Bonds, Loans & Sukuk Middle East

Fawaz is in charge of the DCM Origination business for FAB’s Global Corporate Finance clients. He has worked on a number of landmark transactions for high profile issuers in the Corporate, Institutional and SSA space, covering various DCM products from plain vanilla bonds and setting up MTN Programs, to project bonds, hybrid capital and liability management, both conventional bonds and Islamic (Sukuk).

Fawaz has also originated and overseen the execution of numerous landmark deals outside the region, including the inaugural sovereign Sukuk issuance from HM Treasury and Hong Kong Government SAR. Prior to this role, Fawaz headed FAB's global distribution of Syndicated Loans and also managed FAB's Proprietary fixed income portfolio.

Fawaz holds a BSc (Hon's) in Accounting & Finance from the London School of Economics and is a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst ® designation. He is also the Chairman of the Middle East Region for International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and a Board Member of The Gulf Bonds and Sukuk Association (GBSA).

Klaus Froehlich is the Group Chief Investment Officer of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. Klaus joined the Group in 2020 to head the Group Strategic Investments Function. Prior to joining ADNOC, Klaus spent over 20 years in the financial service industry including 17 years at Morgan Stanley and more recently for 3 years as Chief Financial Officer of the Saudi Binladin Group in Jeddah.

With nearly 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, Aditya has led and worked across origination and execution platforms at Trussbridge, ADIB, Nomura, Lehman Brothers, E&Y and Arthur Andersen. He worked in London, Dubai and Mumbai. He has bookrun deals in excess of several billions of dollars of landmark financings, across the conventional and Islamic space, for governments, supra-nationals, corporates and financial institutions worldwide.

Aditya is a ranking Chartered Accountant from India and has a MBA from London Business School.

Established in 1967, Mashreq is the oldest privately held Bank in the UAE with award winning financial solutions and services. Throughout its 50 years' history, Mashreq has differentiated itself through innovative financial solutions, making it possible for its customers to achieve their aspirations. Today, Mashreq has a significant presence in 11 countries outside the UAE with 21 overseas branches and offices across Europe, USA, Asia and Africa.

Angad is Head of Fixed Income at Emirates NBD Asset Management, having previously been Senior Portfolio Manager since October 2014. He has been with the business for more than nine years, having joined in 2010 as a Senior Credit Analyst. Angad is the lead manager for the UCITS-compliant MENA Fixed Income Fund and the Global Sukuk Fund, which have outperformed their respective benchmarks for most years since 2010. He has also had an active part in doubling Fixed Income Assets Under Management (AUM) since 2013 – to under USD3 billion for year-end 2019.

Prior to joining the team, Angad was Senior Analyst at Prime Emirates from 2008 to 2010, having previously been an Associate in Financial Services Advisory at Ernst & Young in New York and a Financial Analyst at Real Value Investments in Mumbai. He holds an MBA from the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University in New York and a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting and Auditing from the University of Mumbai. Angad has CFA designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Emirates Society.

Kathy is an Investment Manager on the EMD team at Aberdeen Standard Investments where she specialises in corporate debt. The team manages US$16bn in global EMD assets, with just over US$3bn in dedicated global emerging market corporate debt portfolios. Kathy joined Aberdeen Standard Investments in June 2009, and the Emerging Market Debt desk as a credit analyst in 2012. Since then her research coverage has expanded across Latam, CEE, Middle East and Africa. Previously, she completed a year’s internship at Standard Chartered Private Bank in New York as part of the Mountbatten Internship Programme. She graduated with a BSc in Economics from St. Andrews University and is a CFA Charterholder.

Usman is the Portfolio Manager for all MENA and Global Sukuk strategies at FIM Partners. He joined the firm from Emirates NBD Asset Management where he was the Head of Investments and was responsible for EM Corporate Credit, MENA Fixed Income and Global Sukuk strategies and achieved top quartile performance across his funds. Prior to Emirates NBD, Usman was a director at Mashreq Capital where he was responsible for the bank’s distressed debt and structured credit investments. Usman began his career at TCH Miami where he was in charge of the research team responsible for analyzing and monitoring lending policies for investment grade and speculative grade corporate issuers and structured products. He holds a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Miami and is a CFA Charter holder.

Justin Mathews is a banking professional with 17 years of aggregate experience both on the sellside and buyside, internationally and regionally, including most recently in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Justin began his banking career in London, having spent time with leading international banks like Credit Suisse, Jefferies and Bank of New York Mellon, before moving to Gulf International Bank. He has advised several clients on raising capital for through bond and sukuk issuances in the international and domestic debt capital markets. Justin currently manages the Treasury Investments portfolio of GIB Saudi Arabia, which runs a fixed income and multi-asset investment strategy. Justin has significant connections with investors and investment banks in the GCC and has contributed significantly to the development of the regional capital markets.

Over 16 years of experience with 11 years dedicated to MENA Corporate Debt Capital Markets, Sam has been instrumental in driving the Corporate DCM agenda in the region.

Sam leads the Corporate Debt Capital Markets space for the Bank across MENA

Throughout the 11 years Sam has spent with StanChart, he has executed over 50 benchmark transactions for high profile Corporate issuers from the region

In particular, Sam has been instrumental in driving key business opportunities across a variety of repeat issuers including Majid Al Futtaim, Emaar, TAQA, Mubadala, Saudi Electricity, DP World

In addition, Sam has led a number of high profile debut issuers from the region including Almarai, Saudi Telecom, ESIC, Emirates REIT, Oman Telecom

Mr. Ahmed AlShubbar is the Group Vice President, Group Treasury & Strategy for Rawabi Holding Group Mr. AlShubbar’s responsibilities include overseeing the group's Treasury, Corporate Finance, Bank Relations, Cash Flow Management, Insurance and most importantly Strategy. Mr. AlShubbar brings a wealth of banking experience that covers Corporate Banking and Investment Banking (Debt Capital Markets and Debt Advisory) for over 12 years with reputable banks such as National Commercial Bank (NCB), Samba Financial Group, Banque Saudi Fransi (BSF) and Gulf International Bank (GIB) where he recently served as Vice President in Investment Banking. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Economics from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) Business School. He attended and participated in many training programs and conferences in related areas such as Credit Risk Management, Corporate Finance and Global Markets, Bonds, Loans & Sukuk to name a few.

Mr. Mohamed Al Shehab joined the Oil & Gas Holding Company (nogaholding) in Bahrain in December 2020 as Portfolio and Investor Relations Manager in the Investment Department. He is responsible for securing funding and identifying investment opportunities for nogaholding, and setting and executing the financing strategy for the Group, as well as managing the portfolio companies’ key performance indicators and maintaining investor relations.

Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Al Shehab was Vice President at Barclays Bank PLC, in London, United Kingdom from August 2013 to November 2020, where he served in several roles in Corporate and Investment Banking in Barclays International, including risk, product and business management as the Head of Business Management and strategy for the International Corporates business.

Mr. Al Shehab holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, U.S.A., with majors in Finance and Operations and Information Management and minors in Economics and Philosophy, awarded in 2012. He has also obtained a Certificate in Advanced Credit Skills, and passed CFA qualification Level 1, 2 and 3 examinations.

Since joining nogaholding, Mohamed led on the issuance of $250m GMTN Bond Private Placement and the establishment of the $3bn Sukuk programme and the $600m debut issuance there under in 2021.

Julian joined UKEF in 2015 and is currently responsible for UKEF’s business origination activities in the Middle East and Asia Pacific, in close support of UKEF’s regional and international network of dedicated representatives.

He was previously extensively involved in all aspects of negotiating and underwriting UKEF’s first Offshore Wind Projects in Taiwan, along with other firsts in solar and Islamic Financing. Julian has over 30 years international banking experience in project, export, and structured finance, having worked with major international banking groups such as Standard Chartered and HSBC. He has worked in all the main sectors of power (thermal and renewable), infrastructure (water, airports, ports), oil and gas and petro-chemicals, and in the emerging markets of Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. He has also extensive experience of working with bilateral and multi-lateral lending agencies.

Joining MUFG in September 2017, Hussain is the Head of Capital Markets for the Middle East. With an extensive portfolio focusing on transactions across a wide range of sectors within the EMEA region, his role predominantly looks at debt capital market transactions involving Sovereigns, Corporates and Financial Institutions compromising of debut and repeat issuers, project bonds and hybrid capital issuances.

Hussain has over 15 years of banking experience, primarily within the debt capital markets across EMEA and has led over USD 60bn of issuance from the Middle East.

Hussain holds a First Class Honours in BSc Economics from the University College of London.

Neeraj Agrawal is responsible for Crescent Petroleum's finance and business development functions, building relationships with the investment and banking community and overseeing financing, mergers and acquisitions. He is also the Chief Financial Officer and Board Member of Crescent Group.

Neeraj’s achievements throughout his 32 years with Crescent Group include securing several financings from development & commercial banks via bilateral and syndicated loans as well as capital market transactions. Neeraj has also been instrumental in various joint ventures within the international energy and port industries and leading the development of operations across the MENA region. He was also instrumental in the successful formation and capitalisation of Dana Gas PJSC, including the private placement and US$80 billion IPO, the US$1.2 billion acquisition and financing of TSX-listed Centurion Energy International Inc., and the Middle East’s first forward-looking accelerated US$1 billion sukuk issued by an associate company in 2007, and which also received the 2013 ‘Restructuring Deal of the Year’ award in New York.

More recently Neeraj has been instrumental in securing multiple channels of international funding for Pearl Petroleum’s development of KRI gas resources through a regional bank facility, EPC contractor financing, and long-term financing agreement by a US Development Finance Corporation.

Andalib has 16+ years of experience in origination, structuring, execution and distribution of syndicated loan transactions across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Andalib heads up the Loan Syndicate & Distribution team at First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) and is based in Abu Dhabi. He and his team are responsible for all loan underwriting, bookrunning, primary syndication and secondary market activity by FAB.

Andalib joined FAB in February 2015 from Standard Chartered Bank, UK. With Standard Chartered, he previously worked in London, Singapore and Dhaka covering loan markets and investors across Europe, Africa and South Asia.

Andalib has bookrun in excess of USD 200 billion of landmark financings for many of the most sophisticated supranationals, governments, corporates and financial institutions. Andalib holds an MBA in Finance and Marketing.

With over 25 years of Loan and Debt Capital Market experience, Eric is a Managing Director and Head of CEEMEA Origination, Loan Capital Markets, at SMBCE responsible for the origination and structuring of loans for corporates and financial institutions across the full regional and borrower spectrum. Before joining SMBC in 2011, he was employed at Commerzbank New York, Frankfurt and London, where he held various head positions including loans and bonds origination. Eric is a certified Attorney at Law and has worked as such in Germany and the US. Eric is also a member of a group of authors that triennially publish a practical textbook on syndicated lending for borrowers, banking professionals, lawyers and auditors in German language

Zain is a Director in the Loans and Acquisition Finance team at Citi and responsible for all syndicated loan financing in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan. In addition to his regional coverage, Zain is also responsible for syndicated loan transactions for shipping clients within the broader EMEA region.

Zain has been with Citi for over 16 years between New York, London and Dubai and has provided debt origination, execution, structuring and advisory services to clients over this time related to loans, bonds, and securitization. His client list has spanned the full credit spectrum from sovereigns and strong investment grade names to high yield issuers.

During his time at Citi, Zain has had strong experience with transportation assets and infrastructure financing but has spent the last 7 years focused on corporate loans covering Sovereigns, GREs, Corporates and FIs from the Middle East.

Hitesh joined Emirates NBD Capital in 2008 and has been instrumental in the development of the investment banking franchise of the Emirates NBD Group. Hitesh is responsible for a dedicated DCM desk and the origination and syndication of debt capital markets, liability management and structured finance mandates.

Hitesh worked on the first Sukuk issuance in 2005 and since then he has advised various governments, financial institutions, blue chip and mid-cap corporates on their Islamic and conventional financing strategies and access to debt capital markets. He has successfully raised over USD 60 billion for Middle East, Asian and Turkish issuers

Hitesh holds a BCom in Accounting and Economics from Sydenham College, India and a postgraduate management degree from HEC Paris (Grande École), France

Karim is a Managing Director in the MENA Corporate Banking team and has coverage responsibility for GREs, Banks, SWFs and Governments in the GCC region. Main countries covered include Qatar, the UAE and KSA

Karim joined Bank of America’s MENA Corporate Banking team in 2011 and has a total of 19 years corporate banking, debt capital markets and Islamic Banking experience. Prior to joining Bank of America, Karim worked 5 years at Barclays Capital in London for their Global Loans team covering MENA clients. Prior to that, Karim spent 4 years at Citi where he worked 2 years in the corporate banking coverage team based in Tunis and then moved to Bahrain where he was part of the Islamic Finance team and worked on Sharia’ compliant syndicated loans, Sukuk and risk management financial instruments.

Kashif joined ADIB in March 2011 and manages the DCM and distribution business for ADIB. His responsibilities include origination, structuring of DCM and syndicated financing transactions and cross asset distribution including debt and equity. He has 20 years of work experience incorporating a rich blend of investment banking, financial advisory and management consulting. Kashif has significant experience of introducing clients to the international debt capital markets and has advised on several international Sukuk and syndications deals for sovereigns, GREs and large corporates. Prior to ADIB, Kashif worked for DIB for 5 years in a similar capacity where has was a part of the core team responsible for establishing the debt capital markets and syndications origination and distribution business. He has earlier worked for Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan where he was involved in several local and foreign currency transactions including the largest bond issue by a large local commercial bank in Pakistan and the largest foreign currency refinancing deal in Pakistan. Prior to SCB he worked for United Bank Ltd. Pakistan in the Investment Banking Group where he led the deal team on several local currency bond issues and syndicated loans.

Sarah has over 18 years of corporate and investment banking experience having worked across a number of banking divisions such as Project & Export Finance, Asset Finance, Structured Finance, Structured Trade Finance & Financing Solutions and Client Relationships across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East

She joined FAB in May 2016 from Standard Chartered Bank where she held a number of senior roles including but not limited to; Regional Head of Asset Finance & Leasing, Regional Head of Structured Export Finance, ASEAN Coordinator for Structured Trade Finance and Financing solutions etc.

Sarah is well versed with the European and Asian Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) having originated, lead and concluded several landmark, award winning Project & Export finance transactions and advisory assignments for regional and international clients across Asia, Africa & the Middle East. She also successfully established the Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) platform for FAB

Sarah also has significant experience in the corporate finance space including Asset Finance having successfully delivered bespoke financing solutions to clients across sectors such as mining, construction and aviation - both to Airlines and Lessors demonstrating ability to support the sector in multiple ways

Sarah holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Institute of Business Administration Karachi (Pakistan)

Debashis Dey is a partner in White & Case’s Capital Markets Practice based in the UAE. He has more than 20 years of expertise and has extensive global experience advising international and domestic investment banks, corporates and governments on capital markets, securitisation and all types of structured finance, project bonds, Islamic finance Sukuk transactions, regulatory capital transactions, commercial, residential mortgages and consumer finance and other asset classes. His transaction experience covers various jurisdictions, including the GCC (UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia), Europe, the US and Asia. His experience includes leading on numerous product innovations in conventional and Islamic finance, including transactions such the first covered bond in the US, the first convertible Sukuk structure for Aldar PJSC, 'first-time' securitisations in Europe and the Middle East as well as convertible and straight debt issues for corporates in the Reg S and Rule 144A markets. Debashis has recently advised the joint lead managers on the first UK Government Export Credit Agency Guaranteed pre-funded Sukuk for an aircraft financing in the UAE, the joint lead managers on the Republic of Turkey's third Sukuk issuance, a UAE based company on its public equity-linked offering and update of its Rule 144a/Reg S GMTN programme and the structuring bank and joint lead managers on the United Kingdom's inaugural £200 million Sukuk issuance. Debashis is regularly noted in legal directories as being “Truly fabulous” and “frank in terms of what is doable and what the hurdles would be - he lays things out clearly for clients.” - Chambers & Partners Global, 2015.

Dilawer Farazi is a Portfolio Manager at Royal London Asset Management, responsible for Emerging Market corporate bonds within the Global Credit team. Dilawer has 15 years of experience investing in EM, has held portfolio manager and analyst positions at GIB Asset Management, ADIC and Loomis Sayles, working in London and the Middle East. Dilawer has a BA in Law & Economics from Queen Mary’s, University of London and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

Franck Nowak is a senior research analyst for Franklin Templeton Investments (Middle East) Limited. Mr. Nowak joined the investment team in 2012 to lead our research efforts and augment our investment processes for Global Sukuk and MENA fixed income. Mr. Nowak previously worked for Moody's Investors Service in both London and Dubai where he was responsible for non-bank ratings in the CEEMEA region. Mr. Nowak holds a bachelor's degree in commercial law and a master's degree in management, both from Rouen Business School in France.

As one of the first global asset management firms to establish local asset management capabilities in India (1993) and in South Korea (1997), Franklin Templeton is a pioneer in local asset management. Our goal is to manage each local business on a global scale, focusing on local investing, benchmarks and client needs, while drawing on the deep resources and global presence of the broader Franklin Templeton organization. Each local office (or strategic alliance) employs a truly "local" investment process that gives managers flexibility in investment decisions.

Since 1993, Franklin Templeton has developed or invested in local asset management capabilities — local portfolio managers investing locally — in several countries, including:

• India

• Brazil

• Japan

• South Korea

• Canada

• China (joint venture)

• Vietnam (joint venture)

• Middle East/North Africa

Nibras joined Credit Agricole CIB in 2018 and has been responsible for assisting clients across the financial institutions, corporates and SSA sectors with all their Sustainable Finance endeavors.

His experience focuses on originating and structuring transactions across the Green, Social, Sustainability and Sustainability-Linked product classes, which has included the first ‘Green ECA’ loan for a Middle East Sovereign, the first Covid-19 Sustainable Sukuk in the Middle East, and the structuring of the first green bond framework for a Middle East Sovereign.

Nibras began his career at a verification NGO in London. He went on to work on the Lloyds of London Insurance market before joining Standard Chartered Bank, where he held numerous roles within the corporate banking space.

Nibras holds an MA from SOAS, University of London and an LLB from the University of Essex.

Shrey is responsible for London Stock Exchange plc’s debt, structured finance and close-ended investment funds markets. At LSEG, Shrey has covered roles across Product Development & Regulatory Strategy, and was previously Head of Strategic Development for LSE plc.

He represents LSEG on the Advisory Council of the Green & Social Bond Principles Executive Committee. During 2018-19, Shrey was seconded to International Finance Corporation as Financial Officer in Treasury & Syndications. He has previously worked at McKinsey and Co, the strategy consultancy.

He holds an MSc in Finance and Economics from the London School of Economics and a BSc (Hons) in Physics from University of Delhi.

Rizwan Kanji’s practice focuses on debt capital markets, finance and securitizations using both conventional and Islamic finance structures.

He advises investment banks, financial institutions, multilateral development banks, sovereign states, insurance companies and multinational regional corporations on high-profile transactions across the Middle East, Turkey and Africa.

Widely considered one of the leading lawyers within Islamic finance, Rizwan has earned a reputation for advising on “first of its kind” transactions.

Global directories, Chambers and Partners have consecutively ranked Mr. Kanji as one of the world's leading Islamic finance and debt capital markets lawyers. Clients are highly impressed with his breadth of expertise, elaborating: "His problem-solving skills and pragmatic approach to transactions are invaluable” and “He has a lot of attention to detail and is very attentive to his clients.”

Mahmoud has over 15 years of aggregate experience in banking and corporate finance services. He is currently a key member of the debt capital markets team at GIB Capital. He has played leading roles in several high profile bond and Sukuk transactions for GCC sovereigns and quasi-sovereign issuers, including the first Basel 3 compliant Sukuk in Saudi Arabia. Through his career he has worked with clients in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Egypt. Prior to joining GIB Capital in Nov 2011, Mahmoud was part of the Strategy Management and earlier the Corporate Finance team at Bank ABC. His role included leading acquisition finance and mergers and acquisitions on behalf of clients and later on behalf of Bank ABC, in addition to overlooking the strategy implementation. Prior to that, Mahmoud was part of the Corporate Finance and Advisory team at Standard Chartered Bank, Dubai. Earlier he worked for Barclays Bank – Egypt, where he was part of the Corporate Credit team, responsible for managing a loan portfolio and later on he assumed the role of Structured Credit Manager.

Through these different roles Mahmoud has been exposed to some of the key transactions that have taken place in the GCC and Egypt, giving him an unparalleled experience in leading DCM and debt advisory transactions coupled with the competency that comes from being full engaged throughout the life cycle of transactions, whether in advisory or debt financing.

Bashar Al Natoor is Fitch Rating’s Global Head Islamic Finance. Mr Al Natoor is responsible for coordinating all Islamic Finance activities across Fitch’s Sovereign, Financial Institutions, Corporate, Structured Finance, Infrastructure and Insurance teams, bringing together dedicated analytical and industry expertise into a centralised and focused Islamic finance group.

Mr Al Natoor has more than 16 years' experience in the Islamic Finance market. Since joining Fitch in 2007, he has overseen Fitch's Sukuk criteria and Islamic Finance practices, undertaken research and written numerous published articles on Islamic Finance. Mr Al Natoor Joined Fitch as a director in the EMEA Corporates group based in Dubai. He was responsible for analysing EMEA issuers, with focus on Middle East and Turkish issuers in the construction, property and Telecommunication sectors. Prior to joining Fitch, Mr. Al Natoor spent seven years at the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in key roles including Investment Officer in the Treasury Department, a Senior Credit Analyst in Risk Management and Senior Technical Assistant to the Vice President of Finance & Administration. Before working with IDB, Mr Al Natoor was a senior auditor for four years in Arthur Andersen.

Mr Al Natoor graduated with an MSc in banking and financial studies from the Arab Academy for Finance and Banking Science and a BS in finance and banking from Amman University. Bashar is also a Certified Bank Auditor (CBA), a Certified Risk Professional (CRP), a Chartered Market Analyst (FAD-CMA), and a Certified Risk Analyst (CRA).

Nicholas Samara joined SMBC in early 2020 to head their MENA DCM franchise and has recently relocated to Abu Dhabi from London earlier this year. At SMBC, he is tasked with building out their regional DCM platform across product offerings while also bridging the gaps between Asian investors and regional issuers. Nicholas has extensive experience in fixed income markets, also previously having spent over a decade with Citi in New York and London advising clients on private and public capital markets issuances across global emerging and high grade markets. In London, he was part of Citi's emerging markets DCM team, focusing on originating and executing sovereign, corporate and financial institution bond offerings as well as advising issuers on liability management transactions across CEEMEA, executing USD 75 BN of new issues over his time at Citi. His latter years focused solely on MENA, where he furthered his client relationships at senior ministry and executive management levels. Prior to London, Nicholas spent nearly four years with Citi in New York originating and executing 4(2) US Private Placements debt issuances for corporates in the Americas, Western Europe and Australia. Prior to Citi, Nicholas spent one year as a financial analyst with Morgan Stanley in Washington DC.

Kashif joined ADIB in March 2011 and manages the DCM and distribution business for ADIB. His responsibilities include origination, structuring of DCM and syndicated financing transactions and cross asset distribution including debt and equity. He has 20 years of work experience incorporating a rich blend of investment banking, financial advisory and management consulting. Kashif has significant experience of introducing clients to the international debt capital markets and has advised on several international Sukuk and syndications deals for sovereigns, GREs and large corporates. Prior to ADIB, Kashif worked for DIB for 5 years in a similar capacity where has was a part of the core team responsible for establishing the debt capital markets and syndications origination and distribution business. He has earlier worked for Standard Chartered Bank Pakistan where he was involved in several local and foreign currency transactions including the largest bond issue by a large local commercial bank in Pakistan and the largest foreign currency refinancing deal in Pakistan. Prior to SCB he worked for United Bank Ltd. Pakistan in the Investment Banking Group where he led the deal team on several local currency bond issues and syndicated loans.

Nik Joharris Nik Ahmad

Maybank Islamic Berhad (Dubai – DIFC Branch) - Country Head

Over 20 years of experience in the financial industry. His previous posts included Chief Executive Officer of TaHa Alam Sdn Bhd, and Century Banking Corporation Ltd, the first Islamic bank in Mauritius.

He started his career at Bursa Malaysia and the Securities Commission and has worked in several investment banks in Malaysia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia particularly in Islamic corporate debt financing.

Audoin de Laromiguiere (MEAT Corporate Risk Solutions) joined Intesa Sanpaolo in 2013 and, after 8 years in Milan, has just moved back to Dubai. He provides derivatives solutions on FX, Interest Rates, Commodities, Equity and Credit to corporates, financial institutions and sovereign wealth funds in the region.

Audoin started his career in Credit Agricole Indosuez in Milan in 1997, where he held various roles in FX, IR and Equity Structuring & Sales, covering the Italian market. In 2002, Audoin moved to Bahrain where he handled the MENA-Turkey corporate and Financial Institutions client base as a structurer for Credit Agricole Indosuez. In 2005, Audoin joined Barclays Capital in London, as a derivatives sales for the MENA region. He became the Head of the Risk Solutions Group for the MENA region a year later. After having been relocated to Dubai in 2008, he held that role until 2013 when he joined Banca Imi.

Audoin speaks fluent French, English and Italian, in addition to some Arabic, and graduated from HEC Paris, major in Finance.

Lijiya comes with more than 18 years of Debt Market experience. She holds an MBA in Finance & Marketing and has been a core deal team member in various Structured & Project Finance deals in the UAE. She joined FGB in 2006 and prior to that she was with HSBC CIBM and was dealing with regional deals and transactions in various sectors along with providing coverage of strategic customers. Lijiya is a key deal team member in many of the large Debt Market syndicated transactions in the region which involved structuring, negotiation of terms and execution of deals where she has led the deal team that acted in the senior capacity of Debt Advisor, Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers, Coordinating Bank and Book running roles for Corporate, Acquisition Finance, FI/NBFI deals, Leverage finance, Project and Structured Finance, Asset Backed financing, Hybrid facility structures etc. Currently she is the Managing Director & Head of Syndication Finance, Loan Capital Markets under the Global Corporate Finance with FAB which addresses the flow business from Corporates, GRE’s, Sovereigns, NBFI’s and FI’s.

Rohit has 13 years of experience in banking and financial services across MENA, India, North America & North Africa, with a primary focus on structured & acquisition finance. Rohit has worked across multiple sectors, including Oil & Gas, Manufacturing, Shipping, Trading, GREs, etc.

Rohit manages the Leveraged & Acquisition Finance (LAF) desk under the Investment Banking business of Mashreq Bank. LAF is responsible for structuring, negotiating & executing multibank mandates run by Mashreq Bank across EMEA & Asia.

Before joining Mashreq, Rohit was working in the Debt Syndications & Capital Market Advisory vertical of one of the largest NBFCs of India. Rohit has also spent 3 years in the Corporate & Investment Banking vertical of Essar Group.

Rohit is a mechanical engineer from IIT Delhi, India, and an MBA from IIM Indore, India

Umera Ali is a banking & finance partner at DWF Middle East advising on both conventional and Islamic finance matters, and also leads the firms Islamic finance practice.

She advises lenders, financial institutions, funds, sponsors, borrowers, and issuers in corporate and structured finance transactions, including secured and unsecured, syndicated and bilateral loans, asset finance, Islamic finance, supply chain finance, trade finance and debt capital market transactions.

Umera has significant experience having worked in six different jurisdictions. She has built her practice by concentrating on making connections and acting as a strategic partner, and not just a counsel, for her clients. She takes a highly practical and pragmatic approach to providing legal services and brings an understanding of cultural conventions and sensitivities when working on a transaction.

Umera is interested in innovation, sustainable power source, and environmental change, and fuses that with her practice by working with Fintech and Cleantech companies and advising on sustainable finance and carbon credit trading.

Hamid is the Treasurer of Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company, The Sovereign Wealth Fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain.

He has 20 years of extensive experience in Treasury and Capital Markets with a wide reaching network that began in 2002 through a journey that took him to a number of leading international and regional Treasuries including Citi, Credit Agricole, National Bank of Kuwait, Unicorn Investment Bank and United Gulf Bank amongst others. Throughout his experience, Hamid headed the Treasury Departments in numerous financial institutions for more than 10 years. As a member of the executive management, Hamid has always been a key member of the various management committees, including ALCO, Risk, Compliance, Investments etc.

Hamid brings a wealth of solid knowledge across all asset classes (buy and sell side) including structuring, sales and trading in the various international and regional financial institutions, both conventional and Islamic.

Working closely with the regional corporates and holding companies as well as being lead syndicate for a number of regional issuances has gained Hamid the insight and ability to cater to the different needs and requirements of Governments, Corporates and all types of Financial Institutions.

Fawaz is in charge of the DCM Origination business for FAB’s Global Corporate Finance clients. He has worked on a number of landmark transactions for high profile issuers in the Corporate, Institutional and SSA space, covering various DCM products from plain vanilla bonds and setting up MTN Programs, to project bonds, hybrid capital and liability management, both conventional bonds and Islamic (Sukuk).

Fawaz has also originated and overseen the execution of numerous landmark deals outside the region, including the inaugural sovereign Sukuk issuance from HM Treasury and Hong Kong Government SAR. Prior to this role, Fawaz headed FAB's global distribution of Syndicated Loans and also managed FAB's Proprietary fixed income portfolio.

Fawaz holds a BSc (Hon's) in Accounting & Finance from the London School of Economics and is a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst ® designation. He is also the Chairman of the Middle East Region for International Capital Market Association (ICMA) and a Board Member of The Gulf Bonds and Sukuk Association (GBSA).

Alexander Perjéssy is Vice President – Senior Analyst at the Moody’s Sovereign Risk Group. Based in Dubai, he has lead analyst responsibilities for a number of sovereigns in the Middle East, including most of the Gulf Cooperation Council member states and several regional multilateral institutions.

Prior to joining Moody’s in November 2017, Alex worked for two years as senior economist at the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Before relocating to the Middle East, Alex spent more than 12 years covering macroeconomic developments and sovereign risk assessment in the emerging markets of the EMEA region for AllianceBernstein and The Rohatyn Group, both US-based asset management firms in New York, as well as for Goldman Sachs in London.

Alex holds an MA in Economics from the University of Maryland and a BA in Economics from Middlebury College.

Cian is a Senior Investment Officer at Colchester Global Investors and has been with the firm since 2013. Cian manages both developed and emerging market bond portfolios and conducts sovereign balance sheet research at the firm. He began his career in 2002 with the Central Bank of Ireland before moving into asset management with Bank of Ireland Asset Management. In 2011 he joined State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) in London where he was a senior portfolio manager on the active global fixed income team. Cian graduated from University College Cork with a degree in Commerce and German, before obtaining a Masters in Investment and Treasury from Dublin City University. He is a CFA charterholder and a member of the CFA Society of the UK.

Adi Rajguru is Head of Financing Solutions at ADCB. Adi has nearly twenty years of experience in banking, having previously worked at Nomura, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs in Dubai and London.

Chief Economist and Head of Research, Emirates NBD

Khatija Haque joined Emirates NBD in 2011 as one of the founding members of the Emirates NBD research team, helping to build the bank’s macroeconomic coverage on the GCC and wider MENA region over the last decade. She was appointed Chief Economist and Head of Research in 2020.

Khatija has more than 20 years’ experience as an Emerging Markets economist spanning three continents. Before moving to Dubai in 2008, Khatija was a Vice President at Deutsche Bank in London, covering several countries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. She is a frequent guest on local radio and television and is often quoted in both local and international press.

Sharif Eid is a portfolio manager for Franklin Templeton Investments (Middle East) Limited. Mr. Eid joined the Global Sukuk and MENA Fixed Income investment team in April 2009 as a research analyst where he helped develop the group's fundamental research process and production. Mr. Eid was promoted to portfolio manager in 2011 and is currently the co-manager of the FTIF GCC Bond Fund and co-manager of Global Sukuk institutional accounts.

Prior to joining Franklin Templeton Investments (Middle East) Limited, formerly Algebra Capital, Mr. Eid worked for TD Securities in Toronto as a trader. He rotated through credit, FX and interest rate option desks.

Mr. Eid holds a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering and a master's degree in mathematical finance, both from the University of Toronto.

FTIML-Dubai is an active, research-driven, team-based manager which aims to achieve superior long-term investment performance against relevant benchmarks and to provide excellent, value-added client service through the Franklin, Templeton and Mutual Series investment groups. The fund management team performs bottom-up research to manage assets in private and public markets across all asset classes. Their services are packaged as fund solutions, discretionary mandates or structured products.

Franklin Templeton launched a dedicated bond fund aimed at capitalising on the growing debt market in the Gulf region which was supported by portfolio Sharif Eid.

Laughlan Waterston is the Head of Corporate & Project Finance at SMBC’s Middle East Department based in Dubai. Laughlan has 25 years experience in banking with more than 20 years experience of project and structured finance. He has experience on a wide variety of projects and corporates in the energy and infrastructure sectors including power, renewable energy and oil& gas, petrochemicals, waste to energy/ wastewater, utilities, social infrastructure and transportation. His roles include structured finance MLA lending, corporate finance, acquisition finance, green/sustainable finance, financial advisory, capital markets and LP investment.

Iman is responsible for Citigroup’s Middle East & North Africa Debt Capital Markets Business, based in Dubai. In her current role, she advises sovereigns, corporates and financial institutions on access to the international bond & Sukuk markets. Iman’s career spans 18 years with Citigroup in various roles. She holds a BA in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo.

Citi has been present in the Middle East for more than 50 years, primarily through Citibank. The bank is directly represented in main markets, including the UAE, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain, Lebanon, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. It has more than 30 branches and offices in the region. Across the region, the bank offers a range of corporate finance services, including securitization, project & structured trade finance, syndication and advisory.

In 2006, Citi opened its regional Middle East office at Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) following approval by the Dubai Financial Services Authority to operate as an authorized firm at the DIFC in mid-2006. Today, the DIFC houses Citi's Middle East Division management, Investment Banking and Equity businesses in the MENA region along with Islamic Banking and non-UAE regional banking businesses. In 2007, the bank established a dedicated MENA-level equity research team covering major sectors (banks, construction, telecom) operating out of the DIFC.

Citi's journey in the United Arab Emirates started in 1964 when Citibank, a member of Citi, opened its first branch in Dubai followed by Abu Dhabi in 1971. Since then, the bank has been known for delivering excellence and consistently introducing world-class banking products and services to UAE market.

Dr. Sherif Ayoub is the Chief Financial Officer for the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) where he oversees treasury and capital markets, financial control, financial planning and analytics, financial operations, budget and corporate performance as well as risk management. Prior to APICORP, he has assumed numerous leadership positions over his career, serving as Senior Advisor at the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Assistant Secretary General at the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), in addition to working with A.T. Kearney, the US Government, United Nations, and the World Bank in different capacities.

Notably, Dr. Ayoub acquired his PhD in Finance from the University of Edinburgh, and is also a holder of a Masters’ Degree from Columbia University and a Bachelors’ Degree from Baldwin Wallace University. In addition, he has served as a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University.

Dr. Ayoub is a CFA Charterholder and a Certified Public Accountant (CPA). He has also published a book and several articles that relate to the finance and risk management.

Anil Vijayachandran – ACWA Power

Anil Vijayachandran is part of the Acquisitions & Project Finance team at ACWA Power, and has extensive experience in project and leveraged finance, M&A support, bid financial advisory and fund-raising for infrastructure projects in the Middle-East and Africa. He has worked on conventional power (coal, oil and gas fired), water, renewable (solar, wind, hydro) as well as airports and hotel concessions. In his previous role, he has also advised governments, state-owned entities and private developers on complex emerging and frontier market infrastructure project development, structuring and financing.

ACWA Power was formed in 2004 due to the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia decided to increase the role the private sector played in the Saudi economy by opening up the production of electricity and desalinated water to the private sector to own and operate.

ACWA Holding (representing the Abunayyan Trading Company and Abdulkadir Al Muhaidib & Sons Co.) along with the MADA Group for Industrial and Commercial Development (MADA Group) formed a joint venture under the name of ACWA Power Projects in 2004. The latter was the forerunner of present day ACWA Power, which was subsequently founded in 2008.

Mark is Head of Structured Debt Capital Markets at MUFG Securities EMEA plc.

He joined MUFG in November 2015, having spent the previous 6 years in the BNP Paribas Structured Capital Markets group as a Managing Director.

Mark has over 30 years of banking experience, the last 25 years of which have all been in the infrastructure and energy sectors in a wide variety of different roles including bank lending, financial advisory and the debt capital markets covering both private and public executions (last 19 years). During this period he has had broad geographical coverage responsibility throughout EMEA, with also some exposure to transactions in both Asia and Latin America. In the GCC, Mark has led transaction deal teams for Ruwais Power, Adcop and Galaxy.

Mark’s transaction experience is extensive, including direct involvement across all the principal infrastructure and energy related sectors such as oil & gas, power (including renewables), PPP/PFI, transportation (roads / rail / airports / ports), telecoms, aviation, shipping, infrastructure related whole business securitisations / structured corporates.

Asif Karmally is Head of Portfolio Strategy Management within Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank’s Wholesale Banking Division. He oversees the strategic direction of WBG’s portfolio of assets and liabilities, optimizing the portfolio and revenue mix for the Division as well as ensuring compliance with relevant banking ratios and regulations.

Asif started his banking career in 2004 in Deutsche Bank’s Global Markets division in London, working across various product lines including structured credit, debt capital markets and fixed income sales, and rising to co-head of financial institution sales for the GCC in 2012. Between 2014 and 2018 he was part of Goldman Sachs’ Securities Division in Dubai, responsible for structured finance distribution to financial institutions across the Middle East. Asif re-joined Deutsche Bank in 2018, as a Managing Director in the Institutional Client Group where he was responsible for advising the firm's clients on bespoke financing and investment solutions.

Asif is a CFA Charter Holder; he has a BA in Economics and Political Science from Northwestern University, and an MBA in Finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Jaap Meijer is the Head of Research at Arqaam Capital. He is also the Chief Strategist, Chief Economist and Head of FIG research. He is also a Member of Management Committee.

Jaap Meijer holds a Master of Science in Business Administration and Economics with an emphasis on Finance & Investments from Vrije Universiteit (Amsterdam), an MBA from Webster University (St. Louis) and is a holder of both the CFA charter and the CEFA designation (VBA). He is also a mentor in the CFA challenge.

He has 24 year of research experience. Prior to heading up the research at Arqaam Capital, covering MENA stocks, he was a research director at Evolution, Dresdner Kleinwort and Cheuvreux, covering European financial conglomerates, diversified financials as well as investment banks.

His highest rankings were a No 1 ranking in Emerging EMEA Financials in Extel, and a No 2 ranking in MENA Extel survey.

Patrick (‘Paddy’) is Head of Investor Relations and Managing Director for Emirates NBD’s Group Funding and Principal Investment Unit. The Investor Relations team updates the Analyst & Investor community on the Bank’s performance and outlook. The Global Funding team manages the strategic funding needs of the Bank. The Principal Investment team manages an investment portfolio containing hedge funds, credit funds and private equity.

Paddy has been with Emirates NBD since 2007. Prior to that he worked in London as co-head of the global operating-company rating team at Fitch Ratings. Before this he was part of the structured investment group at JP Morgan where Paddy looked after capital modelling and risk management.

Paddy has a B.Sc. (First Class) in Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics from Heriot-Watt University and a M.Sc. in Mathematical Finance from the University of Oxford.

Carla Ajaka is the Head of Financial Markets at United Arab Bank (UAB). She joined the bank in August 2020.

She has more than 24 years of experience in banking. She was the head of Global Markets at HSBC Bank Middle East Lebanon for 17 years. She was covering various geographies including Jordan, Kuwait and Algeria.

Following the acquisition of HSBC by BLOM Carla continued her career for 3 years.

She has substantial experience in Financial markets products and risk management solutions.

Sidra is a seasoned Corporate Finance and Investment Banking professional, with 15 years of wide-ranging experience in loan origination, structuring, underwriting and distribution, across the GCC, South Asia, Egypt, sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Far East.

Sidra is currently acting as Director, Syndications & Loan Distribution at Mashreq. Over her 8 years’ association with Mashreq, Sidra successfully led and raised several billions in financings for sovereigns, GREs, supra-nationals, sponsors, corporates and financial institutions across diverse industries and structures including Corporate and FI loans, Project and Infrastructure Finance, Structured Trade Finance, Non-recourse Acquisition Finance etc. Sidra has demonstrated bookrunning and underwriting capabilities in developing niche markets for the bank, including Egypt, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, etc.

Before Mashreq, Sidra worked for 6 years in Investment Banking at Habib Bank Limited, with a focus on Project Finance and Financial Advisory, that saw her lead financings for several notable power and infrastructure projects.

Sidra has a BBA (Finance) and the CFA designation, and was the recipient of the "MBA Women in Business” award from the CASS Business School, City University, UK. She takes special interest in the topic of ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ and actively promotes inclusion of more women in banking.

Mert graduated with a BSc. degree in Industrial Engineering from Bogazici University, Istanbul in 2005. He started his career in Consumer Banking in Citibank, Dubai and joined Emirates NBD Group in 2008.

He has been part of Emirates NBD Capital platform since late 2012, focusing on capital market transactions and loan syndications.

Mert has led a number of key transactions across project finance, structured finance, leveraged buy-out landscape and covered key regional markets such as UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Africa and Turkey.

Sharif Eid is a portfolio manager for Franklin Templeton Investments (Middle East) Limited. Mr. Eid joined the Global Sukuk and MENA Fixed Income investment team in April 2009 as a research analyst where he helped develop the group's fundamental research process and production. Mr. Eid was promoted to portfolio manager in 2011 and is currently the co-manager of the FTIF GCC Bond Fund and co-manager of Global Sukuk institutional accounts.

Prior to joining Franklin Templeton Investments (Middle East) Limited, formerly Algebra Capital, Mr. Eid worked for TD Securities in Toronto as a trader. He rotated through credit, FX and interest rate option desks.

Mr. Eid holds a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering and a master's degree in mathematical finance, both from the University of Toronto.

FTIML-Dubai is an active, research-driven, team-based manager which aims to achieve superior long-term investment performance against relevant benchmarks and to provide excellent, value-added client service through the Franklin, Templeton and Mutual Series investment groups. The fund management team performs bottom-up research to manage assets in private and public markets across all asset classes. Their services are packaged as fund solutions, discretionary mandates or structured products.

Franklin Templeton launched a dedicated bond fund aimed at capitalising on the growing debt market in the Gulf region which was supported by portfolio Sharif Eid.

Mr. Sky Kurtz is a former technology private equity investor turned serial entrepreneur who is passionate about building impactful companies that tackle big problems in the world. Before founding Pure Harvest, Mr. Kurtz Co-founded Vence—reinventing livestock management through a virtual fencing & autonomous control solution. Mr. Kurtz also served as a divisional CEO within Pultron Composites, delivering novel concrete reinforcement materials that solve infrastructure corrosion challenges.
Prior to building technology companies, Mr. Kurtz invested in them as a Vice President with Francisco Partners, a $15B tech investment firm based in San Francisco, CA that is an affiliate of Sequoia Capital. Mr. Kurtz was also an investor with CCMP Capital, a $17B generalist investment firm based in New York, NY. Mr. Kurtz has served on the boards of five (5) technology companies of all scales (from $2MM to $500MM+ of sales) and considers himself a lifelong student of business.
Mr. Kurtz is an MBA graduate from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) and holds a B.S. in Finance from ASU’s W.P. Carey School of Business where he graduated Summa Cum Laude and was named the Turken Family Outstanding Graduating Senior (valedictory honor)

Natasha is the Head of Debt. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Abu Dhabi-listed investment company Eshraq Investments PJSC.She has broad experience in advisory, origination, structuring and execution across multiple asset classes including Private Equity and Debt Investments, Real Estate and Fixed Income.

Over the last five years, in her previous role as a Director with the Private Debt platform of the Group, she has structured over US$ 7 bn in financing including last mile and mezzanine financing.

Prior to joining the Group in 2014, Natasha was part of the Corporate Finance and Debt Advisory team at Deloitte Corporate Finance Advisory in Dubai.

Natasha holds an MSc in Physics and Mathematics from the University of Bristol in the UK with a year at University of Bologna, Italy.

Ahmad Alanani is the co-founder and CEO of Sancta Capital, an alternative investment manager focused on deep value and special situations in the Middle East and North Africa. Ahmad has 17 years’ experience in debt restructuring, asset securitization and structured lending. Prior to founding Sancta Capital, he held various senior roles at Exotix Capital, MD Sass Investors and RBC.

Ahmad holds an MSc. In Financial Engineering from the Stevens Institute and a BSc. in Mathematics from the University of British Columbia. He is a CFA Charterholder.