Driving Change, Realizing Impact: Launching the Principles for Responsible Banking

Dr. Dalia Abdel Kader
Chief Sustainability Officer, Commercial International Bank (CIB)

Dr. Dalia A. Kader is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of sustainable finance and branding financial institutions. She currently holds the post of Chief Sustainability Officer at Commercial International Bank – Egypt (CIB) Egypt’s leading private sector bank.

An advocate for sustainable finance since 2003, Dr. Kader has been a pioneer in advancing the discipline within the financial industry and related international networks.  In 2014, she helped launch MOSTADAM, the first platform for advancing sustainable finance in the MENA with a focus on capacity building, policy advocacy and promoting sustainable products and services. Dr. Kader represented Egypt in the working sessions of the G20 Green Finance Study Group that issued the 2017 Green Finance Synthesis Report. In 2018, she helped launch the Principles for Responsible Banking during her term at AAIB and was appointed by the UNEP FI to promote the principles in the MENA region.

Salvaging an inter-disciplinary exposure to finance, political science, economics and sustainability, Dr. Kader conceived the concept of “Humanizing Finance” which advocates System Thinking with the discipline of Finance, which was the subject of a TEDx Talk in 2013. She also introduced and lectured on a proprietary postmodern interpretation of the marketing discipline in international platforms. Dr. Kader has given talks as part of several local and international conferences on sustainable finance and sustainability branding including the Financial Times conference “Future of Marketing” in New York in 2016. She was also an adjunct professor at the American University in Cairo (AUC), instructing courses on “Sustainability Marketing” and “Egypt: Corporate Responsibility & Social Entrepreneurship” for the MBA program from 2013 to 2016.

In her capacity as the Director of Sustainability & Marketing Communications at Arab African International Bank (AAIB), a post she held from 1997 to 2019, she contributed to the turnaround performance and positioning of the bank, especially when it comes to its sustainable finance. In 2009, Dr. Kader made AAIB the first bank in Egypt to join the Equator Principles and introduced social and environmental risk management policies and procedures to the bank’s corporate line of business. Dr. Kader leveraged international networks to provide professional guidelines for the bank’s sustainability efforts, including the UN Global Compact – which recognized AAIB for Best Practices from 2011 through 2017 – and the London Benchmarking Group.

She is also Founder, Vice Chairman and Board Member of the “We Owe it to Egypt” foundation, the first of its kind to be established by a financial institution in the Middle East in 2007. Dr. Kader is also Board Member of Al Taleem Haya Fund (Education for Life Fund). She had been Head of the Sustainable Development Committee at the Federation of Egyptian Banks from 2014 to 2020, overseeing an EGP 400 million slum development project.

Dr. Kader holds a bachelor’s and master’s in Political Science from AUC as well as a PhD in Political Science from Cairo University, from which she graduated with distinction.

Adembola Adebise
CEO, WEMA Bank

Adebise has over 30 years’ experience in the banking industry (inclusive of four years in management consulting), and has worked in various capacities in Information Technology, Financial Control & Strategic Planning, Treasury, Corporate Banking, Risk Management, and Performance Management.

Before joining Wema Bank, Adebise was the Head of the Finance & Performance Management Practice at Accenture (Lagos Office) where he led various projects for banks in Business Process Re-engineering, Information Technology and Risk Management.

He is an alumnus of the Advanced Management Program (AMP) of the Harvard Business School and holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Lagos. He obtained a master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the Lagos Business School.

Adebise is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). He is also an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and Computer Professionals (Registration Council of Nigeria). He is an Honorary Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (HCIB) and a member of the Institute of Directors.

Adebise serves on the board of Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS), AIICO Insurance Plc, and AIICO Pensions Management Limited.

Prior to his appointment as Managing Director, he was the Deputy Managing Director of Wema Bank.

Sheila Aggarwal-Khan
UN Environment Director, Economy Division

Sheila brings to this position more than 30 years of management and technical expertise from a range of institutions. Sheila was the Director of the Green Climate Fund and Global Environment Facility operations at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

She has previously served as an Environmental Specialist at a U.S. State Department of Environmental Protection, as well as at the Environment Liaison Centre International and the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. At UNEP, she held positions ranging from Senior Advisor in the organization’s Strategic Implementation Team to Acting Director of the Policy and Programme Division and Deputy Director of the GEF Coordination Division.

Under Sheila’s leadership at IUCN, she grew the programme from the two largest global environmental funding mechanisms five-fold, increasingly bringing in actors from the banking, investment and insurance sectors alongside those from sectors such as energy and agriculture.  She is also serving as the external advisor in the UNDP working group that is reviewing its business model in one of its global fund operations.  Sheila has authored The Policy Process in International Environmental Governance and Promoting Coherence: Towards an Effective Global Environment Facility.

Sheila holds a doctorate in Development Studies from the University of East Anglia with her Master’s and Bachelors’ degrees from the U.S.

Antoni Ballabriga
Global Head of Responsible Business, BBVA (Spain)

Antoni Ballabriga is Global Head of Responsible Business at BBVA. He reports directly to the Board of Directors. His mission is to ensure that people are systematically placed at the decision-making processes. He assists the CEO in proposing Responsible Banking policy and defines its plans, and is responsible for its implementation & monitoring. He works mainly as second line to challenge and give support to all areas to embed this policy in their operational models. This includes the design of customer solutions to marketing and sales, customer relations & complaints; sustainable finance integrating environmental & social opportunities & risks; reputation monitoring & risk management; integrated report; community investment.

He is CEO of Momentum Social Investment and professor at ESADE Business School. Former President of DIRSE, Spanish Association of CSR Professionals and Former President of SpainSIF, Spanish Forum for Socially Responsible Investment. Antoni holds a Degree in Business Sciences and MBA from ESADE Business School. He has studied at Harvard Business School and is First Mover Fellow at The Aspen Institute.

Christine Bergeron
President & CEO, Vancity

As President and Chief Executive Officer of Vancity, Canada’s largest community credit union, Christine believes that banking plays a vital role in developing a healthy society – building the well-being of people and, at the same time, ensuring the long-term sustainability of the communities in which they live and work.

Prior to becoming CEO, Christine held several senior leadership roles within Vancity, serving as Vancity’s Chief Member Services Officer, leading the Member Experience & Community Engagement division.

Christine’s achievements in fostering community impact, social justice and environmental sustainability have earned her accolades from Business in Vancouver magazine, which included her in its 2007 “Top 40 Under 40” list. In 2012, the Association of Women in Finance gave her the Rising Star award, and in 2017 Clean50 awards recognized her for her dedication to sustainability.

Christine chairs the board of InBC Investment Corp., and currently represents North America on the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative’s Banking Board.    She serves on the board of the Women’s Enterprise Centre as past-chair; the board of Aviso Wealth, and the Board of Governors for the BC Business Council.

Peter Blom
CEO, Triodos Bank

Jean-Laurent Bonnafé
CEO, BNP Paribas

Cândido Bracher
CEO, Itaú Unibanco

Degree in Business Administration, Fundação Getúlio Vargas, São Paulo. Co-Founding Partner, BBA – Creditanstalt, a corporate banking joint venture created in 1988 between the then leading Austrian bank and a group of Brazilian banking executives; 15 years as Member of the Board and Head, Corporate Banking and Treasury Divisions, BBA Creditanstalt, until its merger with Banco Itaú in 2003. Since 2005, Chief Executive Officer, Itaú BBA, Itaú Unibanco’s Corporate and Investment Banking unit and Latin America’s largest corporate and investment bank. 2015-16, General Director, Itaú Unibanco’s Wholesale Banking Division and Member of Itaú Unibanco’s Management Committee and Board of Directors. From May 2017, Chief Executive Officer-elect, Itaú Unibanco. Member of the Board, Colégio Santa Cruz, São Paulo.

Guy Cormier
President & CEO, Desjardins Group

Mr. Cormier is a graduate of École des hautes études commerciales (HEC Montréal), where he earned both a bachelor’s degree and an MBA. He also taught finance there for nearly 8 years. He has been with Desjardins since 1992, first as general manager of several caisses within the network and then as Vice-President of Cooperative Network Finance from 2009 to 2012. He joined Desjardins Group’s senior management team in 2012 as Executive Vice-President of the Caisse Network before being appointed Executive Vice-President of the Caisse Network and Personal Services in 2013. He was elected President and CEO of Desjardins Group in 2016. Mr. Cormier also served as chair of Desjardins General Insurance Group from 2016 to 2018 and is currently chair of Desjardins Financial Security.

Since being elected President and CEO, Mr. Cormier has worked hard to instill a strong member- and client-focused corporate culture. He encourages innovation and has fast-tracked the organization’s digital shift. He also set up a $100 million development fund to support local and regional community initiatives.

Under Mr. Cormier’s direction, Desjardins Group has continued to grow, including through its acquisition of State Farm’s Canadian operations. Desjardins has also forged a new partnership with the provincial credit union centrals and CUMIS to create a new company, Aviso Wealth, which is already one of Canada’s leading wealth managers.

Mr. Cormier is actively involved in a number of community organizations, including the fundraising campaigns of Fondation Forces AVENIR, Le Diamant theatre in Quebec City, Fondation Madeli-Aide and the Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal Foundation. He’s also active in Fondation Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis, the Montreal Heart Institute and Domaine Forget. Mr. Cormier sits on the boards of HEC Montréal, the Conference Board of Canada and Fondation Forces AVENIR.

Ricardo Cuesta
CEO, Produbanco Grupo Promerica

Graduated from FIU – Florida International University in Economics and Latin American Studies. His proficient training is complemented by international seminars on Digital Transformation Strategy, Strategic Planning, Marketing, Management, Treasury, Corporate and Consumer Credit, among others.

His professional career has been connected to the financial sector, holding positions of high responsibility at a national and international level in institutions of recognized trajectory: Citibank, N.A. (Mexico, Panama, Ecuador); Banco Aserval (Ecuador); Sociedad Financiera and Banco MM Jaramillo Arteaga (Ecuador); Chief Executive Officer for Banco Promerica Ecuador and, for the last six years as Chief Executive Officer for Banco de la Producción – Produbanco, member of Grupo Promerica (PFC – Promerica Financial Corporation).

He has actively participated in boards of organizations related to the financial sector: Chairman of the Board of ASOBANCA, Private Banking Association of Ecuador; Senior Director of the Fondo de Liquidez de la Banca Privada del Ecuador, Private Bank´s Liquidity Fund; Chairman of the Board of AIFE – Asociación de Instituciones Financieras del Ecuador, Association of Financial Institutions of Ecuador; Credit Rating Committee, Thompson Bankwatch Credit Agency; Administrative Council of CICSA – Central de Informes de Crédito y Cobranzas de México, Credit Bureau of Mexico.

In addition, Ricardo has been awarded the Banking CEO of the Year Ecuador Award for two consecutive years (2017 – 2018) by The European Global Banking & Finance Awards of London, UK.

Sola David-Borha
CEO, Africa Regions, Standard Bank Group

Karen Degouve
Head of Sustainable Business Development, Natixis

Past experience and achievements include:

– project finance (energy sector)
– credit insurance
– investment fund management and distribution (carbon, infrastructure)
– climate finance
– environmental & social responsibility
– impact investing business development
– origination and execution of financial mandates
– private equity / venture capital investing (as business angel)
– emerging capital markets (Russia)

Specialties: credit insurance, project finance, sustainable development, impact investing, social business, venture capital, private equity, infrastructure, carbon markets, renewable energy, environment, climate change, emerging markets, origination, distribution, international negotiation, lobbying, international background and culture.

Morgan Despres
Head, Secretariat, Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS)

Simone Dettling
Banking Team Lead (Simone is currently on maternity leave and Puleng Ndjwili-Potele replaces Simone as Interim Team Lead)

Simone leads the Banking Team of the UN Environment Finance Initiative (UNEP FI), a global partnership between the UN and more than 200 banks, investors and insurers. As such she manages leadership initiatives with banks from over 60 countries around climate-aligned, sustainable finance. Formerly, Simone managed the German Government’s Emerging Markets Dialogue on Green Finance, under which she and her team worked with financial institutions from G20 Emerging Markets and Europe to integrate environmental costs into financial decision making and product development. As expert on green finance at the German International Cooperation (GIZ), she furthermore advised projects in emerging economies worldwide on renewable energy and energy efficiency financing, incorporation of natural capital considerations in financial decision making, as well as innovative approaches for green economic development. Simone holds an MA in International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. and during her career has lived and worked in various developing countries, such as Bangladesh, Lebanon, Syria and Malawi. Before joining UNEP FI she completed a half-year cycling trip from Germany to Iran.

Dimitrios Dimopulos
Director of Sustainability Unit, Piraeus Financial Holdings

Dimitrios Dimopoulos received his bachelor degree in biology and his PhD from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Since 1989, he has been involved in nature conservation and sustainable development working for environmental organizations. He is a member of the Board of ARCHELON an active Greek NGO.  In 2006, he joined Piraeus Bank and today is the Director of the Sustainability Unit. His work involves drafting of sustainability policies and strategies, reduction of the Bank’s operational environmental footprint, management of environmental and climate risk, education and raising awareness on environmental and social aspects, participation in sustainability indices (extra-financial ratings) and organizations. He represents the Bank at UNEP FI. Recently he was involved in creating the Principles for Responsible Banking as member of a UNEP FI working group. He also participates in the EU Business @ Biodiversity Platform, a forum for dialogue and policy interface to discuss the links between business and biodiversity.

Wendy Dobson
Group Head of Corporate Citizenship, Standard Bank Group

Wendy Dobson is the Group Head of Corporate Citizenship for Standard Bank. Prior to joining Standard Bank in 2009, Wendy held executive positions at the Department of Trade and Industry and the National Economic Development Labour Council (NEDLAC). She is an alumnus of the University of the Witwatersrand, with a BA Honours (Industrial Psychology), a Masters of Management Degree (Public and Development Management). Wendy recently completed a Masters of Arts (Applied Ethics for Professionals) focusing on the ethics of corporate lobbying. In her current role at Standard Bank, Wendy leads the bank’s approach to advocacy, stakeholder engagement, sustainability and shared value with the aim of building trust between the bank and its stakeholders. Her particular areas of interest are Business Ethics, Business and Society, Corporate Citizenship, and the political role of corporations in emerging markets.

Karsten Dybvad
Chairman, Danske Bank

As Chairman of Danske Bank, Mr. Dybvad represents a major European bank and brings a highly qualified Nordic perspective to the table, based on his extensive experience from the public as well as the private sector. This includes experiences and learnings from the Nordic financial sector, which continues to be a frontrunner and global driver of sustainable finance.

Lilja Björk Einarsdóttir
CEO, Landsbankinn

Lilja graduated as a mechanical and industrial engineer from the University of Iceland in 1998 and completed a master’s degree in financial engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, USA in 2003.

Lilja is a self-employed consultant and board member in companies. From 2008 to 2016, Lilja managed the operations, asset management and recovery of the old Landsbanki Íslands, LBI ehf., In London. From 2005 to 2008 she was an expert and later Managing Director of Landsbanki Íslands hf. in London and was responsible, among other things, for day-to-day operations and development of support departments. Previously, Lilja worked for the consulting firm Marsh & McLennan from 2003 to 2005 and worked, among other projects, for the Ford car manufacturer, a specialist in planning and risk models for insurance and financial management.

Martina Fuchs
Senior Business Reporter, CGTN

Martina Fuchs is an international TV presenter, business journalist, and China and Middle East expert. She is former CNNMoney Switzerland TV Anchor based in Zurich and previously worked as Senior Business Reporter for Chinese state broadcaster CGTN (China Global Television Network) in Beijing. Before that, she was Reuters Economy Correspondent for the Gulf Arab region in Dubai and Reuters Financial TV Producer in London.  

Martina Fuchs holds a Master in International Economic History from the University in Geneva, a Postgraduate Diploma in TV Journalism from the American University in Cairo, and a Master of Science in Global Finance (MSGF) from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the New York University (NYU) Stern Business School. 

She speaks 9 languages, including: German, French, English, Chinese, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Swahili. 

She has covered top global news events around the world, such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing in 2017, the G20 Summit in Hangzhou in 2016, the St. Gallen Symposium, and has conducted dozens of exclusive interviews during her career, including with the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach, ICBC President Gu Shu, Syngenta CEO Erik Fyrwald, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, Chinese star pianist Lang Lang, or Grammy Award winner and musician  Will. I.Am. 

Kaj-Martin Georgsen
Head of Corporate Responsibility and Public Affairs, DNB

Kaj-Martin Georgsen is Head of corporate responsibility and public affairs at DNB, where he started to work in 2010. For more than three years now he has been in charge of DNB’s work with corporate responsibility and sustainability. In DNB’s strategy launched two years ago corporate responsibility is a strategic priority and many initiatives are being taken to embed sustainability in the bank’s business.

Prior to working at DNB, Georgsen was Head of public affairs and strategy at Terra-Gruppen AS, an alliance of Norwegian savings banks. Before joining the banking sector, he worked as a political advisor for Norwegian Conservative Party, both at the Parliament and for the Minister of Finance (2001-2005). Georgsen has studied international politics and economy at Sciences Po Paris and at the University of Chicago.

Ravneet Gill
CEO, Yes Bank

Ravneet Gill is an eminent leader with more than 3 decades of experience with the last 25+ years with Deutsche Bank AG, the 11th largest bank in the World. He is a well-known banker with an illustrious career spent spearheading all key banking functions including Corporate Banking, Capital Markets and Treasury Solutions (CMTS), Investment Banking, Retail & Private banking at Deutsche Bank AG. Most recently, Ravneet Gill was re-appointed as the MD & CEO of Deutsche Bank, India for the 3rd term by RBI.

He started his journey at Deutsche Bank in 1991 in private wealth management and moved to the Corporate Banking in 1993 growing from a relationship manager to becoming the CEO in 2012. He has been also a member of Deutsche Bank AG’s Asia-Pacific Executive Committee. In 2003, he took over as Head of Corporate Banking Coverage and held the position till December 2008, when he was appointed Head of Coverage for Global Markets and built a dominant flow franchise to compliment the platform’s structured products’ capabilities. In 2011, he took the responsibility of Head of Capital Markets & Treasury Solutions, India and oversaw the successful integration of Corporate Treasury Sales, Debt Capital Markets & Corporate Banking Coverage. In his most recent role as CEO of Deutsche Bank’s businesses in India, he has ensured one of the lowest NPAs in the industry, and delivered one of the highest post tax Returns on Equity amongst all banks in India with a team of over 14,000 employees.

Under Gill’s leadership, Deutsche Bank has been a recipient of many marquee international & domestic awards & recognitions, and he is regarded as one of the most high profile and successful MNC CEOs in India today.

Ravneet was also a Member, Management Committee of Indian Banks Association (IBA) from 2012 – 2018 and holds a Masters in Political Science from Hindu College, University of Delhi (Year 1985).

Konehali Manana Gugushe
Acting CEO, Land and Agricultural Development Bank of South Africa

Kone joined the Land Bank in September 2015 as the Chief Risk Officer(CRO) responsible for the risk management function of the Land Bank including identifying, mitigating and managing all risks for the Bank as well as facilitating the setting of the organisation’s risk appetite, tolerance and threshold levels – which informs the decision making within the Bank.  Whilst serving as the CRO she also assumed the responsibility of Acting Company Secretary between July 2017 and October 2017 and Acting CFO between January 2019 and May 2019.  On departure of the CEO in May 2019 she was appointed by the BOARD to serve as the Acting CEO of Land Bank.  As the Acting CEO she reports to the Board of Directors, the primary responsibility involves giving strategic guidance to ensure that the company achieves its mission and objectives whilst directing and controlling the company’s operations.

Dmitry Gusev
CEO, Sovcombank

In 1998 Dmitry graduated from the Finance Academy under the Government of the Russian Federation majoring in Finance and Credit. Later in 2001 he was awarded a PhD degree in Economics after the approval of his thesis on the topic of international taxation.

In 1997 Dmitry Gusev joined the Russian office of Coopers & Lybrand before it merged with Pricewaterhouse to become nowadays PwC.

In 2001 he changed to the department of taxes and law at Deloitte in Russia. In 2005 – 2007, he held the position of partner and head of international tax advisory team in Russia and CIS at Deloitte in Moscow.

Dmitry joined Sovcombank as an advisor to Chairman of Management Board in 2007. In 2011 he was appointed CEO and Chairman of Management Board. Nowadays holds the same position and is also one of the minority shareholders of the bank.

Ralph Hamers
CEO, ING

Davida Heller
Senior VP of Corporate Sustainability, Citi

Davida is Senior Vice President of Corporate Sustainability at Citi. Her work centers on the development and execution of Citi’s environmental and social initiatives including the implementation of Citi’s Sustainable Progress Strategy and management of the $100 Billion Environmental Finance Goal. Davida works closely with internal and external stakeholders to build company-wide awareness of sustainability and climate change-related opportunities and risks.

Prior to joining Citi, Davida was Head of Member Engagement at The Climate Group, a non-profit organization dedicated to driving action to create a ‘net-zero’ emission global economy, where she worked with Fortune 500 companies on greenhouse gas emissions reduction initiatives. At The Earth Institute at Columbia University, she managed corporate relations and oversaw professional development for the institute’s sustainability-related education programs. Previously, she worked in consulting and feature film production and development.

Davida is based in New York City. She received a B.A. from George Washington University and an M.S. in Sustainability Management from Columbia University.

Laurence Pessez Hublot
Group Corporate Social Responsibility Director, BNP Paribas

Norihiko Kato
CEO, Golomt Bank

Mr. Kato has extensive banking experience for over 30 years. He started his career at Bank of Tokyo (current MUFG Bank), and took various positions in Tokyo, New York, Amsterdam and Bahrain in corporate banking, HR, planning, regional management and subsidiary-bank management.

Moreover, he has tremendous experience in Mongolian banking sector, having served as a senior advisor, Acting CEO and CEO of Khan Bank for five years during the period from 2009 to 2016 and also served as a Vice President of Mongolian Bankers Association.

Prior to joining Golomt Bank, Mr. Kato worked as CEO of Sathapana Bank in Cambodia and transformed the bank into one of the leading banks in Cambodia with latest digital banking services. He also contributed to developing Cambodia’s Sustainable Finance Initiatives as the Chairman of newly established Sustainable Finance Committee of Association of Banks in Cambodia (ABC).

Mr. Kato holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from University of Tokyo, Japan and MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management, U.S.A.

Norihiko Kato was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of Golomt bank on 23rd May, 2019.

Arif Khan
CEO, IDLC

Casper von Koskull
CEO, Nordea

Casper von Koskull was appointed President and CEO of Nordea in November 2015. Nordea is the biggest bank in the Nordic region and a Top-10 bank in the EU. Casper has been a member of Nordea’s Group Executive Management since 2010 when he was appointed Head of Wholesale Banking.

Prior to Nordea, Casper held a series of senior executive positions in the financial sector in Europe and the US. He was Managing Director and Partner of Goldman Sachs International in London, and also held key positions at UBS London, Citibank Frankfurt and Citibank New York. Casper graduated from the Helsinki School of Economics in Finland with a MSc in Economics and is an alumnus of Harvard Business School’s Program for Management Development (PMP).

Outside of his work at Nordea, Casper is an Elected Member of the Council for SNS/Center for Business and Policy studies, a Sweden-based independent think tank that brings together the worlds of academia, business and government. He is also serves as Chairman of the Board of the European Business Leaders’ Convention (EBLC), a gathering of Europe´s most important businesses leaders and globally renowned experts.

Wang Kun
Deputy General Manager, International Banking Department, ICBC, China

Mr. Wang joined ICBC Head Office in 2002. From 2002 to 2011, he worked in the International Banking Department, and successively served as the Deputy Head of Financial Institutions Div, the Deputy Head of Rules Management & Strategy Planning Div., Overseas Institutions Management Div, Head of International Financial Institutions Div. Europe & Africa. From 2011 to 2013 he served as the Vice President of ICBC Nanchong Branch, from 2013 to 2016 he served as President of ICBC Bazhong Branch.From 2016 to November 2017, he served as the Deputy General Manager of Strategic Investment and Investors Relations Dept of ICBC HO. In November 2017, he was appointed as the Deputy General Manager of International Baking Department. Mr. Wang obtained a master’s degree in English from Beijing Foreign Studies University.

Anders Langworth
Group Head of Sustainable Finance, Nordea

Anders Langworth is Head of Group Sustainable Finance at Nordea, where integrating sustainability in the Groups entire offering – investments, financing, advice and internal operations is the main objective.

Anders has worked in the financial industry since 2006, at Citibank, Genworth Financial and joined Nordea in 2011, where he has led several business development units. He started working full time with sustainable finance in 2016 and have had previous roles such as Head of Strategy & Implementation and Deputy Head of Group Sustainable Finance. He is based Sweden and holds a Masters in Business Administration from Stockholm School of Business and the Certificate of Management Excellence from Harvard Business School.

Anders is also the Founder of Bankers for Climate (www.bankersforclimate.com), a fully independent non-profit climate change movement for all employees in the global financial industry. The purpose is to drive positive change from within the industry.

Omobolanle Victor Laniyan
Head of Sustainability, Access Bank

Celina Padilla Maerdi
President, Banco Hipotecario de El Salvador

Celina Padilla Meardi has a vision to create better opportunities and make the economy of the country grow through banking services.

In 2002 she graduated with a law degree from the Universidad Dr. José Matías Delgado of El Salvador and in 2004 she obtained her license to practice law in the Republic of El Salvador. In 2005 she earned the authorization from the Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador to be a notary under the Civil Law System. Celina continued her postgraduate studies achieving a master’s degree in International Transactions and Comparative Law, at the University of San Francisco, California, United States in 2005. She has advanced studies on legal aspects of technology, blockchain having gained her diploma in December 2018 through the Options & Future Institute, in association with Colade and Felaban.

With a 19 year experience in the Banking sector, at Banco Agricola, a subsidiary of Grupo Bancolombia, and a strong commitment to her country and with ethical values as a professional, Celina Padilla Meardi takes the lead of Banco Hipotecario in June 2019, under the administration of the President of El Salvador, Nayib Armando Bukele, to bring a refreshment to the banking business with more products and services to offer, creating efficiency within the bank and a strengthening of the national banking service by contributing with an inclusive way to offer banking products and services.

With a vision focused on clients and modernization, Celina has based its management on four pillars: trust, transparency, respect and communication, which has generated an environment of innovation and development for the entire institution.

Keith Mestrich
CEO, Amalgamated

Keith R. Mestrich is President and Chief Executive Officer of Amalgamated Bank, a socially responsible financial institution with nearly $5 billion in commercial assets and a trust and investment management business with over $45 billion in custody and investment assets under management. Keith has three decades of experience in the financial sector, many of those assisting the bank’s core constituencies in labor, nonprofits, political organizations and issue-advocacy campaigns.

As CEO, Keith leads a team of 425 employees who are working to prove that mission-driven banking is not just possible, but also a powerful force to address the social needs of our changing world.

Keith was appointed CEO in June 2014. As CEO, Keith took the helm of a non-performing institution and has led the bank’s financial recovery. Under his leadership, the bank has returned to profitability, improved its credit quality, increased non-interest bearing deposits 89 percent, reduced wholesale funding 50 percent in three years, and delivered a 30 percent increase in net interest margin. In this same period, the bank achieved a 14 percent compound annual growth rate of stable, low-cost core deposits (excluding time deposits) over the three-year period that ended December 31, 2017.

In 2017, Keith guided Amalgamated’s acquisition of San Francisco-based New Resource Bank (NRB), creating the country’s largest socially responsible financial institution and providing a national platform for future growth.

Puleng Tumelo Ndjwili-Potele
Interim Banking Team Lead

Puleng is the Interim Banking Team Lead at UNEP FI. She was involved in developing the Principles for Responsible Banking, and currently leads the team that works closely with Signatory Banks and various stakeholders to support and drive implementation of the Principles for Responsible Banking, focusing on impact and driving alignment of bank portfolios with sustainable development objectives.
She started her career as a commercial law attorney. She left practice to work in the legal departments of Investec and then Standard Bank. She spent four years in Standard Bank’s corporate and investment banking department, working on property development transactions. Thereafter, she moved to Standard Bank’s Regulatory Advocacy team, where she worked with a broad range of stakeholders on policy issues, engaging with policy makers and regulators on emerging policies and legislation, including financial technology.
Puleng has obtained a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Laws, and Masters degree in Public Policy from Wits University. She is passionate about sustainable development, and working towards achieving the objectives of the SDGs in order to realise an equitable and sustainable future for all.

tumelo.ndjwili-potele@un.org

Maria Netto
Climate Change Lead Specialist, IDB Group

Joshua Oigara
CEO, KCB Group

Joshua Oigara, CBS, is a member of the KCB Group Plc and KCB Bank Kenya Boards as well as the KCB Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director. He is the Chairman of the Energy and Regulatory Commission of Kenya, a Director of the Vision 2030 Delivery Board and was commended by H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta on the Award of Chief of the Order of the Burning Spear, CBS, for exemplary service to the people and Nation of Kenya. Further to these, Joshua has been selected by the Minister of Sports to join the World Rally championship steering committee. He is also the Chairman, Kenya Bankers Association, the banking industry lobby.

Listed as one of African’s top 25 leaders to watch based on his role to champion transformational leadership and change on the continent by the Financial Times, Joshua actively engages at National and Industry level to drive this agenda.  Where possible, he will prompt and drive discussions that aim to address Leadership, Governance, Sustainable financial inclusion and technological innovation concerns at various business Schools and International Conferences.

Joshua was named among the top 100 youngest and most influential economic leaders in Africa by an independent French research center and was among six other under 40-year old Kenyans in the top 100 list in the annual research conducted by Paris-based Institut Choiseul in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Elsa Palanza
Managing Director, Global Head of Sustainability & ESG, Barclays

Elsa Palanza is a Managing Director and the Global Head of Sustainability & ESG for Barclays. In this role, Elsa leads the strategic direction and execution of the bank’s policies and practices across a broad range of sustainability and ESG matters, including climate change, environmental stewardship, human rights and social impact. She manages ESG assessment and approach for the firm, strengthening client and investor engagement, and ensuring diverse stakeholder perspectives are integrated into decision-making. In addition, Elsa oversees the development of appropriate and ambitious standards and metrics to advance green and sustainable finance and steward early innovation in sustainable product and service development.

Elsa assumed this role with over 20 years of experience as a strategic advisor for corporations, foundations and non-profits. Most recently, she was enlisted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create and launch a platform to advance progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. For many years, Elsa served as Director of Commitments for the Clinton Global Initiative, a role that afforded her comprehensive insight into best practices in sustainability, cross-sector partnership development, and corporate responsibility. Previously, she worked in Washington, D.C., delivering geopolitical and industry risk analysis to large international energy companies, and in Istanbul, Turkey, leading strategy and business operations for an education company.

Elsa attended Middlebury College and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Laurence Pessez
Global Head of Corporate Social Responsibility, BNP Paribas

Laurence Pessez has been leading the Corporate Social Responsibility of BNP Paribas since 2010. Under her leadership, the bank became in 2017 the n°1 bank in Europe for its sustainability performance, according to the extra-financial analysis Vigeo-Eiris. In 2019, she contributed to obtaining the “World’s Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility” award by Euromoney and to positioning the bank as the n°1 bank in Europe and n°3 worldwide in Corporate Knights’ “Global 100 most sustainable corporations in the World” ranking.

Prior to her current role, she occupied a variety of positions in Communications, Marketing, and HR in several other corporations. Laurence graduated from Sciences Po Paris. She is a Board member of both the French think tank Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI) and ‘Finance for Tomorrow’, the Sustainable Finance arm of the French financial hub.

François Riahi
CEO, Natixis

François Riahi has served as Chief Executive Officer of Natixis and been a member of BPCE’s Management Board since June 1st, 2018.

Francois Riahi holds degrees from Ecole Centrale Paris, IEP Paris and Stanford University, and is a former student of ENA and an Inspector of Public Finances. He joined Groupe BPCE in March 2009 and has been in charge of Group Strategy, then in 2012 responsible for the Asia/Pacific platform of the Corporate & Investment Banking division of Natixis. In 2016, François Riahi was appointed a member of Natixis’ Senior Management Committee and has served as Global Co-Head of Corporate & Investment Banking.

From January to June 2018, François Riahi served as Chief Executive Officer of BPCE in charge of Finance, Strategy and Legal Affairs, Secretary to the Supervisory Board and member of the Management Board.

Abubakar Sule
CEO, Keystone

He started his working career in 1985 with the the Gongola State Ministry of Commerce and Industries as a Commercial Officer II; and in 1987 he joined the services of the then Gongola Investment Company Limited and rose to become a Senior Investment Executive before leaving to take up appointment on July 3, 1991as General Manager/CEO of Tiddo Securities Limited, a stockbroking firm based in Lagos and a dealing member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. He qualified as a Stockbroker and Dealing Clerk of the Nigerian Stock Exchange in December 1991 and became an Associate Member Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers.

Between March 1994 and April 1997, Alhaji Modibbo served as Council Member of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. In the public Sector, Alhaji Modibbo was appointed as a member of the Transaction Marketing Committee of the National Council on Privatization by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). Alhaji Modibbo has promoted several companies amongst which are Sigma Securities Limited, a stockbroking firm which he headed as the Managing Director/Chief Executive between 1st April 1997 to 31st January 2011; Sigma Properties Limited, Sigma Bureau De Change Limited, Sigma Power Projects, Sigma Inspections Limited and Sigma Pensions Limited.

He is the founder and Managing Director/CEO of Sigma Pensions Limited, a licensed Pension Fund administrator operating in the Nigerian Pensions industry for the past 10 years. Sigma Pensions Limited has an Asset Under Management (AUM) of approximately N350 billion. In November 2015, Alhaji Modibbo divested part of his investment in Sigma Pensions Limited to a London based Private Equity firm, Actis.

Alhaji Modibbo became Chairman of the Board of Directors of Keystone Bank Limited after the Bank was acquired by the Sigma Golf-Riverbank Consortium.

Olaug Svarva
Chairwoman, DNB

Background: Master of Business Administration from the University of Denver. CEO of Folketrygdfondet from 2006 to 2018. Previous experience within asset management from SpareBank 1 Gruppen and as a financial analyst in Carnegie and DNB.

Other key positions of trust: Board member in Investinor AS. Former board member in the Employers’ Association Spekter, Oslo Børs (Oslo Stock Exchange) and the Norwegian Institute of Directors. Has been a member of the Election Committees in Telenor, Veidekke, Storebrand and Yara and head of the Election Committee in Statoil. Experience from the Corporate Assemblies of Telenor, Statoil and Orkla.

Paul Taylor
Global Head of Shipping Finance, Societe Generale

Became Global Head of Shipping Finance in 2004. Responsible for the banks’ growth within structured Shipping and Offshore Finance, managing teams in Paris, London, Hong Kong and Dubai.

Over 25 years experience in structured asset-based financing. Wide experience across the traditional industrial shipping, LNG Shipping and oil and gas sectors. Acted as both principal, arranger and advisor on a variety of international structured finance transactions, including leasing, lease restructuring, export finance, project and corporate financings for leading global shipping and offshore clients.

Experience in capital market transactions across Industrial Shipping, LNG and Offshore sectors including investment grade project bonds placed with US institutional investors through to high yield bonds for Industrial Shipping clients and equity raising.

On the board of SEA LNG and an active supporter of LNG as a marine fuel and of the energy transition to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly shipping sector.

Siobhan Toohill
Group Head of Sustainability, Westpac Group

Eric Usher
Head, UNEP Finance Initiative

Eric Usher currently heads the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, UNEP FI, a global partnership bringing together the UN with 230 banks, insurers and asset managers working to develop the sustainable finance and responsible investment agendas. Eric oversees governance, strategy and day-to-day management of UNEP FI’s work programme and global network development. Over the years UNEP FI has established some of the most important sustainability oriented frameworks within the finance industry, including the Principles for Responsible Investment (2006), the Principles for Sustainable Insurance (2012) and work now underway on the establishment of Principles for Responsible Banking. Since joining in 2015, Mr. Usher has focused on accelerating the deep integration of sustainability risks into financial practice, including addressing climate change, natural capital loss and human rights abuses, as well as building out the frameworks for positive impact finance needed to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Eric sits on several industry bodies including as UN representative on the Board of the Principles for Responsible Investment, as a member of the Evaluation Council of the French sovereign green bond, as Director for the impact fund REPP Africa and founder of the Seed Capital Assistance Facility.
Prior to leading UNEP FI, Mr. Usher has over twenty years of experience in the low carbon sectors, spanning technology commercialisation in Canada, solar rural electrification in Morocco and financial sector development across emerging markets. During 2011, Mr. Usher worked on the establishment of the Green Climate Fund and led efforts to create its Private Sector Facility. Eric has been an editor of the Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment report published annually with Bloomberg and was lead author for finance of the IPCC Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources. Before joining the UN, Eric was General Manager of a solar rural electrification company based in Morocco.

Namita Vikas
Group President & Global Head, Climate Strategy & Responsible Banking, YES BANK LTD.

Herbert Wigwe
CEO, Access Bank

Mr. Wigwe started his professional career with Coopers and Lybrand Associates, an international firm of Chartered Accountants. He spent over 10 years at Guaranty Trust Bank where he managed several portfolios including Financial institutions, Corporates and Multinationals. He left Guaranty Trust as an Executive Director to co-lead the transformation of Access Bank Plc in March 2002 as Deputy Managing Director. He was appointed Group Managing Director/CEO effective January 1, 2014.

He is an Alumnus of Harvard Business School Executive Management Programme. He holds a Masters degree in Banking and International Finance from the University College of North Wales; a Masters degree in Financial Economics from the University of London and a B.Sc. degree in Accounting from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). Mr Wigwe is the Chairman of The Access Bank (UK) Ltd  and Interim Chairman of Nigerian Mortgage Refinance Company Plc.

Léon Wijnands
Global Head of Sustainability, ING

Léon Wijnands has been ING’s global head of Sustainability since November 2013.

Sustainability is inherent to ING’s purpose of empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. For us, this means helping our clients and customers transition towards a climate-resilient and socially resilient world.

Léon believes he’ll have been successful when his role is no longer needed. In the meantime, he leads the department in integrating sustainability even more into ING’s core business. He’s proud that his team has championed ING’s ambition to align its entire loan book with the well-below two-degree goal of the Paris Agreement.

With more than 25 years of experience in banking, particularly in sales and marketing, Léon has led the ING Bank Customer Contact Centers and the Customer Intelligence team. Over the years he was responsible for the 21 branches in the district of Amsterdam and has led many marketing initiatives and change programmes.

Léon holds a master’s degree in business economics, business administration and financial economics. He joined ING in 1990.