BFX - Bahrain Financial Exchange

• Vision: Markets for the Masses and to bring Wall Street to the Man on the Street
• Innovator of modern financial markets through PPP model
• Founder of MCX - the world's 6th largest commodity futures exchange. Also DGCX, GBOT, IEX, and SMX among others
• Ranked among the 'Top 30 Global Innovators in e-finance' by Institutional Investors in 2008
• Listed among 'Dominant Financial & Futures Industry Leaders for 2008' by Futures Industry Association (FIA), Washington

Mr. Shah is the Founder Chairman and Group CEO of the Financial Technologies Group, a global leader in creating and operating technology centric financial exchanges for stocks, commodities, currency, and bonds among other asset classes.

Mr. Shah is often called the 'Innovator of modern financial markets' for his role in creating a successful public private partnership (PPP) model to build world class financial institutions from emerging economies. His vision is to bring 'Wall Street to the Man on the street' and drive inclusive and equitable growth through technology. He launched MCX in 2003 to create 'Markets for Masses'. MCX is the world's 6th largest commodity futures exchange as per the UNCTAD.

The success of MCX has inspired several countries and government entities to partner with Financial Technologies and promote various global exchanges. These achievements have seen him feature among the 'Top 30 Global Innovators in e-finance' by Institutional Investors in 2008. He is also listed among the 'Dominant Financial & Futures Industry Leaders for 2008' by Futures Industry Association (FIA), Washington.

Mr. Shah is a recipient of the 'Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year' award for business transformation. He has been recognized by CLSA as one of the 'Top 20 Indians' who can change the face of world business and has been inducted in their Hall of Fame. He has been honored with the 'US-India Businessman of the Year' and has been chosen by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Geneva, as a 'Young Global Leader'. He has been presented with the 'Global Social Entrepreneur' award by Rotary International.

Mr. Shah is deeply passionate about the role of markets in corporate social responsibility activities (CSR) and has launched initiatives such as 'Gramin Suvidha Kendra' in association with India Post and 'Pragati' with Rotary International to empower underprivileged communities with education and training within the group.

• Played key role in setting-up of the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange in the UAE and served as the Board Member of the Exchange and its Clearing Corporation for 5 years
• Oversees Middle East and North Africa (MENA) operations of the Financial Technologies Group
• Established the Financial Technologies Centre for STP Services (FT-CSS) in the UAE Former head of Communications of the Financial Technologies Group
• Conceptualised and implemented India’s leading Securities STP framework: STP-Gate™

Mr. Arshad Khan is the Managing Director and CEO of the Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX) and the BFX Clearing and Depository Corporation (BCDC), which are wholly owned by the Financial Technologies Group. He also represents the Group on the Board of Financial Technologies Middle East (FTME) in Dubai.

In his current role, Mr. Khan is responsible for the strategic direction of the business as well as ensuring that the BFX meets its objective of being the true leader in the exchanges space. He has also undertaken thorough study of Islamic finance market and has been instrumental in launching landmark initiative – Bait Al Bursa (Home of Exchanges) to automate the Islamic finance business by bringing it on an exchange platform.

Mr. Khan started his career with Financial Technologies (India) Ltd. (FT India) in 1998 as a Business Analyst – Derivatives Products. Thanks to his contribution to the company’s growth, he quickly rose to the position of Group Director in 2005. He has spent the last six years in the Middle East. This period allowed him to become intimately familiar with the nuances of the capital and financial markets of this region. His background as an exchange professional and the technologies behind it, experience in the development of exchanges in emerging markets makes him an ideal leader to spearhead the BFX’s success.

Among his notable achievements was the design and implementation of India’s most sophisticated and widely used ‘Straight through Processing’ (STP) market-wide platform and setting up the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange (DGCX) in a remarkable 12 month’s period. As a member of the management team at the DGCX, he was entrusted with the overall responsibility of setting up the exchange grounds-up. The success of the DGCX under his guidance has established Financial Technologies’ capability to replicate its winning business models and set-up exchanges anywhere in the world.

Outside his professional duties, Mr. Khan has made frequent appearances in various forums both as a speaker and chairman. He is also a frequent contributor to a number of regional and international publications.

Mr. Tawfiq Ismail Al Alawi was appointed as the personal secretary to His Royal Highness the Prime Minister in January 1988.  Prior to this role Mr. Al Alawi spent nine years in Marketing Affairs with Gulf Air and has also worked within the Ministry of information. Mr. Al Alawi holds a Master of Science in Hospitality and a BA in Hospitality Management from the University of Sheffield, UK.

• World-renowned authority on commodity markets
• Former Chief of Finance, Risk Management, and Information in the Commodities Branch of UNCTAD, Geneva
• Senior advisor with International Task Force on Commodity Price Risk Management of World Bank
• Member of the board of advisors of the International Investment Group, LLC, a US$ 400 million hedge fund specialising in trade finance

A world-renowned authority on commodity markets, Mr. Rutten’s area of focus at MCX was to drive the development of the entire commodities market value chain in India.

Mr. Rutten has served as Chief of Finance, Risk Management, and Information in the Commodities Branch of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Geneva. He joined UNCTAD in 1990 with the responsibility of developing its work on commodity price risk management and structured finance. He was associated with UNCTAD till June 2006, excluding the duration of 2000-2001 when he worked as a senior advisor with the International Task Force on Commodity Price Risk Management of the World Bank and during January-April 2002 with the Common Fund for Commodities. Earlier, he had worked on grain trade and collateralised grain finance in Mali.

Mr. Rutten has extensive experience in country-level advisory work on issues related to commodity trade, risk management, and finance as part of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Bank teams. He has drafted over 40 papers on these issues and has spoken at about 150 seminars. He has been a member, on his personal basis, of the World Bank’s International Task Force for Commodity Risk Management in developing countries, convened by the Bank’s president to revitalise global efforts to address the problem of commodity price risk.

Mr. Rutten has taught commodity marketing and risk management at the Institute of Banking and Financial Management of École des Hautes Études Commerciales, a part of the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. He is also a member of the board of advisors of the International Investment Group, LLC, a US$ 400 million hedge fund specialising in trade finance.

Mr. Rutten holds a postgraduate degree with honours in international economic management from Tilburg University, the Netherlands.

• Heads strategic operations and development initiatives of MCX Stock Exchange
• Associated with leading financial organisations such as LIC, RBI, Stock
• Holding Corporation of India, and Vadodara Stock Exchange
• Former Managing Director, Interconnected Stock Exchange of India
• Key member of various committees of FMC, SEBI, and the Government of India for development of the commodities and securities market

Mr. Massey is the Managing Director and CEO of MCX-SX. He heads strategic operations and development initiatives of the Exchange with the ultimate aim of making it the “Exchange of Choice” for all commodity market participants.

Mr. Massey has over 20 years of diverse corporate experience and has been associated with leading financial organizations such as Life Insurance Corporation of India, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Stock Holding Corporation of India, and the Vadodara Stock Exchange. In his last assignment, he was heading Interconnected Stock Exchange of India - a collaboration of 15 regional stock exchanges - as its managing director.

Mr. Massey has travelled to various global exchanges such as: NYMEX, LME, CBOT, CME, NYBOT, CCX, EURONEXT-LIFFE, IPE, NYSE, NASDAQ, Philadelphia Stock Exchange, SEC, CFTC, LSE, Singapore Stock Exchange, and DTC and has brought global best practices to India. He has been a part of various committees of FMC, SEBI, and the Government of India on various policy issues related to the development of the commodities and securities market.

Mr. Massey is actively involved in the field of education as a visiting faculty at leading institutions teaching primarily on commodities and securities market. Known for his perceptiveness and keen acumen, he has been invited as a speaker to several forums. He has also contributed articles and views to various national dailies, such as the Economic Times, Financial Express, business magazines and journals.

Mr. Massey is a postgraduate in economics and financial management. He has attended diverse training programmes on the securities and commodities market at various institutions such as CFTC, and the International Law Institute in Washington, derivatives instruments at the New York Institute of Finance, and research methodology at the RBI Staff Training College.