Yawar Shah

Focus Areas: Global Payments, Fintech, Market Infrastructures, Digital Finance 

Yawar Shah is a fintech, payments, securities, wealth management, and operations/technology expert with decades of experience in transforming and managing global operating and technology intensive businesses around the globe. Throughout his career, he has worked in institutions across both the private and public sectors in order to build stronger, more resilient, compliant, and secure financial institutions and market infrastructures with global collaboration and clear business outcomes.
 
Shah is currently actively engaged in advising a number of start ups focusing on transforming payments and related ecosystems. He is an LPA at NYCA and on the Advisory Board of Ridgeview Digital. Shah is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University. He is also a member of the Bretton Woods Committee and is part of the Digital Finance Working Group.
 
He served as the Chair of the Board of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) for 16 years, and as a Board Member for 26 years. SWIFT is a global utility connecting 11,000 banks and financial institutions in over 200 countries and territories for Payments, Trade, and Securities. He was selected by JPMorgan, then later Citigroup, and elected by United States’ banks in 1996 to represent the US’ banking interests in this global institution. He served as Deputy Chair from 1996 to 2006 and Chair from 2006 to 2022. As Chair, Shah led SWIFT strategy of cross border payments and also focused on risk and resilience, and enhanced cyber and financial crime compliance for the entire global banking ecosystem.
 
Shah has over 35 years of experience in senior global business and operating roles at Citigroup (concurrent with SWIFT Chairmanship), JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Booz, Allen & Hamilton. These assignments have typically required fundamental business and ecosystem transformation on a global scale.
 
At Citi, 2007 to 2023, assignments included across 93 countries:
• Program Executive, Payments and Securities, Institutional Clients Group
• Global Head, Business Design and Execution, Group wide, reporting to Supervisory Board Committee
• Global Head, Citi Shared Services, including strategic partnerships and vendor alliances. 

At JPMorgan Chase, 1987 to 2007, assignments included:
• Global Operations Executive  Securities Services (including acquisitions and divestitures)
• Head of Chase Retail Service and Operations (including merger integration)
• E-Business Executive for Consumer Financial Services (including alliances)
• COO of Global Private Bank (All product and fulfillment)
• Global Head of Payments and Treasury Management (Most extensive assignment through multiple mergers)
 
Shah began his career at Booz Allen Hamilton in its Financial Services Strategy Practice.
 
He has been recognized throughout his career for his contributions, receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award in Securities from Global Custodian and the Crain’s 40 Under 40 Award.
 
Shah is also the Co-Chair of the New York Muslim-Jewish Advisory Council within the American Jewish Committee.
 
Born in Lahore, Pakistan, Shah immigrated to the United States as a student, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College, where he received a full scholarship, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Education

• BA in Economics, Harvard 
• MBA, Harvard Business School