ICAEW ASEAN Sustainability Summit 2025 Online

Alan Vallance, Chief Executive, ICAEW

Alan was appointed as Chief Executive in April 2024 at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).

Prior to this, Alan was Chief Executive of the Chartered Insurance Institute. Based in the City of London, he was responsible for running the leading chartered professional body for insurance and financial planning professionals, with 125,000 members in 150 countries. Alan is an experienced leader of professional bodies and was previously Chief Executive of the Royal Institute of British Architects from 2016 – 2022 and Group Chief Operating Officer at the Law Society from 2012 – 2015.

Alan qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Whinney (now EY) in their London office.  He is a Fellow of three Institutes - the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, and the Australian Institute of Company Directors – and an Honorary Fellow of the Korean Institute of Architects.

Richard Spencer, Director of Sustainability, ICAEW

Visionary and collaborative leader with extensive experience in sustainability, social innovation and systems change. A background in investment banking, strategy consulting and sustainability. Skilled at building broad networks of business leaders, government officials and public bodies to create long-term approaches to sustainability.

With experience of launching thought leadership programs, has brought together diverse stakeholders to challenge existing business models and set up financing and governance for new organisations to develop and incubate ideas. Passionate about transforming the economy by embedding nature and society into business decision-making.

Nikita Asthana, Global Head of Sustainability Finance, Olam Agri

Nikita is a sustainability leader in the food and agriculture sector, driving system transformation at the intersection of climate, nature, and finance. She leads the Sustainability Finance team at Olam Agri and chairs the advisory group for Capital Coalition’s EU co-funded Project A-track. A CFA charterholder and INSEAD MBA, she champions nature-positive outcomes, a just transition, and inclusive leadership in shaping a resilient, future-fit global food system.

Nik Shahrizal Sulaiman, Partner, Risk Services, PwC Malaysia

Nik Shahrizal has more than 20 years of experience in the areas of assurance and advisory services, covering a wide range of engagements from strategy, operations, governance and risk management. He started his career in a Big 4 firm in the UK prior to joining PwC Malaysia, and has worked with a broad range of clients both locally and internationally.

Nik has been involved in many ESG related projects in the country, and assisted clients to achieve their sustainability objectives and aspirations. He is an active speaker on the ESG circuit and has also written various articles on the topic of climate risk and sustainability. In addition, Nik is involved with the JC3 sub-committee established by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Securities Commission (SC) with the aim of promoting sustainability practices in the financial services industry.

He is an ICAEW Chartered Accountant, a CFA Charterholder, a Financial Risk Manager (FRM) and a PKMC licence holder. He has an MBA from the University of Cambridge.

Omar Siddiq Bin Amin Noer Rashid, Non-Independent Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, HSBC

Omar graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. He is a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). He is also a CFA charterholder.

Prior to his appointment to HSBC Malaysia, Omar was the Deputy CEO, Malaysia and CEO, Group Wholesale Banking at CIMB Group Holdings Berhad. Before that, he has held other senior leadership roles including Group Chief Operating Officer at CIMB Group Holdings Berhad, Head of Group Wholesale Banking at RHB Bank Berhad, Executive Director/Group Chief Financial Officer at Malaysia Airlines Berhad and Executive Director in the Investments Division at Khazanah Nasional Berhad.

Kevin Foo, Partner, Head of Financial Services, KPMG Malaysia

Kevin has amassed over 20 years of experience in financial services, focusing on audit and assurance. He has led audit engagements of financial institutions and multinational corporations in Malaysia, London, Hong Kong and China. He has also been involved in the external and internal audits of numerous multinational corporations in various industries including retail, manufacturing, technology, banking and insurance companies.

Building on his experience, Kevin has extensive involvement in a variety of accounting advisory work on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). He has also contributed thought leadership publications to the Audit Committee Institute (ACI), an initiative sponsored by KPMG to support Audit Committees and Boards with insights and perspectives.

Bonnie Tham, Executive Director, Head of People and Support, BDO, Malaysia

Bonnie heads the People agenda in BDO in Malaysia and oversees the support functions within the firm namely, Human Resource, Finance, Corporate Office, Business Development/Marketing and Administration. She assists the Management Committee in strategising and managing these functions to support and sustain business needs and goals.

Bonnie was an Executive Director, Advisory at BDO in Malaysia. She has been involved in various advisory engagements including internal audit reviews, enterprise risk management reviews, corporate governance reviews, corporate recovery and restructuring, financial due diligence assistance and forensic reviews.

Kishan Jasani, Country CEO, Grant Thornton Malaysia

Kishan Jasani has over a decade of experience in both advisory and assurance spheres. He has been involved with a broad spectrum of industries like asset management, banking, manufacturing and retail.

He has undertaken audits for companies listed on the Singapore Exchange, London Stock Exchange and Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad. He has also been involved with valuations of derivatives and financial instruments, corporate restructuring, Sarbanes Oxley reviews and ISAE3402 reviews. Furthermore, he has also assisted audit teams with issues in the area of technical accounting.

In his professional involvements, he is the Chairperson of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales Malaysian Society (ICAEW) and the member of the Capital Markets Advisory Committee of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants. He is currently an Associate Chartered Accountant of ICAEW, a Chartered Accountant with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and also a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants Singapore.

Nik Tasha Nik Kamaruddin, Chief Brand Strategy Officer, Sunway Group

Tasha is an accomplished leader in branding, digital and sustainability communication. A testament to her astute leadership, Tasha was named Sunway’s first-ever Chief Brand Strategy Officer to lead Group Brand Marketing and Communications, comprising an extensive portfolio of Sustainability, Brand Communications, Corporate Responsibility and the Jeffrey Cheah Foundation.

With a passion for purpose-driven brand strategies, Tasha has built a reputation for her keen ability to drive innovative branding and digital strategies. She holds a degree in Law and a Master’s degree in Social Science from Oxford Brookes University, UK, as well as a Master’s degree in International Business & Finance from the University of Westminster, UK.

Arina Kok, Asia-Pacific Climate Change Advisory Leader, EY

Arina is a Partner, Malaysia Climate Change and Sustainability Services (CCaSS) Leader, Asia-Pacific Climate Change Advisory Leader, Asean Climate Change and Sustainability Services Co-Leader at Ernst & Young Consulting Sdn Bhd. She assists clients to integrate sustainability into their long-term strategic and operational plans, creating lasting value, enhancing their reputation and build public trust.

Her expertise lies primarily in sustainability consulting, ESG strategy, due diligence, framework development, outcome measurement and stakeholder management. Under her leadership, EY released the inaugural Climate Risk Disclosure Barometer 2020 Malaysia. In 2020, 2022 and 2023, she supported the Joint Committee for Climate Change (JC3) of Bank Negara Malaysia and the Securities Commission Malaysia by facilitating capability-building workshops under the UK Prosperity Fund’s ASEAN Low Carbon Energy Programme

Mohammad Faiz Azmi, Executive Chairman, Securities Commission Malaysia, ICAEW Council member

Mohammad Faiz Azmi was appointed the Executive Chairman of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) in June 2024 by the Minister of Finance. He was the Chairman of PwC Malaysia for 11 out of his 30 years with the firm. He has over 38 years of experience in the audit and business advisory services in Malaysia and the UK. He was the leader of PwC's Global Islamic Finance Team practice from 2007 to September 2012. He was also PwC's Malaysia's Financial Services Leader and joint Head of Audit and led the ESG and Shariah Investing as part of PwC's Sustainability and Climate Change practice in Malaysia. He retired as a partner and the Executive Chairman of PwC Malaysia in June 2023.

Much of his recent work has been with the Federal and State Governments involving work related to Accrual Accounting, acting as an Administrator for an airline and certain government entities and being part of the Federal Government National COVID-19 vaccine rollout. He has also been involved in the financial restructuring of government agencies and investigations.

Faiz is a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants and a Fellow of ICAEW. He has held the post of President of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants, Chairman of the Malaysia Accounting Standards Board, President of the Kuala Lumpur Business Club and ICAEW City Group Chairman.

Freda Liu, Master of Ceremony

As a business broadcast journalist, she has conducted close to 10,000 interviews with thought leaders like Simon Sinek, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank, Former Prime Minister of Finland Alexander Stubb, author Stephen Covey, to former GE CEO Jack Welch.

Freda is highly sought after as a moderator, emcee and trainer having worked with Fortune 500 companies. Some of her awards include the ASEAN Rice Bowl Awards for Malaysia Startup Journalist Of The Year and the Kanebo Exceptional Award for Voice and Outstanding Graduate by the Malaysian Australian Alumni Council.

A big believer in social enterprises having come up with her series of videos and the judge for Chivas Regal’s The Venture programme. An inspirational spokesperson for sustainability, Freda is also a World Vision Malaysia advocate for WASH (Clean Water & Sanitation). In addition, she’s an ambassador for Women of Global Change KL Chapter and Ocean Hero Conservation and a business mentor for the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women.

Esther An, Chief Sustainability Officer, City Developments Limited (CDL), Singapore

A sustainability practitioner for three decades, Esther has been instrumental in building up the Sustainability leadership for CDL, which has been ranked Top amongst real estate companies on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, released at World Economic Forum at Davos.

Esther published the first sustainability report in Singapore in 2008 and issued the first green bond by a Singapore company in 2017. Conferred the 2018 SDG Pioneer for Green Infrastructure and A Low Carbon Economy by the UN Global Compact and named amongst 25 Trailblazing Women against Climate Change by Reuters in 2023 as well as the inaugural TIME100 Climate Leaders in Business 2023 list, Esther currently sits on various boards or advisory platforms of international organizations.

In 2017, she founded Women4Green and Youth4Climate networks to empower women and youths to champion climate action and sustainable development.