Key Conversation: The Future of International Banking

Alistair Strathern has held roles across public service, financial regulation, and national politics. He began his career as a maths teacher through Teach First before moving into financial supervision and risk roles at the Bank of England. Alongside this, he served as a councillor in the London Borough of Waltham Forest from 2014 to 2023, holding executive responsibilities related to asset strategy and transformation. In 2023, he entered Parliament, representing Mid Bedfordshire, and from 2024 has served as the Member of Parliament for Hitchin.

Rahul Ahluwalia was appointed to lead the Office for Investment: Financial Services (OfI:FS) in July 2025.

Rahul previously served as HM Deputy Trade Commissioner to China and Minister Counsellor at the British Embassy in Beijing, China, and First Secretary (Financial Services) in Mumbai, India, both on secondment from HM Treasury. Rahul has previously worked at HM Treasury, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Department for Work and Pensions. Rahul was educated at the University of Oxford and Yale University.

Chief Executive Officer

The Chief Executive role is responsible for leading the Office for Investment: Financial Services (OfI:FS), a dedicated concierge service within the Office for Investment (OfI).

Office for Investment: Financial Services 

Paul heads the PRA’s Authorisations Division, with responsibilities covering new firm authorisations, the senior managers regime, waivers, permissions and changes in control. The division sits within the Authorisations, RegTech and International Supervision (ARTIS) Directorate, and as part of the ARTIS leadership team Paul led recent work to update the PRA’s approach to bank branch and subsidiary supervision. His previous roles in the Bank include central counterparty supervision and international policy, and prior to joining the Bank he worked on banking issues at HMT and for the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards.

Richard is Head of ANZ Banking Group’s activities in UK & Europe, he previously led ANZ’s Corporate Finance business, based in Hong Kong.  

Richard joined ANZ from KPMG where he was Global Head of Capital Advisory advising companies and governments on their strategy and fund raising in Asia and the UK.

Prior to this, he was Head of Corporate & Structured DCM in Asia for RBS Group and Global Head of Syndicated Loans at ABN AMRO in London. Richard began his career as a Natural Resources banker advising and financing companies, acquisitions and projects around the globe.

Throughout his career, Richard has built, transformed and grown businesses and has significant experience in strategic leadership and cultural change.

Ayesha Patel is interim CEO of RBC Europe Limited (RBCEL) and RBC London Branch (RBCLB), and Chief Operating Officer for RBC Capital Markets in Europe. Across these roles, Ayesha oversees all business activities including strategy, governance, risk management, people and culture. She is also currently Chair of RBC’s European Diversity Leadership Committee. Since joining RBC in 2009, Ayesha has held diverse roles across Risk Management, Corporate Treasury, and Market Services. 

Ayesha holds a Master of Engineering degree from the University of Bath.

Nathalie Robertson-Nugent is a qualified solicitor with over twenty-five years’ experience across private practice and senior in-house roles within international financial markets, with deep expertise in markets and regulatory advisory matters. She is Chief Legal Officer at Banco Santander, London Branch (UK CIB), and also serves as Chief Administrative Officer, with responsibility for HR, Strategy, Governance and the Chief of Staff function. She is Chair of the UK Finance International Banking Strategic Advisory Group, has served as a Trustee Director of one of the UK’s largest pension schemes and has extensive experience advising international banks on complex cross-border regulatory and governance matters, including senior management and remuneration regimes, booking models, conduct risk and large-scale remediation programmes.

Head of Legal, Corporate and Investment Banking Division, Standard Bank Group

Mark has 30 years’ experience as a corporate finance lawyer with 19 years at Standard Bank Group and is part of the strategic leadership team.  Standard Bank Group employs 50,000 people across Africa providing banking and insurance services.  Its Corporate and Investment Banking Division provides banking, financing, trading and advisory services to clients investing and operating businesses in Africa.  Its client base is across energy, natural resources, telecoms, technology, consumer and industrials and the associated infrastructure investment in these sectors.  CIB also operates outside Africa from hubs in Beijing, Dubai, London and New York connecting to the international capital markets.

Tim serves as UK Chair of the International Capital Market Association, and as Middle Warden at the Worshipful Company of International Bankers, The City guild representing the international financial services community. Tim Skeet works in the City at a major international bank, serving on its Executive Committee in a Senior Manager Function with responsibility for a client business and external affairs and communications. Tim’s career started in banking in the early 1980s after graduating from Cambridge with a degree in modern languages. His specialist finance knowledge relates mainly to the international debt capital markets, focusing in particular on bank capital and mortgage finance. He worked at various leading investment banks, experiencing several banking and finance related crises and witnessing many of the major changes to the markets over the decades. He also worked closely in the past with regulators in North America and Europe examining different aspects of financial regulation and bond market mortgage finance. Other activities include advising three start-ups in the City, being a frequent speaker at industry events and at universities (he is a visiting fellow at Reading/ Henley University), and is an experienced trainer and presenter. He is a contributing editor to The Banker magazine, honorary President of 16(F) Squadron ATC, and a past Chairman/ trustee of a historic aviation museum.

David is the Managing Director for Resilience and Cyber, Commercial Finance, and Data and Research. David leads on policy and other activities relating to commercial banking, invoice finance and asset-based lending, as well as operational resilience. 

David also leads on ensuring our data and research function is providing our members will valuable insights and strengthening our advocacy activities. David was previously a Policy Director in the FCA and before that spent nearly 2 decades as a civil servant, mostly in the Treasury. During that time David played a leading role in the design and delivery of many financial service polices, including leading on Covid loans policy throughout the pandemic, as well as leading on government policy around access to finance for SMEs”.  

Haney has extensive experience in the delivery of highly technical programs of work in broad areas of risk, including regulatory, governance and operational, conduct and reputational risk along with specific advice on more general regulatory advisory topics and interventions. He has worked in and across all the key global financial hubs with a variety of financial services providers, from capital markets firms and asset managers through to a range of commercial banks, payments firms and technology suppliers, along with regulators and governments.

Jonathan is a leading practitioner in the field of financial services law and regulation, and advises a broad range of clients based in the UK and globally. He is recognised for his extensive and significant experience in bank structuring and advisory work. In particular, he has advised a number of banks on their documentation and systems and controls projects to implement the Senior Managers Regime. 

Hannah has a particular focus on market infrastructure, commodities derivatives and Fintech and crypto regulation. She advises on all aspects of compliance with relevant PRA and FCA requirements but has particular experience in brokerage, exchange trading, clearing, settlement, custody, client money and wholesale conduct. Hannah helps clients understand and implement financial services legislation, including the UK versions of MiFID II, EMIR, MAR, REMIT, BMR and IFPR and has led client projects on each of these. Hannah's clients include both financial institutions and unregulated entities such as the trading and treasury teams of corporates. She also supports a number of industry bodies.