Aakash Bassi

Forensic Practice Leader (BDO in UAE and KSA)

Aakash is the Forensic Practice Leader for BDO in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. Aakash has over 15 years of experience across India and USA assisting leading organizations across industries/sectors to help prevent, detect, and respond to fraud and integrity breakdowns. 

 

Starting his career with a Big 4 firm in India, he has spent over 8 years in New York as part of forensic practice at a Big 4 firm, which included assisting organizations/law firms on fraud and misconduct matters and related reporting to the regulatory and law enforcement agencies and helping organizations with their fraud prevention programs. He has led and managed many large cross-border investigations, including having done investigations on the ground in India, USA, Oman, KSA, UAE, Qatar, Nigeria, Malaysia, South Korea, and Brazil. 

 

Aakash has overseen the recovery and review of digital evidence with data privacy considerations, including use of the same in court proceedings and is an experienced fraud interviewer.  He has helped multiple organizations in assessing and enhancing their overall anti-fraud programs and controls. He has also assisted organizations in assessing and augmenting ethics and compliance programs with a focus on financial services and life sciences sectors.  Aakash has also led numerous forensic audits across India and UAE, including some on behalf of banks and regulators. 

 

Aakash regularly speaks at conferences on the topics of anti-fraud and compliance, including role and importance of internal audit and compliance function.

Alishia K. Sullivan

Alishia K. Sullivan, Partner, Lewis & Bockius LLP (Dubai, UAE)

 

Since 2008, Alishia K. Sullivan has been a resident in the United Arab Emirates where she advises pension
funds, sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors in connection with their global investment
activities across asset classes and regional and global investment managers in connection with fund formation
and management in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC).
Alishia advises institutional investors, focusing primarily on investments in private funds, including leveraged
buyout, hedge, infrastructure and real estate funds, and direct and co-investments.

 

She routinely drafts and negotiates the terms of limited partnership agreements, side letters, subscription
agreements, and investment management and advisory agreements in relation to private equity, infrastructure,
real estate, credit, venture capital and hedge funds, side cars, and co-investments. Alishia has negotiated
numerous separately managed accounts on behalf of institutional investors, including discretionary managed
accounts with investment strategies that extend to multiple asset classes and multiple managers. She also has
experience in advising clients on structuring and maintaining their investment subsidiary platforms and
negotiating bespoke investment advisory arrangements. Alishia advises clients on operational matters, including
market opening documents worldwide (with the assistance of local counsel as needed), custody agreements,
securities lending agreements, and non-disclosure agreements.
Alishia is a former member of the board of directors of two non-profit organizations whose missions focus on
the care, empowerment, and education of women and children.
Prior to joining Morgan Lewis, Alishia was a partner at another global law firm. She previously worked as inhouse
counsel for a state-owned petroleum company in the Middle East and was a member of the global
projects group of the Washington, DC, office of an international law firm.

Adnan Al Noorani

Adnan Al Noorani, Chairman of the Board of Leo Investments

Adnan Al Noorani is the founder of the Future Innovation Summit and the Chairman of the Board of Leo Investments, D1 Technologies, Apollo Management and H2H General Trading.

He found D1 Technologies, which is focused on bringing together the best and most innovative the solutions for any kind of business, including sustainable blockchain and supply chain solutions and the Metaverse.

In October 2021 he launched one of the largest semi- government conferences and exhibitions called the Future Innovation Summit. Its core idea is to build strong bridges without barriers between the Government and Private sector entities.

With 19+ years of experience, Adnan Al Noorani has been working with Royal Families of the UAE. His primary expertise is Government Market, UAE Law, Finance, Investments and Business in the GCC region.

Sarah Malik

The real Sarah Malik is a mum, a business owner, a fun loving individual who enjoys travel, gym, fashion, dining, socializing. She has a renowned international network, celebrates life and has a great set of people around her… women, men, different ages, nationalities, backgrounds, beliefs. Embracing equity is personal and professional to her.

 

Her journey starts with authenticity.

 

Matthew Nobles

Chief Compliance Officer, GE Gas and Power

 

Matthew Nobles has been with General Electric for more than 15 years and has a proven leadership track record, working on four continents and across multiple industries.  He currently serves as the Chief Compliance Officer for GE Gas Power for the Middle East & Africa region and is recognized as a trusted advisor and member of the executive management team, driving business results through strategic development and implementation of ethics, compliance and risk management programs.   Matthew uniquely pairs a sharp business acumen in finance and audit with a risk mitigation framework to deliver a forward-leaning compliance program that sets the standard in the industry and for the region.  Matthew has lived in Dubai since 2011, when his first assignment was to develop and implement the anti-corruption framework for GE in the Middle East region.  He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from the University of Florida and is certified as a CMA, CIA, and CFE.  In his spare time, Matthew enjoys following the financial markets, reading and spending time with his wife and two young children.

Karina Griese-Brake

Director, Head of Compliance EMEA Southeast and Head of Compliance Global TPI Governance

Karina Griese-Brake has worked as a lawyer and compliance officer for three multinational health care companies in Dubai since 2011 (Siemens Healthcare, Medtronic, and Fresenius Medical Care). She has studied various compliance concepts, business models, and ways of mitigating risks for the Middle East and Africa regions. She loves conducting compliance training and constantly wants to modernize the compliance strategies and policies. She gained her broad experience from having worked for companies at HQs and at their regional affiliates, thus enhancing both sides’ understanding of each other when it comes to master the challenges in the ever-changing areas of law, ethics, and compliance. Before coming to Dubai, Ms. Griese-Brake worked as an IP and commercial in-house lawyer with Audi, Porsche, and Siemens Healthcare in Germany for eleven years.

Michael Rasmussen

Director, Program on Corporate Ethics and Compliance, Fordham Law School

Michael Rasmussen, Director of the Program on Corporate Ethics and Compliance, has been with Fordham since November 2019, and quickly took on a lead role in launching the online MSL and LLM programs. Michael received his BA from Villanova University and subsequently spent six years as a pilot for the U.S. Marines. Michael received his JD from Fordham University in 2023.

Barbara Boehler

Senior Director, Program on Corporate Ethics and Compliance, Fordham Law School

 

Barbara serves as the Senior Director of the Program on Corporate Ethics and Compliance at Fordham Law School.  With over 20 years of experience in compliance, including roles in risk training lead at Macquarie Group; as director of compliance programming and executive education at Compliance Week; as regulatory compliance consultant at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services; and as global chief compliance officer at Arete Research.

Barbara teaches compliance skills courses at Fordham Law School, Boston University School of Law, Suffolk University Law School, and Sawyer Business School at Suffolk University. She is magna cum laude graduate of Suffolk University and holds a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School and an LL.M. in Taxation from Boston University School of Law.

Vera Tkachuk

Assistant Dean and Associate Vice-President for External Relations, Fordham Law School

 

Vera Tkachuk is the Assistant Dean at Fordham Law School and the Associate Vice-President for External Relations at Fordham University.  In her role, Vera provides opportunities for Fordham Law School alumni, faculty and students to intentionally engage with each other and the school’s programs and curriculum in order to strengthen the Fordham Law School experience for the entire community.  Vera joined Fordham Law School in 2010 and prior to that worked in similar roles at Columbia University, the Brearley School and the Chapin School.  Vera is a graduate of McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Cecilia Caldeira

Assistant Dean of International and Non-J.D. Programs, Fordham Law School

 

Cecilia Caldeira is the Assistant Dean of International and Non-J.D. Programs at Fordham Law School. Previously she worked at Brooklyn Law School, where she served as director of international programs. She also taught Fundamentals of American Law for foreign-trained lawyers in the LL.M. program as an adjunct professor. In her role as director of international programs, Ms. Caldeira helped oversee all aspects associated with non-J.D. programs—including recruiting, advising and enrolling students—and fostered academic relationships and agreements with international institutions.

Previously, Ms. Caldeira led the international and graduate programs at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, where she also taught introductory courses in U.S legal research and writing and the American legal system. She co-created the Pace Pre-Law Certificate Program, a comprehensive certificate program for aspiring lawyers that launched in 2018. Originally from Brazil, Caldeira grew up in Westchester County, New York, and speaks several languages, including Portuguese, Spanish and Italian. She received her M.B.A. from New York University Stern School of Business, a J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law, and a B.A. in economics and English from Bryn Mawr College.