Explore the accomplished leadership steering our subsidiaries amid evolving capital market trends.
Ahmad Sharaf is Chairman of Gulf Mercantile Exchange (GME). Mr. Sharaf has been the GME’s Chairman since 2005 and is responsible for the strategic direction of the Exchange.
In addition to his roles at GME, Mr. Sharaf is CEO of Dutco Energy, a company which is part of the Dutco Group. Prior to that Mr. Sharaf was Chief of Strategy for Dubai Holding, which develops and manages an extensive portfolio of financial and real estate assets throughout the world.
Before joining Dubai Holding, Mr. Sharaf held senior management positions with international and state energy companies in the United States and the Middle East. A petroleum engineer by training, Mr. Sharaf began his career with Conoco Inc. in Houston, Texas.
Following the creation of ConocoPhillips in 2002, he was appointed General Manager and Director, Business Development, Middle East, responsible for managing new growth opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Mr. Sharaf is a Member of the Board of the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC), a Member of the ENOC Audit Committee, and Vice Chairman of Dragon Oil. Mr. Sharaf serves as a Member of the Board of Visitors and a Group Member of the Global Partnerships Committee of the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.
Mr. Sharaf earned a B.Sc and M.Sc in Petroleum Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines and an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.
His Excellency Nasser Khamis Al-Jashmi is the Chairman for the Tax Authority , Sultanate of Oman
An economist by training, he originally joined the Ministry of Finance in 1989 as a Financial Researcher in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Financial and Economic Affairs, later progressing to the position of Director General of Budget and Contracts in 1997, where he remained for 6 years before his move to the Ministry of Oil & Gas in February 2003.
His Excellency Al-Jashmi chairs the Board of Directors for Oman LNG, Oman Refinery Company and Oxy Mukhaizna. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for Qalhat LNG, Oman Gas Company, Petroleum Development Oman, Oman Shipping Company, Oman Petrochemical Industries Co. and Gulf Energy Maritime.
He holds a Masters Degree in Applied Economics, a Diploma in Development Management from the American University in Washington DC, and a BSc in Economics and Political Science from Jordan University.
H.E. Abdullah Al-Harthy is the Undersecretary, Ministry of Finance, Oman. He was the CFO at the Oman Investment Authority and was responsible for financial affairs and investment operations in addition to overseeing business strategy and information technology units. With more than 18 years of experience with the fund and its subsidiaries, Al-Harthy has occupied a number of leadership roles in the areas of direct investment, portfolios management, investment operations in addition to corporate management through chairing and membership of a number of boards of directors inside and outside the Sultanate.
Since 2005 he has been directly involved in establishing partnerships with sovereign institutions in Vietnam, Brunei and Uzbekistan. Al-Harthy holds an MBA from IMD, in Switzerland, and a Bachelor's degree in Finance from Sultan Qaboos University in 2001. He is a certified financial analyst (CFA) since 2004, and a member of the CFA Institute in the United States of America.
Dr. Fereidun Fesharaki is Chairman of FACTS Global Energy, an energy consulting firm with offices in Singapore, London, and Honolulu.
Dr. Fesharaki was born in Iran and educated in the UK with a PhD in Energy Economics at the University of Surrey in 1974. His academic credentials include Visiting Fellow: Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University; Senior Researcher: Institute for International Political and Energy Studies in Iran; Senior Fellow and Head of Energy Program at the East-West Center in Hawaii (since 1984). He is also an Affiliate Professor of Economics at the University of Hawaii.
Dr. Fesharaki is the past President of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE), a professional association of 4,000 energy specialists in 70 countries. He is also:
- Life Member: Council on Foreign Relations: New York (since 1989)
- Member of the International Advisory Board of Nippon Oil: Japan's largest oil company (since 1991)
- Appointed by the US Secretary of Energy as member of the National Petroleum Council, Washington DC (since 2008)
- Senior Associate, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS): Washington DC (since 2004)
- Senior Fellow, the US Association for Energy Economics (for distinguished services to the field of energy economics) (since 1995)
- Member of the Board of Directors, American Iranian Council (AIC) (since 1997)
- Member of the editorial boards of several energy publications.
Dr. Fesharaki is author or Editor of more than 20 books/monograph in energy economics. Dr. Fesharaki is an independent director at the GME.
Derek Sammann serves as CME Group's Senior Managing Director, Global Head of Commodities, Options & International Markets.
Derek Sammann serves as CME Group's Senior Managing Director, Global Head of Commodities, Options & International Markets. He is responsible for leading the development, execution and management of CME Group's global Commodities portfolio, including the Energy, Metals and Agricultural business lines. He also globally leads the company's cross-asset class Options business and its growth strategy across international markets.
Prior to assuming his current role, Sammann served as Senior Managing Director, Global Head of Commodities & Options Products since 2014. Since joining CME Group in September 2006, Sammann also has served as Senior Managing Director of Interest Rates and FX Products, and as Managing Director, Global Head of Foreign Exchange.
Prior to joining CME Group, Sammann acquired more than 16 years of sell-side trading experience in the global FX market, including serving as Managing Director, Global Head of FX Options and Structured Products at Crédit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank in London. He also held senior level positions with Crédit Agricole Indosuez in London, Banque Indosuez in Paris and Cooper, Neff & Associates in Chicago.
Sammann serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the following entities: the Gulf Mercantile Exchange, the COMEX Board of Governors and the Commodities Markets Council, where he also serves as Treasurer. Sammann also serves on the Shanghai Gold Exchange’s International Advisory Board, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee and the Security Traders Association’s Listed Options Committee.
He holds bachelor's degrees in both economics and political science from Northwestern University.
Owain Johnson is the Global Head of Research and Product Development at the CME Group. The research and product development team develops new risk management products as well as ensuring the continued relevance of CME Group’s current suite of key benchmarks. The team also produces original research into financial and commodity derivatives and their underlying markets around the world.
Mr. Johnson previously served as CME Group’s Managing Director of Energy Research and Product Development where he ensured the integrity of CME Group's existing energy futures benchmarks, which include WTI, Henry Hub, GME Oman, RBOB and NYH ULSD. Within CME Group, he was previously the Managing Director of the Gulf Mercantile Exchange as well as Executive Director of CME Group Singapore. Before joining CME Group in 2010, he served as Asia Business Development Manager for Argus Media. Mr. Johnson is the author of “The Price Reporters: A Guide to PRAs and Commodity Benchmarks” and co-edited the Oxford Energy Forum’s report on oil benchmarks. Mr. Johnson is a member of the International Association for Energy Economics and earned his master’s degree from Cambridge University.
Mr. Johnson is chair of the CME Group’s ESG Product Committee; co-chair of the UN’s Sustainable Derivatives Markets Committee; deputy chair of the World Federation of Exchange’s Sustainability Working Group; and a member of the International Regulatory Strategy Group’s ESG Workstream.
Samra Al Harthy is the director of investment and economic research at Oman Investment Authority. She has over 19 years of experience covering the global economy, various asset classes and global sectors. She is also a board member of Oman LNG, Qalhat LNG, Muscat Stock Exchange. Prior to joining OIA, Ms. Samra held the positon of UK/Eurozone economist at Standard Chartered Bank in London, where she conducted macro and market research for the Bank's internal and external clients. Ms. Samra holds a masters degree in finance, economics and econometrics from Bayes business school in London and a Bachelors degree in Accounting and Economics from the University of Reading, UK.
Mr Hodgkinson is an accomplished executive with extensive experience in the financial services sector and in particular the stock exchange sector where he has held a number of senior leadership roles. During his career spanning over 25 years, Mr Hodgkinson has worked for NYSE Euronext, SIX Swiss Exchange, the Cayman Island Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. In addition, Mr Hodgkinson has held leadership roles at OSTC Limited, a financial trading business, and BMLL Technologies Limited, a financial technology company.
Eng. Khalid Alhussan has more than 16 years of capital market and financial sector experience and possesses a wide range of expertise from business development and corporate planning to strategy and operations. Preceding his appointment as chief executive officer (CEO) of the Saudi Tadawul Group, Eng. Khalid was the CEO of The Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) - now known as the Saudi Exchange - for more than 5 years.
Eng. Khalid Alhussan is a board member and the Group CEO of Saudi Tadawul Group, the largest stock exchange group in the MENA region and a publicly listed company on the Saudi Exchange. He also serves as the chairperson of the Saudi Exchange, the Securities Depository Center Company (Edaa), the Securities Clearing Center Company (Muqassa), Wamid, an applied technology services business and the innovation arm of Saudi Tadawul Group.
Additionally, Eng. Khalid Alhussan is a board member in the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) and Tadawul Real Estate Company and E-finance for Digital & Financial Investments Company. Eng. Khalid AIHussan is an engineer and holds an MBA from the University of Colorado, where he is also a certified entrepreneur.