World Gold Council and its network of experts
Natalie Dempster, Director, Government Affairs, World Gold Council
Natalie leads the Government Affairs team, which works with policymakers and influencers globally, such as central bankers, politicians, regulators, academics and the financial services industry, to equip them with the tools and research they need to make an informed decision about the role of gold.
Natalie has 15 years of experience as an economist and has worked on the trading floors at The Royal Bank of Scotland and JP Morgan Chase. She began her career as a foreign-exchange trader at JP Morgan Chase on the emerging markets desk. Natalie holds a BSc in Economics from Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London and an MBA from City University Business School (CASS), London.
Ashish Bhatia, Manager, Government Affairs, World Gold Council
Ashish Bhatia is a member of the Government Affairs team at the World Gold Council. In this position he is responsible for developing proprietary research notes and custom analysis for central bank reserve managers on gold’s role as a reserve asset. He also supports the Government Affairs team in its outreach to global policymakers with the tools and research they need to make an informed decision about the role of gold. Ashish is a frequent speaker at global forums focused on reserve asset management, where he shares expertise in central banking and gold with a new generation of central bankers that are rediscovering gold as a strategic asset. Prior to the joining the World Gold Council Ashish served in many different roles at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Most recently he worked as a Portfolio Manager and Senior Economic Analyst within the New York Fed’s Markets Group, where he was responsible for managing the United States’ Japanese yen reserves for the US Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve System. Prior to his work at the Fed, he worked as an Analyst at GreenPoint Financial (Capital One). Ashish received his bachelor’s degree in Economics from NYU’s Stern School of Business and a Master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University, specializing in International Monetary Policy and Finance.
Kenneth Sullivan, Senior Financial Sector Expert, International Monetary Fund
Mr. Sullivan is a Senior Financial Sector Expert with the International Monetary Fund. Previously, he spent seven years at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand as Chief Manager of both Accounting and Corporate Services where the bank won accounting prizes for the transparency of its published financial statements. Prior to that he provided a financial management information system consultancy, held senior accounting roles in insurance and wholesaling, and worked in education.
Starting in 1993 he served as central banking expert on IMF missions, providing technical assistance in accounting, risk management and recapitalization to central banks around the world. He presented at central bank accounting workshops and participated in Financial Sector Assessment Program and Safeguard Assessment missions. He has written on issues of central bank financial reporting, capital adequacy, organization and accountability. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant of New Zealand.
Currently he is the IMF’s representative on the International Financial reporting Standards Advisory Council and chairs a range of annual central bank accounting study groups addressing issues of transparency in central bank financial reporting and balance sheet strength. In 2008 he spent six month secondment to a London bank where he worked on issues of structured financial instruments.
Paul Voller, Co Head of Global Metals, HSBC Bank USA, NA
Paul Voller has nearly 30 years experience in the Precious Metals Markets. His career began in 1984 when he joined the British merchant bank, Samuel Montagu, shortly after leaving school. The bank was subsequently sold to the HSBC Group where Paul has remained in various capacities. From 1984 to 2001 Paul was based in London, trading gold, silver, platinum and palladium where he rose to become Chief Dealer in 1992. His expertise around Metals included trading spot, futures, forwards and Options. In 2001 shortly after the acquisition of Republic National Bank, New York, Paul moved to NY with a focus on marketing and the further development of the banks precious metals business. In 2007 Paul became Head of HSBC's Precious Metals business in the Americas and in 2012 became Co-Head of HSBC's Global business.
Peter Drabwell, HSBC
Peter Drabwell began his career in metals with JP Morgan in 1990 and later worked at UBS, AIG, and Goldman Sachs trading metals. During the last fifteen years, his concentration has been in gold. A year ago, he moved into marketing, primarily speaking to hedge funds, central banks, and corporates. In June 2012, he was voted onto the London Bullion Market Association Management Committee and currently serves as a Director at HSBC.
Rohan Hazelton, Goldcorp Inc.
Rohan Hazelton is Vice President of Strategy at Goldcorp Inc. where he is responsible for developing and evaluating strategic initiatives as well as guiding the company’s overall corporate strategies. Mr. Hazelton has held a variety of senior management positions at Goldcorp including Vice President of Finance, CFO of Goldcorp Mexico, Corporate Controller, and Head of Gold Sales. He is currently on the board of directors at Primero Mining, and formerly on the board of Terrane Metals (audit committee chair) and Gryphon Gold. He is a Chartered Accountant with over 15 years of finance experience, 10 of those years at senior positions within the mining industry. Mr. Hazelton previously worked for Deloitte & Touche LLP and Arthur Andersen LLP, and was a commercial loans officer for Dialog Bank Moscow, Russia. Mr. Hazelton has a B.A. in Math and Economics from Harvard University.
Stewart Murray, Chief Executive, London Bullion Market Association
After qualifying with a first class honors degree in metallurgy from London University, Dr. Murray studied for a PhD on titanium at Imperial College, London. In the decade up to 1984, he worked for the International Wrought Copper Council, serving as its Secretary General from 1980 to 1984. He then joined Consolidated Gold Fields (CGF) where he was responsible for the group’s base metals commodities research. In 1989, Dr. Murray set up Gold Fields Mineral Services (GFMS) of which he was Chief Executive for the next nine years to continue the work of publishing the annual survey of the gold market which CGF had pioneered in the late 1960s. His own area of research at GFMS focused on the Middle East and the Indian Sub-continent.
In October 1999, he was appointed Chief Executive of the London Bullion Market Association, where he has been responsible for establishing the LBMA’s annual precious metals conference (now in its 13th year) and for the expansion of its membership to encompass companies outside the UK. He is also responsible for guiding the LBMA's Good Delivery System, which involves the testing and accreditation of refiners of gold and silver located in 31 countries.
His earlier interest in base metals was reflected in his involvement over a twenty-year period with the World Bureau of Metal Statistics, of which he was chairman from 1989 to 1991.
