Moderator

Li Chuanquan, PhD in finance, Fudan University; MA in British and American Literature, Tsinghua University. Currently, Dr. Li serves as General Manager and Chief Strategy Officer of Zhejiang Zheshang Asset Management Co., Ltd. He also holds the position of Dean at the Zheshang Asset Research Institute and additionally serves as Joint Dean at Zheshang Asset Management College.

Dr. Li has rich management experience and profound understanding in the field of non-performing assets. In addition, Dr. Li also serves as post-doctoral tutor of the post-doctoral research workstation where he has guided the first post-doctoral fellow of the local AMCs in China. Besides, Dr. Li has held key positions in various enterprises and financial institutions. Dr. Li also has rich research experience in various fields including securities, trust and asset securitization. He is recognized as one of the earliest scholars in the field of ABS research in China

Gifford West is an internationally recognized expert in non-performing loan (NPL) risk management, disposal strategies, and the supporting technologies including trading platforms. With over 40 years of experience across investment banking, management consulting, and advisory services, he has worked extensively throughout the US, Europe, and Asia.

At Alpine Tremont, Gifford advises international banks, regulators, and the European Commission on funding/disposal strategies for NPLs as well as the supporting technologies. Prior to Alpine Tremont, Gifford lead international business development at DebtX.  Gifford has led NPL sales for government agencies in the US, Ireland, Germany, and Ukraine.  For private clients, he has set strategy and conducted sales in North America, Western & Eastern Europe, and India.  Before DebtX, Gifford worked with Booz Allen and Oliver Wyman to provide risk and strategic consulting services to global capital market players.

Gifford serves on the European Commission DGFISMA (Directorate-General for Financial Stability,Financial Services and Capital Markets Union).  He is a frequent speaker at European NPL conferences and a guest lecturer at the Joint Vienna Institute. A graduate of Harvard in Middle Eastern studies, Gifford holds an MBA from Tuck School of Business.

Johannes Raschke, Chartered Financial Analyst based in Singapore, is the Senior Investment Officer at IFC and leads the Distressed Asset Recovery Program (DARP) in the East Asia & Pacific region. With 20 years of experience in Corporate Finance and Alternative Investments, including distressed assets, non-performing loans (NPL), and private equity/credit, he brings extensive expertise to his role.

Kong Chinang is Managing Partner of Kota Capital Advisors, where he advises institutions, investors, and asset management companies on deploying capital in the Private Credit space, including alternative lending, single-asset special situations, and the management of non-performing loans (NPLs) and other asset portfolios. He brings over two decades of senior management and practical specialist experience across banking, corporate finance, investments, turnaround, and asset management, with a career spanning Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and China.  Beyond Private Credit and supporting financial inclusion, he is committed to sustainability and serves on several boards, including Sembwaste, Singapore’s largest environmental waste management company; the Singapore Environment Council, a leading UN-accredited NGO; and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, appointed by the Minister of Transport. Prior to founding Kota Capital Advisors, Mr. Kong was Senior Managing Director at Pepper Group, a KKR portfolio company specializing in alternative lending and credit asset management across 14 countries, with assets under management exceeding USD 70 billion. There, he led market expansion initiatives in China and Southeast Asia and worked closely with regional and global investors on credit and NPL investment opportunities.  Before Pepper, he spent seven years as a partner at Deloitte and the APAC M&A leadership team, leading the firm's Financial Institutions Group (FIG) Portfolio Loan Advisory practice in Asia. In this role, he advised governments, banks, and global fund investors, diligencing over USD 10 billion in NPL assets and executing multiple sell-side mandates across China and Southeast Asia. His work included collaboration with China’s national and regional Asset Management Companies and advising the Indonesian government on their banking resolution framework.  Earlier in his career, Mr. Kong was based in the United Kingdom with Lloyds Banking Group. During the Global Financial Crisis, he served as Head of Non-Core Portfolio Strategy, contributing significantly to one of Europe’s most successful bank turnarounds by managing and exiting over USD 300 billion in diversified financial assets. His efforts were recognized when he was named UK Young Dealmaker of the Year by Mergermarkets/Intralinks in 2011. Mr. Kong trained as a chartered accountant, qualified in the United Kingdom with ICAEW.

Moderator

Alexander leads research at the nexus of international and sustainable finance, and macroeconomics. Recent work centers on mobilizing private sector funding for climate and biodiversity action, resilience to geopolitical risks, and on disaster finance, and has been published in leading journals. Alexander advises on regional financial integration, and spearheads the development of machine-learning approaches to forecasting financial crises. Prior to ADB, Alexander worked at the European Stability Mechanism, International Monetary Fund, Bank of England, United Nations and University of Zurich. He holds a PhD in International Economics from the Graduate Institute Geneva, Switzerland.

Alessandra Donini is a Senior Economist in the Financial Sector and Market Analysis division at the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). 

Before joining the ESM, she worked at the Central Bank of Malta as Senior Economist within the Stress Testing and Risk Models division in the Financial Stability department. At the central bank, she contributed as stress testing expert to the IMF Financial Sector Assessment Program to Malta and acted as national expert in ESCB working groups in stress testing with a particular focus on macro-financial scenarios design and credit risk modelling.

Ms Donini holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Mannheim (Germany), a master in Economics from University Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona) and a Master in Finance from the University of Brescia (Italy), where she also completed her undergraduate studies. Her main research interests centre on financial stability, in particular modelling for banking sector stress testing.

Eric Cloutier is the Group Head of Banking Regulations and the Head of the Global FS Regulatory Centre (RegCentre) at Forvis Mazars. He also serves as Senior Adviser on NPLs to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
With 24 years of experience, Eric has advised regulators, supervisors, supranational institutions, banks, and investors globally. His expertise in NPLs spans globally, and includes credit and large portfolio restructuring, transaction advisory, policy-making support, and system-wide banking sector reforms.

Since 2015, Eric has been a Senior Adviser on NPLs to the EBRD under the European Banks Coordination (“Vienna”) Initiative, co-authoring 18 editions of the EBRD NPL Monitor. He is a member/observer of the European Commission Advisory Panel on NPLs since 2021, where he contributed to the Guidelines for a best-execution process for sales of NPLs on secondary markets (2022/C 405/01 and the report on the role of securitisation for the development of a mature EU secondary market for NPLs (12-2023). Eric also previously served on the NPL expert panel of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB).

His notable experiences include advising the European Banking Authority (EBA) on developing its standardized NPL data templates, advising the Ukrainian Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF) to improve its NPL operations, and authoring a report for the World Bank and a North African Central Bank on NPL securitisation frameworks. He previously contributed to the design and setup of the Spanish Asset Management Company (SAREB), transferring EUR 107 billion GBV of real estate loans and assets from nine banks. Additionally, he was part of a small team appointed to restructure and create a systemic solution for the banking sector during the Cypriot crisis of 2012-2013.

Moderator

Inha Shin is currently serving as a Regional Cooperation Specialist in the Economic Research and Development Impact Department of the Asian Development Bank, seconded from the Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO). In her role, she leads the planning and implementation of activities for the IPAF, manages TA projects, and coordinates knowledge-sharing initiatives to strengthen regional financial cooperation.

Before joining ADB, Inha built extensive expertise at KAMCO over 8 years, specializing in distressed asset management and providing recovery support for financially vulnerable individuals and corporations. As a Manager in the Household Support Division, she was responsible for strategic planning and operational management. She also gained broad experience across KAMCO’s Maritime Investment & Finance Division and Delinquent Tax Management Division, notably contributing to the establishment and operation of USD 857 million in Shipping Funds as of 2022—an achievement that earned significant recognition within the organization.

Prior to her tenure at KAMCO, Inha gained international experience working at the Permanent Delegation of the Republic of Korea to the OECD in 2014 and at the UN Global Compact Network Korea in 2012. Inha earned her Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Korea University and completed an exchange scholarship at Sciences Po Paris, France.

Sung Su Kim is a Senior Financial Sector Specialist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), with over 25 years of hands-on experience in financial sector development across Asia and the Pacific.

At ADB, he focuses on financial sector development and policy, with expertise in financial stability and resilience, credit risk management, SME and housing finance, capital market development, and digital financial services. His work supports the design and implementation of strategic initiatives to broaden financial access for the underserved and to strengthen regional financial systems.

Prior to joining ADB, Mr. Kim spent nearly 20 years at Kookmin Bank, where he worked in both Seoul and London across the commercial and investment banking divisions. During this time, he developed extensive expertise in infrastructure and structured financing, international financing, treasury operations, and credit risk analysis, gaining valuable insights into emerging financial markets.

Mr. Kim holds a Master of Philosophy in Land Economy from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Guan Zhen is a Partner at a Singaporean fund management firm, Point Hope, which is a private credit lender to NPL servicers in Southeast Asia. His main role is developing an integrated NPL platform that channels funding from institutional investors into NPLs and delivers holistic and attractive NPL solutions for lenders and investors from a profitability, governance and sustainability perspective.

Guan Zhen started his career as an Analyst at Goldman Sachs in London. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and a concentration in Business Administration from Columbia University.

Youngwoo Jeong is a Quantitative Analyst at Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO), specializing in the application of machine learning techniques to public asset management and the resolution of non-performing loans (NPLs). His recent research focuses on predicting the repayment behavior of financially vulnerable debtors, reflecting his broader interest in using data-driven models to assess credit risk and inform evidence-based policy making.

Prior to joining KAMCO, Dr. Jeong built diverse experience across Korea’s financial sector. At Nonghyup Financial Group, one of Korea’s major financial holding companies, he worked as an economic researcher, where he focused on analyzing financial market trends and providing strategic insights. He also served as a fund performance analyst for the National Pension Service's entrusted fund at a leading fund performance evaluation firm, and as a risk manager at an asset management firm, where he monitored market risks and supported portfolio strategy development. These roles deepened his expertise in financial policy, market analysis, and risk evaluation.

He holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Finance from Hanyang University, and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Hongik University. He is a certified Financial Risk Manager (FRM) issued by the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) and a nationally accredited Big Data Analytics Engineer, and has published extensively on NPL modeling, debtor analysis, and credit evaluation in academic journals.

Moderator

Eric Cloutier is the Group Head of Banking Regulations and the Head of the Global FS Regulatory Centre (RegCentre) at Forvis Mazars. He also serves as Senior Adviser on NPLs to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
With 24 years of experience, Eric has advised regulators, supervisors, supranational institutions, banks, and investors globally. His expertise in NPLs spans globally, and includes credit and large portfolio restructuring, transaction advisory, policy-making support, and system-wide banking sector reforms.

Since 2015, Eric has been a Senior Adviser on NPLs to the EBRD under the European Banks Coordination (“Vienna”) Initiative, co-authoring 18 editions of the EBRD NPL Monitor. He is a member/observer of the European Commission Advisory Panel on NPLs since 2021, where he contributed to the Guidelines for a best-execution process for sales of NPLs on secondary markets (2022/C 405/01 and the report on the role of securitisation for the development of a mature EU secondary market for NPLs (12-2023). Eric also previously served on the NPL expert panel of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB).

His notable experiences include advising the European Banking Authority (EBA) on developing its standardized NPL data templates, advising the Ukrainian Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF) to improve its NPL operations, and authoring a report for the World Bank and a North African Central Bank on NPL securitisation frameworks. He previously contributed to the design and setup of the Spanish Asset Management Company (SAREB), transferring EUR 107 billion GBV of real estate loans and assets from nine banks. Additionally, he was part of a small team appointed to restructure and create a systemic solution for the banking sector during the Cypriot crisis of 2012-2013.

As a Master of International Business with 12 years of professional experience, I have successfully navigated a career transition from the manufacturing industry to consumer finance. Starting as a project manager, I have risen to become a seasoned business leader, driving strategic initiatives and operational excellence.

Currently serving as the Deputy Director of the Consumer Finance Department at ZSAMC. Prior to this role, I had worked for Home Credit China for more than 5 years, was responsible for the individual NPL batch transfer project and Outsourcing Collection Management.

My project portfolio includes several key initiatives focused on optimizing collection processes and enhancing operational efficiency. Notably, I spearheaded projects that resulted in accumulatively selling 60 billion yuan NPL with a single transaction reaching a record-breaking 26.4 billion yuan—the largest individual NPL transfer in China to date.

With extensive management experience, I have led teams of over 20 members and managed company-level projects with core teams of more than 50 members. I have also established partnerships with over 20 Asset Management Companies (AMCs) and hundreds of collection agencies, significantly expanding our market presence.

I am deeply committed to the individual NPL industry, aiming to contribute to its high-quality development through continuous innovation and strategic leadership.

Inyoung Hwang currently serves as Senior Manager in the New Start Fund Acquisition & Operation Division at the Korea Asset Management Corporation (KAMCO). She leads strategic collaborations with government ministries and financial institutions to efficiently manage the US$28.7 billion New Start Fund, which provides vital support to small business owners and self-employed individuals impacted by COVID-19.

She worked at ERCI of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as a regional cooperation specialist, the secondee of KAMCO for the two years. She was in-charge of planning and implementation of IPAF related activities, project management of TA projects, and conducting knowledge sharing and capacity building programs.

At KAMCO, she has been responsible for international business for 8 years. She organized and conducted several trainings and consulting services for various Asian countries in the areas of financial stability, public AMCs, public property management & development, and resolution of NPLs. She has also planned and organized big international conferences and seminar as a project manager and conducted a lot of IPAF main activities.

She was also in charge of corporate support projects for SMEs, ran household support programs including managing the recovery fund. In addition, she collected taxes and resolved NPLs through a public auction and KAMCO’s own online bidding system.

She earned her M.B.A. from Goizueta Business School in US. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and completed FNLP (Financial Leaders’ Program) course at KAIST Business School.

Zhi Bang Tan serves as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Longan Group, a leading debt management company with AUM of USD 345 million in South-East Asia. Zhi Bang heads the Finance and Accounting division of the Group and is based in the Singapore office. He also oversees the operations in Indonesia. He plays a pivotal role in steering Longan Group through various phases of growth, expansion and restructuring.

Prior to joining Longan Group, Zhi Bang held senior finance position at Sportshub Pte Ltd (now known as Kallang Alive Sport Management Co Pte. Ltd.), a 35-hectare public-private partnership that is anchored by the National Stadium, Singapore Indoor Stadium, aquatics facility, indoor sports hall, water sports centre, public sports facilities, and retail. He gained extensive expertise in financial analysis, risk management, cash and liquidity management, operating period budget and modelling, contractual reporting to Lenders and Government and capital allocation strategies.

As CFO of Longan Group, Zhi Bang continues to drive financial innovation and strategic initiatives that uphold the group's reputation for excellence and integrity in the market. His current priority is building and expanding the network and partners in the region, raising funds and investing in delinquent unsecured consumer credit, expanding and increasing the company's market presence.

Mr. Xu Yang currently serves as the East China General Manager of Alibaba Assets. Prior to joining Alibaba, he held key roles at Shanghai United Media Group and KPMG China. A graduate of the University of Melbourne, Mr. Xu possesses extensive practical expertise in the NPL sector. His expertise spans judicial auctions, bankruptcy liquidation and restructuring, financial asset disposal, and value enhancement, making him a distinguished professional in the field.