Chairman, Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers (AICB)

Tan Sri Azman Hashim, FCB

Tan Sri Azman Hashim has been in the banking industry since 1960 when he joined Bank Negara Malaysia. He practised as a Chartered Accountant in Azman Wong Salleh and Co. from 1964 to 1971. He was on the board of Malayan Banking Berhad from 1966 to 1980 and was its Executive Director from 1971 until 1980. He was the Executive Chairman of Kwong Yik Bank Berhad, a subsidiary of Malayan Banking Berhad, from 1980 until 1982 when he acquired AmInvestment Bank Berhad.

Tan Sri Azman is Chairman of the Asian Institute of Finance Berhad, Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers, Asian Banking School Sdn Bhd, Malaysian Investment Banking Association, the Malaysia Productivity Corporation, Malaysia South-South Corporation Berhad and Chairman Emeritus of Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC).

He is the President of Malaysia South-South Association, Malaysia-Japan Economic Association, Malaysian Prison FRIENDS Club and a Member of the APEC Business Advisory Council and East Asia Business Council. He is also the Leader of the ASEAN Japanese Business Meeting (Malaysia Committee, Keizai Doyukai). He is the Pro-Chancellor of Open University of Malaysia and a member of the Governing Body of Asian Productivity Organisation.

Tan Sri Azman is also involved in several charitable organisations as Chairman and Trustee of AmGroup Foundation and Perdana Leadership Foundation and Trustee for Yayasan Azman Hashim, Malaysian Liver Foundation, Yayasan Tuanku Najihah and Yayasan Canselor Open University Malaysia. Tan Sri Azman is also the Founder and Council Member of Azman Hashim Family (L) Foundation and Azman Hashim Charitable (L) Foundation.

Non-Executive Chair, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Berhad and AICB Council Member

Datuk Yvonne Chia

Datuk Yvonne Chia is a trailblazer for women in banking, being the first woman Chief Executive Officer appointed to head a commercial bank in Malaysia and the region. An award-winning senior banker, she was named among the ‘50 Business Women in the Mix’ in 2013 by Forbes Asia, and is a two-time finalist of the CNBC Asia Business Award.

She has been in the ASEAN banking scene, with a focus on Malaysia, for the last three decades. Her record of strategic leadership and value creation has transformed the value of banks that she led, with strong execution to achieve success in mergers, greenfield/start-ups, high growth and turn-around operations. A proven strategist and influencer/mentor with a strong understanding of relationships and engagements with institutional partners, customers, staff and the community. She believes in young talent bringing disruption to the world and shares her views on this through various forums and leadership development platforms.

Blessed with tremendous energy, she is action-oriented and professes the philosophy of staying ahead and being adaptable to the changing times with a sharp focus on the emerging trends in ESG and disruptive technology. She believes that people make the difference, and having the right people will generate the desired outcomes. She advocates for everyone to be a master of change and applies her philosophy to be significant in everything she chooses to do.

She currently chairs and sits on the board of several listed companies as well as NGOs.

Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Amanah Malaysia Berhad

Raja Amir Shah Raja Azwa

Raja Amir was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Amanah in May 2021, and is responsible for executing the HSBC Group‘s strategy for Islamic banking in Malaysia, driving sustainable leadership and value-based intermediation efforts while spearheading the development of talent, particularly in relation to Islamic finance and sustainability within the Group.

Prior to his appointment, Raja Amir was the Head of Debt Capital Markets, Malaysia. He has made many material contributions to the development of the international and Malaysian Sukuk market, having originated, structured and executed multiple first to market landmark sukuk transactions across Asia for both corporates, financial institutions and the public sector.

He started his career in London in the tech industry, and moved to a local investment bank in 2006. Thereafter, he joined HSBC Amanah in 2010 and has since held various roles within the International Currency Business Unit and Debt Capital Markets team. Throughout his time with the Debt Capital Markets team, HSBC has been consistently awarded the Best Bond House (Global) by the Asset Triple A Country Awards.

In recent times, he led the Government of Malaysia‘s USB 800 mn Sustainability Sukuk, being the world‘s first ever Sustainability Sukuk by a Sovereign as well as the issuance of Yinson Holdings Berhad‘s MYR1.0 billion 5-year Sustainability-Linked Sukuk Wakalah, Malaysia‘s first ever Sustainability-Linked Sukuk.

With his leadership, HSBC Amanah has been awarded the coveted Asset Triple A Islamic Finance Awards “Islamic ESG Bank of the Year” for the 2nd consecutive year and “Best Islamic Trade Finance Bank” for the 4th consecutive year.

CEO, Thoughts In Gear (TIG)

Margie Ong

 Margie is the CEO of Thoughts In Gear (TIG), a Sustainability and Social Impact consulting firm working with corporations to ingrain Sustainability and ESG principles into their core business; and with non-profits for strategic and systemic impact. 

Graduated an Electrical Engineer, Margie has a Sustainability Leadership certification with the London Business School. Margie has also worked with notable organisations like The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), ERM Consulting, Intel, HCL Technologies and the CIMB Foundation. 

TIG’s achievements include setting up South East Asia’s first Sustainability Accelerator with 100 listed companies, producing Asia’s Best Sustainability Strategy and Report, setting up South East Asia’s largest Collective Impact Initiative for education, producing a Harvard-commended SROI Analysis, and producing a COVID-19 Vaccine Management Country Guide that has been used in 8 countries around the world. 

Margie is also currently in the Advisory Group for Sunway’s Centre for Planetary Health (SCPH) and an Emissary for Responsible Finance and Investments (RFI) Foundation. 

Managing Director & Co-founder, SDG platform

Omar Shaikh

Omar is the Director and Co-founder of the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI).

A Chartered Accountant by profession, he specialises in ethical/responsible finance, Islamic finance and private equity. He has extensive experience in financial services, has advised multiple governments and regulators on financial inclusion policy and for over 15 years has been a leading advocate for ethical and responsible finance. His background includes working with EY London where he was former Head of Islamic finance.

Omar launched the award-winning Edinburgh Ethical Finance Round Table series, a platform that led to the inception of the Ethical Finance Hub and GEFI. Through his work he has established a number of initiatives, including the Ethical Finance Summit (a major conference), the finance for nature project with UNDP creating innovative financing structures for the SDGs and the interfaith Edinburgh Finance Declaration. GEFI has recently launched the Path to COP26 campaign, bringing together stakeholders to advance climate finance ahead of the crucial 2021 Glasgow summit.

Omar received a BAcc from the University of Glasgow, is a member of ICAS and holds select board advisory roles including with the Prince’s Trust Scotland and supporting Glasgow Museums on preserving South Asian Heritage in Scotland.

Chief Executive, Chartered Banker Institute UK

Simon Thompson

Simon Thompson was appointed as Chief Executive of the Chartered Banker Institute in 2007 after working for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in Central & Eastern Europe, and for the International Federation of Accountants. Under his leadership, the Institute has grown to become the largest professional body for bankers in the UK, with nearly 35,000 members and students in more than 100 countries.

Simon is the author of Green & Sustainable Finance: Principles and Practice, published by Kogan Page (www.koganpage.com/product/principles-and-practice-of-greenfinance-9781789664546) and leads the Institute’s work in this area.

He chairs the UK’s Green Finance Education Charter on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Ethical Finance ASEAN 2023 Speaker Briefing Pre-Recorded: Sustainable Finance Skills is a Board member of the UK’s Financial Services Skills Commission (FSSC). Simon is a former Vice President of the European Bank Training Network.

Director, Financing and Investment, PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur (Persero), Indonesia

Sylvi Gani

Sylvi J. Gani obtained her Master of Business Administration in Banking and Finance from the University of Indonesia in 2001, and attended the Accelerated Universal Banking Program at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore in 2012–2013. She earned her Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from Bandung Institute of Technology in 1995.

Previously she served as Head of Resources Energy and Infrastructure at Australian and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ Bank) (2015–2020), Director of Natural Resources Group Indonesia at Australian and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ Bank) (2013–2015), Team Head of Mining and Energy Group at Bank CIMB Niaga (2010–2013), Vice President for Corporate Banking Group at Bank CIMB Niaga (2007–2010), Relationship Manager of Loan Workout Division at Indonesia Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) (1999–2004), and Assistant Manager of Investment Banking Department at Ficorinvest Bank (1996–1999).

She was appointed as Director of PT SMI since 23 March 2020 pursuant to the Minister of Finance Decree No. 126/KMK.06/2020.

Director, Center for International Collaborations, Beijing Institute of Finance and Sustainability, China

Cheng Lin

Cheng Lin is the Director of the Center for International Collaborations at the Institute of Finance and Sustainability (IFS), Head of Secretariat Beijing Office for the Green Investment Principles (GIP) for the Belt and Road. He has been leading the Global Green Finance Leadership Program (GFLP), a platform for capacity building and knowledge sharing on green finance, working under the G20 Green Finance Study Group (2016–2018) and the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group (2021–), as well as the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) since 2017.

Prior to joining the IFS, he served as Deputy Director of the Research Center for Green Finance Development at the PBC School of Finance of Tsinghua University (2017–2021). Before that, he was with the PBOC from 2010 to 2017, including the International Department and Haikou Central Sub-branch. From 2014 to 2015, he was Deputy Representative at the PBOC Representative office in Tokyo.

He received a bachelor’s degree from Wuhan University in 2018 and a master’s degree from Shanghai International Studies University in 2010. He studied in the University of York on Environmental Economics as a Chevening Scholar between 2021 and 2022.

Head of Special Projects, Islamic Sustainable Finance, CEO Office, Maybank Islamic Berhad

Nurliza Mohd Mydin

Nurliza Mohd Mydin is currently leading the development and implementation of Social Impact solutions for Maybank Islamic. She co-developed the country’s and the bank’s first Social Impact Deposit initiative to extend financial relief to those whose incomes were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, she was seconded to Maybank Group as Sustainability Co-Lead and was instrumental in developing the Group’s five-year Sustainability strategy and commitments. She previously worked at Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia in 2010 as the Vice President of Compliance and prior to that she was at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in their Global Islamic Finance Advisory team.

Nurliza has a Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Finance and ESG Investing from the Leonard Stern School of Business at New York University and holds a PhD in Islamic Finance from INCEIF. In 2016, she undertook a Visiting Scholar position at the George Washington University, Washington D.C., where she conducted post-doctoral research and became co-founding member of the Islamicity Indices, a global initiative aimed to encourage reformation and socio-economic development in Muslim countries. Nurliza co-authored two books in 2017 and 2018 titled Reformation and Development in the Muslim World (Palgrave Macmillan) and Resource Rich Muslim Countries and Islamic Institutional Reforms (Peter Lang). In 2019 she co-wrote a thought leadership paper with Schroders under the Maybank Islamic Centre of Excellence titled The Alignment of Shariah and Sustainable Investing. She is also the author of a children’s book on social justice titled The Three Village Boys currently available in bookstores in the US, UK, Singapore and Malaysia.

Chief Executive Officer, Sustainable Finance Institute Asia, Malaysia

Eugene Wong

Eugene Wong is the Chief Executive Officer of SFIA, an independent institute established to catalyse ideas on Sustainable Finance at the policy level in ASEAN, as well as propel action in support of those policy ideas. SFIA is the Host of the ASEAN Taxonomy Board.

Eugene was previously the Managing Director, Corporate Finance & Investments of the Securities Commission Malaysia (“SC”). He also oversaw the SC’s ASEAN related initiatives and was a Chair of the Deputies of the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum and the Co-Chair of its Sustainable Finance Working Group. In addition, he was a Co-Chair of the ASEAN Working Committee on Capital Market Development. He also served as a member of the Audit Oversight Board in Malaysia and was an Adviser to the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board.

Prior to joining the SC, Eugene held positions in a merchant bank, a stockbroking company and in the corporate finance division of an international accounting firm.

Eugene is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, Fellow of CPA Australia and a Chartered Accountant of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants. He has an Advanced Diploma in Corporate Finance from The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) and holds a B. Comm. from the University of Melbourne.

Director of Advisory, Finance Earth

Gail Hurley

Gail is Director of Advisory at Finance Earth, a mission-driven social enterprise, working in partnership with world leading environmental organisations to protect and restore nature utilising market based mechanisms and implementing bespoke financial tools. We help create projects – and the investment vehicles to fund them – that balance positive outcomes for nature, communities and investors.

Gail is a specialist in innovative financing models for the blue economy, with a particular focus on developing financing solutions in the Global South. She has worked across several jurisdictions, including Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific. She has worked on a range of financing mechanisms, including incubation funds, blended finance funds, impact bonds and debt-for-development swaps.

She has also worked in sustainable finance and international development since 2004, and has held senior advisory roles in the UN (UNDP and the World Food Programme), and has worked as an independent advisor and researcher for philanthropic foundations and the non-profit sector. She served as a Fellow with Development Initiatives between 2019 and 2021, a leading development organisation in the UK. She currently serves on the Global Steering Group of the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI), a non-profit organisation based in Scotland as well as the Board of Jubilee Scotland.

Chairman, South Asia Citi Private Bank

Dato’ Lee Lung Nien

Lung joined Citi Private Bank as Chairman in September 2020 with primary responsibility for business development and new client acquisition in South Asia. In addition to his Chairman role, Lung was also appointed Head of South Asia and Global Market Manager for Singapore and Malaysia in May 2021. In this capacity he works closely in direct partnership with the South Asia Global Market Managers to set the strategy for their respective countries.

Lung is a seasoned professional with over 30 years in the financial services industry. Most of career has been with Citi where he has worked in a variety of senior leadership roles spanning different geographies, businesses and functional areas. Prior to joining the Private Bank, Lung was CEO for Citi Malaysia starting in 2014. Other roles before this included Co-Head of Corporate Sales and Structuring in Citi’s Markets business and Chief Operating Officer for Singapore and AML Business Head for Asia.

BNP Paribas Asset Management, Singapore

Angelia Chin-Sharpe

Angelia Chin-Sharpe is the Chief Executive Officer, Head of South East Asia & Hong Kong Distribution at BNP Paribas Asset Management, Singapore, and is responsible for accelerating and strengthening the firm’s Southeast Asia business interests, while driving its sustainable solution offerings across the market’s client groups.

She was previously the Head of BNP Paribas Asset Management Malaysia since 2007, an entity that she set up and developed. Between 2010 and 2012, she relocated to Singapore as Head of Southeast Asia Institutional Sales before moving back to Malaysia as CEO of the local business. Angelia is a veteran of the financial services industry, and has over 20 years of experience in banking, capital markets and asset management.

Angelia holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree, majoring in Accounting, from Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia. She completed her Chartered Islamic Finance Professional exams at INCEIF and is registered as a Chartered Professional in Islamic Finance (CPIF) with The Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals. Angelia also received the Community Achievement Award in 2017 from the Malaysia Australian Alumni Council for her social work at The Lost Food Project, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to providing food for the needy.

Chairman, MIFC Leadership Council

Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar

Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar is currently the Chairman of Lembaga Tabung Haji Malaysia (Hajj Pilgrims Fund Board), the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), the Chairman of INCEIF (The International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance) and the Chairman of the Leadership Council of the Malaysia International Islamic Finance Centre (MIFC). Between June 2004 and July 2018, he was the Managing Director of Khazanah Nasional Berhad (“Khazanah”), Malaysia’s strategic investment fund. His other current affiliations include as a member of the Global Future Council on Investing of the World Economic Forum (Davos), a member of the Steering Committee of the Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI) based in Edinburgh and as a board member of MERCY Malaysia, a humanitarian relief organization. Azman was the Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Centre of Development Studies, University of Cambridge (February 2019 to February 2021) and a Bye-Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge (February 2019 to February 2022). His research interest is in the area of Finance and its impact on Society.

He is also currently a member of the Majlis Kebangsaan Hal Ehwal Agama Islam Malaysia (National Council for Islamic Affairs, Malaysia) and until recently, the Majlis Pemulihan Negara (National Recovery Council (for Covid-19)) and the Majlis Kemakmuran Bumiputera (Bumiputera Prosperity Council) in Malaysia. Azman is also a member of the Board of Governors of The Malay College Kuala Kangsar, an Adjunct Professor at UTM, a trustee of the Wawasan Education Foundation in Penang, Malaysia, a member of the Finance Advisory Committee of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, a board member of VB Asset Management LLC, a Venture Capital Fund investing in Life Sciences in the United States and an Advisor to The Hive IV, a Silicon Valley based Technology Venture Capital fund. In early 2020, he co-founded Fitrah Capital Associates, a financial and strategy advisory firm incorporated in the United Arab Emirates.

Investment Director, abrdn

Ella-Kara Brown

Ella-Kara Brown is an Investment Director on the Global Equity Team at abrdn leading on the Islamic strategies and sustainable leader equity products with 19 years industry experience. Ella-Kara joined Aberdeen’s Private Equity Division in 2005 and was an SRI Analyst since January 2007. Previously, Ella-Kara worked at Corporate Finance firm Adam Smith, where she completed her examinations for corporate finance advisory. Ella-Kara graduated with a first class BA (Hons) in Financial Services.

GFRI Asia Pacific Lead & Sustainable Finance Advisor (Malaysia), WWF

Adam Ng

Adam Ng is the Greening Financial Regulation Initiative (GFRI) Asia-Pacific Lead and Sustainable Finance Advisor (Malaysia) at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). He was previously with the central bank, international liquidity management corporation, academia and research management centre, contributing to Islamic and sustainable finance initiatives. He completed his graduate degree and postdoctoral fellowship at Oxford.

Head of ASEAN, Japan, Australia ESG Solutions at S&P Global

Olivier Trecco

Olivier Trecco serves as Head of ASEAN, Japan, Australia ESG Solutions at S&P Global Sustainable1. He leads the Sustainable1 ESG Solutions team in the region, where he focuses on the strategic development of S&P Global ESG Solutions, anchored in client-centric technical expertise and deeper
strategic relationships. Olivier also works on delivering regionally relevant thought leadership materials, and represents S&P Global Sustainable1 at conferences, webinars and other client events.

Prior to joining S&P Global Sustainable1, Olivier worked over 11 years in the financial industry. His most recent position was Co-Head of the ESG Solutions Team at Natixis Investment Managers Solutions, where he focussed in particular on the development of climate analytical & data capacities.

Previously, Olivier worked both for Natixis CIB and Natixis Investment Managers in Solutions advisory roles, based in London and Paris, mainly dedicated to institutional clients. Prior to this, Olivier started his career by working on the funding of water and environmental projects in West and East Africa.
He graduated with a Master from the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po Paris) and an MSc in Economics from the Paris School of Economics (PSE).

Specialist, Human Rights & Social Issues for the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)

Remi Fernandez

Remi is a Specialist, Human Rights & Social Issues for the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) where he leads on the decent work programme looking into social issues such labour rights across supply chain, low carbon transition, demographic change as well as artificial intelligence & technology. Remi has previously worked in the PRI’s Signatory Relations team, where he engaged with signatories on the new and former Reporting Frameworks and how it applied to multi-asset strategies. Remi holds a masters degree in Sustainability and Social Innovation from HEC Paris as well as a BComm from the University of Sydney.

Principal Lead, COP28 Presidency

Samir Suleymanov

Samir Suleymanov is the Principal Lead, Climate Finance, COP28. He has previously worked for 20+ years at the World Bank in a variety of senior roles relating to environmental finance and digital currencies, as well as serving as a senior adviser at the IMF. Within the COP28 Presidency, he is focused on putting forward an actionable approach that can deploy capital at scale to finance the climate transition in a principally new partnership between Governments, international organisations, and the private sector.

Senior Economist, World Bank Group

Tatiana Didier

Tatiana Didier is a Senior Economist in the World Bank’s Office of the Chief Economist for Latin America and the Caribbean. She obtained a Ph.D. in Economics from MIT in 2008. She has published in the area of international economics. She is currently doing research on international trade and finance. One area of interest is the dynamics of trade and capital flows and the implications for economic growth and development. She is also doing research on the international finance more specifically with a focus on international capital flows, the role of institutional investors, financial crises, and their implications for the development of domestic financial systems.