Management Team
Located in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the BFX offers the distinct advantage of specialist knowledge of the Middle East region and direct access to one of the world's fastest growing and largest areas of financial liquidity.
- Vision: Markets for the Masses and to bring Wall Street to Man on 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 8th 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.
- Oversees Middle East and North Africa (MENA) operations of the Financial Technologies Group
- Member of the board at the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX)
- Established the Financial Technologies Centre for STP Services (FT-CSS) in the UAE
- Led FTME in successfully rolling out automation solutions for the members of exchanges in the MENA region
- Former head of communications department-Financial Technologies Group
Mr. Khan holds a postgraduate diploma in business administration and is one of the key members of the senior management team at Financial Technologies. Mr. Khan oversees the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) operations for the entire Group. In addition, he represents the Financial Technologies Group’s interests as a member of the board at the Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX).
As a member of the management team at DGCX, Mr. Khan was entrusted with the overall responsibility of setting up the exchange grounds-up. The success of DGCX under his guidance has established Financial Technologies’ capability to replicate its winning business models and set up exchanges anywhere in the world.
Mr. Khan is assigned with the responsibility of expanding the Group’s presence in the MENA countries. He also oversees the operations of Financial Technologies Middle East (FTME). Under his leadership, FTME has successfully rolled out automation solutions for the members of the regional exchanges and has also established the Financial Technologies Centre for STP Services (FT-CSS) in the UAE. Mr. Khan is a functional expert in the financial markets domain given his experience of more than ten years in these markets. He also has proven expertise in employing financial services technology as a platform for the automation of digital market places.
Board Director, BFX
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 specializing in trade finance
A world-renowned authority on commodity markets, Mr. Rutten’s area of focus at MCX is 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 collateralized 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 revitalize 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 specializing 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 organizations 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.
- Rich commercial and exchange experience in business expansion activities.
- International exchange experience.
- Development and launching of innovative exchange based products.
- Deep understanding of exchange based activities.
- Former Deputy Commercial Director, LME.
Chief Business Officer, Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX).
Mr Hewett bears a wealth of international commercial experience in exchanges and business expansion activities which stretches over two decades. He is responsible for the commercial development of the Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX) including all product development, sales and marketing activity.
Mr Hewett has held a number of business development and marketing roles at the London Metal Exchange (LME) – the world’s premier metals and industrial materials exchange. He joined the LME in 2000 having responsibility for developing and implementing marketing strategies, as well as all communication activities for existing and new financial products. In the course of his time at the LME, he progressed into new business expansion roles, focussing on revenue development and the commercialisation of key business activities. He has been heavily involved in a number of commodity based products including launching steel and industrial materials futures contracts to the financial and industrial markets. His exchange experience has afforded him the opportunity to develop strategic relationships with international commodity exchanges, and work with associated exchange partners in the development of product and exchange initiatives. Mr Hewett went on to assume the role of a Deputy Commercial Director at the LME, responsible for ensuring the achievement of the LME’s growth strategy while maintaining its position as a market leader and innovator.
Prior to joining the LME, Mr Hewett held numerous positions with organizations such as Xerox where he was involved in developing sales and marketing strategy for a number of products and services.
Mr Hewett holds a BA (Hons) in Business Studies and a MBA from Newcastle University. He has lectured regularly on hedging programmes and managing price risk on the LME, as well as introducing industry to the workings of exchanges. He has also lectured on international marketing and marketing technology for the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).
- Held key senior positions at SEBI - Executive Assistant to Chairman SEBI, Head of Office of International Affairs, and Chief of Primary Markets Division. Was Chief of Compliance and Risk Management at SBI Capital Markets Ltd.
- Involved in every key initiative of SEBI. Experience of participating in Governmental and High level committees. Achievements of clearing India’s first Book built IPO and first buy back offer
- Played significant role for SEBI at IOSCO and was involved in World Bank, USAID projects relating to Indian securities markets
- Was SEBI Board member on stock exchange and self regulatory bodies
Chief Compliance and Legal Officer, the Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX).
Mr Ramesh Chief Compliance and Legal Officer at the BFX, brings over 20 years of rich regulatory and legal expertise in the securities markets.
He has been a senior regulator with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) from its evolving years, and has substantially contributed to policy and regulation making in varied areas in the primary and secondary markets. He is well known in the Indian securities markets as the architect of the public offering guidelines, the listing rules, the book building rules and buy back regulations, besides having contributed to most of the rules and regulations in the Indian securities markets.
He was Head of the Office of Chairman, SEBI, as General Manager and Executive Assistant to the Chairman of SEBI until March 2005. During this term he aided the Chairman and the Board of SEBI in introducing a number of reforms including demutualization of stock exchanges, setting up an integrated market surveillance mechanism, straight through processing, introduction of the advance ruling system, setting up the Central Listing Authority, strengthening intermediary supervision and designing a robust investor education campaign. He was also involved in advising the Government of India in its historic disinvestment process during 2004. He headed the Office of International Affairs at SEBI and was a member of various IOSCO committees, and involved in IMF, World Bank and USAID projects. He was also a SEBI Director on the Board of Stock Exchanges and self-regulatory bodies, besides being a member of various SEBI committees.
After this assignment Mr Ramesh was with SBI Capital Markets, a subsidiary of India’s largest commercial bank, State Bank of India, as its Head of Compliance, Legal and Risk Management, where he set up the entire compliance and risk management function. Prior to his current assignment at BFX he worked as an Executive Director at Centrum Group, one of India’s leading institutional broker-dealer and investment banks having operations in the Indian and US markets.
Mr Ramesh is a qualified lawyer, company secretary and cost accountant. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Commerce and in Law, and is a member of the professional institutes including Company Secretaries of India, Institute of Cost Accountants of India and the Indian Institute of Bankers.
- Managing Director of Private Investment House, Bahrain
- Director of Administration & Finance, with a Private Educational Institute
- Group Chairman (Speciality construction, Real Estate, IT & HR Management)
Mr. Salah has over a decade of experience in Human Resource and General Administration Management, as well as, Bahrain Commercial and Labour law within the GCC region. He joined BFX in January 2010, leading the corporate affairs activities of BFX and will be responsible for the development of the human resource and administrative aspects of the business.
Prior to joining BFX, Mr. Salah held the position of Managing Director at a Private Investment House, which specialized in developing and managing investments of VVIP Clients in Bahrain.
Mr. Salah has also worked as Director of Administration & Finance at a private educational institute associated with Universities in the United Kingdom & Jordan. As a founding member, he successfully managed the development of HR related policies including, organizational framework and structure, training and recruitment, performance management and improvement systems, industrial and employee relations and career development. Further to this he also initiated the launch of undergraduate and post graduate programs in Law, Business Management, Architecture and Information Technology and was responsible for developing financial forecasts, structure and budgets.
Prior to his role as Director of Administration and Finance, Mr. Salah was Chairman of a Group that specialized in Construction, Real Estate, and Information Technology & Human Resources Management. Mr. Salah played an important role in developing the group’s marketing and property maintenance business and initiating and developing corporate scale projects related to providing software and wireless solutions.
Mr. Salah holds a master degree with honours in Business Management from Plymouth University, United Kingdom.
- Deep and diverse international training experience
- Certified member of the Securities Institute
- Accredited from the Financial Services Skills Council in the UK
- Visiting lecturer at international business schools
- Former Head of Training at the London Metal Exchange (LME)
Senior Vice President - Head of Business Development, Bahrain Financial Exchange (BFX).
Mr Carminati has fifteen years international experience in corporate, trade and risk finance including financial and commodity derivatives. As head of the BFX Training Institute he is responsible for developing all training and education programmes.
Mr Carminati previously headed the market education department at the London Metal Exchange (LME) – the world’s premier metals and industrial materials exchange - achieving considerable international growth. He was responsible for developing a credit and finance academy in the UK as a result of a joint venture initiative between D&B and Hemsley Fraser Group. During his career he has also worked on projects for the Bank of England, UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) and major investment banks.
Mr Carminati has been a visiting lecturer for a number of business schools, held financial seminars across the world, chaired and spoke at international conferences and has been an external examiner for the Institute of Leadership and Management, as well as the Chartered Management Institute.
Simone graduated in international studies with economics and holds a Masters Degree in International Relations specialising in the trading dynamics of the European internal market.
He is a certified member of the Securities Institute and is certified, under the Training Assessment Programme Competency Framework, in ‘training delivery skills’ and he is a ‘Recognised Trainer’ from the UK Financial Services and Skills Council.
