The UAE Internal Audit Association (UAE-IAA), the local body affiliated to the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA-Global), has announced the appointment of Kevin K. Rafiq as a new Chief Executive Officer. Rafiq will be responsible for providing direction and supervision to the committees of the Association, and coordinating with the Board of Directors to strengthen partnerships with various stakeholders. Rafiq’s professional experience spans the fields of international business, marketing, customer service, leadership training and development, strategic management and partnership development. A Magna Cum Laude graduate, Rafiq holds a bachelor degree of Science in Business Administration from Strayer University-USA, and an MBA in International Management from the University of Maryland-USA.
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Farook Khimani – has been promoted as a Partner at UHY – an international network of independent accounting and consultancy firms – effective January 1, 2013. A commerce graduate, he has been associated with the firm for nearly 20 years in audit, consultancy and corporate services business of the firm, and is currently in charge of the Sharjah office in the UAE managing the day to day running of the firm including audit, corporate services, administration and client management of the Northern Emirates.
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Anmar Khaznadar joins the Grant Thornton UAE office as an Assistant Manager for the Fraud and Forensics department. Prior to joining Grant Thornton, Anmar worked for Ernst & Young as a Senior Consultant for three years, having spent four years working with conventional and Islamic banks in the MENA region. He has worked within an international capacity for multinational investment banks and large corporations within various sectors.
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V.S. Ravi has been promoted as a Partner at UHY – an international network of independent accounting and consultancy firms – effective January 1, 2013. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He passed the Chartered Accountancy course in the year May 1999. He is the Director of the firm, managing the Audit and Accounting functions. He has over eight years post qualification experience in Audit and Accounts. Ravi has been associated with the firm for nearly five years and is leading a team of professionally qualified accountants and trainees.
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Nilesh Ashar has joined KPMG Lower Gulf as a UAE Partner and his role will focus on leading the Firm’s international and Mergers & Acquisitions tax advisory services. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in India and was previously working as a Director for another big four firm in the UK. Nilesh brings over 17 years experience working in Tax and has led several tax structuring assignments for private equity and sovereign wealth fund clients on their acquisitions in the UK and Europe. Nilesh has a degree in Chartered Accountancy from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and also a Bachelor of Commerce from Mumbai University.
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Mushtaq Ali Shaikh has been promoted as a Partner at UHY – an international network of independent accounting and consultancy firms – effective January 1, 2013. Mushtaq has been part of the firm from last 24 years. He is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Accounting function throughout the organisation, including budgeting, trade finance activity and also oversees cash-flow and currency requirements.
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Sumeet Nayyar has been promoted as a Partner at UHY – an international network of independent accounting and consultancy firms – effective January 1, 2013. Sumeet has been associated with UHY since 2007 and is currently in the Consultancy and Advisory division of the firm. He is also a HR consultant working on the new HR audit product currently under development within the firm.