Mr. Aushan Latheef

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Maldives Stock Exchange Company Pvt. Ltd and Maldives Securities Depository Company Pvt.

Mr. Aushan Latheef is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Maldives Stock Exchange Company Pvt. Ltd and Maldives Securities Depository Company Pvt. Ltd, since September 2017.

He is a Financial Markets expert having worked in the Housing Development Financing Corporation Plc., Continuity Capital Partners Pty Ltd – Australia, Dhiraagu Plc. and other private sector ventures.

Mr. Aushan read his MSc in Finance from the Australian National University (2016) and completed his BA in Business Administration from the University of Hertfordshire, Malaysia (2007). In addition, he has completed several Financial Markets Programs and Leadership Development Programs.

He has travelled widely and represented the Maldives Stock Exchange in many International forums and contributed to the policy dialogue of the regulatory authorities.

Mr. Aushan is a firm believer in the development of the financial markets in the Maldives as well as its importance to economic growth and stability.

Ms. Fanan Habeeb

Home Based Baker

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Mr. Ahmed Afrah

Owner of Coffee Lab Roasters

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Mr. Ali Haris

Co-Founder of Payer

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Uz. Mohamed Fizan

Managing Partner, Fizan & Partners LLP

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Fizan has maintained a highly successful specialist practice as a prominent commercial lawyer in the Maldives for the past 15 years. His practice focuses mainly on tourism, banking and finance. In this regard Fizan has successfully concluded several major international financing transactions for banks and financial institutions, as well as numerous key resort acquisition transactions and investments for foreign investors and hotel developers. Additionally, he has also acted for public companies with project financing assignments for large infrastructure development projects. His clients include leading Maldives resorts, international hotel investors and operators, as well as international banks, investment firms and state-owned enterprises. Fizan served on the board of MPAO as a non-executive independent private sector member from 2012-2015, and chaired its Investment Committee during his tenure. In recognition for his achievements in legal practice, Fizan was named by IFLR as a ‘leading lawyer’ in the Maldives in 2013.

Fizan co-founded the niche law firm Fizan & Partners

(LLP) in early 2019 with the sole purpose of providing highly personalised, practical and value-based solutions to sophisticated hotel and banking clients, focusing mainly on tourism-related acquisitions, investment structuring, and project finance.

Ms. Mariyam Visam

Registrar of Companies, Ministry of Economic Development

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Ms. Mariyam Visam assumed the position of Registrar of Companies in January 2014. Her function at the Ministry of Economic Development includes business registration, issuance of permits and licenses as well as foreign investment registrations. She was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Capital Market Development Authority (CMDA) concurrent to her appointment as the Registrar of Companies. Prior to this, she has completed 6 years of service in the Maldives Financial Sector holding key positions including Deputy CEO of CMDA and Board Member of the Maldives Pension Administration Office (MPAO). During this period she gained vast exposure in Economic policy planning & formulation, Capital market industry, Designing, Implementation and oversight of defined contributory pension systems, Structuring financial products, Risk based supervision, Rule-based supervision, Securities regulation and Corporate Governance.

Moreover, Ms. Visam specializes in Risk Management by training and also contributes to the academia by facilitating training programs and undergraduate courses in the area of Corporate Governance, Risk Management & Business Ethics.

MS. Visam holds a Master’s Degree in Business Economics from University of Queensland, Australia, and BA (Hons) in Marketing Management from University of Northumbria, Newcastle, UK.

Ms. Lamya Ibrahim

IDB Project Manager, Ministry of Economic Development

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Mr. Ahmed Zeenad

Managing Director, SME Development Finance Corporation

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Ahmed Zeenad is currently serving as the Managing Director of SME Development Finance Corporation.He has over 7 years of experience in the Financial Sector. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) degree from International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Malaysia and a Master of Finance degree from Curtin University, Bentley

Mr. Vajira Kulatilaka

Chief Executive Officer, NDB Investment Banking Cluster

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Vajira hails from a multi-disciplinary academic background, having initially entered the Civil  Engineering field where he obtained a BSc in Engineering (First Class), from the University of Moratuwa and a MEng in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Bangkok, Thailand. He ventured into the financial sector, specializing in investment banking and corporate finance supported by his professional qualifications being a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants UK (FCMA) and a CFA Charterholder.

In 2014 Vajira was appointed as the Chairman of the Colombo Stock Exchange and  in April 2015  was unanimously elected as the Chairman of the South Asian Federation of Exchanges (SAFE) . SAFE has 15 primary members comprising of stock and commodity exchanges from Maldives, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal,  Mauritius, Bhutan and the UAE.   He held these two positions until 2017.

Vajira has over 35 years of experience in Banking, Finance and Capital Market operations and is the CEO of NDB Capital Holdings Limited (NCAP). NCAP provides a gamut of market leading Investment Banking Services, and holds a complementary business portfolio consisting of Investment Banking, Wealth Management and Stock Broking.  Vajira also oversees the investment banking operations in Bangladesh and most recently led NDB Capital Holdings Limited to venture into Private Equity (PE) management in partnership with a New York based leading emerging market PE fund manager. Vajira was the Team Leader for carrying out the largest Initial Public Offerings in Sri Lanka.  He was also instrumental in introducing structured debt instruments to the Sri Lankan Capital Market.

Vajira has previously served in key strategic positions in a number of high profile organizations in Sri Lanka and overseas, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Sampath Bank and CKN Fund Management.  At Sampath Bank he served as the head of the SME Unit.

The Asian Institute of Technology Alumni Association (AITAA) honoured Vajira with the AITAA Distinguished Alumni Award in 2011, for Business and Professional Achievements.

Vajira was adjudged the ‘Best Investment Banking CEO Sri Lanka” by Global Banking and Finance Review in recognition of his contribution to the investment banking arena of Sri Lanka. This is the first time an investment banking CEO has been honoured in Sri Lanka. Vajira is also Member of the Council of the University of Moratuwa.

Mr. Mohamed Hussain Maniku

Chief Executive Officer,  Pension Office

Mr. Maniku has been the Chief Executive Officer of Pension Office since its inception in 2009. He began his career at Department of Finance, presently the Ministry of Finance and Treasury and held a number of senior management posts. He gained vast exposure in corporate business settings in many functional areas before assuming the post of Managing Director of State Trading Organization (STO) in 1993. He has held Directorships in a number of companies during his tenure with STO. He was instrumental in transforming the company from an import and distribution company to a holding company engaged in international trading. In February 2008, Mr. Maniku was appointed as Maldivian Ambassador to the United States of America. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from American University of Beirut, Lebanon.

Mr. Kirthisri Rajatha Wijeweera

Head of Knowledge and Research for the Asia and Pacific, UNDP SDG Innovative Finance (UNSIF) & Senior Economic Advisor (Sri Lanka and Maldives), UNDP

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Mr. Wijeweera is a senior economist with extensive experience spanning over 23 years working both locally (in Sri Lanka) and internationally covering both the private sector and the public sector. Mr. Wijeweera has considerable experience working at both macro/policy level as well as micro/business level.

Currently, he serves as the Head of Knowledge and Research for the Asia Pacific region at the UNDP SDG Innovative Finance (UNSIF) headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand. In this capacity, Mr. Wijeweera is responsible for carrying out high level policy dialogue on SDG investments and building eco-systems for SDG financing platforms at country level. Concurrently within the UNDP, Mr. Wijeweera also serves as Senior Economic Advisor for Sri Lanka and Maldives -- in which capacity he is responsible for providing strategic advice to UNDP programs and initiatives in the two countries. Upon taking up the current appointment, Mr. Wijeweera has worked extensively on SDG financing initiatives of the UNDP and has been closely associated with the setting up of first indigenous social impact funds in Sri Lanka as well as developing an innovative SDG financing solution for highly indebted countries. Outside of the UNDP, Mr. Wijeweera serves on the panel of expert economists for Euromoney covering the Asian region.

Prior to joining the UNDP, Mr. Wijeweera was attached to the International Monetary Fund (from 2013-2017) as its Senior Economist based in the Resident Representative’s office in Colombo. The office looked after IMF operations in both Sri Lanka and Maldives. In this capacity, Mr. Wijeweera functioned as IMF’s Fiscal Economist for Maldives whilst also being responsible for monitoring overall macro-economic and financial sector developments in Sri Lanka and Maldives. Prior to joining the IMF, Mr. Wijeweera was attached to the World Bank (from 2005-2013) as an Economist in its South Asia team and from 2012 as its Country Economist for Maldives. During his tenor at the World Bank, Mr Wijeweera co-led the first ever development policy lending operation in the Maldives and led a highly successful technical assistance program for Maldives tourism sector. He also worked on several other initiatives of the World Bank in South Asia. Mr. Wijeweera started his career at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce –which he served for a brief period (June 1995 to January 1996) before joining Hatton National Bank PLC (HNB) – one of the largest private commercial banks in Sri Lanka, which he served for nearly 10 years (1996-2005) and last held the post of Manager –Research and Strategic Planning.

Mr. Wijeweera holds a Master of Arts in Economics (specializing in money & public finance) from the University of Colombo and a Double Degree in Science & Economics from the Australian National University specializing in Computer Engineering and Econometrics.

Mr. Mohamed Ishraq Faisal

Senior Manager, Market Development Department, Capital Market Development Authority

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Ishraq joined CMDA in November 2013, an experienced professional in finance & economics, he holds an MBA in Banking & Financial support services. Currently also working part-time as a lecturer in a number of distinguished institutions. Ishraq is considered to be a veteran software developer as well, with over 15 years’ experience in developing applications for Windows, Android & iOS.

Mr. Ibrahim Haisam

Software Developer, Maldives Stock Exchange

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Mr.Ibrahim Haisam joined the Maldives Stock Exchange (MSE) and Maldives Securities Depository Company (MSD) as a software developer in 2017. He is currently acting as the lead software developer of the Business Technology Department of the Company.

With over 08 years of experience as a full-stack programmer, Mr.Haisam is well versed in a wide range of programming languages and frameworks, such as Php, Python, Laravel and React. He has led and assisted the business technology team of the Company to develop and upgrade in-house fintech solutions to enhance the services of the Exchange and the Depository. Notable projects include, Infinity (online self-service portal), FahiVote (E-General Meeting Management Software), MSE website, Digiform (E-Application collection system), Internal Notification System (Raven), Federated Authentication System, and Viyana (E-platform for private placements).

Mr. Haisam is currently doing his Bsc in Computer Science, as a final year student at Villa College. He completed his Diploma in Computer Science from Villa Collage in 2018.