Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Trade (Since May 2008)
Undersecretary at the Ministry of Economy (2006 – 2008)
Assistant Undersecretary for Economic Affairs and International Cooperation at the Ministry of Economy (2004 – March 2006)
Diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UAE Embassy in Washington DC, UAE Embassy in Paris (1991 – 2004)

Masters in International Politics, The American University, Washington D.C., USA. (1996)
Bachelor of Political Science, UAE University. (1990)

Additionally, Mr. Al Saleh is currently the head of the UAE negotiating team within the framework of the Free Trade Negotiations between the GCC and other countries and regional blocks.

Bachelor in Law by the Complutense University in Madrid. Diploma in International Studies by the Madrid Diplomatic School.

Languages: English, French, German, Italian.

Joined the Diplomatic Service in June 1979.

He has held the following posts:

1979: First Secretary at the Embassy of Spain in Luxemburg

1984: Consul General in Lille, France

1988: Assistant Director General of Immigration at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1990: Assistant Director General of Personnel at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

1992: Consul General in Houston, USA

1996: Ambassador of Spain to Peru

2000: Chief of Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs

2003: Ambassador of Spain to Switzerland

2008: Ambassador in Special Mission

From June 2009: Ambassador of Spain to the U.A.E.

Pablo Rivera, graduated in Law and Economics, is Deputy Director at Madrid Centro Financiero since June 2009. Madrid Centro Financiero is the organization responsible for boosting international promotion projects in Madrid in partnership with the main financial institutions and markets, business schools and local authorities. His duties focus on regulation and financial technology matters. Since 2009, he is also the Coordinator of the Roundtable of European Financial Centres, an initiative that gathers the financial centres of UK, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Sweden and Spain, which is devoted to address issues of common interest. After some years at Ernst & Young dealing with international fiscal matters, he joined the Spanish Securities Commission (CNMV) between 1988 and 2001, where, as Head of International Relations, was thoroughly involved in the work of IOSCO´s Technical Committee and he was mainly focused on international cooperation relating to cross-border investigations and where he led the projects that relocated IOSCO Secretariat to Madrid and created the Iberoamerican Institute of Securities Markets (IIMV). He also represented the CNMV at IOSCO´s Technical and Executive Committees as well as the Internet Task Force and Working Party 4 on Exchange of Information, being also responsible for all EU Commission initiatives and those coming from Basel Committee, Financial Action Task Force, and Financial Stability Board, among others. Afterwards, he was Managing Director of Technology at Grupo Prisa (the largest listed media group in Spanish Language present in 22 countries) from 2001 to 2009, being responsible for defining and executing deep organizational changes aimed at evolving the Group towards a technology-oriented organization. Pablo has also been professor of the Master Degree in Financial Economy at ICADE (Madrid), as well as panelist at various forums such as “Global Regulation of Financial Services on the Internet” (London), “Forum on Internet and Securities Markets” (Buenos Aires), among others.

Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Authority in June 2009. As a leader of the organisation, he oversees the development and accomplishment of the overall strategy of the centre, provides thought leadership to the senior management team, and publicly represents the authority. He also works to ensure the overall performance of the organisation by overseeing the development of process and systems, management of financial and human resources, nurturing of high-level client relationships, and the development and delivery of key strategic messages. Additional commitments include ensuring a sustainable and seamless delivery of client services, which involves a careful integration of client facing and support activities, developing and providing world-class infrastructure and services, maintaining a sustainable fee structure, and ensuring the delivery of maximum value to establishments of the centre.

Before assuming the role of CEO, he served as the Managing Director of DIFC Authority until 2009, where he attracted leading financial institutions to operate in the centre. He also created an ideal platform for non-financial and professional service providers that support the development of the financial services industry.

He launched his career in 2001 as part of the founding team of the knowledge and information cluster that grew into Dubai Knowledge Village and Internet City, attracting regional and international institutions to Dubai as a Regional Sales Manager.

In addition to his role at DIFC Authority, he is also on the Board of Directors of Borse Dubai and Dubai Executive Jets Ltd, and has been a member of the H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Program for Leadership Development since 2005.

Abdulla holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Business Administration from the University of Colorado at Boulder, USA.

José María is a Director and a founding partner at Migrate (www.migratemena.com), an outsourcing company with a regional vocation for the Middle East and North Africa focused on supporting SME growth and on helping companies “migrate” into new markets in the region and abroad. José María currently leads the regional roll-out efforts of Migrate to further support its clients. José María is also Managing Director of PanBuck Europe, an advisory firm focused on providing business development advisory and support between Europe and the Middle East (www.PanBuck.com).

Prior to joining Migrate, José María spent 4 years at McKinsey & Company where he led projects in various countries serving large corporations in corporate and commercial strategy, operational transformation and restructuring, and corporate finance. Previously, José María spent over 4 years in corporate and investment banking in Credit Lyonnais Securities based out of New York. As part of the Latin America Mergers and Acquisition team, he was responsible for valuing and advising on complex businesses transactions, including the largest merger in Latin America in 2002. José María has an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau (2004) and an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Oporto, Portugal. José María is a Spanish citizen and speaks fluently Portuguese, Spanish, English and French.

Samer heads the Corporate Structuring Practice of Al Tamimi & Company. Samer joined Al Tamimi & Company in 1999 and has been a partner since 2007. He has wide ranging experience advising major blue chip organisations, financial institutions, government and semi-government concerns, SMEs, private equity funds, FMCG’s and TMT companies on a wide range of issues, in particular M&A transactions, legal due diligence, joint ventures, drafting and negotiating commercial agreements, agency law issues, regulatory affairs, e-commerce, electronic transactions, privacy, data protection and other IT Law-related issues. Samer has extensive experience in structuring and restructuring entities and businesses for clients operating throughout the Gulf and the broader MENA region. On the legislative side, Samer has been involved in the enactment of a number of local and federal laws.  Samer is also an experienced litigator which has given him a deep understanding of the legal and judiciary systems of the United Arab Emirates and he has drafted court pleadings in complex civil and commercial, matters.

Kevin R. Birkett is Head of Financial Services at the DIFC Authority. In this role within the Business Development Unit of the DIFC Authority, he is responsible for attracting firms from all sectors of the financial services industry to the DIFC and helping them to obtain the appropriate licenses to operate within the financial centre. Mr. Birkett, brings considerable experience to the position from a long career in the City Of London.

Mr. Birkett, whose professional qualifications were previously registered by both the UK Securities and Futures Authority and the US Securities and Exchange Commission, served many years at Merrill Lynch in a range of roles, focused on Europe and the Middle East (EME) region, He joined Merrill Lynch International Bank in 1982 and later became Head of Business Unit, EME. In 1996 with a change of focus to wealth management he transferred to Merrill Lynch Global Asset Management where he became Sales Director with responsibility for the EME region.

Mr. Birkett began his professional career at National Westminster Bank, which later became part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and Morgan Guaranty Trust Co.

Experience:
From 1995 C.E.C.A., Madrid
(THE FINANCE ENTITY OF SPANISH SAVING BANKS)
Capital Markets & Products & Services Division

2000-2011 Head Of Capital Markets and Investor Relationship

1995 – 2000 Deputy Head - Products and Services Department

2000 CECA – LONDON, London
Capital Markets Officer

1993-1995 BANCO ATLÁNTICO., Madrid
Corporate Banking Department
Assistant to Department Head

Education:
I.E.S.E., Madrid
(INSTITUTO DE ESTUDIOS SUPERIORES DE LA EMPRESA)
Program for Management Development

UNIVERSIDAD COMERCIAL,  Deusto
Master Of Finance

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON, Houston
MBA  (1st year)

ESIC, Madrid
ESCUELA SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACION COMERCIAL Y MARKETING
Master in International Trading Management

UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE, Madrid
University Degree in Law

OTHER COURSES

• Chart Analysis, Stock Markets, Securities & Portfolio Management theory, Derivatives & Dealing operations (University of Georgetown International School of Business)
• Capital & Stock Markets (CECA)
• Financial Statements Analysis (Banco Atlántico)
• Risk Analysis (Banco Atlantico)

Mr. Mínguez specialises in banking and finance law, particularly in administrativeregulations for credit institutions. He is currently on leave from his position as inspector ofcredit and savings institutions at the Bank of Spain, Spain’s banking supervisory authority.Before joining Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira, he developed his career at the Bank ofSpain, first as a field inspector, and later analyzing and advising on Spanish andinternational regulation. Given his extensive knowledge of banking in the context ofcommunity law, he represented the Bank of Spain in several international workgroups,particularly within the European Union.

Currently, Mr. Mínguez is a member of the Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira banking-lawpractice, mainly advising banking institutions on institutional and corporate matters. He isan expert in Spanish and international Financial Services regulation. He has co-ordinatedor taken part in recent, very well known operations within the Spanish banking sector.

He speaks regularly at discussion forums, lectures at the Escuela de Cajas de Ahorros andthe Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles and regularly publishes articles in specialized journals.

Bryan Stirewalt joined the DFSA in 2008 as a Director in the Supervision Division, responsible for commercial banking and insurance activities as well as co-ordinating the DFSA's efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.

In September 2010, Bryan was appointed Managing Director of the DFSA's Supervision Division. The Supervision Division includes front-line oversight of a variety of financial service providers, including commercial banks, investment banks, reinsurance companies, fund managers and fund administrators. Additionally, Bryan oversees the DFSA's regulatory role with various ancillary service providers such as lawyers, accountants and auditors. As Managing Director, Bryan continues to be active in the DFSA’s efforts to fight methods of illicit finance, including co-operation with a variety of local, regional and international counterparts.

Bryan has spent most of his working life in the financial regulatory sphere, in both public and private sector roles. From 1985 to 1996, Bryan worked for the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency as a National Bank Examiner, where he specialised in policy development and implementation, problem bank rehabilitation and banking fraud initiatives. From 1996 to 2008, Bryan worked for a US consulting and advisory firm. During his consulting career, Bryan focused his attention on Emerging Markets, including management of large-scale and multi-faceted development projects in Poland, Ukraine, Cyprus and Kazakhstan. These projects related to a wide array of topics including financial sector development, risk management policies and practices, anti-money laundering systems and controls and methods of supervising complex financial conglomerates.

He is a carrer Civil Servant. Since 1989 he belongs to the State Economists and Trade Experts Body of the Spanish Administration. He has developed all his 22 years´career in postings of the Spanish Government Administration.

From 1989 to 1999, he was responsible for the promotion and coordination of the regional economic incentives; the promotion of foreign direct investments in Spain and Chief of Staff of Director General for Commercial Policy and Foreign Investments, in the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade.

From 1999 to 2004, he was the Trade Commissioner at the Embassy of Spain in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Upon his return to Spain, he worked at the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade as Deputy Director General for Trade Policy for North and Latin America.  In 2005 he became Vice-Secretary General (in charge of Human Resources, Budget Management, Infrastructures and Technologies) at the Office of the President of the Government of Spain.

In 2008 he was appointed as Director General of Trade Promotion at the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade in Madrid, Spain.

From the 1st September 2011, Mr. Jaime Montalvo is the new Economic and Commercial Counsellor of the Embassy of Spain to the UAE.

He holds a Master in Economic and Business Sciences from the University Complutense in Madrid. He has been awarded with the Civil Merit Medal and with the Command of the Cross of King Carlos III.  Throughout his career he has taught several courses and written several articles on foreign trade and investments. 

Mr. Montalvo was born on April 18, 1965. He is married and has two children.

Dr. Nasser H. Saidi has been the Chief Economist at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Authority since 2006. Dr. Saidi is also the Executive Director of the Hawkamah-Institute for Corporate Governance and The Mudara Institute of Directors at the DIFC.

Dr. Saidi is a member of the IMF’s Regional Advisory Group for MENA and Co-Chair of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) MENA Corporate Governance Working Group. He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Public & Institutional Investors Industry Agenda Council and also a member of the Private Sector Advisory Group of the Global Corporate Governance Forum, an institution of the World Bank driving global corporate governance reforms. He is also Chair of the regional Clean Energy Business Council.

Dr. Saidi has recently been appointed to the Board of Directors of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN), whose members collectively represent funds under management of around $ 12 trillion.

In 2011, he was named among the 50 most influential Arabs in the world by The Middle East magazine, for the third consecutive year.

Dr. Saidi was the Minister of Economy and Trade and Minister of Industry of Lebanon between 1998 and 2000. He was the First Vice-Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon for two successive mandates, 1993- 1998 and 1998-2003. He was a Member of the UN Committee for Development Policy (UNCDP) for two mandates over the period 2000-2006, a position to which he was appointed by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in his personal capacity.

He has written a number of books and numerous articles and publications addressing macroeconomic, capital market development and international economic issues in the MENA region and is the author of, “Corporate Governance in the MENA countries: Improving Transparency & Disclosure”. His research interests include macroeconomics, financial market development, payment systems and international economic policy, and information and communication technology (ICT).

Dr. Saidi was a private banker and served as an economic adviser and director to a number of central banks and financial institutions in Arab countries, Europe and Central and Latin America. Prior to his public career, Dr. Saidi pursued a career as an academic, serving as a Professor of Economics at the Department of Economics in the University of Chicago, the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales (Geneva, CH), and the Université de Genève. He also served as a lecturer at the American University of Beirut and the Université St. Joseph in Beirut.

Dr. Saidi holds a Ph.D. and a M.A. in Economics from the University of Rochester in the U.S.A, a M.Sc. from University College, London University and a B.A. from the American University of Beirut.

Olivier Schwartz is Senior Vice President and General Counsel.  Prior to joining DP World in 2007, Mr. Schwartz worked as a Senior Legal Consultant with the Law Firm DLA Piper Middle East LLP in Dubai where he was representing international companies in corporate transactions, joint ventures and other commercial matters in various countries in the Middle East.
Previously, Mr. Schwartz was Vice President in the General Counsel’s Office of American Express Company for eight years, based in France, the United Kingdom and the USA. While based in London, he was responsible for all legal issues for various lines of business in Europe, Middle East and Africa, and then for the Latin American and Caribbean countries when based in Miami, USA.  His responsibilities included international contracts, distribution, strategic alliances, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, competition law, compliance and regulatory issues, government affairs, E-commerce and Internet and new business development projects.

Mr. Schwartz holds a Degree in French Law and a Master in Law (LLM) from King’s College London, United Kingdom. He is admitted to the Paris Bar in France and is a former Lecturer at University College, London, United Kingdom.

Forty two (42) years of experience devoted to the industrial engineering profession. Out of them, thirty seven (37) years working for Consulting Engineering Firms and the remaining five (5) for the Basque Government.

The Consulting Engineering activity has covered various fields, from Civil, Structural and Industrial Engineering during the first years, to Mechanical and Aerospace in a second phase, acting first as Project Engineer and focusing the professional activity in the Project Management and Quality Management afterwards. Presently being the Managing Director of Sener in Abu Dhabi.

In the Basque Government the activity has been mainly centred in the Directorates of Industry and Telecommunications, as Director of both of them.

From July 1995 until September 2007 holding in SENER the position of Head of Quality, Environmental and Safety management, as well as member of the Quality Committee and Direction Board of the Cluster of Basque Aeronautical Industries and SENER’s delegate in EUSKALIT and Member of the Quality Committee of ATECMA. Cooperating and acting as focal point for R&D&I and industrial property activities in SENER.

Since September 2007 leaves the position of Head of Quality, Environmental and Safety management, to concentrate again on Project development, holding the position of Head of Quality in Bilbao Division. Still representing SENER in all the quality organizations in the Basque Country in which SENER participates. Cooperating and acting as focal point for R&D&I and industrial property activities in SENER.

In April 2008 he is appointed to establish SENER in Abu Dhabi, capital city of the United Arab Emirates, in order to boost SENER’s activities in the United Arab Emirates and in the Gulf Community Council.

In May and September 2009 respectively, he successfully ends the processes of registration and commercial licence of SENER Ingeniería y Sistemas, SA - Abu Dhabi and SENER Limited. Since then to now taking care of setting up the company in Abu Dhabi.

In September 2011 a new Doha branch is established under his responsibility as general manager.

Praesidium
Usama is an Associate Partner in the business and has been involved in new business development both in Dubai and also instrumental in the launch of the London office. Usama provides specialist compliance and regulatory experience in the Funds and Shari’a compliant industry.

Regulatory Experience
Usama is a former regulator with the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) who has been involved in policy development for the offer and supervision of funds. Usama was part of the policy teams that reviewed the applicable regulatory architecture, specifically the Securities Commission Act and the Capital Market and Services Act, for the SC.

International Experience
Usama brings a wealth of funds experience and regulatory and supervisory experience to Praesidium in the conventional and Shari’a compliant industry. Usama has held positions in back office in the funds industry involved in transaction reporting and the development of IT systems for risk management of associated risks. Usama performed the team compliance function for a hedge fund at a leading American investment bank and asset management institution. He was part of the team that helped grow a local Islamic fund to become the largest public Islamic fund in the world. Usama has worked with the US and Malaysian Governments, within the defense sector in the United States and within the industries of IT and Finance.

Accreditations/Memberships
Usama is a member of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists.

Publications
Author of ‘Building up the Islamic Capital Market – The Malaysian Example’, Islamic Capital Markets, John Wiley and Sons
Author of ‘Banking on Banks in the Islamic World’ – The Message, New York, NY
Speaker ‘The Roles of Ethics and Regulation in Islamic finance’, Global Ethics Forum, Switzerland
Speaker ‘The Regulatory Architecture of the Islamic Capital Market’, Malaysian Investment Banking Association, Malaysia
Speaker ‘Regulating Commodities in Islamic Finance’, Bursa Malaysia, Malaysia

Extensive experience in advising national and international groups on acquisitions and restructurings, specializing in structuring and financing foreign investments in Spain. Experienced in taxation of high-net-worth individuals and family offices. A member of the firm’s Middle East Desk, he specializes in Spanish-Middle East cross border transactions. He is a board member at ISFIN network (Islamic Finance Lawyers).

He speaks regularly at tax-related discussion forums and publishes articles in specialized press. He is a visiting professor at the IE Business School in Madrid. In 2002, he worked as an international associate in a law firm in Holland.

Husam Hourani is the Managing Partner and Head of the Banking and Finance Department of Al Tamimi & Company. He graduated from Kent University, England with an Honours Degree in Law in 1992 and was subsequently awarded his Masters Degree in 1993 from IISL in Spain.
Husam Hourani has 16 years of experience advising clients on banking and finance related matters in the United Arab Emirates.  He also advises clients on major capital markets transactions in the United Arab Emirates, including in particular listings and/or offerings of different financial products on the Dubai Financial Market, Dubai International Financial Exchange and the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, as well as continuing/reporting obligations and other regulatory matters related thereto. His work on conventional finance, Shari’a-compliant products and capital markets wins him many fans. He is a member of the NASDAQ Dubai Listing Committee and the DIFCA Legislative Committee.

Chambers Global 2010 states that Husam Hourani is “one of the best local lawyers to work with; he really knows how to get a deal done to international standards”.

Shaykh Yusuf Talal DeLorenzo is an independent Shari’ah advisor based in Dubai.

A scholar of Islamic Transactional Law, Shaykh Yusuf advises international financial entities, including institutional investors, home finance providers, international investment banks, asset managers and governments. He serves as Chairman of the Shariah Board for the Dow Jones Islamic Market Indexes, the Islamic Interbank Benchmark Rate (IIBR), Wafra (the Kuwait Investment Advisory Group), Oasis Asset Management (South Africa), and several others. Shaykh Yusuf helped design the first Sukuk using assets based in the United States, and was Chairman of the Shariah board that approved the first corporate Sukuk in Saudi Arabia. He was also a member of the team that designed a prime broker solution for a Shariah compliant short position.

Shaykh Yusuf is a member of the Shariah Committee of the Accounting and Auditing Organization of Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and is also a member of the Council of Scholars, International Shari’ah Research Academy (ISRA), the Central Bank of Malaysia. He was a founding member of the Governing Council of the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) in Malaysia and served as Advisor on Islamic Education to the Government of Pakistan from 1981 to 1984. His career was noted on the front page of the Wall Street Journal (Aug 9, 2007), and he has been featured in stories on Islamic Finance in The Financial Times, The New York Times, Fortune, Forbes, The US News and World Report, Newsweek, CNBC, Conde Nast Portfolio, and others including TV and radio media.

Shaykh Yusuf is the author of the three volume Compendium of Legal Opinions on the Operations of Islamic Banks, the first English/Arabic reference on the fatawa issued by Shari'ah boards. In addition, Shaykh Yusuf wrote the introduction to Islamic Bonds, the 2003 book that introduced Sukuk and transformed the world's Islamic capital markets. His work has appeared in academic and industry journals and as chapters in books, including Euromoney's Islamic Asset Management (2004), Islamic Retail Finance (2005), and Islamic Finance: Innovation & Growth (2002). His entries on the terminology of Islamic finance appear in The Oxford Dictionary of Islam.

Shaykh Yusuf is fluent and has published academic work in English, Arabic and Urdu. He also has a working knowledge of Italian and Farsi.