FORTIS AUXILIUM - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Partner
• Partner, IT Services

Aasim is a co-founding partner based in the Republic of Ireland. He is CTO at Fortis Auxilium responsible for developing the Information Technology and Data Analytics consulting practices the scope of which includes complex information technology and security, change management, business transformation, data analytics and digital transformation programs. Aasim has over 25 years' experience in developing software for start-ups, including: mobile applications; e-commerce solutions; accounting, risk & assurance management and information systems. He has successfully managed information technology and digital transformation programs involving blockchain POC solutions, smart contracts, DApps development, data migration and project management. Aasim is a Microsoft Certified Professional holding several professional certifications in data management and analytics, database administration, SQL and windows servers. He has B.Eng (Hons) in Aeronautical Engineering and holds an MSc (Hons) in Information Technology from Sheffield University.

Ahmet is the model risk subject matter expert for Fortis Auxilium. Ahmet has over 15 years of industry experience in model risk and model development. Know more... After completing his bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Ahmet completed a master's degree in Mathematics and immediately complemented this with a further master's degree in Banking and Finance. After completing his studies, Ahmet worked in risk control roles for several financial institutions, including global banks such as UBS. Using various computer programs, machine learning and artificial intelligence, he helped to develop and apply various tools to monitor the financial markets. Ahmet has overseen the implementation of financial products within the given framework of IT, compliance, regulation, liaising with technical experts as required. Ahmet has extensive experience of portfolio and data analytics and can is adept at integrating machine learning to solve tasks quickly and efficiently. Ahmet has significant experience of: C/C++, Matlab/Simulink, Access / Excel, VBA, SQL, JAVA, Alteryx, R and Python. Ahmet has also developed and implemented a data analysis tools which uses artificial intelligence to risk monitor the financial sector, and has also been involved in the research and development of solutions for online banking, using various tools including encryption mechanisms. Ahmet has significant experience of model risk in all defense lines (first line, second line and third line). Model risk is the risk associated to model error or incorrect model use. Model error can arise from: 1. inadequate model development and implementation processes; 2. incorrect model use; 3. inadequate model validation and review; and 4. poor model governance. Ahmet has developed, operated, validated, and reviewed the following types of models: • Market risk control measures - VaR, Stress testing and sensitivities; • Liquidity risk measures; • Credit risk measures such as Credit VaR, credit spreads derived from credit instruments, Rating/scoring and LGD measures; • Capital adequacy measures such as Economic Capital, Stress testing scenarios; • IFRS 32/39, 9 valuation models; and • Balance sheet, accounting models and PPNR estimates.

Job Titles:

• Regional Partner, Turkey & CIS

Ali is our Turkey & CIS regional partner based in Ankara. With over 30 years' experience in a wide range of industry and sectors including as an academic in a University, to corporate/project finance financial services specialist who has designed and evaluated a diverse range of major industrial projects from cements and sugar factories to national level privatisation and defence projects. Ali was a member of the founding team of Turkish Prime Minister Privatization Administration, Mass Housing Administration (TOKI) and the Undersecretariat of Defence Industries (SSM). As SSM Head of Department, he served as the founding member of the TAI-F16 board and co-chairman of the ROKETSAN founding board. FNSS, Mercedes Unimog, MKEK Oerlikon Air Defence, ASELSAN Micro Electronics are amongst the projects he coordinated on behalf of SSM during their realisation. He served as the mission member of the Turkey-US Defence Industry and Economic Cooperation and the participant of the Star Wars Project (Strategic Defence Initiative, SDI) on behalf of Turkey. He also served as the founding General Manager of Marmara Securities and Finance Corp. an authorised stock broker in the ISE, Istanbul Stock Exchange. Ali worked for the Prime Minister of Turkey as Deputy General Manager of Turkish Electronics Industries Corp. where he contributed to innovation projects such as smart electronic taximeters and smart card based electronic metering systems for utilities. Ali also served as founding General Manager and Chairman of Euromarket Joint-Venture, a Turkish-Ukrainian joint venture operating in Ukraine and worked as an Assistant General Manager at ÇAMSAN, MDF Factories. He currently provides training, expertise and consultancy in EU Projects as a certified expert. Ali holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Faculty of Political Sciences (SBF) of Ankara University.

Job Titles:

• Chartered Accountant
• Fellow
• Partner / Adviser, Finance & Investment Advisory

Asim Khan is a Fellow Chartered Accountant with more than 25 years experience in financial services in Middle East and Europe. Asim is the Chief Executive Officer of Khalij Group, a partner firm of Fortis Auxilium, which is an award winning FCA regulated investment and advisory boutique headquartered in the United Kingdom with presence in United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Pakistan. Asim specialises in providing strategic financial advice, Investment advisory and structured solutions to clients, which includes financial institutions, asset managers and family offices based in Europe, Middle East and Far East. Asim has experience in working across all product types and asset classes, and under his leadership, Khalij has developed assets under advisory in excess of USD 1 billion. Asim also advises his clients in raising funds and distributing financial instruments and has helped his clients raise in excess of USD 500 million over the last 3 years. Asim is a regular speaker on investments, finance and fintech conferences and seminars and have also appeared on television in the United Kingdom and Europe. Asim also holds an honorary doctorate in comparative religion.

Job Titles:

• Head of Assessment & Conformance
• Partner, Assessment & Conformance

Brian is Head of Assessment & Conformance at Fortis Auxilium. A dynamic results-driven academic professional with four decades' experience of leading operations in Quality Management, Innovative Development, Environmental Management, Waste Management(including handling of toxins, chemicals, equipment and materials), Food Safety & Waste Recycling, Health & Safety (including work side safety), Process Optimization and Project Execution.

Job Titles:

• Advisor to

Dr. Khushi is an Advisor to Fortis Auxilium in the application of artificial intelligence, big data and financial/ risk modelling. Dr. Khushi has over 20 years of industry and academic experience. He is presently the Course Leader of M.Sc. AI and Data Science and the Senior Lecturer at the University of Suffolk, UK. Know more... Dr. Khushi is an Advisor to Fortis Auxilium in the application of artificial intelligence, big data and financial/ risk modelling. Dr. Khushi has over 20 years of industry and academic experience. He is presently the Course Leader of M.Sc. AI and Data Science and the Senior Lecturer at the University of Suffolk, UK. He has been serving The University of Sydney, Australia since 2008 at various positions including the most recent senior position (2017-2021) as the Director from the Master of Data Science programme, where he delivered the most successful Australian AI/Data Science programme. He earned his PhD in AI and Data Science from the University of Sydney in which he developed novel algorithms for solving big genomic data and health informatics. Dr. Khushi has earned various awards for his research achievements and has authored more than 50 research papers, his ResearchGate score is 23.33 which is higher than 77.5% of the researchers world-wide. During his postdoc (2014-2017) at the Children's Medical Research Institute, Australia he developed automated AI-based algorithms for developing cancer drugs expediting the discovery process. Some of his research publications caught international and Australian media attention. He has also developed solutions for the financial industry for the prediction of stock, forex and commodities markets. Dr. Khushi has supervised more than 100 research theses in various domains of AI, big data and data science.

Job Titles:

• Advisor to

Dr. Shoaib ud Din is an advisor to Fortis Auxilium, advising on the development and establishment of training programs relating to the application of mathematics and statistics in computer science, banking, finance, and medical sciences. Know more... Dr. Shoaib ud Din is an advisor to Fortis Auxilium, advising on the development and establishment of training programs relating to the application of mathematics and statistics in computer science, banking, finance, and medical sciences. Dr. Shoaib spent over 35 years in academia where he taught and supervised Mathematics and Statistics at graduate and postgraduate levels. He has published several papers in the fields of Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics, particularly in relation to Combinational Theory (Block designs, Graph Theory, Error Correcting codes) and Investigation of Generalised Hadamard Matrices and associated designs using Graph Theoretic techniques, design and codes. Dr. Shoaib is passionate about sharing his knowledge and has developed mathematical and statistical curriculums at Punjab University for both graduate and postgraduate programs. He also developed a mathematics course for Pakistan Online Virtual University as well as courses relating to the application of mathematics in computer science. Dr. Shoaib was Chairman of the Mathematics Department at Punjab University Pakistan, Visiting Professor at University of Wales and spent a sabbatical year at FAST (Foundation for Advancement of Science and Technology), a premier university of computer and emerging sciences in Pakistan, where he developed and delivered mathematics courses with application in computer science. He was the founding principle of Punjab University College of Information Technology (PUCIT). Dr. Shoaib holds a Masters and PhD in Mathematics from the University of Wales.

Dr. Tariq (BSc (Bio), BSc (EEE), PhD, MIET, FBINDT) is a pioneer in the field of "Robotic Non-Destructive Testing (NDT)". His research has developed robots for the in-situ non-destructive inspection of pressure vessels, petrochemical storage tanks, wind turbine blades, off-shore flexible oil and gas risers, and mooring chains. Know more... Dr. Tariq (BSc (Bio), BSc (EEE), PhD, MIET, FBINDT) is a pioneer in the field of "Robotic Non-Destructive Testing (NDT)". His research has developed robots for the in-situ non-destructive inspection of pressure vessels, petrochemical storage tanks, wind turbine blades, off-shore flexible oil and gas risers, and mooring chains. Recent robotics projects have developed a handling system to pack soft fruit, carry out welding repairs in pipelines, and perform automated assembly of thermoplastic composite aircraft fuselage. He is a research professor who has recently completed seven years of tenure as TWI Chair and Director of the Innovation Centre for the Automation of Non-destructive testing. The research teams that he has led have been awarded eighteen innovation or best paper awards in the field of industrial robots. This work has been selected by the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering for their science and engineering exhibitions and to promote STEM subjects to young people. He has delivered sixteen plenary and keynote lectures at international conferences and corporate power outages conferences. Tariq has more than thirty years of experience as an academic, teaching control engineering, performing senior manager roles and managing pedagogy projects. He has held the post of head of the department of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering at London South Bank University for three years. He heads Robotic NDT Ltd, a partner firm of Fortis Auxilium providing scientific and technical consultancy.

Job Titles:

• Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers
• Partner, Business Consulting

Jonathan is Partner, Business Consulting at Fortis Auxilium and brings extensive experience of the Middle Eastern market in corporate lending, credit risk management, strategic planning and change management. He has over 30 years' experience of working in global banks in the fields of corporate lending and strategic planning and has successfuly led customer facing relationship management teams to deliver challenging sales and profit targets. Jonathan has previously held positions as Head of Lloyds TSB Corporate Banking for the Middle East based in Dubai, UAE and was SVP, Head of Corporate Customer Strategy & Tactics at Riyad Bank in Saudi Arabia where he led a cultural change project which shifted the focus of the bank's 120+ relationship managers away from a sales-volume culture to a Return on Asset value added proposition for the bank's $26bn corporate loan book. Jonathan is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Financial Services and is a Certified Islamic Finance Executive. He has unique insight into negotiating and structuring conventional and Islamic finance transactions for the benefit of clients and has access to Middle Eastern banks with appetites for both medium and long-term project funding.

Job Titles:

• Consultant
• Internal Auditor
• Partner, Compliance

Leiping is an experienced consultant and internal auditor with over 20 years' experience of banking, capital markets and consulting. He has worked in complex global financial institutions including Barclays, Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CA-CIB), Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank.

Job Titles:

• Registered Professional Engineer

Mr. Mian is a registered professional engineer (PE) in the State of Colorado, is a principal consultant at O&G Knowledge Sharing Platform. Mian has 40 years of diversified international experience in reservoir engineering, project economics and strategic planning. Know more... Mr. Mian is a registered professional engineer (PE) in the State of Colorado, is a principal consultant at O&G Knowledge Sharing Platform. Mian has 40 years of diversified international experience in reservoir engineering, project economics and strategic planning. He has a B.Sc. degree in mechanical engineering, an M.Sc. degree in petroleum engineering and an M.Sc. degree in mineral economics. Both the masters are from the Colorado School of Mines. Mian is the author of six books: Petroleum Engineering Handbook for the Practicing Engineers, Vol. 1 and 2, Project Economics and Decision Analysis, Vol. 1 and 2 and Tips & Tricks for Excel Based Financial Modeling, Vol. 1 and 2. The books on project economics and decision analysis are currently used as textbooks to teach project economics to graduate and undergraduate students in many universities worldwide. He has also published many technical papers and presented papers at SPE conferences. Mian has also delivered 5-day courses on reservoir engineering, project economics and decision analysis and advanced project economics and decision analysis in 25 countries. Mian also received the 2021 SPE International Management Award, recognizing his outstanding contributions to the oil & gas industry.

Job Titles:

• Partner
• Partner, Accountancy & Tax

Mahmood Rizvi is a Partner at Fortis Auxilium, specialising in providing strategic and operational advice on all business matters relating to small and medium enterprises. He is practice principal at MAR accountancy services, a Fortis Auxilium partner firm, which has been providing accounting, Tax and PAYE services for last 35 years in Yorkshire and Lancashire to a wide range of private and corporate clients. He also has experience of working on tax investigations including COP9 and other fraud and criminal investigations. He previously has worked as a financial adviser to private and corporate clients advising them in all matters relating to business insurance, equity and debt funding helping clients secure private, commercial loans and mortgages.

Job Titles:

• Tax Advisor

Mohammed Azad leads the Fortis Auxilium tax practice in the UK and is responsible for developing and implementing personal and corporate tax solutions for clients. Know more... Mohammed Azad leads the Fortis Auxilium tax practice in the UK and is responsible for developing and implementing personal and corporate tax solutions for clients. Mohammed has over 20 years' experience working in the big 4 accountancy and consulting firms and within large multi-national companies. Before joining Fortis Auxilium, Mohammed held leadership roles in large multinational companies overseeing and managing overseas tax risks and compliance obligations with operations in the EMEA region. He is well versed at explaining complex tax legislations and their implications to senior company executives. Mohammed's experience includes: • tax integration software implementation for finance teams located in Europe, Africa, Middle East and the Americas; • advising executive management on tax implications (including permanent establishment risk) of establishing subsidiaries & branches in overseas jurisdictions; • examining and evaluating new tax structures; • advising business management on the tax implications of acquisitions and divestments; • managing internal tax policies, systems and documentation, so that they continue to reflect the latest tax laws, accounting standards and practices; and • supporting multinationals in dealing with tax authorities during audits and investigations relating to Corporation Tax, VAT or PAYE. Mohammed Azad is a qualified Charted Tax Advisor and holds an LLB in Business & Finance Law (from Brunel University).

Job Titles:

• Head of Legal
• Instructor in Contract Law
• Partner, Legal

Mr. Sadiq Hameed is Head of Legal at Fortis Auxilium, a qualified lawyer with regional Bar membership, who for the last 27 years has practiced Law internationally in the fields of Criminal and Civil Law, including Human Rights, and Employment Law. Sadiq specialises in Contract and Employment Law and has been a legal consultant to several Not-for-Profit organisations and advises businesses where Supply of Goods and Services agreements form part of the backbone of a business' contracting infrastructure. Sadiq provides practical legal advice to Private Clients across a spectrum of services, including Family Law and Mediation, Immigration, Probate and Estates, Residential Property, Trusts, and Wills & Estate Planning, Franchise contracts, Joint Ventures and other forms of collaboration arrangements. Lately, Sadiq has been advising health & social care sector companies on compliance and training. Sadiq has worked for several law firms in London, which were on the panel of major UK banks, where he dealt with residential mortgages, and commercial leases alongside civil matters. He has a sound experience of business formation and personal law, which usually go hand in hand, and in this regard his Mediation (Alternative Dispute Resolution) certification and experience is an added advantage which can pre-empt bitter litigations, thus saving precious time and money. Sadiq has a bachelor's degree in Economics and Political Science, a master's degree in Political Science, and an LL.B (Bachelor of Laws) with honours from London, which he later supplemented with an industry recognised UK qualification in Health & Social Care Management in the light of the increasing work in this sector. Sadiq has been a visiting instructor in Contract Law at a staff training college of an international bank and has also served as a lecturer of Business Law, Industrial Relations and Business Ethics to MBA, BBA & BBA-I.T programmes at various universities. He taught Law to students studying for professional accountancy programmes including, the ICAEW, ACCA & ICAP. Sadiq developed and implemented a law curriculum for a new MBA specialisation programme dealing with non-government organisations with special emphasis on industry knowledge and work skills, in close consultation with the relevant government department and UN agencies UNICEF (United Nations Children's Emergency Fund), ILO (The International Labour Organisation) and UN Women. Sadiq, is a founding member of a criminology research body and think-tank, established by a handful of academics and senior law-enforcement officers.

Job Titles:

• Executive Team Member

Wasif is our North America regional partner, based in Canada. With a career span of 25 years in global corporates ranging from consultancy to pharmaceutical, consumer goods and retail/asset management solutions. Wasif has extensive experience of leading finance and business transformation change programmes. Including ERP implementations and business process improvements. As country CFO for an international conglomerate, Wasif turned around an ailing debt-ridden company into a profitable cash rich business delivering strong and sustainable financial performances. Wasif's expertise and experience includes a deep understanding of business and finance systems and this allied with his 'can do' mind set and strong leadership style means that he thrives in change environments, and has extensive experience of building, leading and mentoring teams to deliver strategic change. Wasif is an astute professional who has delivered challenging projects in large complex multinational environments. His experience includes: ERP implementations, shared services implementations, as well as overhauling legacy systems. Wasif is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Cost and Management Accountant (CMA) and Project Management Professional (PMP).

Job Titles:

• Founding Partner at Malcus & Myre
• Partner, Assurance & Consultancy Services

Omer Muhammad Alam is founding partner at Malcus & Myre, an affiliate company of Fortis Auxilium. He has over nineteen years' experience in audit, assurance, and consultancy services. Omer is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales (ICAEW) and a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Omer is an Alumni of Ernst & Young (Pakistan). Omer has deep understanding of business risk consultancy including financial advisory and his experience includes operational and financial audits, production of policies & procedural documentation, preparation of internal control systems, and delivery of risk based internal audit assignments. He has extensive experience of directing and executing consultancy projects including risk assessments, financial due-diligence reviews (DDR), business feasibilities, feasibility studies, pre-award assessments of provincial governments, ministries and NGOs, analysis of internal controls and accounting systems, development of accounting, procurement, internal control, management and administration manuals and analysis of information for management.

Job Titles:

• Regional Partner, Middle East

Saad is our Middle East regional partner, based in Riyadh. He has over 30 years' experience with the last 20 years at senior executive level overseeing functions ranging from Compliance, Anti-Fraud, Asset Protection, Loss Prevention and Corporate Security in major Middle Eastern banks. He is our fraud prevention subject matter expert (SME) and has comprehensive understanding of fraud prevention infrastructures and tools and has significant experience of project managing fraud detection & prevention assignments. Saad has worked closely with the national regulator and contributed to their 1996 and 2007 Safety and Security manuals. He is an expert fraud investigator and has successfully investigated high profile fraud cases. Under his supervision financial institute have reduced fraud losses by up to 70 percent.

Job Titles:

• Security Consultant
• Principal Consultant, Information Security & Technology Audit

Steve Cochrane CISSP and CCSP Security consultant with extensive experience leading the implemention and management of large scale and complex security programmes. Areas include Security Architecture, Audit and Assurance, Data Security, Cyber Resilience, Risk assessment and management, IT transformation, Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Cloud. Cross-sector experience of regulated environments covering Finance, Health, Central Government and Telecoms. Implementation of frameworks such as ISO27001, PCI-DSS and NIST.

Job Titles:

• Managing Partner

Job Titles:

• Co - Founding Partner
• Partner, Assurance & Risk Management Services

Zafar is a co-founding partner at Fortis Auxilium based in Dubai. He is CFO of the firm and is focused in developing consultancy practices concentrating on second and third line assurance. Zafar has over 25 years' experience of leading teams in finance, treasury and internal audit in major multinational companies. He has successfully lead multi-disciplinary internal audit teams specialising in risk, finance, treasury and corporate banking in major international banks. Before joining Fortis Auxilium, Zafar was a Finance Director of an international scientific and research company where he lead a business transformation project which overhauled the financial control environment and risk governance processes. Zafar brings practical experience and extensive knowledge of corporate governance, treasury, finance, internal audit and risk disciplines and practices. He is a qualified Chartered Management Accountant and holds memberships of Association of Corporate Treasurers (AMCT), Association of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (ACIB) and a Foreign Exchange Diploma from the Association of Cambiste Internationale.