FinanceAsia Country Awards 2022: Meet the jury

Read on for details of our panellists, and a reminder that application to the process closes this week – on Friday 08 April 2022.

April 04, 2022

With entries coming in thick and fast, the FinanceAsia team is pleased to reveal the full judging panel for our 2022 FA Country Awards, which recognise the best banks, brokers and law firms across Asia, plus rating agencies in China.

Read on for details of our jury; their experience and expertise. But first, a reminder that application to participate closes this Friday! Entry deadline: Friday 08 April 2022

Please navigate to our awards page to submit your online entry. Please refer to the entry kit and templates for the criteria and category list.

Meet the panel

Lyndon Chao – Managing director, head of Equities and Post Trade at ASIFMA

In his role leading the Equities and Post Trade Division at ASIFMA, Chao assists the financial community and advocates for reform across the Asian markets. Additionally, in his current post he leads a number of regional working groups across equities, trading and listed warrants.

A seasoned leader in financial services, prior to joining ASIFMA, Chao spent 26 years at Morgan Stanley, working across several markets in the capacity of managing director, spanning New York, Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei and Shanghai. Seconded by the American bank to CICC for its initial launch, and later to CIC as a senior consultant, Chao then went on to join UBS, to build a Business Solutions Centre in Shanghai.

Born in Taiwan and raised in the US, Lyndon is fluent in English and Putonghua. He has an Executive MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (through a joint programme with Kellogg). He also holds an electrical engineering degree from Northwestern University.

Lorna Chen – Asia regional managing partner and head of Greater China, Shearman & Sterling

In addition to her role serving as regional leader at the law firm, Chen is a member of the practice’s Executive Group. Having founded the company’s Asian asset management and investment funds practice at her base in Hong Kong, Chen has amassed 25 years of corporate law experience across United States, Europe and Asia, including 20 years in the investment funds and private equity field.

She advises clients in the structuring, restructuring, formation and operation of alternative investment products, including private equity funds, venture capital funds, hedge funds, real estate funds, funds of funds, project funds and co-investment structures. Through her involvement with leading industry associations, Chen is active in regulatory reform issues relating to the private equity funds sector.  She is a frequent market commentator through the media and major industry conferences on investment trends in the region.

Nitin Jain – Head of treasury and capital markets, Agrocorp

A seasoned global leader with experience in financial services, corporate finance and system implementation, Jain leads the treasury and capital markets practice at Agrocorp. Jain has over 15 years of experience in banking, global multinational corporates and hedge funds. He has significant domain expertise in treasury management and services.

Hiroshi Jinno – Chief investment officer, International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Based in Tokyo, Jinno is responsible for developing and managing strategic relationships that mobilise Japanese companies for strategic projects, and he works to create and materialise new opportunities for high impact strategic investments in emerging and developing countries by engaging with the clients and sponsors.

With over three decades of experience corporate and investment banking, Jinno has broad prowess across structured finance, corporate finance, capital markets and M&A.

Having studied at Keio University and Yale School of Management, Jinno has held senior management positions with international financial institutions including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Aozora Bank and Deutsche Bank.

Elsy Li – Group treasurer, head of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at Sun Hung Kai & Co. Limited

A seasoned investment banking professional with more than 24 years of experience, Li has held various senior investment banking positions including managing director of Institutional Client Group and managing director of Asia Financial Institutions Group at Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong.

With a BBA degree from the Ross Business School at the University of Michigan, Li has been a Member of the Listing Committee of Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 2019.

Shiraz Poonevala – Investment director, GP Group

Directly responsible for monitoring and overseeing all existing and new investment activities, Poonevala leads the Thailand-based conglomerate’s activities in the Family Office space.

With over 25 years of investment and corporate banking experience in leading financial service organisations, Poonevala joined CP Group in 2008, bringing with him experience from his role serving as investment banking head of Seamico Securities, with a focus on Equity Capital Market and M&A transactions in Thailand.

Prior to joining Seamico, he led cross border corporate finance transactions as well as restructurings at Paragon Partners. He was with HSBC in Thailand during the peak of the Asian financial crisis, restructuring and remedying distressed debt within the corporate bank. The move marked his return to the bank, having worked there for his first job in India where he set up one of India’s first country-wide Cash Management systems. He has also worked with Credit Lyonnais in India driving business development. He has vast experience in direct investment and private equity, structured finance, corporate banking, debt restructuring and providing corporate advisory services.

A qualified chartered accountant with a Master degree in Finance and Accounting, Poonevala is also a director on the board of several publicly listed and private companies.

Sangeeta Venkatesan, Co-founder and chair of FairVine Super; Co-founder Chairman, FairVine Super; President & board member, WiBF; executive director, EG Funds Management; Non-executive director, Novatti IBOA, RSLLC, CancerAid

A veteran in the banking and finance sector with over 25 years of experience spanning London, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Sydney, Venkatesan has senior experience at some of the most prominent and globally recognised firms, including KPMG, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Nomura, and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

She serves as the chair of the board at FairVine Super, president and board member at Women in Banking and Finance (WiBF), non-executive director at Novatti IBOA (subsidiary of the ASX-listed Novatti Group), CancerAid, and RSL LifeCare (RSLLC), executive director at EG Funds Management, and advisory board member of Risk Australia. More recently, she was the CEO of an Australian investment banking firm, where she developed a niche for supporting deep tech companies’ investment strategies and ASX listings.

A highly sought-after speaker and thought leader across the banking and finance sector covering a variety of topics including fin-tech, ESG, and cognitive diversity, Venkatesan has won awards and was featured in the CEO Magazine for her contribution to women in business.

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