Robert Binyon

Chairman

UK National, Robert Binyon graduated in Modern History from Christ Church Oxford and has a long experience of the banking industry around the globe, starting in 1972 with Morgan Grenfell, the London Merchant Bank. He held a variety of positions in the London Office and had two periods based in Geneva to run the Morgan Grenfell Bank in Switzerland. In 1985, he was appointed to the main board and in 1986 went to Japan to run the Tokyo operations of the group. Robert served as a member of Group management committee in 1988 and assumed responsibility for the Group’s operations in the Asia Pacific region. Subsequently he served as Chief Executive and Managing Director for three years of Tokai Bank Europe in London. From 1994 to 2003, Robert was a Managing Director of the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) in London, responsible for the financial markets department.  He has held a number of non-executive chairman and directorship roles, mostly in businesses or funds operating or investing in Asia or other emerging markets and mostly focused on the SME sector. Currently, he is chairman of Lakeshore LLP, a private equity fund and of Khronos Advisory Limited, both based in Thailand and Chairman of many other commercial businesses operating in China and South East Asia.”

Sharjeel Shahid

Director

Sharjeel Shahid has more than 23 years of diversified experience of managing banking operations in large retails banks and business management for various institutions. A tech savvy qualified Chartered Accountant, Shahid worked in London prior to working for Barclays, Standard Chartered and now United Bank in Pakistan. He has been instrumental in transformation of business models, corporate restructuring, cost optimisation and development of alternate delivery channels. He is currently spearheading the Digital Transformation Strategy for the second largest bank in the country, UBL. He is also serving on the Board of several companies in different sectors.

Imran Sarwar

Director

Mr. Imran Sarwar is a highly-accomplished professional with over 27 years of leadership, management, strategy, and risk experience in banking. Having held several executive positions, including Group Executive - Risk and Credit Policy, Chief Risk Officer at United Bank Limited in Karachi, Pakistan, and Managing Director, Head of Corporate Banking at Standard Chartered Bank in the UAE. In his most recent role, He has successfully set risk policies for the bank, ensured adherence to regulatory guidelines, set underwriting strategy in line with budgets, embedded operational, market, and IT risk functions, and managed a team of 272 individuals globally. Additionally, he has also served as a member of the board of directors for Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company, UBL Bank Tanzania, and UBL Funds. Throughout his career, Mr. Sarwar has demonstrated strong leadership skills, strategic thinking, and the ability to build strong client relationships. He has successfully managed large teams, maintained robust operational and credit risk controls, and participated in various committees and boards.  He is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University – USA and Punjab University Law College.  

Simi Sadaf Kamal

Independent Director

Geographer with 38 years of experience in establishing institutions, building platforms and developing programs in her three areas of specialization: poverty alleviation, gender and water. As a poverty alleviation practitioner she has focused on inclusive development, assets transfer, interest free loans, microfinance, financial literacy, public goods and poverty graduation models. She is known for championing causes of vulnerable populations, marginalized people and poor countries. She has a reputation for solving problems, resolving differences through debate and discussions, building consensus and developing shared perspectives. In addition to her in-depth experience in Pakistan, she has worked in South Asia, the Asia Pacific region, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Her expertise ranges from projects in local communities to major national and international programs, transnational dialogues, track two engagements where governments find it hard to talk, research geared to actions and academic endeavors. She has chosen to reside in Pakistan, and continues engagement at the grassroots, following her avowed approach on putting people first.  She is the founder of several private and non-profit organizations as well as international and national networks, programs and initiatives. She has held fiduciary responsibility for multi-million dollar programs, served on treasury, investment, fund raising, finance and audit committees. She has headed over 200 assignments and postings as Chief of Party, Head of Programs, Team Leader and lead consultant. She is the author and co-author of over 180 research, evaluation and impact assessment reports. 

Humayun Bashir

Independent Director

Humayun brings 40 years of diversified experience with IBM in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and MEA headquarters Dubai, with good  knowledge of working with banking, capital markets and Telecom sectors.  He remained Chief Executive of IBM Pakistan for 16 years before retiring in 2016. He holds an engineering degree with Finance, management and leadership courses from IBA, IBM Academy NY, INSEAD and Boston University. Humayun  is a certified Director under IFC - PICG program and is currently serving as Chairman of National Clearing Company of Pakistan (NCCPL), and serves on Boards of NAFA /NBP mutual fund, Management Association of Pakistan (MAP), INJAZ Pakistan and as Chairman of PSX IT Steering committee. He is engaged with Startups and Incubators and is on Advisory Boards for promoting startups Eco system in country .

Aameer Karachiwalla

President/CEO & Deemed Director

With over 30 years of experience, Mr. Aameer Karachiwalla is a Fellow of  the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan and a long-serving Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Khushhali Microfinance Bank Limited. Mr. Karachiwalla was re-appointed the Chief Financial Officer of UBL in July 2016. He joined UBL in 1998 and has previously held the positions of Chief Operating Officer, Chief of Staff and Group Executive Retail Banking at UBL. During this time, he has been instrumental in launching the bank’s branchless banking business, implementing the IT vision of the bank and in developing the bank’s overall restructuring plan which led to its successful privatization. He is also the Chairman of The Board of UBL Insurers Ltd and Director at 1Link. Before joining UBL Mr. Karachiwalla held senior positions at a number of financial institutions and multinationals including American Express Bank, Citicorp Investment Bank and Artal Group of Companies.