Professor Kalok Chan, Chair Professor, Department of Finance, School of Business and Management, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Kalok Chan is Chair Professor of Finance and Head of Finance Department at the HKUST, where he also holds concurrent positions as the Director of the Centre for Fund Management and Academic Director of the HKUST-NYU Joint Master in Global Finance program. Professor Chan obtained his Ph.D. in Finance from Ohio State University, and taught at Arizona State University from 1990 to 1997 before joining the HKUST. He has also held visiting positions at National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University, and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. Professor Chan has published numerous articles in top-tier finance journals, including Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, and Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. He was ranked as the top finance researcher in the Asia-Pacific region by the Pacific-Basin Finance Journal. He is a co-editor of the Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, and an associate editor of Emerging Market Review, Finance letters and Journal of Financial Research. Professor Chan currently serves as a member in the Risk Management Committee of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, the HKSAR Advisory Committee on Human Resource Development (Financial Services), Committee on Unit Trusts and Committee on Investment-Linked Assurance and Pooled Retirement Funds (Hong Kong SFC), and FTSE Asia-Pacific Regional Committee.

Knut Haugan, Lean Expert, Transformation Resource Center, Nordea Bank Norge ASA

Knut Haugan joined Nordea Bank in 1997 as Relationship manager and he has recently taken the role as Lean Expert in which he is working on continuous improvement projects within different units of the bank. The main aim is to improve the processes and create a culture for continuous improvements. Between 2004 and 2007, Knut was Head of Cross Border Clients and he was also the member of the management group in the branch region. Before joining Nordea Bank, he was a Cash Management Consultant at SEO Oslo Branch.

Professor Richard Ho, Acting President and Professor (Chair) of Finance, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Professor Richard Yan-Ki Ho obtained his M.S. and Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He had been appointed as Acting President of the City University of Hong Kong on 1 May 2007. He is the Professor (Chair) of Finance in the Department of Economics and Finance at City University of Hong Kong. He was Dean of Undergraduate Education in April 2005 and was later retitled as Vice-President (Undergraduate Education) in April 2006. He was Dean of Faculty of Business at City University of Hong Kong from 1995 to 2001. Before joining City University of Hong Kong, Professor Ho also served in the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Baptist University. Professor Ho was a Vice-President of the Asia Pacific Finance Association, a Vice-Chairman of the Hong Kong Policy Research Institute, and a member of the Insider Dealing Tribunal of the Government of Hong Kong. He was also appointed as a part-time member of the Central Policy Unit, the Government of HKSAR (1998-2000), a member of the Economic Advisory Committee of the Financial Secretary's Office (2000-2001), a member of the Hong Kong Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation (1997-2004), a member of the Small and Medium Enterprises Committee of the Government of HKSAR (2002-2004), a member of the Advisory Committee on Human Resources Development in the Financial Services Sector ("FinMan Committee") (2005-2007), and a member of the Executive Committee of the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers (1999-2008). Currently, Professor Ho is a panel member of the Securities and Futures Appeals Tribunal, a member of the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ), and a member of the Energy Advisory Committee. He has also been appointed an Independent Non-Executive Director of the Board of Citibank (Hong Kong) Limited on 1 October 2007. Professor Ho's research areas cover Asian financial markets, market microstructure, and corporate finance. His publications include The Hong Kong Financial System (Oxford University Press) and articles published in Journal of Empirical Finance, Journal of Banking and Finance, Pacific Basin Finance Journal, Economics Letters, Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, and Journal of International Financial Management and Accounting.

Karina T McTeague, Head of Legal & Risk, and Company Secretary, Lloyds TSB Scotland plc.

Karina McTeague started her career in private practice as a corporate lawyer with Scottish law firm Shepherd & Wedderburn. She moved in-house to Bank of Scotland as its Corporate Banking legal adviser, from which she progressed to Deputy Group Counsel. Her career then diversified, moving into Group Strategy, acting as project manager, first for the NatWest hostile bid, and then for the merger with Halifax Bank plc to form HBOS. Following a spell in sales management, Karina was appointed principal risk adviser for the life and pensions business in HBOS' Insurance and Investment Division. Karina moved to Lloyds TSB Scotland plc as its Head of Legal & Risk, and Company Secretary, leading a multi-disciplinary team providing advice and support to the Bank on its risk and legal issues.

Dr. Mark Mobius, Executive Chairman, Templeton Asset Management Ltd., Singapore

Mark Mobius, Ph.D., managing director, joined Templeton in 1987 as president of the Templeton Emerging Markets Fund, Inc. He currently directs the analysts based in Templeton's 12 emerging markets offices and manages the emerging markets portfolios. Dr. Mobius has spent more than 30 years working in emerging markets all over the world. Dr. Mobius earned Bachelors and Masters degrees from Boston University and a Ph.D. in Economics and Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of the books "Trading With China,", "The Investor's Guide to Emerging Markets," "Mobius on Emerging Markets," "Passport to Profits," "Equities - An Introduction To The Core Concepts", "Mutual Funds" and "Mark Mobius: An Illustrated Biography". Dr. Mobius has received the following awards: (1) "Emerging Markets Equity Manager of the Year 2001" by International Money Marketing,(2)"Ten Top Money Managers of the 20th Century" in a survey by the Carson Group in 1999, (3) "Number One Global Emerging Market Fund" in the 1998 Reuters Survey, (4) "1994 First in Business Money Manager of the Year" by CNBC,(5)"Closed-End Fund Manager of the Year" in 1993 by Morningstar, and (6) "Investment Trust Manager of the Year 1992" by Sunday Telegraph. He was named in 2006 by Asiamoney magazine as one of "Top 100 Most Powerful and Influential People". Asiamoney said: "Boasts one of the highest profiles of any investor in the region and is regarded by many in the financial industry as one of the most successful emerging markets investors over the last 20 years. Despite tough times during the financial crisis nine years ago, he still commands a strong following in the investment world and is influencing the direction of billions of invest ment dollars". He was appointed Joint Chairman of the Global Corporate Governance Forum Investor Responsibility Taskforce of the World Bank and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Colin A Morrison, Deputy Chief Executive & Director of Education, Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland

Colin hails from Peterhead in the northeast of Scotland and graduated from Robert Gordon University in 1982 with a Business Studies Degree and a Diploma in Marketing. In 1984 he completed a postgraduate certificate in secondary school education at Aberdeen College of Education and took up a lecturing post in Business Studies at Moray College in Elgin. In 1987 he was promoted to Senior Lecturer at Stevenson College in Edinburgh and subsequently became Head of Business Studies in 1990. Colin completed a Masters in Education (Med) degree at Edinburgh University in 1991 and in the same year was appointed Director of Studies at the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland. He was later appointed Director of Education and in 2002 Colin was appointed Deputy Chief Executive of the Institute. Colin is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland and is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Tom Sorensen, Group Credit Instruction and Analysis, Nordea Bank

Frank Sperling, Corporate Finance, DZ Bank

Frank Sperling spent nearly half of his 16 years of professional career in DZ BANK working and living in Asia. Starting off end of 1991 in Corporate Banking in Hamburg, he was seconded 4 years later as Representative to open up the bank's first Representative office in PR China, Shanghai. He returned to the bank's Corporate Banking unit in Hamburg mid of 1997. Early 2000 Frank was promoted as Head of Multinational Corporates, North Asia, in his employer's Hong Kong branch. Summer 2006 brought him back to DZ BANK head office in Frankfurt. He now is in charge of the Business Development department within the bank's Corporate Finance business division. During his time in Hamburg, Frank was a member and later headed several examination boards for bank trainees at the local Chamber of Commerce. He also was a member of the Executive Committee of Hamburg based American Chamber of Commerce as well as the Country committee at Ostasiatischer Verein eV. In Hong Kong, Frank Sperling served as external advisor to Hong Kong University of Science & Technology's local AIESEC committee. In 2005 he was nominated honorary "Hamburg ambassador" in Hong Kong. During his professional career, Frank published several internal studies and external articles on best business practices in Hong Kong and China.

Anthony Walsh, Chief Executive, The Institute of Bankers in Ireland (also Executive Director IBSS 2005)

Anthony Walsh has been chief executive of the Institute of Bankers in Ireland since 1999. Before that, he spent almost 20 years with Dublin City University (DCU), where he was professor of accounting and dean of the business school. Anthony is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and holds an MSc in Administrative Sciences and a PhD from City University London. His doctoral dissertation was on internal control. His research and teaching interests are in financial statement analysis, control and governance, on which he has published widely. He is an external examiner for many UK and Irish universities and colleges. Before joining DCU, he worked in accounting and financial management roles with Waterford Wedgewood plc.