Sydney ESG Forum: Green Financing Risks and Opportunities

Dr. Graham Sinden

Head of Climate Risk

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority

Prior to joining APRA as the Head of Climate Risk, Dr. Graham Sinden was a director at Ernst & Young’s Climate and Sustainability practice, where he provided assurance, advisory and analytical services for both the private and public sectors. Graham has also worked extensively in the UK, primarily at the Carbon Trust, where in addition to leading impact assessments of climate policies on trade and products, he also served as a lead author for Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and was an appointed advisor to the UK Energy Minister.

Graham was also a steering group member for the London 2012 Olympic Sustainability Committee and holds a D.Phil. and M.Sc. from Oxford University, and a B.Sc. from Sydney University.

Patricia Torres

Global Head of Sustainable Finance Solutions

Bloomberg L.P.

Patricia Torres is Global Head of Sustainable Finance Solutions at Bloomberg, where she leads the Sustainable Finance solutions team, a group that is focused on ESG data, scores, regulatory solutions, third party data, Gender equality index and analytics.
Previously, Patricia held several positions at Bloomberg, namely as Global Head for Financial Products Knowledge Group – leading a global team of learning consultants whose job was to create impactful change management programs aligned with Bloomberg’s new Enterprise Operating Model, as Regional Sales Manager, and as Regional Manager in the Data Department. Patricia has also worked as a consultant for Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, spanning different sectors, from the clothing segment, the mobile telecoms sector, and the digital and imaging technology market.

Vicky Cheng

Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs, APAC

Bloomberg

Vicky Cheng is Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs Asia Pacific, overseeing government relations and regulatory developments impacting Bloomberg and its clients in the region.

Before joining Bloomberg, Vicky worked in both the public and private sectors. Her focus has been policy and regulatory development, advising senior management on related requirements and implementations. Vicky drove advocacy and public affairs programmes for various organizations including global corporates and financial institutions. During her time with an international law firm, Vicky led business development and thought leadership strategies for the Financial Services Regulatory and Dispute Resolution practices. She began her career with a Government providing policy analysis and communications.

Leonard Quong

Head of Australia Research

BloombergNEF

Leonard Quong is the Head of Australian Research at BloombergNEF where he leads a team of experts to examine the future of energy, transport and industry in the Australian market. Leonard joined BloombergNEF in 2013 where he has since published over 60 research papers covering technology, investment, economics and policy. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree with First Class Honours in photovoltaic and solar energy engineering from the University of New South Wales.

Fiona Trigona

Executive General Manager and Group Treasurer

NBN Co.

Fiona has been NBN Co Group Treasurer since March 2021 and is responsible for driving the strategic direction of funding activities, growing NBN Co’s investor base and running a broad range of funding programs.

In her previous role, Fiona was Head of Funding and Balance Sheet for NSW Treasury Corporation (TCorp), where she was responsible for the management and funding of the $100bn Balance Sheet. Her recent career highlights also include the issuance of NBN’s inaugural Green Bond issue. The A$800m transaction represents the largest AUD green bond offering by an Australian corporate on record. Her career highlights in her prior role include managing Australia’s largest-ever sustainability and green bond issuances to date in the Australian market, each valued at A$1.8bn.

She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Sydney, majoring in Pure Mathematics and Chemistry, and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia (FINSIA).

Kristy Graham

Executive Officer

Australian Sustainable Finance Institute

Kristy is the inaugural Executive Officer of ASFI. Established following the collaborative effort to develop the Australian Sustainable Finance Roadmap, ASFI works to create a financial system in Australia that can support a sustainable, resilient and prosperous future for all Australians.

Prior to ASFI, Kristy led the Australian Government’s work with private and institutional investors to mobilise capital for climate and social impact in Australia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific. She was also a special advisor on the Prime Minister’s Social Impact Investing Taskforce in 2020. She holds a BSc (Environmental) and a Masters in Environmental Law from the University of Sydney and an MBA (Social Impact) from AGSM at UNSW.

DAVID JENKINS

Global Head of Sustainable Finance – Corporate & Institutional Banking

National Australia Bank

David leads NAB’s Sustainable Finance team and has been active in sustainable debt financing for over 10 years, having joined NAB in 2010. He is a member of NAB’s Corporate & Institutional Banking Sustainability Steer Co and works closely with NAB’s treasury, risk, coverage, product and markets teams developing and originating sustainable financing and investment solutions for NAB clients across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, UK, Europe and the USA. He has almost 20 years of financial markets experience across a range of product solutions, origination and structuring roles for banks in Sydney, Hong Kong, London and New York.

NICK BURROUGH

ESG Market Specialist, Australia & New Zealand

BLOOMBERG/ SYDNEY OFFICE

Nick has spent 27 years in financial market, including 21 years as a market maker and structurer across G10 Interest Rate Derivatives in London, Toronto & Sydney. As a market maker, he traded Interest Rate Swaps, Interest Options and Inflation products, and over saw many changes in Front Office trading and valuation methodologies. Following a short period of Trading System consultancy, Nick joined Bloomberg’s Sydney office 5 years ago as the Australia & New Zealand Fixed Income Market Specialist.