Speakers

Jamie Allen is the founding Secretary General of Asian Corporate Governance Association (ACGA), an independent membership association carrying out original research, advocacy and education on corporate governance in Asia since 1999. A published author, he has more than 30 years of experience writing about Asian business, finance, and economics. Prior to founding ACGA, he was a consultant providing customised research to multinational companies. From 1992 to 1995, he was editor of Business Asia for the Economist Intelligence Unit and a contributor to The Economist magazine from 1994 to 1996. He is one of the main authors of Awakening Governance: The evolution of corporate governance in China and CG Watch 2020 – Future promise, the two reports published by ACGA in July 2018 and May 2021 respectively.

His past public service roles include being a member of the Public Shareholders’ Group, formed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), sitting on the Listing Committee of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, and serving on the Operations Oversight Committee of the Financial Reporting Council of Hong Kong.

In 2017, he received an International Corporate Governance Network Lifetime Achievement Award and a Regional CG Recognition Award from the Minority Shareholders Watch Group of Malaysia.

He is a graduate of the Australian National University, Canberra, where he received a BA (Hons) in political science and Chinese language. He studied Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan from 1983 to 1984.

Hester is the Head of Office for IFC in Hong Kong, SAR, where she is responsible for developing business and knowledge-sharing opportunities with Hong Kong-based partners and clients. She is also IFC’s Regional Head of Operations, East Asia & Pacific. As RHO she is responsible for regional strategy formulation, facilitation and oversight of investment and advisory programs, fundraising efforts, and general administration.
From 2018-2020, Hester served as Adviser to the Regional Vice President for Asia Pacific, where she contributed to the development and implementation of IFC’s strategy and operations in the region. From 2013-2017, she held adviser roles in Blended Finance and Partnerships and Global Client Services and worked on strategy and institutional reorganization at the World Bank. She joined IFC in 2006 as an analyst in the Europe & Central Asia region. Hester holds an MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins-SAIS.

Melanie is the Senior Sustainability Manager of Sino Group, she oversees a range of sustainability projects related to Environmental Management, Community Engagement, and Heritage Conservation including Sino Hotels and Tai O Heritage Hotel. Being a specialist in the realm of Sustainable Development for over 13 years, Melanie has also gained extensive experiences in Sustainable Tourism and Stakeholder Engagement.

Melanie holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Management from the Imperial College London, a Master Degree of Science in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a Postgraduate Degree in Sustainable Business from the University of Cambridge. She is also a certified Sustainable Tourism Professional by Global Sustainable Tourism Council.

Melanie is a member of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce’s Environment & Sustainability Committee, a member of Business Environment Council’s Circular Economy Advisory Group, member of HKSAR Sustainable Development Council and a member of the Food Wise Hong Kong Campaign. She is also an honorable mentor for the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Environment Students' Society.

Mr. Stephen Wong received a B.A. Degree in Economics from the University of Chicago, Phi Beta Kappa, and an M.A. Degree in East Asian Studies from Yale University. Since then, he worked for a number of global financial institutions, including as an Executive Director in UBS (London) and a Managing Director at RBS. Mr. Wong is now Deputy Executive Director and Head of Public Policy Institute of Our Hong Kong Foundation. Mr. Wong’s public service includes various advisory roles appointed by the Hong Kong Government, including Member of the Financial Services Development Council, Member of Task Force on Land Supply, Sub-committee Co-opt Member of the Sustainable Development Council, Member of Investment Committee of the Beat Drugs Fund, Member of Investment Sub-Committee of the Housing Authority, Member of Feasibility Study Working Group of “Special Needs Public Trust” and Co-opted Member of Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship Development Fund Task Force of Commission on Poverty. Mr. Wong is also active in community service. He is Chairman of the Clean Air Network, Vice Chairman of the Admissions, Budgets & Allocations Committee and Investment Sub-Committee Member of the Community Chest, and Executive Committee Member & Chairman of the Advisory Committee of Social Enterprise and Innovation Platform of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service. Mr. Wong is also a part-time Lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong for the Master of Social Science in Global Political Economy, and an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Hong Kong University SPACE for the Institute for China Business.

Over 25 years of experience in managing corporate sustainability and environmental issues for leading multinationals, listed companies, utilities, government authorities, commercial and industry sectors. Seasoned sustainability professional with a MBA degree. Strong technical background with good business sense and acumen.

Comprehensive engagement experience with good network with sustainability-related international bodies, government authorities, industry federations and NGOs. Over 10 years of experience serving as panel assessor for sustainability award schemes organized by the government. A professional trainer and a frequent seminar speaker on corporate sustainability.

Pratima Divgi leads CDP’s regional efforts in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand. In her role as Director, she engages with corporates, investors and cities in their efforts to measure and manage environmental impact.
In her previous career, Pratima spent 17 years in finance, most recently in private equity with Aberdeen Standard Investments. Besides her investment role at Aberdeen Standard, she was also part of the private equity environmental, social and governance (ESG) working group which involved formulation of the ESG policy and leading the policy implementation for Asia-Pacific private equity investments.
Pratima remains an active member of the Hong Kong Venture Capital Association and represents CDP on the ESG Disclosure and Integration Working Group at the Hong Kong Green Finance Association.

Mr Stephen Phillips is the Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK), the Government Department responsible for attracting and facilitating foreign direct investment into Hong Kong.
In a career focused on Asia for more than thirty years, Mr Phillips first moved to Hong Kong in 1989 holding senior investment banking positions with Deutsche and BZW/Barclays Capital before co-founding a Hong Kong-based group of companies providing IT, financial and consultancy services across Asia. In 2004, he joined the UK’s Department of International Trade before becoming the Chief Executive of the China Britain Business Council in 2006, as well as Chairman of the EU China Business Association.
Mr Phillips holds a BSc in Chemistry and Law from the University of Exeter.

Mr Wong was appointed as the Head of Financial Services at Invest Hong Kong (“InvestHK”) in March 2019 and the Global Head of Family Office in April 2021. InvestHK is the government department and the Financial Services and Family Office teams at InvestHK are responsible for investment promotion and business facilitation, i.e. helping overseas and Mainland financial institutions and family offices to establish or expand their business presence in Hong Kong.

Before joining InvestHK, Mr Wong held various senior positions in various departments in an international bank for more than 20 years. Before that, he worked in the assurance and advisory department of a big four international accounting firm.

Mr Wong has a LLB (Hons) degree and a MBA degree from the United Kingdom. He is also a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA, Aust & NZ), Fellow Certified Public Accountant (FCPA, Hong Kong), Fellow Chartered Governance Professional (FCIS/FCG, UK) and Fellow Chartered Secretary (FCS, Hong Kong). Mr Wong is also a member of HKTDC Financial Services Advisory Committee and Steering Committee member of Asian Financial Forum.

Mr Chan was appointed the Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury on 16 August 2017.

Mr Chan has many years of senior executive experience in the banking industry. He was a Managing Director in the Global Markets Division of Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, and was a Managing Director in Financial Markets of Standard Chartered Bank.

Prior to joining the Government, Mr Chan held multiple roles in a number of public and professional bodies, including Vice President of the Hong Kong Society of Financial Analysts, Director of Hong Kong Securities & Investment Institute, Advisor of the Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society, as well as a General Committee member of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. Mr Chan was also a member of the Central & Western District Council.

Mr Chan holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics (Hon) and Psychology from the University of Michigan, USA. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Rebecca leads on sustainability for CK Hutchison Group, a multinational conglomerate committed to development, innovation and technology in four core businesses: ports and related services, retail, infrastructure, and telecommunications. The Group operates in over 50 countries around the world with over 300,000 employees. Rebecca is responsible for driving the overall Group strategy, working in partnership with each of the core businesses’ sustainability teams. Rebecca has 13 years’ experience in leading and driving corporate sustainability programmes in both in-house positions and through her consulting career at PwC’s Sustainability and Climate Change consulting teams in London and Sydney. Rebecca has a master’s in Sustainability Leadership from the University of Cambridge’s Institute of Sustainability Leadership and an undergraduate degree in Business from Trinity College Dublin.

Mervyn Tang is responsible for Schroders’ Sustainability Strategy in the Asia Pacific. In this role he works in partnership with our client facing and product teams to build our sustainable investment propositions across the region and leads the company’s Regional Centre of Excellence for Sustainability.

Prior to this he was Global Head of ESG Research at Fitch Ratings from 2019 to 2021, overseeing a research team of 4 analysts across London and Hong Kong which primarily focus on thematic and cross sector ESG research.

Mervyn was also Head of Fixed Income, ESG Research, at MSCI from 2017 to 2019, a Sovereign credit analyst at Fitch Ratings from 2015 to 2017, an Economist at the Bank of England from 2009 to 2015, and an Equities Sales Analyst at Citigroup in London from 2007 to 2009.

Inti Wong is the Associate Director of Finance & Governance Centre and the Vice President of Supplier Management Committee at Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group, specializing in financial management, enterprise risk management, sustainability and corporate governance. She has led change processes to implement or rejuvenate governance framework and practices to meet business purposes of the Company and create shared value for its stakeholders.
Inti is dedicated to the advancement of good corporate governance, for which she and her team received public recognitions, including Gold Award in Best Corporate Governance Awards 2020 by the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Grand Award of Best of Sustainability Report in iNOVA Awards 2020 and Commendation (Best ESG Report – Large Cap) in Hong Kong Environmental, Social and Governance Reporting Awards 2019 by HERA.