Farzam Ehsani Email & Phone Number

Johannesburg, Gp, Za

Global, Za

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Johannesburg, Gauteng, Za

I initiated and led the blockchain work at the Foundery (RMB's FinTech unit) for Rand Merchant Bank and the larger FirstRand Group (Africa’s largest banking group by market cap). The three main areas of focus were:1) UNDERSTANDING & EDUCATION: Monitoring and contributing towards blockchain technology and cryptocurrency developments globally; thinking through implications for the financial system; and presenting these findings to the bank and audiences as diverse as the Regulator (South African Reserve Bank & Financial Services Board), academic institutions (University of Cape Town, Gordon Institute of Business Science), other banks, law firms, institutions, and global conferences.2) IN-HOUSE BUILDING: The team built several blockchain prototypes (based on Ethereum, Bitcoin and Chain platforms) involving the issuance of assets (e.g., bonds and cryptocurrency) and the deployment of smart contracts (e.g., conducting atomic swaps in a permissioned blockchain environment, and undergoing a bidding process for financial instruments).3) EXTERNAL COLLABORATIONCollaboration across a host of institutions is pivotal to the success of any impactful blockchain project. As such, we collaborated with many institutions to form the South African Financial Blockchain Consortium (SAFBC) participated in initiatives with global startups, institutions and consortia/alliances.

Johannesburg, Gauteng, Za

Selected as one of the two “Class Of” appointees out of an application pool of ~1,500 in 2012 to participate in a development programme across all banking divisions as follows:THE FOUNDERY (Jan 2016 - Jul 2016)Helped set up the Foundery, RMB's FinTech Unit, where I initiated the blockchain work for Rand Merchant Bank.PRIVATE EQUITY (Jan 2015 - Dec 2015)Assessed and negotiated investment opportunities for the bank’s private equity portfolio of assets.INVESTMENT BANKING DIVISION (May 2014 - Dec 2014)Analyzed and structured debt packages for large corporates in the Leveraged Finance and Consumer Services divisions.GROUP TREASURY (May 2013 - May 2014)Assisted the Liquidity, Funding, and Capital desks and facilitated a process for the Group Treasurer to resolve inter-divisional pricing of financial resources (e.g., physical cash and foreign exchange).GLOBAL MARKETS (Oct 2012 - May 2013)Rotated across all trading desks (fixed income, currencies and commodities) and helped redesign the interest rate swap desk’s sales process.RMB COO's OFFICE (Mar 2012 - Oct 2012)Helped the COO restructure the Business Technology division and develop an organisational structure for the bank’s African operations.

The purpose of the SAFBC is to assimilate and demonstrate the transformative potential of blockchain technology for the South African financial industry. The consortium aims to educate and to bring the benefits of blockchain technology to the industry for the benefit of the entire country. Membership is comprised of banks, financial markets infrastructure players and regulators (in an observer capacity) as well as other institutions involved in the financial services industry. Blockchains require a fundamental shift in paradigm, requiring collaboration to deploy such technology across a wide range of ecosystem participants.

Us

Advised two large private equity funds on a US$2bn investment in Sub-Saharan Africa.Proposed a franchise strategy for one of the leading retailers in South Africa, primarily based on in-depth financial modeling.Advised a pan-African fund on investments to make in the African tourism market.Designed, developed and implemented a Capability Building Program in a large South African parastatal company resulting in the training and development of over 1,000 employees.Developed a regional strategy for a private healthcare institution in East Africa.Devised a retail banking strategy for a large Nigerian bank in order to continue its market leading position.Implemented an operational excellence program for a large African bank.Created a new operating model and organisational design for a large public institution.Led the negotiation strategy and execution of a state-owned enterprise to achieve savings of US$90m over 7 months.Spear-headed the reorganisation of a large enterprise to create a centre-led procurement division with spend of ~2% of Africa’s GDP.Consulted to a number of other companies in the mining, consumer goods and retail industries on matters of strategy, operations and organisation.

Worldwide, Oo