Amit Pathak is the director and head of ESG Index Products for the Asia Pacific region at S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI). Amit is involved in the design, methodology and strategic direction of S&P DJI Sustainability Indices across Asia Pacific, as well as working closely with the Research & Design, Sales and Marketing Departments to bring new indices to market. Amit has more than 10 years of experience in various senior level-product and business roles in financial services across the region. Prior to joining S&P DJI, he worked at the Singapore Exchange and Bloomberg, focusing on thematic, smart beta and ESG product offerings. He started his career in investment banking working in a global markets role at Barclays Investment Bank and the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Amit holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and an engineering degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

Dr Ayaz Ismail is the director of wholesale banking at CIMB Islamic in Malaysia, where he covers Islamic investment banking transactions. He has been involved in various ground-breaking and award-winning ringgit and non-ringgit Sukuk offerings. Prior to joining CIMB Islamic, he was with Malaysian multinational conglomerate Sime Darby, carrying out various roles in the CEO’s Office, as well as legal, strategy and communications functions of the group.

Dr Ayaz completed his PhD in Islamic finance at INCEIF University, Malaysia. He graduated with an MBA in financial studies from the University of Nottingham in the UK as a Chevening scholar, and also holds a Bbachelor of Laws (Hons) degree from the same university. He is a Chartered Professional in Islamic Finance charterholder and a grand councilor of the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals.

An experienced capital market regulator, Basheer Ahmad joined the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) in 2008 and is responsible for primary market regulations and for managing the DFSA Listing Authority. He is the Islamic finance subject-matter expert at the DFSA and is also responsible for the development of ESG securities requirements.

Basheer has spent over 20 years working for international regulators, working across securities rules and regulations, policy formulation, listing rules, operating listing regimes and market disclosures. He holds a Barrister-at-Law degree from the Lincoln’s Inn, UK and a Chartered Islamic Finance professional qualification.

Bilal Parvaiz joined Standard Chartered Saadiq (Malaysia) in 2014. He currently heads the Islamic Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking team and is also responsible for regional coverage of Saadiq in the ASEAN markets. Bilal also leads the Halal360 initiative and is the country champion for sustainable finance.

Prior to his move to Malaysia, Bilal was based in UAE as part of the global Islamic banking team, managing structured trade and transaction banking. He played an instrumental role in originating and concluding landmark transactions across the GCC, South Asia and ASEAN, including market firsts such as the world’s first ESG Islamic collateralized commodity Murabahah transaction and sustainable Islamic supplier finance.

Bilal holds an MBA, alongside various academic and professional qualifications. These include a certification in sustainable finance from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management and the Sustainability Leadership Programme at the University of Cambridge. He is also an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals.

Elias Moubarak is a partner in Trowers & Hamlins’s International Banking and Finance Department and currently heads the banking and finance practice in Kuala Lumpur.

Elias has broad experience in both the conventional and Islamic finance spheres. This encompasses representing the full spectrum of stakeholders on a range of banking and finance transactions including project financings and real estate financings as well as capital market issuances.

Sukjoon Jeffrey Lee is the vice-president–sustainable finance regional manager for second-party opinion (SPO) production for Asia Pacific (APAC) with Moody’s Investors Service. Based in Singapore, Jeffrey oversees a team of analysts in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo who are in charge of producing SPOs and publication of thought leadership research related to the APAC sustainable finance market. Jeffrey is a regular speaker and panelist at external conferences and other industry events in APAC. He also represents Moody’s on various high-profile industry working groups. Before his current role at Moody’s, Jeffrey managed the team of SPO production analysts in APAC with Moody’s ESG Solutions. Before his current capacity, Jeffrey worked in Moody’s Investor Services’ Financial Institutions Group. He joined Moody’s in 2013 as an associate analyst covering Korean financial institutions and has served several roles within the group since then. Most recently, he was an assistant vice-president–analyst and part of the team responsible for the portfolio of banks and non-bank financial institutions in South and Southeast Asia. Before joining Moody’s, Jeffrey worked at Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Equity Division in South Korea, covering a portfolio of Korean clients. Jeffrey holds a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from Korea University.

Lim Beng Guan is instrumental in the incorporation of the reNIKOLA Group of Companies and is the executive director of the group since February 2021. He graduated with a Bachelor of Accounting degree from Universiti Malaya in 1994. He started his career in the corporate finance department of Commerce International Merchant Bankers (now known as CIMB Investment Bank) from 1994 to 1998 and then worked as a general manager of corporate affairs at EP Manufacturing, a public listed company, from 1998 to 2000. In 2004, he co-founded ZJ Advisory, a corporate finance advisory firm licensed by Securities Commission Malaysia, and he resigned from the firm in 2022. He is also the executive director of Pimpinan Ehsan.

Louis Booth is the commercial lead for Asia Pacific at Sylvera, a leading carbon data provider. As part of his role at Sylvera, Louis supports private and public sector stakeholders to obtain accurate data to make better decisions for their decarbonization strategies. Prior to Sylvera, Louis worked in the renewable energy industry supporting the development of solar and wind energy facilities across Europe. He holds a Master of Science degree in environmental sciences, specializing in ecosystem restoration.

Marlena Kareem is the editor of Islamic Sustainable Finance and Investment (ISFI), the Islamic sustainable finance arm of Islamic Finance news. She covers developments in the Islamic sustainable finance space in the form of case studies, reports and podcasts. She also played an instrumental role in the launch and development of ISFI. Marlena holds a Master of Science qualification in Islamic finance from INCEIF University and is currently a PhD candidate at INCEIF University. Her areas of academic interest are the Islamic political economy and the Islamic moral economy.

Millie Yap is a distinguished financial market professional, currently serving as the head of debt capital markets and sustainable bonds and Sukuk at HSBC Malaysia. Armed with a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from Universiti Malaya and a Chartered Financial Analyst certification, Millie is now a leader in the debt capital market space with over 20 years of experience in the financial field.

Millie’s career began with Bank Negara Malaysia’s dealings team, where her responsibilities include managing market liquidity, interest rates and issuances of government securities. She then moved on to join a treasury team at Calyon Investment Bank in Singapore. Her journey with HSBC Malaysia began in global markets, where she excelled as the director of institutional and wealth sales for over a decade.

At present, Millie has led and participated in a plethora of landmark deals within the Islamic sustainability debt capital market space, such as the government of Malaysia’s inaugural sustainability labeled Sukuk issuance (US dollar) and Malaysia’s first sustainability-linked Sukuk Wakalah for Yinson (Malaysian ringgit), among many others. Millie’s extensive experience and unwavering commitment to the capital markets, and now sustainable capital markets, underscore her significant impact in the field.

Dr Mohamad Zabidi Ahmad has worked in the banking industry for 38 years. He has amassed 19 years of experience in group treasury products and functions (conventional and Islamic) including corporate (deposits, investments, client solutions), interbank, fixed income and derivatives, product development, structuring and marketing. He previously served as the senior managing director and regional head of Islamic treasury, treasury and markets in group wholesale banking for CIMB Group. During that time, he was responsible for the development of CIMB Group’s regional Islamic treasury franchises, managing over RM100 billion (US$23.88 billion) of Islamic assets for CIMB Group Islamic Banking. His country-focused treasury remits included Singapore, Indonesia, Brunei and Thailand and for five years, he was based in London as a chief dealer. His innovations included the introduction of CIMB’s Islamic repo contract.

Dr Mohamad Zabidi has held various additional executive management positions within the CIMB Group, including the chairman of the Investment Account Oversight Committee and a member of the Group Islamic Management Committee, the Treasury and Market Committee and the Group Islamic Wholesale Banking Committee. He has been widely recognized for his leadership, with CIMB announced as ‘Best Islamic Bank for Treasury Management’ at the IFN Awards in 2019. He previously participated in the Bursa Malaysia/Bank Negara Malaysia Working Group resulting in the formation of the Bursa Suq Al-Sila’ Commodity House and the Working Group resulting in the establishment of the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation.

Dr Mohamad Zabidi served as a proactive chairman of AIBIM Treasury & Markets, leading the CMTC Sukuk Index Task Force in the successful launch of the Sovereign & Corporate Bloomberg-AIBIM-Bursa Sukuk Index in September 2012. In 2018, under his leadership, AIBIM also published the practice notes for Qard Hasan and commodity Murabahah for adoption by AIBIM members. He has presented papers on Islamic treasury products to various central banks, including the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Bank Indonesia and Bank Negara Malaysia.

Among his academic and professional achievements, Dr Mohamad Zabidi holds a doctorate in business administration from Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia and has a Bachelor in Accountancy degree with honors from Universiti Teknologi MARA.

A qualified chartered accountant, Dr Mohamad Zabidi is a practicing member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants, a certified senior financial market practitioner by ACI-Financial Market of Malaysia and the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers and holds an Associate Qualification in Islamic Finance from the Islamic Banking & Finance Institute Malaysia and that of senior associate from the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance.

Mohd Ekmal Mohd Zazi is the regional head of wholesale banking at CIMB Islamic and is responsible for developing and growing the Islamic wholesale banking business of CIMB Group. Prior to joining CIMB Islamic in April 2020, he was with CIMB Bank, carrying out capital and balance sheet management roles of the group. He was a key person in the liquidity and interest rate management of the group, ensuring sustainable assets growth through a lean and optimized balance sheet. He started his career as a management trainee with CIMB Investment Bank back in July 2007.

Mohd Ekmal graduated with a Master of Science degree in risk management and financial engineering from Imperial College London in 2012. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in actuarial science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Chartered Professional in Islamic Finance charter.

Mushtaq Kapasi leads the International Capital Market Association (ICMA)’s work in the Asia Pacific region. He has been based in Hong Kong since 2002, engaged in senior strategy, capital market and legal roles covering the region at international banks active in Asia. He has worked as a lawyer in debt capital markets and derivatives, a structurer in equities and fixed income, a manager of complex trades with regulatory and accounting considerations and an advisor to top executives on emerging market strategy. He has also designed financial structures of renewable energy projects in frontier markets. He studied mathematics at the University of Texas and law at Yale University.

Nor Masliza Sulaiman is the deputy CEO overseeing the origination, execution and syndication of fixed-income, equity-linked and equity transactions. She is primarily responsible for the capital markets franchise of CIMB Group which covers conventional, Islamic and ESG-themed transactions across G3 and regional local currencies for bonds (commercial papers, medium-term notes), convertible and exchangeable bonds, project finance bonds, securitization and structured finance (including asset-backed securities, corporate hybrids and regulatory capital), as well as underwriting and placements of primary and secondary equity market transactions.

Nor Masliza has more than 23 years of experience in the ASEAN debt markets, equity-linked products, derivatives and Islamic finance. She is the chairperson of the Debt Capital Markets Committee of the Malaysian Investment Banking Association. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree (Distinction) majoring in finance and accounting with a minor in economics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and is a CFA charterholder.

Raja Amir was appointed as CEO of HSBC Amanah in May 2021 and is responsible for executing the HSBC Group’s strategy for Islamic banking in Malaysia, driving sustainable leadership and value-based intermediation efforts while spearheading the development of talent, particularly in relation to Islamic finance and sustainability within the group. Prior to his appointment, Raja Amir was the head of debt capital markets for Malaysia.

Raja Amir started his career in London in the tech industry and moved to a local investment bank in 2006. Thereafter, he joined HSBC Amanah in 2010 and has since held various roles within the International Currency Business Unit and Debt Capital Markets team.

In recent times, Raja Amir led the government of Malaysia’s US$800 million sustainability Sukuk, being the world’s first-ever sustainability Sukuk by a sovereign as well as the issuance of Yinson Holdings’s RM1 billion (US$220.36 million) five-year sustainability-linked Sukuk Wakalah, Malaysia’s first-ever sustainability-linked Sukuk.

Raja Amir is also in charge of delivering Project Cocoon, a sustainability transformation program to truly embed sustainability in HSBC Amanah by achieving more than 51% of HSBC Amanah’s financing balances to be aligned to the ‘Triple-Bottom-Line’ principles.

Sedef Gunsur works as a senior investment officer at IFC Financial Institution Group Upstream & Advisory and is responsible for capital market development for developing countries in the region.

Sedef has a strong background as a senior finance professional with nearly two decades in banking, prior to joining the IFC in October 2021. Sedef has extensive sell-side and buy-side experience in emerging markets and has in-depth capital market knowledge having raised circa US$50 billion in capital markets over 85 deals over the years. She has sound credentials in Islamic finance covering Middle East and Islamic finance since 2008 and worked on many debut Sukuk deals for sovereigns, financial institutions and corporates.

Sedef has a proven track record of building and developing businesses across geographies, co-founding the Capital Markets Turkey Department for UniCredit and building up the global debt capital market business expanding outside of the UAE for First Abu Dhabi Bank (previously known as the National Bank of Abu Dhabi), among others.

Sedef graduated from Lehigh University with a dual degree in economics and international relations, holds a Master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University – SIPA and an Executive MBA degree from INSEAD.

Shahariah Shaharudin is the president of Saturna, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saturna
Capital Corporation. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in business studies from Knox College, Illinois and a Master of Arts degree in economics from University of Illinois, Springfield.

Shahariah has more than 30 years of experience in the areas of fund management, stockbroking and commercial banking. She started her career in a commercial bank with extensive experience in retail banking, trade finance and corporate banking and later joined a stockbroking company, overseeing both the stockbroking and futures broking business. She also worked for a fund management house under the Strategic Business and Market Development Division where her core responsibility was sourcing business and servicing both retail and wholesale clients. She was CEO and an executive director of Kenanga Islamic Investors until joining Saturna in October 2018.

Shahariah speaks at Islamic finance and ESG conferences. She is passionate about Islamic investment and has participated in the Brunei Roundtable; presented in events in Shenzen, China; and was nominated in the ‘Top 10 List for Women in Malaysian Financial Institutions’ by a local magazine.

Shahariah is currently a holder of the Capital Market Services Representatives License for fund management.

Sharifatul Hanizah is the executive director of Islamic capital market development of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC). She leads a team that facilitates the developmental and operational initiatives for Malaysia’s Islamic capital market (ICM). This encompasses initiatives through the deepening and broadening of ICM products and services to further strengthen Malaysia’s position as a global hub for ICM as well reviews of industry proposals and Shariah status for listed/pre-IPO securities.

Sharifatul has extensive and diverse experience of over 30 years in the fields of investment analysis, portfolio management, equity trading and unit trust while serving in various organizations such as Permodalan Nasional (PNB), RHB Investment Management and Muamalat Invest. During her tenure in PNB and RHB, Sharifatul’s board experience was vast, spanning consumer goods, technology and manufacturing companies. She served on the boards of exchange-listed and private companies as a nominee director for PNB and RHB.

Prior to joining the SC in August 2019, Sharifatul was CEO of SIDC, the learning and development arm of the SC. She is a fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia, a certified financial planner, an Islamic financial planner and a fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia.

Vineeta Tan is managing editor and a director of REDmoney Group, one of the world’s longest-running Islamic finance media houses. Vineeta oversees REDmoney Group’s stable of products including Islamic Finance news, IFN Fintech and Islamic Sustainable Finance & Investment.

With over a decade of experience in the journalism and publishing industry, Vineeta specializes in ethical and Islamic finance as well as fintech reporting and analysis covering regions including the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.

As managing editor of IFN, Vineeta leads the editorial direction and business development of IFN and its sister publications in addition to authoring reports, producing podcasts and conducting video interviews. She has interviewed senior industry players, key stakeholders and senior dignitaries including the finance/economic ministers of the Ivory Coast, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Vineeta is a regular on the international conference circuit as both a moderator and speaker. She has an MBA and is trained in journalism and sociology. Vineeta also holds the Islamic Finance Qualification awarded by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investments,UK.