Andrew Cunningham is the founder and Managing Director of Darien Analytics Ltd – a London-based consultancy specialising in corporate governance, bank credit risk, and international financial regulation with a focus on Middle Eastern and Shari’ah-compliant financial systems.
He began his career as a financial journalist, working for Middle East Economic Digest (MEED) in London and Middle East Economic Survey (MEES) in Cyprus. He then spent nine years with Moody’s, initially rating Middle Eastern banks and then rating large Western European banks. In 2004 he moved to Egypt to establish the Cairo office of the Financial Services Volunteer Corps (FSVC) – a US NGO that provides consulting advice on financial reform to central banks, capital market regulators and commercial banks. He then moved to New York to manage and expand FSVC’s entire Middle East business. In 2010, he founded Darien Analytics Ltd.
Andrew holds a Diploma in Islamic Finance from the UK’s Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). He is proficient in French and Greek and has a good working knowledge of spoken and written Arabic.
Expertise
Corporate governance – both financial institutions and non financial institutions, bank risk, bank regulation, Islamic finance.
Experience
International Finance Corporate, Consultant preparing Corporate Governance Assessments of potential investee companies: 2013 to present.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Consultant preparing corporate governance assessments of banks and companies: 2021 to present.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, training staff on bank analysis and advanced bank regulatory capital, 2013 to present.
DEG, preparing corporate governance improvement action plans for potential investee companies and helping the companies implement those plans, 2016 to present.
DBRS Ratings, training staff on bank analysis: 2018.
Central Bank of Armenia. training for bank shareholders and directors on mergers and acquisitions, and new European rules on bank bail-ins: 2015–16.
Financial Services Volunteer Corps, Managing Director, 2004–10.
Editor, Arab Banker Magazine, 2013–21.
Global Finance Magazine, compiling annual rankings of ‘The World’s Safest Banks’ 2011–17.
Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions, Bahrain, various consulting, training and writing assignments: 2014–18.
Moody’s Investors Service, Senior Vice President, rated banks in the Middle East and in Western Europe: 1995–04.
Education
University of Exeter, Arabic and Islamic Studies: 1984.
Professional qualifications
Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), Diploma In Islamic Banking (2020).
Consulting
EBRD: Corporate Governance Assessment of potential investee companies.
IFC: Corporate Governance Assessments of potential investee banks and companies.
IFC: Training for Board Directors: The role of the Audit Committee, Risk Management for Board Members.
DEG: Corporate Governance Assessments, followed by consulting services to implement recommendations.
EBRD: Training of analysts on Bank Analysis and Advanced Bank Regulatory Capital.
European Investment Bank: Training on Capital Consumption and Banking Best Practices for various departments including Advisors to the Management Board, Operations Dept, Internal Audit.
United National Development Programme: Advice on the creation of a national Zakat programme in Mauritania.
Languages
Proficient in French, Arabic and Greek.
Publications
Taking the short view and the long view on Kuwait’s budgetary challenges, Arab Banker: 2021.
Sovereign Ratings in the Middle East withstand Covid-19 pressure, Arab Banker: 2021.
Climate change and banks: regulators turn their focus to risk management and metrics, Arab Banker: 2021.
Risk management and compliance in Islamic banks, report for the Council of Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI): 2016.
Corporate governance for Islamic banks, report for CIBAFI: 2016.
Iranian bank survey: 2016.
GCC Commercial Bank Performance Ranking, Darien Analytics: 2015.
Conference presentations
Master of ceremonies, Amdeya Regional Finance Conference, Istanbul: October 2021.
The evolution of Islamic fintech in the UK, Red Money/Islamic Financial News Conference, London: September 2021.
Acting responsibly: is good governance enough? Panel discussion at Deloitte/CISI Islamic Finance Forum, London: 2020.
The importance of good governance: the investors’ perspective, presentation to the MENA Financial Markets Roadshow, organised by Frontier Exchange, London: 2017.
The regulation and supervision of large banks in the Middle East, presentation prepared for the regional seminar on the supervision of large banks, organised by the Arab Monetary Fund and the Financial Stability Institute, Abu Dhabi: 2015.
The effectiveness of the board of directors: recent updates to international standards, presentation at the CIBAFI-World Bank Conference on Corporate Governance for Islamic Financial Institutions, Amman: 2015.
Risk Management and Basel III: A [Middle East] regional perspective, presentation at the regional seminar on risk management with a focus on liquidity risk, organised by the Arab Monetary Fund and the Financial Stability Institution, Abu Dhabi: 2014.
Other editorial and committee work
Chair of the Editorial Board at the LIBF’s Centre for Governance, Risk and Regulation: 2021 to present.
Editor, Arab Banker, the annual publication of London’s Arab Bankers Association: 2012 to present.
Visit Andrew Cunningham’s LinkedIn profile