Ambassadors - Transparency Task Force

Cliff Southcombe

Cliff Southcombe is the Managing Director of Social Enterprise International Ltd. For the past 20 years his company has introduced and developed the concept of social enterprise in over 45 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. Promoting the idea that best practice in all business is governance by ethics, values and social objectives and management should be through democratic and inclusive structures.

He leads a team of 20 leading experts based in Europe, South America and Asia. The Company has active Social Licences with a number of other international companies with shared values and objectives. He is also a Founder of the FairShares movement and is currently developing a new Shared Wealth Social Enterprise model

Born in India but based in the UK, Cliff is one of the founders of the Social Enterprise movement in the UK in the early 90s. Previously he was manager of England’s first Community Cooperative in the 1980s and was a founder of the community enterprise movement. He set up a successful managed workspace company in the 1990s. He has pioneered work on legal structures, social auditing and social licensing and new practices on social enterprise governance and management. He designed and delivered the first accredited courses in social enterprise management.

He lives in Robin Hoods Bay in North Yorkshire where he helped his own community set up a successful broadband social enterprise.

Sharon Constançon

Sharon Constançon is a Chartered Director, Chartered Secretary and a Fellow of the Chartered Governance Institute (ICSA), a Fellow of the IoD, a member of CISI International Committee, Chairman of the South African Chamber of Commerce UK and a Liveryman and Court member of the WCCSA and Chairman of their Membership Committee.

Sharon is CEO of Genius Boards and Genius Methods – a Group that offers tailored robust, behaviour focused board evaluations, mentoring, corporate governance services and governance training to many industries. Her clients include FTSE and regulated businesses, SMEs, family businesses, investment trusts, insurance, financial services, health services, charities and the housing sector.

Sharon has a well attested reputation for providing confidential, straightforward, honest and effective Board Evaluations which have successfully empowered Boards to improve performance.

Sharon has a passion for the empowerment of Company Secretaries and Governance Professionals. To this end, she writes articles and regularly addresses industry audiences, runs workshops and chairs roundtable debates and panels. She successfully uses case-studies in her training courses to help others understand the dynamics of the Board and the role of a Non-Exec Director.

Her passion is to see the Board truly add value to the organisation and its management, providing leadership and support, challenge and risk mitigation.

Through the various projects run by Genius, Sharon has developed a deep and rich network of governance professionals.

Sunil Shastri

Sunil Murlidhar Shastri is a consultant, expert and speaker in ocean and environmental governance. He found his passion for Pacem in Maribus in 1982 under the tutelage of Elisabeth Mann Borgese and has since made it his mission. He is best known internationally for his MasterClass and for his erudite analysis and candid opinions.

Sunil has attended, at various times, the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, International Ocean Institute, Aachen Technical University, Dalhousie University, London School of Economics and Harvard Kennedy School, supported throughout by prestigious scholarships.

Sunil has previously been a university academic, consultant and researcher in marine and environmental policy, and in mining and ocean engineering. He has served on several professional and public bodies as member, governor or trustee and is a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow. Sunil was born in India in 1955 and has lived in the UK since 1988 with his wife and son.

Sue Jaffer

Sue Jaffer is an experienced economist with over 30 years’ experience in policy analysis, privatisation and reform, regulation, pricing, investment and access issues across a wide range of industries. Sue is a Senior Researcher at Latrobe Law School, Melbourne, and a Senior Associate with ACIL Allen Consulting. She was a Fellow of Melbourne University from 2001 to 2007 and has a Masters Degree in Economics.

She has strong experience in financial modelling, financial assessments, financial regulation and utility regulation. Sue has worked for governments, regulators, international aid agencies and utilities in Australia, the UK, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. Sue has developed a number of detailed financial models for businesses to use in in planning and pricing.

Sue was also a key author of a book on the regulation of financial services in the UK (Capital Failure: Rebuilding Trust in Financial Services, editors Morris and Vines, Oxford University Press). Sue’s contribution to the book covered the evolution of the financial service industry and what went wrong, the failures of regulation, a review of recent regulatory initiatives and recommendations on how to improve trust in the industry.

Neil Scarth

Neil Scarth is a Principal of Frost Consulting, which works with asset managers and asset owners on a variety of research issues including research valuation/budgeting software platforms (FrostRB), strategy-level research spending database/benchmarks (FrostDB), and investment process ESG ratings.

Frost also works with asset owners to identify potential performance risks to equity strategies related to changes in research spending/process resulting from commercial pressures and regulatory change globally.

Research spending is an important input for most active equity strategies. Frost solutions allow asset managers and asset owners to collaborate on mutually transparent research budgets designed to allow the investment strategy to meet its targeted return. It is in the interest of both parties for the product to succeed.

Research transparency and “sustainability” are emerging as ESG factors and stewardship/ governance issues for asset owners.

Neil has held a wide range of roles in asset management and investment banking in both Europe and North America, ranging from running equities businesses at global banks to launching and managing all aspects of varying asset management products.

Neil was appointed to the UK Investment Management Association’s Research Review Advisory Panel and has consulted extensively with global regulators on research issues. Frost has authored papers on research topics for, and in collaboration with, the CFA Institute, the University of Edinburgh, and Stanford University.

Jai Prakash Sharma

Jai Prakash Sharma (J P Sharma) is a Professor of Corporate Governance & Law, currently Chairman, Global Research Foundation for Corporate Governance (GRFCG). He has been the Head and Dean, Faculty of Commerce & Business at the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. In the last four decades of his academic career, he has taught at the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level and has held several academic and administrative positions. He has supervised 31 PhDs, 35 M.Phil dissertations.

He has authored 22 books and over 100 research papers/articles published in several national and international journals of repute. His book titled ‘Corporate Governance, Business Ethics & CSR’ has on its review written by Sir Adrian Cadbury who in 1992 gave the world its first code on corporate governance. He is/has been Visitor’s (President of India)/Central Government Nominee on number of Central Universities including University of Allahabad, BHU, NEHU, Sikkim, Tripura, HNB Garhwal, University of Jammu, and Central University of South Bihar.

He is a Fellow Member of the ICSI and Member of several other professional bodies including ILI, ISTD, IMA, ICPS, PCI and ICA. He is member of Association of North America Higher Education International (ANAHEI)’s Educational Council. He is the Fellow Member of the Australian Academy of Business Leadership (AABL) and has been nominated on its ‘Advisory Board’. He is Member of the Delhi University Court (a highest body of Delhi University). He has been the Member of the Governing Body of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) and St. Stephens College, and the Chairman of IP College for Women, PGDAV College, and Guru Nanak Dev College under Delhi University. He has been Member/Chairman of NAAC Peer Teams and member of various committees constituted by the UGC. He is Member of the Editorial Advisory Boards of around a dozen internationally reputed journals including ‘Editorial Advisory Board Member’ and a reviewer of the Australian Academy of Law Ethics and Governance Review (AALEGR) journal, Australasian Journal of Law Ethics and Governance (AJLEG) and a reviewer.

He has participated as an expert in over 200 national and international conferences/seminars/invited lectures/panel discussions, delivered keynote and chaired various technical and valedictory sessions. In 2017, he participated in a Panel Discussion in the 3rd Annual ICGS conf at Rome. In 2016, he was invited by the University of Sussex (Sussex Law School, Sussex Business School & Sussex School of Global Studies) for lectures to the research scholars and PG students; in 2015, invited by the Department of Finance at Waikato Management School, the University of Waikato, New Zealand for lectures to the PG students; in 2014, invited by the Sussex Law School, University of Sussex (UK) for lectures to the research scholars and PG students; in 2012, by the Department of Management at the King’s College, London to deliver special lecture to PG students; also was invited that year to deliver a Key Note address in a two days International Trade & Academic Research Conf organized by the ABRM’S Business and Management Review at the University of London Union, London. In 2011, invited by the London based World Council for Corporate Governance & IOD to address the delegates in a 3 day Global Convention-cum-GOLDEN PEACOCK awarding ceremony held in London.

He presented research papers at the ICGS conf 2017 organised at LUIS Business School (Italy); ICGS Conf 2016 at Bentley University, Boston; the 3rd International Conf organized by the Cologne Business School (Germany) in 2016; IIBA 2015 at the University of South Florida USA; AABL Sydney Conf 2015 organized at the University of Western Sydney and received the Best Paper Award with Cash Prize; at the 2012 WCLTA Conf organised in Brussels; 2012 World Finance Conference held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; CEA’s International conf organized at the UCD Dublin in July, 2011; CGIR International Conf at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 2010; CEA Conf at University of Oxford, UK in July 2010 and Conf at the Birmingham Business School, UK in June 2009. He was selected from the country to attend the three days Corporate Governance Board Leadership Training Programme organised by the IFC (a World Bank Group) acting through the Global Corporate Governance Forum, USA. He has widely travelled to countries like USA, UK, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, China, Brazil, Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Malta, Haiti, Jamaica, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal.

Morgan Deane

Mr. Morgan Deane is an international lawyer and is currently the CEO of the Baader Helvea Group which is an international investment bank based in Switzerland. He sits on a number of Group Company Boards internationally and is a recognized speaker and writer on matters of International Law, Business, Leadership & Technology. He advises and mentors early stage ventures and is an advocate of disruptive technologies and innovation.

Mr. Deane has worked in banking throughout his career having held senior positions at JPMorgan and Bear Stearns where his responsibility covered multiple business lines across multiple locations including Europe, North America, Middle East and Asia-Pacific. He has engaged in corporate governance advisory work for some of the largest and best known financial institutions in Europe and the Middle East.

He holds B.A, M.A, LL.B & LL.M degrees, an Int. Dip in Regulatory Compliance and is a US Attorney, admitted to the Federal and Supreme Court (New York).
He is also a Fellow of the International Compliance Association.

George Georgiou

George is a Chartered Accountant, Registered Company Auditor and an Authorised Representative of AFSL.

He has over 30 years of audit, corporate, financial
and management experience, including providing assistance with Corporate Governance, Risk Assurance, Capital Raising, Investment Ready, Export Market Development Grants, and sourcing investors,Franchisees and Joint Venture Partners.

Greg LeRoy

Dubbed “the leading [U.S.] national watchdog of state and local economic development subsidies,” and “an encyclopedia of information regarding subsidies,” Greg founded and directs Good Jobs First, a research and policy center promoting accountability in economic development. His two books include The Great American Jobs Scam, which Publishers Weekly called ““…a parade of damning case studies showing why communities should not woo corporations with subsidies.” GJF is home to Subsidy Tracker, Tax Break Tracker and Violation Tracker. Violation Tracker captures 20 years of federal and state regulatory penalties; it reveals the U.S. financial services sector to be by far the nation’s most heavily-penalized corporate sector. GJF led the campaign for Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statement 77 on Tax Abatement Disclosures, a landmark in U.S. municipal finance. It requires all states and most local governments (cities, counties and school districts) to finally disclose how much revenue they lose to corporate tax breaks. It remains the only form of tax expenditure ever codified by GASB.

David Piesse

Global Insurance Evangelist and advisory board of Guardtime a leading cybersecurity company and blockchain provider specializing in cryptography for data integrity. Their keyless signature infrastructure (KSI) is utilized across the defence industry and into the supply chain, insurance, healthcare and manufacturing verticals. They have an underlying application for data privacy laws such as GDPR. In May 2018 EY, Guardtime and Maersk with members of the insurance industry launched InsurWave the first global commercial insurance blockchain backed platform to enter production commencing with marine insurance.

Advisory board of Ultimate Risk Solutions and previous Asia Pacific Lead assisting URS introduce Risk Explorer into emerging market and inter operate with new innovations such as InsurWave.

Chairman of the International Insurance Society Ambassadors (IIS) he assists the management introduce new programs to extend membership and introduce localized content.

He has held numerous positions in a 40 year career including Global Insurance Lead for SUN Microsystems, Asia Pacific Chairman for Unirisx, United Nations Risk Management Consultant, Canadian government roles and staring career in Lloyds of London and associated market.

He is currently involved in numerous startups for exponential technologies for blockchain and AI across multiple vertical industries.

He is an Asia Pacific specialist having lived in Asia 30 years with educational background at the British Computer Society and the Chartered Insurance Institute. On July 2017 he received the Kenneth Black Jr Distinguished Service Award from the International Insurance Society.