If you are interested in this candidate, please contact Simon Blau via email sblau@cerfinancial.co.uk or call on 0207 626 6065.

00352004

PROFILE:

Experienced credit risk professional (+15 yrs) with a proven track record in credit risk underwriting & approval of Institutional FIs clients - Banks, Private Equity Funds, Reg. Funds, Insurance, Asset Managers, Sovereigns, FMIs & NBFIs. Flexible and adaptable, with analytical skills and attention to details. Worked across regions (India, Singapore and the UK) covering global portfolio of WCR institutional clients’, building constructive relationships with people from diverse backgrounds and collaborative skills to engage with various internal stakeholders’ like Business, Support teams and Senior Mgt. UK passport holder looking for risk management roles in the GCC-region.

CAREER HISTORY:

March 2023 – Present

Banking

Vice President – 1LoD Credit Officer (EMEA Funds Underwriting) (Aug 2024 - till date)

• Responsible for underwriting credit facilities for Real Money Funds, Asset Managers & Pension Funds; maintain and manage credit exposures to clients across derivatives, financing and direct lending products; approve credit reviews as 1LoD approver (CO-designation) including assessment of portfolio risk, credit limits and risk appetite.
• Advise and approve large transactions or deals that require individual risk assessment; partner with 2LoD Risk on risk mitigation at both inception of transactions and on an ongoing basis; negotiation of trading documentation (ISDA, GMRA, etc.) particularly when dealing with non-standard credit terms.
• Analyse and monitor client portfolios and proactively identify and remediate risk issues, engaging with FO/Business/Ops/Legal where required.
• Participate in project management for process efficient and strategic risk infrastructure development.

March 2023 – July 2024

Vice President – Senior QA Officer, In-Business Quality Assurance

• Conducted Quality Assurance Review (QARs) of the 1LoD credit underwriting function for the global portfolio of WCR Financial Institutions (FI) clients’ encompassing Banks, Insurance, Funds, FMIs, Broker-dealers, NBFIs, etc. Evaluated adherence to organisational policies and procedures, assessed the effectiveness of controls, systems, and processes, and provided rigorous scrutiny and constructive challenge during QARs to 1LoD Credit Risk Underwriters, ensuring thorough assessment of credit memos and process quality.
• Supported the Function Head to establish the global strategy for QARs, led the implementation and ongoing execution, and prepared monthly/quarterly QAR Reports to facilitate effective communication of results, identification of adverse trends and potential remedial actions.

December 2017 – February 2023

Banking

Vice President – Senior Credit Manager (EMEA FIs - Banks, Financial Sponsors, FMIs, Sovereigns)

Within 2LoD, responsible for CCR coverage (underwriting & approval) for a portfolio of FI clients’ engaged in trading OTC and listed derivatives, corporate and commercial banking products, in addition to risk management and approval of Fund Financing facilities (Sub / NAV-Lines) for Financial Sponsors (Pvt. Equity/Debt Funds) and fund-linked derivatives; perform risk assessment, mitigation, approval, and monitoring processes; support and review Business requests to ensure they are addressed appropriately and within the WCR framework.

Key responsibilities:

• Performed independent 2LoD review and challenge, including review of relevant documentation (e.g. ISDA/CSA, GMRA, GMSLA and loan agreements), due diligence meetings and drafting cogent credit proposal documents for counterparty transactions.
• Approved relevant credit files, limit requests, transactions and internal credit ratings within delegated authority (max. £500m; Material Risk Taker role); provided recommendations and facilitated the approval of files requiring escalation to senior management; provided trade approvals and timely support to the trading desks for transactions outside authorised limits.
• Maintained up to date risk information and ongoing monitoring of portfolio performance and credit worthiness to ensure early identification of emerging problem cases (EWIs), covenant breaches/waivers, documentation trigger breaches and margin disputes; continuous monitoring and managing risk exposures across multiple metrics in accordance with defined risk appetite; 2LoD Risk oversight on limit (counterparty/portfolio/country/legal entity-level) and policy breaches; meet data quality obligations with accuracy and diligence to ensure accurate RWA reporting.
• Built and sustained strong relationships across the organisation; managed information vertically and laterally with team members, both within and outside of 2LoD Risk, to drive topics and ensure the efficient and effective implementation of key roles and responsibilities; provided support, mentoring and shared knowledge with more junior team members.
• Key responsibilities: SME for CCP risk; portfolio mix of 50+ clients, co-chair for collateral (uncleared margins) discrepancies escalations; trading book stress-test review/oversight; acted as Risk Secretary for NWM Credit Risk Committee for two years.

February 2016 – November 2017

Banking

Associate – Credit Manager (APAC FIs - Banks, Broker-dealers, NBFIs, Sovereigns)

• Managed credit risk and set risk appetite for portfolio of APAC FIs - Approved/Recommend credit limits and internal risk ratings basis the counterparty risk profile and product risk, in-line with delegated authority.
• Liaised with the Business/Sales desk to evaluate existing credit limits and adhoc/complex transactions; engaged with Tail Management team for Exit clients/countries, with the aim to reduce tail-risk.
• Reviewed legal documentation (ISDA/GMRA) terms for existing/new clients, inline with the uncleared margin rules.
• Back-up cover for trade approval desk for trade/deal approvals, traded risk calculations, etc.

October 2011 – January 2016

Banking

January 2015 - January 2016

Senior Associate – CCP Risk, Financial Analysis Team (Wholesale Credit)

• Responsible for managing credit risks for global CCPs and Custodians portfolio by performing qualitative analysis based on the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures (PFMIs), also taking into account the market/operational risk factors and regulatory developments in the industry; reviewed CCP’s conformity with the PFMIs, global operating standards for CCPs, and actively tracked ongoing industry and regulatory developments.
• Liaised with the regional CCP leads for credit approvals and filing; coordinated with the business lines throughout the credit approval process; ensured portfolio quality and documentation standards are maintained; devised portfolio-level stress testing; identification and resolution of data issues - mappings, exposure feeds, etc.

Key achievements: Transitioned the CCP Risk team based out of Gurgaon, supervised two FTEs; led improvement of CCP risk management processes and portfolio-level monitoring (including stress testing); undertook projects to resolve data quality issues which led to accurate RWA reporting.

October 2011 - December 2014

Associate – FI APAC, Financial Analysis Team (Wholesale Credit)

• Performed qualitative and quantitative analysis of credit risks faced by the APAC FIs (Banks, Broker-dealers, other NBFIs) portfolio of the Bank, recommending risk appetite within an effective credit risk framework.
• Credit research for a portfolio of clients by preparing credit analysis, internal risk rating, risk review and stress tests, to determine appropriate credit limits for the clients.
• Ongoing tracking of credit quality of the portfolio, identifying early warning indicators; maintaining a detailed and up-to-date knowledge of developments within allocated countries.
• Prepared sovereign reports, sector reports and thematic reports for the allocated sector/region.

Key achievements: Top performer for three consecutive years; acted as SME for China banking sector; mentored fresh analysts’ through-out my tenure with the team.

February 2009 – September 2011

BA Continuum Solutions (non-bank subsidiary of Bank of America)

Analyst (Credit Risk – Financial Institution Debt Products)

• Performed intensive qualitative and quantitative due diligence of credit risks faced by the GCIB loan and trading portfolios of the Bank, for the Bank’s FI clients; managed a portfolio of 40+ FIs; evaluated the financial performance of FI clients through analysis of economic conditions, industry performance and borrower’s performance relative to peers, management and corporate governance quality; incisive financial statement analysis using financial ratios and established models.
• Determined key credit risks and mitigating factors for the client / transaction being evaluated; responsible for the accuracy of internal risk ratings and ongoing tracking of credit quality with the objectives of improving the credit quality and return on capital of the portfolio.
• Key achievements: SME for China banking sector; mentored new analysts’ through-out my tenure with the team.

April 2008 – December 2008

Analyst – Business Advisory and Research

• Company Specific Analysis: Financial analysis for various banks in GCC from a business development perspective.
• Industry Research and Publications; assisted in building proposals & pitches for various FIs across the globe.

EDUCATION:

• MS Finance from ICFAI University, (CGPA 8.01 - 2008)
• B.A. (Hons.) Business Economics, University (2006)
• Certifications: Diploma in Lending Skills (The Chartered Banker Institute); NWG Climate Change Transformation Programme (University Business School)

If you are interested in this candidate, please contact Simon Blau via email sblau@cerfinancial.co.uk or call on 0207 626 6065.

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