from Kellogg School, Northwestern University, USA. An active supporter of several educational and charitable institutions, and social organisations, he is a Board member of the Beirut Islamic University, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Lebanese American University Institute of Family Businesses.

Dr. Hussain does not need any introduction in the field of Islamic finance. In his professional career, spanning over half a century, he has been a prominent scholar and teacher of universal dimensions, having established Islamic universities and Islamic faculties in various parts of the world including, Makkah, Islamabad, Kazakhstan and Libya etc. He has been Advisor to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan (at whose request he prepared Civil Codes framework for Kazakhstan in 1992 and Islamic Banking Law in 2008), President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, President of the Islamic Conference of the Muslim World and General Secretary of the Muslim World League, Saudi Arabia. Dr. Hussain is also the President of the US Muslim Jurists Association. Dr. Hussain is Chairman, Sharia Supervisory Board of numerous Islamic financial institutions, including Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates Islamic Bank, Sharjah Islamic Bank, Amlak, Tamweel, National Bonds, Liquidity Management Centre, AMAN Takaful Company, and others besides being core member of the Sharia Board of Islamic Development Bank. He has converted conventional banks into Islamic besides conversion of DFM as the world's first Islamic stock exchange. Dr. Hussain has given many landmark innovative products to the Islamic Finance industry, including World's First: Convertible Sukuk, Multiclass Sukuk, Securitisation Sukuk, Currency and Rate Swaps, Personal Finance, IPO Finance, and others. He has also supervised the grand plan of translating 200 Islamic books into different languages and himself is the author of 21 books on Islamic law, Islamic finance, Islamic economics, Islamic art, Islamic social studies, besides writing over 400 extensive articles on these subjects. He has been instrumental in translating Holy Quran into Russian language. Dr. Hussain frequently presides over Islamic finance conferences, seminars and workshops.

Dr Heiko Hesse is an Economist in the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the IMF after having worked two years on the IMF’s Global Financial Stability Report. Prior to that, he was an Economist at the World Bank from 2006-2007, working on the Commission on Growth and Development, which brings together twenty-one leading practitioners from government, business and the policymaking arenas and is chaired by Nobel Laureate Michael Spence. Before that in 2005-2006, he was a Visiting Scholar at Yale University and a consultant at the World Bank. He also worked at McKinsey, NERA Economic Consulting as well as PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Some of his current work involves systemic risk, sovereign wealth funds, Islamic finance as well as spillovers to Emerging Market countries. He regularly contributes to the economics blogs VOX and RGE Monitor, has published in refereed academic journals as well as frequently speaks at central banks and conferences. Dr Hesse obtained his PhD in Economics from Nuffield College, University of Oxford and his BSc in Financial Economics from the University of Essex. A native of Germany and Thailand, he is a former professional football player for Borussia Dortmund as well as one of the main actors in the German movie documentary "Die Champions" (2003) and the sequel "HalbZeit" (public release in early 2010) by Adolf-Grimme-Prize Winner Christoph Hübner. In Washington DC, he is engaged in international and transatlantic issues as the President of the Washington European Society, a non-profit.

Salah Hussain is a Bahrain National with a Master Degree from Brunel University in the United Kingdom. He has over 35 years of experience in various fields of banking in the region as well as Asia Pacific. He started his career in Bahrain in 1970 with the British Bank of the Middle East (currently HSBC) and thereafter joined Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait and then went on to join Grindlays Bank where he worked for almost nine years. In 1981 he joined The Saudi National Commercial Bank Group, first managing their affiliate Arab Asian Bank, Bahrain and then as The General Manager of The Saudi National Commercial Bank till 2005 where he was involved in financing transactions with clients in several Asia Pacific countries, Europe, Middle East and Gulf Region. Mr. Hussain served as Regional Head of The National Commercial Bank, Corporate Banking Group in Eastern Province based in Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from 2005 until 2007. He has extensive experience of the GCC as well as Asia Pacific markets in the areas of Retail banking, corporate financing and capital markets activities.He has authored number of books (in Arabic and English) on corporate governance, banking and business matters He served and continues to serve on number of boards of Banks & financial institutions, companies and professional and social committees. Some of his memberships include: • Ex-Board Member – Prime Commercial Bank : Pakistan -1996 - 2003 (Head of Audit committee /Member of Executive Committee) • Board Member : Arab Financial Services – (Head of Audit Committee – Member of Strategy Steering Committee) • Head Audit Committee – Euronet Middle East, Bahrain. • Red Sea Insurance (Saudi): Bahrain –Board Member • Member of Executive Committee Of Bahrain Bankers Society – from 1995 till now and his current position is Vice Chairman • Member of the Board of Trustees of Human Resources Development Fund ( a fund created to support the financial sector in the Kingdom of Bahrain) since 2004 • Chairman of Corporate Governance Working Group ( A committee formed by Economic Development Board in Bahrain “EDB” to spearhead the formation of Corporate Governance code for Bahrain. The committee consists of representatives from Ministry of Commerce, Bahrain Monetary Agency, Private sector and EDB. It is part of a major initiative by OECD for all MENA region) • Independent Head of Audit Committee, Al Attieh Steel Group, KSA • Independent Head of Audit Committee – AlKhabeer -KSA • Independent Member, Audit Committee – Saudi Hollandi Bank - KSA

Hani Kablawi is Managing Director of The Bank of New York Mellon, with responsibility for the company’s businesses in the Middle East & Africa. Hani is based out of and is the Senior Executive Officer of the company’s MEA management office in the Dubai International Financial Center and reporting to him are offices and staff in Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Cairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg and New York. Hani chairs the company’s Middle East & Africa management committee, and co-chairs the Sovereign Advisory Board, overseeing relationships with sovereign wealth funds and central banks globally. He is also member of the corporate Operating Committee, the Global Client Management Leadership Committee and EMEA Management Committee. Hani joined The Bank of New York in 1997, worked for five years out of the New York headquarters where he helped manage the bank’s businesses in the MENA region, and the next five years out of the Abu Dhabi-based regional office where he had responsibility for the bank’s businesses in the Gulf region. Prior to joining The Bank of New York, Hani was a commercial lender at HSBC, New York and, prior to that, he was risk manager at Mashreqbank, NewYork. The Bank of New York Mellon is a global financial services growth company operating in 37 countries and serving institutions and high-net-worth individuals in more than 100 markets worldwide. The Company is a worldwide leader in asset management and securities servicing. It has more than $23 trillion in assets under custody and administration and more than $1.1 trillion in assets under management. Hani earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1989 and a Master of Arts in Finance in 1990, both from The University of Iowa. He became a Chartered Financial Analyst in 1993 and has been an active board and committee member of the New York Society of Security Analysts in New York and of the Emirates CFA society in the UAE, where he currently serves as board member. Hani serves on the regional board of Injaz al-Arab, Junior Achievement’s MENA chapter, and on the board of the American Community School of Abu Dhabi, where his children attend school. Hani is a member of the practitioner committee of NADSAQ Dubai and is a regular speaker at conferences on capital markets and the securities industry.

Jarmo Kotilaine joined NCB Capital as Chief Economist in May 2008. He oversees NCBC’s economic and equity research work. Before coming to NCBC, Jarmo worked as Associate Director, Financial Services at Control Risks Group (CRG), a London-based international business risk consultancy firm. Prior to that he headed the Financial Services practice area of Oxford Analytica’s consulting division. His main clientele has consisted of banks, stock exchanges and financial regulators, some of which he has further served as an external advisor. Jarmo studied economics and economic history at Oxford (BA/MA), Cambridge (MPhil), and Harvard (AM, PhD). He subsequently joined the faculty at Harvard where his primary focus was the long-term economic and institutional development of Eurasia as well as on international trade and finance. Jarmo’s languages include Russian, German, French and Polish.

Dr. Leichtfuss possesses over 23 years of experience in consulting financial services companies in all areas of expertise. He leads BCG’s Financial Services practice in the Middle East and the European Retail Banking Practice, Reinhold has developed numerous concepts in Retail Banking and is the lead author and editor of "Achieving Excellence in Retail Banking" as well as the BCG report "The Future of Retail Banking". Having worked in the Middle East since 2002, in January 2009 Dr. Leichtfuss transferred to the Dubai office of The Boston Consulting Group to lead the Financial Services practice in the Middle East.

Mr. Makhoul is responsible for Morgan Stanley’s firmwide business in the region. Until 2005, he had been the Investment Banking Head for the European Retail Industry, based in London. He had spent seven years in Tokyo leading the Telecommunications and Media Investment Banking group in Japan. Prior to Morgan Stanley he was the Managing Partner of the Info-communications and Entertainment consulting practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Japan. He had joined Price Waterhouse in New York in 1994. Before PW, he led a National Science Foundation Research Center at Columbia University in NYC. He started his career with Strategic Operations and Management at Bellcore. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Syracuse University, and a B.E. in Electrical Engineering from the American University of Beirut. He is fluent in English, French and Arabic with working capability of Japanese.

Mayank joined Citi in 1985 as a Management Associate after graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce Honours degree (University Topper Gold Medal) from Delhi University and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, India. He managed a number of challenging assignments in various areas of the corporate and investment bank in India before moving to the UAE in 1992. He headed the Middle East and South Asia Region (11 countries including India) for Standard Chartered Bank’s Global Cash Management and Trade business there based in Dubai. He moved to Johannesburg in 1997 to set up Citigroup’s Global Transaction Services business in South Africa and was later given additional responsibilities for e-Business as well as the Southern and East Africa Region. In 2001, he moved to Tanzania as the Chief Executive Officer based in Dar es Salaam. Mayank was elected in 2004 as the Chairman of the Tanzania Bankers Association that comprises all the 32 local and foreign banks/financial institutions operating in the country for a two-year term. He was subsequently re-elected as the Chairman for another two years (2006 & 07). He has also been appointed to the Tanzania National Business Council chaired by the President of Tanzania that comprises of 12 business leaders personally selected by the President across all industrial sectors in the country. He moved to Bahrain in 2007 as the CEO of Citibank. Citi is one of Bahrain’s leading banks with over 800 employees and has been present in the country since 1969 offering the full range of banking products and services with market leadership positions in consumer banking, cards, corporate finance, investment banking, commercial banking, private banking, global wealth management and Islamic banking. Mayank was elected as the Chairman of Bahrain Association of Banks (BAB), the official industry body representing the banking and financial services industry in the country (comprising over 150 international, regional and local banks) in July 2008 for a 2-year term (2008-10). He also currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Bahrain Human Resource Development Fund, the American Chamber of Commerce, inJAz (Junior Achievers Worldwide), the Bahrain International School and several other educational and community associations.

Marios Maratheftis is an expert on the regional economy, FX strategy and financial markets. He has seven years experience in emerging markets, having graduated from the University of Warwick with an MSc in Economics and Finance and a BSc in Economics. He initially worked as an econometrician in his native Cyprus where he advised the Central Bank on foreign exchange related issues. Marios then took on the role of economist and Senior FX strategist with Standard Chartered Bank based in London, where he played an active role in the management of the Bank’s FX Strategy real money portfolio. He has attracted a large following with the accuracy of his forecasts and his ability to give engaging presentations on a wide variety of financial issues. He has authored a number of financial and academic articles, and appears regularly in the international media. His job has taken him across the Bank’s franchises in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Marios was promoted to the role of Regional Head of Research for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia in 2007 and he is based in Dubai.

Nick Nadal is the Director at Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance, in charge of developing programmes for family owned enterprises, non listed companies, banks and financial institutions, capital markets, media and academia on corporate governance. Prior to joining Hawkamah, he was the Program Officer for Middle East and North Africa programmes at the Centre for International Private Enterprise, a non – profit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, building linkages with and supporting regional business associations, developing and conducting training programmes on association governance and developing programmes to advance entrepreneurship, economic journalism and corporate governance in the region.

Ms. Sahar Nasr, Lead Financial Economist at the World Bank, Finance and Private Sector Development Department, Middle East and North Africa Region. Ms. Nasr is the lead person in the World Bank Cairo Office in the financial sector, leading the policy dialogue with the authorities. In her 10 years with the World Bank, she has worked in technical and managerial positions in areas such as financial sector reform, banking restructuring, corporate governance, access to finance, economic management, and private sector development. Ms. Nasr is the Task Team Leader of the Financial Sector Development Policy Loan (DPL I and II), Mortgage Finance Project in Egypt, in addition to the financial sector work in Yemen and Iraq. She has numerous publications covering a range of development topics, including financial sector reform, banking restructuring, access to finance, business climate, privatization, and economic empowerment of women. Ms. Nasr has a Ph.D. in Economics from the Cairo University, Faculty of Economics and Political Science and is an Associate Professor of Economics at the American University in Cairo.

Dr. Mohamad Nedal Alchaar is the Secretary – General of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions which is an international organization consisting of over 190 members from over 35 countries. Dr Alchaar has a vast working experience in financial markets and institutions in addition to his central banking experience in developing countries. He was Director of Market Performance Analysis at Fannie Mae, and previously Vice President at Johnson & Higgins in Washington D.C. Dr. Alchaar also taught for several years at The George Washington University, where he received his Ph.D. Degree in Monetary Economics. He has also published several well-recognized books in the field of banking and financial markets, such as “Financial Markets”, “Economic Inquiries” and “Fundamentals of Banking Operations”, in addition to other scientific articles in the field of monetary policy and exchange rates analysis.

Mr. Osmansoy is the Chief Executive Officer of The National Investor (TNI), a regional merchant and investment banking group headquartered in Abu Dhabi. Mr. Osmansoy has nearly 20 years of experience in corporate finance, private equity, structured equity and activist investing. He has been involved in nearly AED 10 billion worth of equity and debt transactions in the GCC and has spearheaded the expansion of TNI throughout the region. Prior to joining TNI in 2004, Mr. Osmansoy was a Managing Partner at Dexter Capital Group, a London-based investment firm that specializes in strategic block investments in Europe. In this capacity, he was responsible for the origination, evaluation, and execution of activist/special situations investment opportunities. Prior to joining DCG, Mr. Osmansoy was a Senior Investment Officer at J.H. Whitney & Co., a leading US private equity firm, where he focused on late-stage venture capital investments and leveraged buyouts in Europe and where he structured and negotiated various growth capital acquisitions. Before that, he was a Vice President at Morgan Stanley, where he was a key member of both the equity derivatives and corporate finance groups in New York and London. In this capacity, he structured and placed a number of equity-linked derivative products and worked on various financial buyer transactions including reverse LBOs/IPOs, public & private placements of equity securities and high yield debt offerings. Mr. Osmansoy also serves as a board director for Colliers International UAE, Depa United Group, and Gulf National Securities Centre. Mr. Osmansoy graduated from the University of Virginia with a BSc. in Systems Engineering and received his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

A Ph.D in Economics from India and a post doctoral fellow ( Financial Risk Modeling) at the University of California , Irvine, USA, Dr. Roy is presently Director, Financial Risk Management at KPMG in Bahrain and Qatar. He also holds an advisory position in the Reserve Bank of India. His present job profile includes assisting financial institutions and corporates in Middle East and Asia in a variety of risk management initiatives. He has over 20 years of global experience in research and practice in the financial sector . Dr. Sunando Roy is a member of the Board of Directors of the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association( www.prmia.org), a major global association of risk professionals with 63,000 members. Sunando Roy was a Regional Director of the Mumbai chapter for several years, working closely with other chapters in India. Sunando is also a member of the Regional Director Support and Standards Committee and a mentor for new Regional Directors globally. Recently, Sunando was honoured by PRMIA in recognition to his outstanding contribution in promoting the risk profession globally.

Holds a Ph. D. in Economics, from the University of Chicago, and is Director of Macroeconomics and Statistics, at the Dubai International Financial Center. Previously he held the position of Head of Economic Research, at the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting in Doha, the GCC regional institution focusing on economic diversification of member states. He has been Executive Director at Goldman Sachs International, from 2001 to 2003, Senior Economist and Adviser in the Research Directorate of the European Central Bank (ECB) from 1998 to 2001 and has held positions as an economist in various departments of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1992 to 1998. He has also worked as a consultant for major corporate clients, financial institutions, hedge funds and the European Union. He has taught in academic institutions in particular at the University of Chicago where he has been an assistant in Corporate Finance to the Nobel Prize Laureate Prof. Merton Miller. His views and research pieces are often quoted on international media such as The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, The BBC, CNN, Reuters, Dow Jones News, Market Watch, Bloomberg, The New York Times as well as local media. Dr. Scacciavillani has published articles on macroeconomics and exchange rates in refereed international academic journals and has written numerous papers while at the IMF and the European Central Bank some of which re-printed in academic books. He has written reports issued by the IMF on member countries; research articles put out in the ECB Monthly Bulletin and issued numerous market analyses in the monthly, weekly and daily periodicals of Goldman Sachs. He is regularly invited to deliver speeches or serve as panelist in various leading conferences worldwide.

Khaled Sifri is CEO of Arab Emirates Investment Bank pjsc, established in 1976 and licensed as an investment bank by the Central Bank of the UAE. Mr. Sifri was head of Investment Banking at SHUAA Capital where he led the effort to develop a groundbreaking process for taking existing private companies public in the UAE (e.g. Arabtec). He was Managing Partner of Hadef law firm in Dubai. Prior to that, Mr. Sifri was President of a manufacturer of automotive sensors in Tennessee, USA. Mr. Sifri has a Juris Doctor degree from Catholic University, Washington DC, and a BS in Civil Engineering from University of Maryland.