Mr Paul McNamara is a journalist, editor, author and biographer with extensive experience in Asia, the UK, the Arabian Gulf and Australia covering the wholesale financial markets. Over the years he has worked for the Financial Times Group, Fairfax Media, Euromoney Institutional Investor, CPI Financial, Yasaar Media and Eaglemont Media. His areas of specialisation include insurance, reinsurance, risk, Islamic finance, investment banking, project finance, trade finance, wealth management, private equity, hedge funds and alternative investments, the Middle East banking and finance industry, GCC capital markets and the world of interest rate securities. Over the years he has launched numerous publications that have gone on to define their markets, including Shares Magazine in Australia, Banker Middle East Magazine and Private Equity and Hedge Funds Middle East in the UAE and The Islamic Globe newspaper in London. He is also the author of numerous books including Qatar Takes Off, The History of Banking in the UAE, The History of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Dubai Islamic Bank: 35 Glorious Years, Understanding Interest Rate Securities, Business Doha, Uttar Pradesh: Modern Business Hub, Abu Dhabi and Dubai: Young and Rich and many others. He has a BA (Hons) in politics, philosophy and economics from Christ Church, Oxford University.