CISI Board of Directors

Our Board of Directors is comprised of non-executive directors who are typically employed in senior positions in firms operating in the financial services sector. They meet five times a year to discuss all issues facing the Institute.

The Directors, who are also the Trustees of the CISI, are either elected for a term of three years by ballot of the membership at the AGM, or appointed by the Board.

alan yarrow Michael previously spent 35 years with BNY Mellon, the last 7 years serving as Chairman of BNY Mellon Europe, Middle East and Africa. In that role Michael was responsible for BNY Mellon’s governance culture in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and led regional strategy development, execution and the delivery of enterprise initiatives in the region. Michael joined BNY Mellon over 35 years ago, starting initially as a credit and risk analyst. Michael was then appointed as a corporate finance banker to special industry clients, including Securities, Oil and Gas and Telecoms between 1986 and 1993. Michael then joined the Depositary Receipts (DR) division where he continued to work on many DR equity capital raising transactions, including numerous privatisations and equity offerings around the world. Michael ran BNY Mellon's Issuer Services Group in Hong Kong for seven years from 1993-2000, before serving as CEO of the company’s global Depositary Receipts business. He was BNY Mellon’s EMEA Chairman since 2011.

External to AFME, Michael sits on numerous financial service industry associations, a member and co-chair of the Wholesale Banking Group of the European Financial Services Chairman’s Advisory Council (EFSCAC), as well as a member of the advisory council for TheCityUK, and FICC Markets Standards Board Advisory Council. The British American Business International Advisory Board (recent past Advisory Board member), the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) Advisory Board. He is also a Board and Executive Committee Member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA). He is Trustee of a mental health charity CWMT Org and director of Ranmore Strategic Advisory.
Alan Ramsay has spent the greater part of his career in financial services regulation and is currently Chief Executive of the International Property Securities Exchange and Deputy Chairman of CISI.

Alan was previously a Senior Advisor to PricewaterhouseCoopers advising clients on a wide range of compliance and regulatory issues within their Banking & Capital Markets Practice and Global Head of Compliance for HSBC Bank Plc whom he joined from Bankers Trust International where he occupied a similar role. At an earlier stage in his career, Alan was Executive Director of Surveillance at the Securities and Futures Authority and also occupied senior positions at both The London Stock Exchange and The Securities Association.

A Chartered Accountant by training, Alan is an Honorary Fellow of the Institute, Chairman of the Audit Committee and member of both the Nominations and Remuneration Committees. He has served on the Board of the Futures & Options Association and is Visiting Professor in the Practice of Financial Regulation and Compliance at BPP Law School.

Chris Allen was appointed HSBC’s Regional Head, Global Private Banking EMEA in April 2018, having previously served as Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Private Bank in the UK with oversight of HSBC Private Banking’s businesses in the Channel Islands, France and Germany. Chris is a member of the Global Private Banking Executive Committee and the HSBC Bank plc Executive Committee, which is responsible for the UK and Continental Europe. Prior to becoming CEO of the UK Private Bank in July 2012, Chris was Chief Executive of HSBC Alternative Investments Limited, and he has over 20 years’ experience in Financial Services and Investment Management. Chris holds a first class honours degree in Land Economics from the University of Sheffield and an Investment Diploma from Cambridge University and City University Business School.

Fionnuala Carvill, Chartered FCSI FCIB FCIS is a Non-Executive Director of Investec Bank (Channel Islands) Limited and Princess Private Equity Holding Limited, an investment holding company listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. Previous positions held include Head of Private Wealth Management at Kleinwort Benson Guernsey, Commission Secretary and Head of Innovation at the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and Director of Rothschild Bank (CI). In 2009 Fionnuala spent five months in China as a volunteer with VSO where she was an Organisational Development Adviser.

Fionnuala is a Board Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment; a Past President, and committee member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment, Guernsey Branch; a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment; a Fellow of the London Institute of Banking & Finance (Chartered Institute of Bankers); a Fellow of ICSA: The Governance Institute and a Chartered Governance Professional; an Ambassador for the Chartered Management Institute; a past Council Member of the Guernsey Chamber of Commerce; a director of The Guernsey Community Foundation; a member of the Institute of Directors; Past President of Women in Professions; a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of International Bankers and was granted Freedom of the City of London in 2007.
Debbie Clarke is Managing Director of New Clarke Ventures, providing corporate finance advice to private companies and their shareholders. She is a former Head of M&A at Moore Stephens and has over 20 years’ experience in both the public and private markets. Debbie started working with the CISI in 2005 helping the development of the Corporate Finance professional interest forum (PIF), which she then went on to chair from 2012-2016. She is currently a member of the joint ICAEW/CISI Diploma in Corporate Finance Examination Panel, chairs the CISI Examinations Board and is a member of the Audit Committee.


Danny is Chief Executive of London Reporting House Ltd a UK start-up ancillary service provider acting for financial institutions that have a regulatory reporting requirement. He chairs the CISI International Committee He was formerly CEO of ED&F Man Capital Markets CEEMA Ltd, Advisor to the CEO of the Astana International Financial Centre Authority, working on the development of the Astana International Exchange, and CEO of CME European Trade Repository and a Managing Director at ICAP in London where he ran an OTC Derivatives desk, focused on the Russian financial markets.

He chaired The CityUK Eurasia Group from 2010-2018, worked twice in Moscow at Renaissance Capital and latterly ING Eurasia. He is a former member of the Bank of England’s Money Market Liaison Group, was the 'front man' for LCH's RepoClear and established Bond and RepoClear in Sydney.

Danny has an MBA in Finance from Cass Business School, an Honours Degree in Economics from the University of Liverpool and has written five books the most recent of which is on Collateral.

Tracey is Chief Executive of Heartwood Wealth Management Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Handelsbanken Plc. Heartwood operates under the names Handelsbanken Wealth Management and Heartwood Investment Management. Tracey started her career at Barclays where she worked across the UK latterly in a variety of senior positions within the corporate and wealth management divisions. Tracey joined Handelsbanken in 2003 quickly becoming Senior Vice President and Head of Northern UK. Tracey was entrusted to lead an acquisition team to identify and acquire an investment and wealth management business. After the successful acquisition of Heartwood, Tracey was appointed CEO in 2014. Tracey is a member of the Board of the PIMFA, a Chartered Member of CISI, where she is also a member of the Integrity and Ethics Committee. Tracey was named one of PAM’s Top 50 Most Influential in 2019. She also received the ‘Initiatives in Diversity’ award at The City of London Wealth Management Awards 2019.
Petros Florides has over 25 years’ financial services experience. He is currently employed as a Senior Regional Governance Advisor for World Vision International and is responsible for the region extending from Ireland to New Zealand. Petros has also published articles on governance in the public sector and wrote a Code for Public Sector Governance which, after five years of public consultation, was recently approved by the Cyprus Council of Ministers for implementation. He is also a Non-Executive Director of Windsor Brokers, Cyprowealth Advisory Services and Pearlscope Limited - all Cyprus registered companies. Petros is Co-Founder and current President of CISI’s Cyprus National Advisory Council and is a Board member of the Institute of Directors (Cyprus Branch). He is also a trainer for professional and executive courses (including CISI qualifications) in the areas of governance, risk, ethics and compliance through CISI Accredited Training Providers, and speaks at public events on the same subjects.
Clair Mills is the Chief Operating Officer for the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), within the Bank of England, and is responsible for PRA operations, which includes delivery of the PRA’s Operating Strategy, Budget, Internal Communications and the Investment and Change Portfolio. Other areas of responsibility include managing Data Innovation, RegTech and the PRA’s preparation for Brexit across the organisation. Clair has over 20 years’ extensive financial services experience operating at board level and leading successful strategic and transformational change in a number of complex organisations, having started her career in the Building Society and Retail Banking sector, before moving into Operational and Technological Change Management and Consultancy. Clair joined the Financial Services Authority in 2011 to lead the Internal Twin Peaks programme to transition to the PRA and FCA regulatory model, moving across to the Bank of England with the PRA. In her current role, as well as providing the leadership, management and vision necessary to support the business and to ensure that the proper operational controls, administrative and reporting procedures, and people systems are in place, Clair is also responsible for driving a demand led data approach for the PRA, this includes giving key note speeches both in the UK and internationally on topics such as Regulatory Technology (RegTech) and how regulators can take advantage of the advances in technology in the work we do.
Claire is a Managing Director and the UK Head of Exchange Traded Funds at State Street Global Advisors. She is responsible for the distribution of index products to institutional investors, wealth managers, family offices and retail platforms.

Prior to joining State Street, she was a Managing Director at BlackRock where she was UK Head of iShares Wealth Management and Retail Sales. She also served as Co-Head of BlackRock’s Women’s Network for EMEA. She joined iShares in 2008.

She spent the first nine years of her career at UBS – in Emerging Markets institutional sales, and in business development within Wealth Management.

Claire is a graduate in Money, Banking & Finance from the University of Birmingham, holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation, and is a Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.

She is also non-executive director of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment, also serving on their Investment Committee and the Editorial Panel of their quarterly journal
Puranam Hayagreeva Ravikumar (P.H. Ravikumar) is the Chairperson of CISI’s India Advisory Committee. He is a banker by profession, a commerce graduate and an associate of Indian Institute of Bankers, Mumbai and of Chartered Institute of Bankers, London. He is an Honorary Fellow of the CISI.

He is currently the Director and co-founder of Vastu Housing Finance Corporation Ltd, an affordable mortgage lending entity in India. He was Chairman of Board of Directors of Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd, the largest listed microfinance entity in India, which merged with Indusind Bank in July 2019. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of several listed and unlisted entities spanning financial sector segments such as mutual funds and pensions.


Martin is currently Head of Business Development at Paradigm Norton Financial Planning. Martin began his career in customer services at financial advisers RJ Temple, moving in 1994 to Medical Money Management before joining David Jones Financial Planning as a financial planner in 2000 and later becoming a director. In 2012 Paradigm Norton acquired David Jones, when Martin became Head of Business Development. Martin was a member of the Board of the Institute of Financial Planning when its assets were acquired by CISI in 2015. He is chairman of CISI’s Financial Planning Professional Forum a Certified Financial Planner and Chartered Member of CISI.


After attaining a degree in Politics and Economics from The University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Nick started his professional career as a private client stockbroker with Wise Speke then in 1990 and after gaining the CISI Diploma, became a member of the London Stock Exchange. Nick developed his career by working for two international banks, Merrill Lynch and UBS before becoming Regional Director of Rathbones heading up its Newcastle upon Tyne office.

As well as his role on the CISI Board, Nick chairs both the Investment Committee and the Membership Committee and is the Board appointee on of the CISI Educational Trust. Nick is Chairman of the Board at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle and is Trustee of both the Newcastle University Retirement Benefits Fund and the University's Development Trust.
Becky is Managing Director of Aurea Financial Planning Ltd based in Peterborough working with both individuals and companies creating long term Financial Plans. As a CFP licensee and Fellow of the Institute of Financial Planning, Becky is a strong believer in the six stage Financial Planning process and the need for cashflow planning. She has a strong drive to help provide Financial Planning to all clients, not just those of Aurea and was instrumental in the project to launch the Accredited Financial Planning firm in the UK and is also a regular speaker on Financial Planning subjects.

Becky is the current President of the Institute of Financial Planning. She has been the UK member of the International Council of the Financial Planning Standards Board since 2012 and was part of the Governance review of the organisation in 2014. She also chaired the launch of the Member Advisory Group which was formed as a result of the governance review.
Charlie joined Brewin Dolphin in 2008 as a Divisional Director. Having trained in corporate finance, he previously worked for Gerrard where he led a number of teams specialising in private client investment management. Prior to joining Brewin Dolphin, Charlie headed up the London and South East Region for Gerrard following its acquisition by Barclays Wealth. At Brewin Dolphin he led an investment team for six years before becoming Regional Director for London and South East in January 2015. In 2016 he became Co-Head of Private Clients for the group before becoming Managing Director of Private Clients in 2017. In 2020 he was appointed Managing Director of Wealth and Investment. In his role he is responsible for Wealth and Investment services across Brewin Dolphin which includes all offices within the group, the intermediaries business and the marketing and research departments. He is a Chartered Fellow of the Securities Institute, a graduate of Newcastle University and of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
Robert is Investment Director of Rathbone Brothers plc. He is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute and a Chartered Wealth Manager with over 27 years’ experience managing portfolios for wealthy private clients, trusts, pensions and charities.

After University, RMA Sandhurst and serving as an Army Officer for four years, he joined the City stockbrokers Laurence Keen that was acquired by Rathbones in 1995. He has held a number of senior roles within Rathbones, including sitting on the Board and Executive Committee of the main operating company. In 2008 Robert established and chaired Rathbones’ Corporate Governance Committee in the belief that good and active stewardship is an important part of fiduciary responsibility. He is currently deputy head of the London office.

In 2018, Robert joined the Integrity & Ethics Committee of the CISI. In the same year, he was also was elected as Alderman for the Ward of Cheap having previously spent eight years as a Common Councilman, during which he chaired the City of London Corporation’s Investment Committee and the Financial Investment Board. Robert is also the Immediate Past Master Guild of Investment Managers (2019-20) and is on the Court of the Haberdashers’ Company and chairs the Company’s Securities Committee.
Jane Valls joined the GCC Board Directors Institute (GCC BDI), based in Dubai, in January 2016 as Executive Director. Jane has over 16 years of international experience in corporate governance and working with boards of directors. She is an accredited corporate governance trainer with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, and is an accredited trainer with the Ethics Institute, as well as being a Certified Ethics Officer. Jane holds a BA Hons in French and Italian from Birmingham University, UK. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree by the University of Middlesex for services to business, women’s empowerment and social justice and she was decorated by the Republic of Mauritius as a Commander of the Order of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean (CSK) for services to corporate governance.

Graham Nicoll is Head of Regions for Barclays Wealth Management in the UK. Having spent many years advising entrepreneurs on growing and funding their businesses through to planning and investing for life after business, Graham is now keen to support the ongoing development of advisors in our industry through becoming a Non-Executive Director of the CISI.

In his current role Graham leads the Regional Wealth Management business for Barclays across the UK, with a focus on running and growing its business day to day, while also transforming the business to meet the ever changing needs of clients. Key priorities include how to attract and retain talent, how to develop advisors to meet client needs and regulatory requirements, and how to embrace technology to provide a better colleague and client experience. Graham has been a trustee, NED and Chair of a number of charities and is currently NED of Think Active, which encourages individuals in hard to reach communities to get and stay active. Graham is a Member of CISI and sits on its Examinations Board.