Petar Rajic is a Senior Analyst in the Resolution branch of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), Australia’s regulator of banks, insurers and superannuation (pension) funds. APRA’s primary functions are prudential supervision of regulated entities, policy, and resolution.

Petar’s current focuses include identifying critical functions in insurance, as well as the implementation of APRA’s prudential standards related to recovery/exit and resolution planning. Petar has also worked closely on enhancing APRA’s depositor and policyholder protection schemes, as well as on insurers and banks exiting their respective industries.

Prior to joining APRA in 2020, Petar had roles in the private sector and at Japanese government agencies in Sydney.

Petar holds Bachelors degrees in Asian Studies (Japanese) and Economics from the Australian National University, and a Master of International Business and Law from the University of Sydney. Petar has also studied abroad at Japan’s Yokohama National University and Hitotsubashi University, and is a fluent Japanese speaker.

Muhammad Rifqi is a Specialist in Research Group, Indonesia Deposit Insurance Corporation (Lembaga Penjamin Simpanan/LPS). One of the focuses of his research is regarding the implementation of Sharia principles in deposit insurance and resolution function of LPS.

Prior joining to LPS, Rifqi had various working experiences, including being an auditor in PricewaterhouseCoopers Indonesia and Pefindo Credit Bureau. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Accounting from University of Indonesia, as well as Masters and Doctoral degrees in Corporate Finance from Tohoku University, Japan. He is also a CFA charterholder from CFA Institute.

Amir Alfatakh started his career in banking as a conventional banker in 1997 specialising in SME and Commercial Banking products and services, before focusing in Islamic Banking products and services in 2003. His early training ground includes financial institutions such as OCBC Finance Berhad, OCBC Bank, Kuwait Finance House, AmIslamic Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered Saadiq Bank, as well a stint in Doha, Qatar with Al Khaliji Commercial Bank.

Amir joined UOB Malaysia in 2016 as part of the team that set up the Islamic Banking proposition for UOB Malaysia. He specialises in the development and implementation of both consumer and wholesale banking products. He leads a team that works closely with the Head of Islamic Banking to plan, strategise and execute initiatives for UOBM’s Islamic Banking franchise.  Amir regularly conduct talks on Islamic Banking and is a trainer registered with Islamic Banking & Finance Institute of Malaysia (IBFIM) and Malaysia Institute of Accountants (MIA). He teaches part-time Masters students in Universiti Teknologi Mara (UITM) on the subject of Islamic Banking. He also maintains a free-to-use website on Islamic banking issues and practices (https://Islamicbankers.me).

Ezry Fahmy is currently the Head of Shariah Governance in the Shariah Management Department at Maybank Islamic Berhad. In his role, he oversees and ensures robust Shariah governance practices across all Islamic banking operations within the Maybank Islamic Banking Group.  

Ezry rejoined Maybank Islamic Berhad after gaining experience as a Senior Associate in Shariah Advisory and Structuring at Guidance Investments, the investment management subsidiary of Guidance Financial Group.

During his earlier tenure with Maybank Islamic Berhad, Ezry provided Shariah advisory support to the Group Islamic Banking business and operations, particularly in the Asia Pacific region.

 Prior to his roles at Maybank Islamic and Guidance Investments, Ezry was involved with Hong Leong Islamic Bank Berhad, where he played a significant role in the merger of Hong Leong Islamic Bank and the former EONCAP Islamic Bank.

Ezry Fahmy is a qualified Chartered Islamic Finance Professional (CIFP) from the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) and holds a B.A. in Economics and Management Sciences from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

Ahmad Lutfi graduated in 1995 from International Islamic University Malaysia with a LL.B (Hons) and was subsequently admitted to the Malaysian Bar in 1996. He has also obtained his professional qualification from the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) and graduated from the Institute in February 1996. He embarked on his journey as a legal practitioner by joining Hisham Sobri & Kadir from 1996 to year 2000 where he was made partner. Lutfi then became one of the founding partners of Azmi & Associates and now heads a team of 15 lawyers who specialise in financial services and Islamic banking.

He has advised various clients in numerous exercises ranging from private debt securities, syndicated and cross-border financing, structured and project financing, trade facilities; both conventional and Islamic, Islamic banking product development, Islamic profit rate swap, corporate debt restructuring, privatization and build-operate-transfer/build-operate-own projects, mergers and acquisitions, foreign direct investment, energy and power related transactions, joint ventures to telecommunication projects and building contracts and Islamic derivatives.

Lutfi has presented papers, conducted workshops, trainings, moderated and participated in forums on Islamic finance in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Russia, Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom, Italy, Luxembourg, Nigeria, Austria, Saudi Arabia and had moderated the Malaysia Belgium Conference on Islamic Finance. Lutfi is also an Independent Non-Executive Director of Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Berhad (MIDF).

Sir Jon Cunliffe is a former British central banker, diplomat and government official. He served from 2013 to 2023 as Deputy Governor for Financial Stability at the Bank of England, responsible for financial stability; the regulation and supervision of payments systems, clearing houses and central securities depositories; the Bank’s international work; and, until 2020, the Bank’s role as the U.K. resolution authority. He led the Bank’s work on the regulation of stablecoins and on a potential U.K. central bank digital currency.

As Deputy Governor he was deputy Chair of Financial Policy Committee, a voting member of the Monetary Policy Committee, and a member of the Prudential Regulation Committee that oversees the regulation and supervision of banks and insurance firms in the U.K. Prior to his role at the Bank of England, Sir Jon served in various government official roles including as the U.K. Permanent Representative to the European Union, advisor on Europe and international financial issues to two British Prime Ministers, and Second Permanent Secretary to His Majesty’s Treasury. Sir Jon has held a number of international central bank roles: most recently as Chair of the Bank for International Settlements Committee on Payments and Financial Market Infrastructure, member of the Financial Stability Board and chair of its Cross Border Payments Committee; and the Bank of England’s deputy to the G20.

Prior to joining the Bank, Sir Jon served in a number of international government roles including as the U.K Prime Minister’s representative (‘Sherpa’) to the G7 and G20 leaders’ groups and previously, as the U.K. Treasury deputy to the G7 and G20 ministerial groups. In his earlier career, Sir John served in a range of positions at His Majesty’s Treasury and at the Departments of Transport and Environment. Sir Jon was knighted in 2009 for his work during Great Financial Crisis. He has Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in English Literature and Language from the University of Manchester and also studied and taught at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. He is married with two grown daughters.

Over 15 years, Shahril has built a tri-sector career in the public, private, and non-profit spaces. He was Economic Director in the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Office and was a member of the National Economic Action Council. He also spent three years as a consultant with McKinsey and Company, where he worked across Southeast Asia advising multinational clients across various industries, after which he became CEO of Destini Oil, a mid-sized energy services company operating in five countries.

From 2018 to 2020, Shahril ran IGV Partners, syndicating angel and venture investments into Malaysian tech startups. He now brings these various experiences to bear in his activities in the private markets through Watchtower Advisory, where he advises international investors, asset managers and entrepreneurs with an interest in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. As part of this broader private markets activity, Shahril was also recently appointed Senior Advisor at GP Bullhound, a global tech advisory and VC with over USD1 billion in AUM and 13 offices across Europe and the US.

Alongside this full-time career, Shahril co-hosts and co-owns Keluar Sekejap, Malaysia’s newest digital media company anchored on its main podcast covering policy, politics and current affairs. He is also a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and was recently Visiting Fellow at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Shahril holds a BA in Economics from the University of Manchester and an MSc in Race, Ethnicity, and Postcolonial Studies from the London School of Economics, where he was the recipient of the 2011 Hobhouse Memorial Prize.

Dato’ Seri Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour is the 10th Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, appointed on 1 July 2023. Prior to that, he was the Deputy Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia since 2016.

Dato’ Seri Rasheed joined Bank Negara Malaysia in 1988 and helmed various positions across the breadth of the central bank’s primary functions. These included monetary policy and economics, international reserves management and financial markets, financial sector development, and banking regulations.

Dato’ Seri Rasheed played a leading role in driving the central bank’s advocacy efforts on economic affairs, including social protection and labour market reforms as well as advising the Government on issues relating to the management of the pandemic. He also played key roles in the development and implementation of the Financial Sector Masterplan and Financial Sector Blueprints.

At the international level, Dato’ Seri Rasheed had served on various international platforms, such as the Islamic Financial Services Board and Bank for International Settlements. He had also championed various efforts to strengthen regional financial integration and cooperation, such as the ASEAN Banking Integration Framework. He had also served as the Alternate Executive Director of the Southeast Asia Voting Group Office of the International Monetary Fund.

Dato Sri Zukri was appointed as the Chairman of the Board of Directors on 1 November 2023.

He has held several key positions in various organisations, including Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Lembaga Tabung Haji, Managing Director of Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad, Group Chief Executive Officer of BIMB Holdings Berhad and Director of Lembaga Hasil Dalam Negeri Malaysia (LHDN). Dato Sri Zukri was one of the key team members of Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Berhad (Danaharta) at the height of the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997/1998 where he was instrumental in navigating its loan restructuring and recovery activities. Subsequently, he served as Danaharta’s Managing Director from July 2003 until December 2005.

Dato Sri Zukri was the Executive Director of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Executive Committee (EXCO) Chairman of International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF), Director of Malaysia Debt Ventures Berhad, Chairman of Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM), President of Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM), Director of Asian Institute of Finance (AIF) and Director of Aafaq Islamic Finance Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Samy Harraz was appointed Head of Policy Coordination and International Relations at the Single Resolution Board in September 2015. Samy manages setting policy surrounding the new resolution regime and coordinates his agency’s liaison with relevant stakeholders in Europe and beyond.

Prior to joining the SRB, he worked at FMSA (the German resolution authority) and before that as an investment banker, corporate strategist and chief country officer in London, Geneva, Frankfurt and Athens.

He read Archaeology of the Ancient Near East at the Freie Universität Berlin and was awarded a master’s degree in Management from Glasgow University.

Dr Heemann is Director-General of the Department Resolution Planning Private Banks, Controlling and Crisis Management relating to Resolution at the Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht (Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, BaFin). Before joining the German resolution authority, he worked as a lawyer with international law firms and an accounting firm. Dr Heemann’s practice focused on financing and restructuring transactions in the financial sector, banking supervisory law and recovery and resolution planning for banks. He has widely published articles and books on financial law and banking regulatory issues.  Dr Heemann holds a doctorate degree in law (Dr. Jur.) from the University of Münster and obtained a LL.M. degree from the University of Chicago Law School.

Arthur is the Head of the Resolution Office at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA). He oversees the HKMA’s efforts to establish and maintain a credible resolution regime to ensure financial stability. He also leads the HKMA’s cross-border cooperation and policy discussions on resolution-related matters at the Financial Stability Board, crisis management groups for banks, and other international forums. He has extensive experience in resolution reform and crisis management, including frameworks design, institutional setup, policy formulation, resolution planning, financial safety nets, and banking regulations.

Previously, Arthur served in the Banking Supervision Department and Monetary Management Department of the HKMA. Before joining the HKMA, he worked as a FIG M&A advisor, advising global financial institutions on cross-border transactions in the Asia-Pacific region.

John is the Managing Director of Asian Capital Advisors, a strategic advisory firm specialising on the Asian insurance market, orchestrating mergers and acquisitions, promoting distribution partnerships, and championing insuretech innovations.

John has been based in Hong Kong since 2000, with leadership roles at Generali Asia, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW), Macquarie Funds Group, and Manulife Financial. His international experience spans earlier roles in Canada with Manulife Financial and in Australia with National Australia Bank, Colonial Mutual, AMP Society, and KPMG.

John holds a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) at UNSW Business School and a Bachelor of Economics (BEc) from Sydney University. His professional qualifications include being a Fellow Chartered Accountant Australia and New Zealand (FCA ANZ) the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD) and the Hong Kong Institute of Directors (FHKIoD).

Michael is the Head of FINMA’s Technical Expertise, Policy, and International Relations Team in the Recovery & Resolution Division. He has profound knowledge and long-term experience at national and international levels. Michael joined FINMA as a member of the Credit Suisse Line Supervision Team in 2015. In March 2021, Michael joined the Recovery & Resolution Division and became head of recovery and emergency plans of the Swiss D-SIBs and FMIs. Since April 2023, Michael’s team is responsible for recovery & resolution planning for UBS, the Swiss DSIBs, FMIs as well as insurers. Before joining FINMA, Michael worked eight years at PwC’s financial markets audit practice in Zurich and New York providing audit services to Swiss and American Banks. Michael holds a degree in business administration and is a Swiss Chartered Public Accountant.

André is the Head of Unit in the Portuguese Resolution Authority, responsible for developing strategies and methodologies for resolution planning experts and supporting the Portuguese Deposit Guarantee Fund. The unit employs a Data Science approach to support resolution planning and execution, designing and developing in-house open-source solutions that ultimately contribute to the financial stability of the Banking Union.

Brett King is an International Bestselling Author, a world-renowned futurist and media personality. He has spoken in over 50 countries, given keynotes for TEDx, Wired, Techsauce, Singularity University, Web Summit, The Economist, IBM’s World of Watson, CES, SIBOS and more. He has also appeared on CNBC, BBC, ABC, Fox, and Bloomberg. He advised the Obama administration on Fintech.

King hosts the world’s #1 Fintech Radio Show/Podcast called Breaking Banks (180 countries, 6.5 million listeners). He is the founder of Moven, a globally recognized mobile start-up, which has raised over US$40 million to date, and launched the first in-app mobile bank account offered anywhere in the world.

Banking Exchange named him the King of the Disruptors, he was nominated as American Banker’s Innovator of the Year, voted the world’s #1 Financial Services Influencer by The Financial Brand and listed by Bank Innovation as one of the top 10 “coolest brands in banking”. King was shortlisted for the Advance Global Australian of the Year for being one of the most influential Australians offshore. His book Augmented: Life in the Smart Lane, was a top-10 non-fiction book in North America and was cited by President Xi Jinping. Bank 4.0 remained a global bestseller in banking more than 12 months after its release. The Rise of Technosocialism, his 7th book was released in November 2021.

Mr. Jinhoon Jeong is a Team Head in the Office of Deposit Insurance Education. He is the person in charge of the 2023 and 2024 Global Training Program in South Korea. Additionally, he is responsible for the further development of KDIC Academy, a platform for education and knowledge accumulation at KDIC, gained from his experience in both domestic and international matters. 

Prior to this, he was at the Department of Resolution, where he played a key role in the privatization of Woori Bank, which was the biggest bank among the public fund-injected financial institutions in Korea after the Asian Financial Crisis. He was also in charge of Recovery and Resolution Planning (RRP) for Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs) in Korea and coordinating resolution-related meetings with the Financial Stability Board.

Mr. Jeong earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Seoul National University in 2002. He earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine in 2020. He is also qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) in 2008, and a Financial Risk Manager (FRM) in 2022, respectively.

Mr. Seonghun Kim is a Senior Manager in the Department of Resolution. He is responsible for restructuring insolvent financial institutions, particularly the insurance sector. While steering the restructuring process regarding a non-life insurance company that was designated as an insolvent financial institution in April, 2022, he is concurrently working on improving the deposit insurance scheme related to resolution.

Prior to this, he built his career in the Department of Bank Risk Management, analysing risks of the banking sector. Furthermore, he had an opportunity to gain experience in the Financial Services Commission as a Secondee, working on legislative amendments and legal interpretations for the savings banking sector.

Mr. Kim graduated from Sogang University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Electronics and Business Administration in 2010. He earned his Master’s degree in Management Engineering from KAIST University in 2012. He also qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) in 2017.

Originally from South Africa, Bruce joined KPMG at the beginning of 2020 to lead the UAE turnaround and restructuring practice from the UK where he spent 27 years in banking, restructuring and performance improvement.

Served as a partner at Alvarez and Marsal, where he led, and was CEO of, the UK part of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc Chapter 11 restructuring and other large bank restructurings and portfolio work outs in a number of regions. He has held a number of advisory roles for global banks and has advised on or led asset carve-outs, acquisitions and private equity transactions.

Whilst at Alvarez and Marsal, Bruce advised in a number of different regions (UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Dubai, Kuwait, Pakistan, Korea, Russia) on a number of sectors including financial services, real estate, commodities and energy. He had also worked on other projects such as Including, with it’s a MIFID II project under ABN Amro, and NAMA, the National Asset Management Agency of Ireland and SAREB, the Spanish government’s asset management company.

Prior to Alvarez and Marsal, Bruce was a director of a UK listed bank, holding a number of senior positions, including 8 year in credit and work out. He sat on the Board of the bank and a number of its asset finance subsidiaries and spent 3 years in Internal Audit and led IT for the bank for 3 year period.

Afiza Abdullah was appointed the Executive Vice President of PIDM in January 2022. As the Executive Vice President in charge of resolution, she is responsible for the overall management of all Member Institutions’ resolution plans as well as the functions related to various aspects of PIDM’s intervention and resolution, crisis management, macro surveillance, and policy. Afiza joined PIDM in 2011 as Deputy General Manager, Policy and International Division, and was subsequently appointed as General Manager, Policy and International Division in 2016.

Prior to joining PIDM, Afiza had over 9 years of regulatory experience with Bank Negara Malaysia and had been involved in, among others, prudential policy formulation for insurance and banking sectors, and the modernization of the Central Bank of Malaysia Act 2009 as well as the regulatory laws. She was a core team member in the development of Bank Negara Malaysia Financial Blueprint. She began her career in an audit firm in London, United Kingdom, and joined a local investment bank upon her return to Malaysia, before joining Bank Negara Malaysia. Afiza graduated with a Bachelor of Finance and Accounting (Honours) from the University of Salford, United Kingdom.

Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr. Noor Hisham Abdullah is a distinguished healthcare leader, serving as Chairman of the National Heart Institute (IJN), UCSI Healthcare Group, and the WHO Standing Committee on Health Emergency Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (SCHEPPR). He is the Former Director-General of Health Malaysia and a Senior Consultant Surgeon specialising in Breast, Endocrine, and General Surgery.

Additionally, he contributes to global health initiatives as a member of the New Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Technical Advisory Group for WHO Western Pacific Region and the Board of Directors of the Drug for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi). In his role, he has been prominent in leading Malaysia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A chartered accountant by training, Kwok Piow has more than 28 years of experience in the field of corporate recovery and restructuring, transaction services, forensic accounting and investigation as well as regulatory policy. Kwok Piow began his career with a major accounting firm in Malaysia. During his tenure, Kwok Piow was seconded to the firm’s London office to be trained and specialised in corporate recovery, forensic and transaction services.

Among the notable achievements of Kwok Piow in the field of transaction services include carrying out restructuring and listing exercises of several PLCs; financial due diligence and advisory for a sell-side NPL portfolio sale and a buy-side equity stake sale of commercial banks in Malaysia; as well as advising on the completion of accounts and purchase price adjustments of several sales and purchase transactions in the UK.

Kwok Piow joined Bursa Malaysia in 2010 as the Head of Corporate Surveillance. Working closely with the Securities Commission and other regulatory bodies, he was responsible for the surveillance and investigation of corporate transactions and activities relating to PLCs in Malaysia as well as taking appropriate and timely regulatory actions to ensure orderly market and investor protection.

In 2012, Kwok Piow joined PIDM and is entrusted with the responsibilities to oversee the end-to-end spectrum of risk assessment as well as the intervention and resolution for member institutions. Working closely with BNM, Kwok Piow led the development of the resolution planning framework in Malaysia and is currently overseeing its implementation by PIDM member banks.

Dr Tunku Alina Alias serves as independent director on the boards of three public listed companies IJM Corporation Berhad, Batu Kawan Berhad , Nestlé (Malaysia) Berhad and a bank, United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Berhad. She is also the Chair of JA Russell & Co Sdn Bhd a family business with global interests in tea plantations, FMCG and agribusiness. In these boards, she chairs or is a member of the Audit, Risk Management, Nomination, Remuneration and Governance Committees. She volunteers as advisor to UNGCB Network (Malaysia/Brunei) and as mentor to entrepreneurs with Endeavor (a start-up/scale-up ecosystem), and aspiring director members of Leadwomen and the 30% Club, both of which advocate and support women leadership in the corporate world.

Alina is passionate about corporate sustainability and climate change related issues and is presently a guest speaker in ICDM’s Mandatory Accreditation Program I for directors, to speak on these matters. She is a lawyer by profession, a certified mediator and holds a doctorate in philosophy in the field of Islamic Finance.

Paul Petrelli is the President & CEO of Assuris and the current Vice Chair and former Chair of the International Forum of Insurance Guarantee Schemes (IFIGS). Assuris is the independent, industry-funded compensation organization for the life insurance industry in Canada. Assuris is designated by the federal Minister of Finance under the Insurance Companies Act of Canada (ICA) and recognized by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) as the compensation body whose members are Quebec-chartered life insurers. All life insurers in Canada are required to be members of Assuris as a condition of their licence to operate.

In addition to providing funding that protects the value of Canadian policyholder guaranteed benefits in the event of a failure, Assuris performs independent failure risk and resolvability risk assessments of Canadian life insurers, manages resolution planning for Canada’s Internationally Active Life Insurance Groups, and is responsible for resolution strategies and plans in the event of failure.

Founded in 1990, Assuris has been called upon to deal with four failures in its history. In all four cases, all Canadian policies were transferred to solvent life insurance companies. Assuris has protected almost three million policyholders. Assuris has developed expertise in solving unique, and largely unprecedented, issues in life insurance company insolvencies. For more information on Assuris, please visit www.assuris.ca.

IFIGS is a group of insurance guarantee schemes from around the world interested in sharing their experiences in providing policyholder protection in the event of an insurance company failure. For more information about IFIGS, please visit www.ifigs.org.
Prior to his appointment as President & CEO of Assuris in 2021, Mr. Petrelli held a wide variety of senior leadership roles at Sun Life over the course of more than 20 years in the life insurance industry, including responsibility for global Compliance, Corporate Development, Corporate Governance, and Canadian Finance. He obtained his B.A. (Honours) from the University of Toronto in 1991, his LL.B. from the University of Windsor School of Law and was admitted to Law Society of Upper Canada as a member in 1997. He also obtained a Master of Law degree from the University of Toronto School of Law in 2019, specializing in Innovation, Technology and Law.

He is the Executive Vice President of Perbadanan Insurans Deposit Malaysia (PIDM) since January 2022, overseeing finance, operations and stakeholder engagement functions. Prior to this, he had been involved in various areas of operations in the capacity as the Chief Financial Officer, as well as taking on an assurance and advisory role as the Chief Internal Auditor.

He has gained extensive experience in various roles within several organisations in the areas of external and internal auditing, risk management, office operations and administration, accounting and finance operations, treasury and fund management, corporate planning, corporate finance, corporate restructuring, business process management and compliance as well as information technology. More recently, he has also been involved in strategic leadership, management and stakeholder engagement roles.

Ikram holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is a Chartered Accountant, member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) and a Chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance (CPIF). He is a Fellow of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ), Certified Public Accountant (Malaysia) of MICPA and ASEAN Certified Public Accountant. He also currently chairs the Professional Accountants in Business Committee (PAIBC) and the Chairman of the Sustainability Committee of MIA. Retired as Council Member of MIA in October 2023, Ikram also was the former chair of the Integrated Reporting Committee (IRC) of MIA.

Mohamad Hud is the Senior Manager, Shariah and Sustainable Development Department, PIDM. He currently carries out the Shariah advisory and review function for PIDM. The role provides support to PIDM in ensuring Shariah compliance with respect to the implementation of the Islamic protection system.

Prior joining to PIDM, Mohamad Hud had over 6 years of regulatory experience with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and 6 years of Islamic banking industry experience with Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad. During his service in BNM, he performed various functions related to shariah including shariah consultancy and advisory, Islamic banking and takaful product assessment and Secretariat of the Shariah Advisory Council (SAC) of BNM. He was also involved in the formulation of policies and laws, amongst others, the Shariah Governance Framework, Shariah contracts policy documents and Islamic Financial Services Acts (2013).

When he was in Bank Islam, he performed functions related to Shariah research, Shariah advisory and secretariat of the Shariah Supervisory Council of Bank Islam. He was also involved in providing Shariah research and advisory for significant projects of the bank, for e.g. the development of investment account products, and industry driven projects such as the Debt Management Programme under Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit (AKPK).

He holds a Degree in Shariah from Al-Azhar University, Egypt and Masters in Islamic Banking and Finance from MARA University of Technology (UiTM), Malaysia. He is also a holder of Certified Shariah Advisor (CSA) from Association of Shariah Advisors in Islamic Finance (ASAS) for which he is also the Deputy Secretary of the Executive Committee (EXCO) of ASAS.

Mohammad is a public policy consultant with a keen interest in behavioural economics and evidence-based policy. He is the author of the National Behavioural Insights Guideline and serves as an associate with the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC). As the leader of the Economic Prosperity Cluster at a local non-governmental organization, he is dedicated to advancing economic development and social welfare initiatives.

He holds a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Malaya and an MPhil from the University of Cambridge.

Dr. Eva Hüpkes took up her position as Secretary General of the International Association of Deposit Insurers in August 2023.
Prior to joining IADI, Dr. Hüpkes was Head of Regulatory and Supervisory Policy at the Financial Stability Board (FSB). She helped shape the FSB/G20 policy response to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, including the FSB Framework for Reducing the Moral Hazard Risks of Systemically Important Financial Institutions and the FSB’s global resolution standard for the banking, insurance, and financial market infrastructure sectors. More recently, her work at the FSB has focused on digital innovation and the regulation, supervision and oversight of crypto-assets.

From 1999 to 2009, Dr. Hüpkes served as Head of Regulation at the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) where she worked on broad range of legislative and regulatory initiative spanning banking and securities regulation, as well as anti-money laundering. She was Co-chair of the Basel Committee Working Group on Cross-border Bank Resolution that in 2009 developed, jointly with IADI, the first set of Core Principles of Effective Deposit Insurance Systems. From 1997 to 1999 she worked at the International Monetary Fund where she supported the Fund’s response to the Asian financial crisis.

Dr. Hüpkes is a member of the New York Bar and studied law and international relations at the University of Passau, the University of Geneva, the Geneva Graduate Institute, Georgetown University, and the University of Bern, where she obtained her doctorate in law. She has published widely in academic journals and is a member of the International Monetary Law Committee of the International Law Association and a lecturer in international financial regulation at the University of Zurich.

Rafiz Azuan Abdullah was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of PIDM on 28 August 2017.

He joined PIDM in 2007 and led the Insurance, Risk Assessment and Monitoring Division where he spearheaded the completion of the Risk Assessment System for PIDM. In 2011, with the expansion of PIDM’s mandate to also include the Takaful and Insurance Benefits Protection System, he managed the establishment of the Risk Assessment and Differential Levy Systems Framework for insurer members. In June 2014, Rafiz Azuan assumed the role of Executive General Manager, as part of the PIDM’s CEO succession planning.

He is the Chairperson of the Research Technical Committee under the IADI Asia-Pacific Regional Committee. Rafiz Azuan served as a member of IADI’s Executive Council from 2017 to 2020 and was previously the Chairman of IADI’s Islamic Deposit Insurance Technical Committee.

Prior to joining PIDM, Rafiz Azuan served at the Rating Agency Malaysia for more than 10 years, where he specialized in rating financial institutions, real estate and construction companies. In 1999, Rafiz Azuan was seconded to the Corporate Debt Restructuring Committee at Bank Negara Malaysia to assist with the restructuring of distressed companies as a result of the economic recession.

Rafiz Azuan graduated from Lancaster University, United Kingdom in 1995 majoring in Accounting and Finance. He then pursued a professional accounting qualification (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants – ACCA) at Emile Woolf College in London, United Kingdom. He has also completed the Advanced Management Program, a program designed for an elite group of senior executives, at the Harvard Business School.

He started his career in an accounting firm where he covered audit of diverse industries including financial. The last 30+ years has been in the insurance and takaful industry, in particular, the life insurance.

Over the span of his career, he has taken roles that cover audit, financial management, tax planning and business strategies. His last role was that of the Chief Financial Officer of a multi-national insurance company.

Sanjay Sarma is CEO, President and Dean of the Asia School of Business, and a professor of engineering and the Sloan School of Management at MIT. Sarma was one of the founders of the Auto-ID Center at MIT, which, along with a number of partner companies and its “spin-off”, EPCglobal, developed the technical concepts and standards of modern RFID. He also chaired the Auto-ID Research Council consisting of 6 labs worldwide, which he helped set up. Today, the suite of standards developed by the Auto-ID Center, commonly referred to as the EPC, are being used by over a thousand companies on five continents.

Sarma serves as chairman of EPCglobal, the worldwide standards body he helped create. Between 2004 and 2006, Sarma took a leave of absence from MIT to found the software company OATSystems, which was acquired by Checkpoint Systems (NYSE:CKP) in 2008. He is a consultant and board-member at several companies, and also serves as a permanent guest of the board of GS1 and a member of the board of governors of GS1US. He also served on the board of Hochschild Mining (LON: HOC), and was involved in the IPO of the spinout, Aclara Resources (TSE:ARA). He serves on the board of the AI company Rekor Systems (NASDAQ: REKR). He has also serves on the boards, founded or advises several companies including Cleanlab (an AI startup), Alsym (a battery startup), IFM Investors and Jimco.

Sarma is an expert on digital transformation, and has researched, led, written about and spoken on projects related to RFID, IoT, sensors, autonomy, AI, AR, VR, 5G and the philosophy and ethics of technology and innovation. He is widely considered one of the progenitors of modern RFID systems and the field of IoT. He has also done significant work on the future of work and national and intergovernmental policies.

Sarma received his Bachelors from the Indian Institute of Technology, his Masters from Carnegie Mellon University and his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. In between degrees, Sarma worked at Schlumberger Oilfield Services in Aberdeen, UK. Sarma’s Masters thesis was in the area of operations research, and his PhD was in the area of automation. His current research projects are in the areas of RFID, sensors, IoT, AI and energy, especially applied to batteries, transportation and sustainability. He has over 150 publications in computational geometry, manufacturing, CAD, RFID, signal processing, security, sensors and automotive systems. He is one of the key author’s of India’s Aadhaar unique ID system which underlies its digital ecosystem.

Sarma’s research has been recognized with several best paper awards. He is a recipient of the MIT MacVicar Fellowship, National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the Daniel and Fort Flowers Chair at MIT, the Den Hartog Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Keenan Award for innovations in undergraduate education, the New England Business and Technology Award, and the MIT Global Indus Award. He was selected on 2003’s Business Week ebiz 25, Fast Company Magazine’s Fast Fifty and the RFID Journal’s Special Achievement Award.

Between 2010 and 2012, Sarma helped establish a new university in Singapore called the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). Since 2012, he served as the first Director of Digital Learning at MIT and the VP of Open Learning there. His Office, the Open Learning, oversaw MIT’s Open CourseWare project and the development of MIT’s pioneering Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC’s), MicroMasters, the MIT Integrated Learning Initiative, the Jameel World Education Lab, MIT xPro and Horizon. Sarma also served on the board of edX, the global online education provider.

Dato’ Zainul Arifin Bin Mohammed Isa, who is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Big Boom Media Sdn Bhd, has been in the media business for over 30 years, starting from being a cub reporter and later heading the digital business arm of one of the biggest media groups in the region.

Dato’ Zainul is also one of the Directors who set up Big Boom Media Sdn Bhd (BBMSB) which owns the www.Scoop.my bilingual online news website. Before forming BBMSB, Dato’ Zainul was the Chief Executive Officer of Petra News Sdn Bhd.

Over the years, he has held various positions within the Media Prima/New Straits Times Press Group and was in the thick of a major revolution within the media industry, and in some ways helped the Group adapt to the changes.
His last position in the Media Prima Group was as Chief Executive Officer of Media Prima Digital, which among others was tasked at developing new digital-driven businesses as well as extending the reach of the content created by the Group’s newspapers, television and radio stations.

Before his foray into the digital business, Dato’ Zainul was the New Straits Times Press’ Group Managing Editor, where he supervised the editorial operations of the three newspapers within the group, namely The New Straits Times, Berita Harian and Harian Metro.
Dato’ Zainul was also the North America/New York Correspondent for the New Straits Times from 1996 – 2000.

He was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree from the University Malaya, and a Master of Arts degree from New York University.