Raja Amir Shah Raja Azwa Chief Executive Officer HSBC Amanah

Raja Amir is the CEO of HSBC Amanah and has over 18 years’ experience in corporate financing, advisory and sustainability, in particular Islamic Banking and the International and Malaysian sukuk market. He is responsible for executing the HSBC Group’s strategy for Islamic Banking in Malaysia, driving sustainability and Value-Based Intermediation (VBI) efforts. Raja Amir serves as a counsel member of the Association of Islamic Banks Malaysia (AIBIM) and Chairman of SC4, Joint Committee on Climate Change (JC3), a regulator – industry collaborative actions platform, wherein the SC4 is tasked with spearheading engagement and capacity building. Raja Amir is also one of HSBC Group’s representative on the Green Sukuk High Level Working Group with a mandate to promote the adaptation of Green, Social and Sustainable Sukuk globally.

Under his guidance, HSBC Amanah had established a Tripple Bottom Line Framework, aiming to align and classify the bank’s financing with value-based intermediation. The organisation has achieved exceptional recognition, solidifying its position as a global leader in Islamic banking, amongst others Being recognised asthe "World's Best International Islamic Bank" by Euromoney in 2023 Islamic ESG Bank of the Year for the 4th consecutive years by The Asset Tripple A 2023, reflecting the Bank’s strong leadership in fostering a culture of sustainability and responsible banking practices.

Prior to his appointment, Raja Amir was the Country Head of Debt Capital Markets. During his tenor, he has made many material contributions to the development of the international and Malaysian capital markets, having originated, structured, and executed multiple first to market landmark bond/sukuk transactions across Asia for both corporates, financial institutions, and the public sector.

He started his career in London in the tech industry and moved to a local investment bank in 2006. Thereafter, he joined HSBC Amanah in 2010 and held various roles within the Business Units and Debt Capital Markets team.

Yazmin Abdul Aziz Head, Rating Portfolio Structured Finance, Property & Retail MARC Ratings Berhad

Yazmin is the Rating Portfolio Head for Structured Finance, Property and Retail. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with more than 13 years of experience in investment operations and financial markets.

Prior to joining MARC, she was with the treasury department of Bank Negara Malaysia with experience in market surveillance, policy making and treasury market operations in the Malaysian foreign exchange, fixed income and money markets. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Actuarial Science from City, University of London.

Nitish Bhojnagarwala Senior Vice President/Manager, Financial Institutions Group Moody's Ratings

Nitish Bhojnagarwala is a Senior Vice President/Manager with Moody’s Financial Institutions Group. Based in Dubai, Nitish covers a portfolio of large conventional as well as Islamic financial institutions in the Middle East, Africa and Turkey.

Nitish joined Moody’s in 2011, and has led sukuk roundtables and conducted workshops on Banking and Islamic finance at various conferences in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Nitish has also authored several research pieces, with a focus on regional banking, credit issues and issuer-in-depths for conventional as well as Islamic banks.

Prior to joining Moody’s, Nitish spent five years at Tamweel in the Treasury function. He has also worked for KPMG in the UAE, where he covered financial institutions. Nitish holds an MBA from S P Jain Institute of Management & Research, with a major in Finance (Investment Banking).

Christian de Guzman Senior Vice President - Manager, Sovereign and Sub-Sovereign Risk Moody's Ratings

Christian de Guzman is a Senior Vice President with Moody’s Sovereign and Sub-Sovereign Risk Group. Based in Singapore, he covers a portfolio of sovereigns and multilateral development banks in Asia Pacific, including Japan, India and a number of Southeast Asian credits, while also managing the team responsible for sub-sovereign ratings in Asia ex-China.

Christian joined Moody’s in 2009, after working as a Senior Economist for the Monetary Authority of Singapore, covering ASEAN economies. He has also held various positions with the Research Department at the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC, and Procter & Gamble in Singapore.

Christian was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate in Economics and Political Science at the University of Georgia and received his M.A. in International Economics and Southeast Asian Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

Maisam Hasnain Vice President – Senior Credit Officer, Corporate Finance Moody's Ratings

Maisam Hasnain is a Vice President - Senior Credit Officer in Moody’s Corporate Finance Group. 

Based in Singapore, Maisam covers a portfolio of companies across the industrial, mining and plantation sectors in Southeast Asia. 

Prior to his move to Singapore in 2017, Maisam spent four years in Moody’s Hong Kong office covering a broad array of sectors, including telecommunications, communications infrastructure, building materials, and metals and mining. 

Maisam joined Moody’s in 2010 and started as an Associate in Moody’s Regional Product Strategy team, which is responsible for managing all aspects of Moody’s research and data service offerings, including new business initiatives. 

Maisam holds a double major in Economics and Finance, and a minor in Arabic from The University of Hong Kong. He is also a CFA charterholder.

Chong Jun Wong Assistant Vice President - Analyst, Financial Institutions Moody’s Ratings

CJ Wong is an Analyst with Moody’s Financial Institutions Group.

Based in Singapore, CJ covers a portfolio of banks and non-bank financial institutions in Bangladesh, Malaysia and Vietnam

Prior to joining Moody’s, CJ worked as a research analyst in the Dividend Forecasting team at IHS Markit, where he was responsible for providing estimates on financial institutions and corporates in Australia and Singapore.

CJ holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) from the University of Sydney, majoring in Finance and Economics. He is a CFA Charterholder.

Ibrahim Muhammad Associate Lead Analyst, Sustainable Finance Moody’s Ratings

Ibrahim works as Associate Lead Analyst, Sustainable Finance at Moody's Ratings and is primarily responsible for conducting external reviews on the frameworks of Green, Social and Sustainability-labelled financial instruments. Ibrahim has worked on issuing more than 30 Second Party Opinions covering sovereigns and issuers across APAC and Europe. His research coverage mainly includes the banking, real estate, commodities, and utilities sectors. 

Prior to Moody's, Ibrahim was a lead researcher at NUS Business School's Centre for Governance and Sustainability, publishing ESG indices covering APAC markets. He has co-authored numerous industry reports in corporate governance, sustainability, and family business domains and has been a regular speaker promulgating good governance and responsible investing in the region. 

Ibrahim holds a Master of Business Administration (Strategy) and a Bachelor of Business Administration (Accountancy), both from the National University of Singapore. He is a Chartered Accountant (CA) of Singapore, as well as a CFA Charterholder.