1 MKS Switzerland
Based in Geneva, Switzerland
MKS Switzerland is the main pillar of the MKS PAMP GROUP, providing financial and physical trading services exclusively to institutional investors.
Marwan Shakarchi
CEO
CEO of MKS (Switzerland) SA since 1983 and member of the Executive Management Committee, he has developed the company into a leading integrated precious metals group. Marwan, who graduated from The Wharton School of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, with a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Multinational Enterprises, regularly shares his expertise on the gold and precious metals market as a keynote speaker throughout the industry and in front of leading financial institutions, forums and journalists. He was a primary member of the Task Force Committee to prepare a report on commodities markets for the G20 summit in Paris in 2011. He is also an international consultant to the Shanghai Gold Exchange.
Karma Shakarchi-Liess
Vice Chairman
Member of the Board, member of the Executive Management Committee and Vice Chairman of MKS (Switzerland) SA since 1981. Karma is responsible for the treasury and risk management activities. She has been an integral part of the MKS (Switzerland) SA team for years, and thanks to her long-term thinking and attention to detail, the group expansion policy has reached its objectives. Karma holds a License in Philosophy from Paris 1 Sorbonne University.
Omar Liess
Head of Business Development & Group Head of Marketing
Head of Business Development and Group head of Marketing as well as being a member of the Executive Management Committee since 2018. Omar previously worked in the Netherlands as an internal controller for the MKS PAMP GROUP and was instrumental in the repositioning of the group’s digital strategy. During his time with MKS PAMP GROUP, he also started an alternative investment initiative.
Omar serves as Chairman of the board of Goldavenue SA, an ecommerce platform focused on physical precious metals. Additionally, he serves on the Board of director of Pandion mine finance, a fund structure vehicle that provides financing to mining companies. He is also a board member of MKS Precious Metal Hong Kong. Omar graduated from the European Business School in London with a bachelor’s degree in International Business with a major in Finance.
Jay Schnyder
Head of Refining
Head of Refining since 1988. Jay travels extensively to Latin America and Africa to visit mine sites and perform due diligence assessments. Thanks to his in-depth expertise of the Refining and Mining industry he regularly participates as distinguished speaker in conferences around the globe as well as in panels orchestrated by the World Economic Forum. He holds a bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Lausanne University and followed an executive Finance Business course at Harvard University.
Joseph Stefans
Head of Trading
Head of Trading since 2019. Joe has worked in the precious metal industry for HSBC over the last 13 years, starting in operations in New York and eventually moving to London holding various dealing positions in the front office eventually overseeing EMEA Metals trading in 2016. He has served on the LPPM management committee from 2016 to 2019 as well as the LBMA Public Affairs Committee from 2015 through till today. He received a B.A. in Economics from the College of the Holy Cross in 2006.
Bernard Sin
Regional Director, Greater China
Regional Director of Greater China since 2020, and previously Head of Trading. Bernard joined MKS PAMP GROUP as a country representative of Singapore in 1996 and moved to Switzerland in 1997. He holds an MBA in International Business from the European University in Geneva. Prior to joining the Group, Bernard worked 6 years for Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore and Hong Kong as an FX and Bullion Dealer. Trading since 2007.
Afshin Nabavi
Group Head of Physical Sales
Head of Physical Sales since 1993. He joined MKS (Switzerland) SA as a trainee in 1982 and worked within different departments of the group, providing him with an all-embracing understanding of the precious metals industry. Afshin is broadly experienced in the trading market, particularly in all aspects of physical trading. He holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Webster University, Geneva.
Priscilla Calmes
Head of Human Resources
Head of Human resources since 2018. Priscilla has an in-depth experience in Human resources management gained in HR management positions in banking, food industry, higher education and international organisations. She regularly teaches HR professionals within the framework of the studies for the federal certificate specializing in personnel management. She holds a master’s degree in Psychology and a master’s degree in Business Administration, both from Geneva University.
Jerome Cambazard
Head of Treasury and Operations
Head of Operations since 2017. Jérôme joined MKS PAMP GROUP in 2012 and worked as Head of Operations at MKS Precious Metals DMCC in Dubai for 2 years before taking the position of Group Financial Controller at MKS PAMP GROUP B.V. in Amsterdam. Prior to joining the MKS PAMP GROUP, Jerome worked 5 years with Ernst & Young for financial and regulatory audit in the banking and financial industries. He holds a master’s Degree in Financial Management from Grenoble School of Management and is a Swiss Certified Public Accountant.
Olivier Demierre
Group Head of Corporate Social Responsibility
Olivier heads the MKS PAMP Group Corporate Social Responsibility function since November 2012. In that capacity, Olivier has led a number of responsible sourcing initiatives and participated actively in all major industry wide responsible sourcing initiatives and forums (he is a member of the Multi Stakeholder Group of the OECD Forum on Responsible Mineral Supply Chains, a member of the Board of the Swiss Better Gold Association, member of the Governance Committee of the Public-Private Alliance for Responsible Minerals Trade). Olivier joined the MKS PAMP GROUP in 2000. Before that, he gained in-depth experience in the Banking and Finance sectors with management positions in the audit and business advisory as well as bank operations areas. Olivier is a Swiss Certified Accountant since 1992.
Alessandro Mauro
Head of Middle Office
Head of Middle Office since 2016. Alessandro is an experienced commodity risk professional and held risk management roles in Lukoil, ENI, PwC and Sorgenia. Alessandro pioneered the application of modern risk measurement techniques to commodity markets and published several papers and articles. He holds a Political Economy degree from “L. Bocconi” University, an master’s degree in Business Administration in Energy Economics and Management, he is certified GARP FRM and PRINCE2 and a member of the EOC Committee for the Global Association of Risk Professional (GARP).
Jacqueline Mayor Meylan
Head of Finance and Compliance
Head of Finance and Compliance since 2009. Jacqueline is responsible for anti-money laundering and supply chain due diligence as well as the implementation of responsible sourcing practices within the Group. She has led the drafting of the LBMA Responsible Gold Guidance as well as the development of the LBMA best practice due diligence toolkit. She is also a member of the Accreditation and Certification Committee of the Responsible Jewellery Council. She is as well responsible to provide leadership, operational oversight and system coordination of financial information. Prior to joining the MKS PAMP GROUP, Jacqueline worked 10 years with Ernst & Young as Senior Manager for financial and regulatory audit in the banking and financial industries. She holds a master’s Degree in economics from Lausanne University and is a Swiss Certified Public Accountant.
Xavier Miserez
Group Head of Sales
Head of Sales since 2019. Xavier has joined the MKS PAMP GROUP in 2013, overseeing all legal matters and leading the onboarding department and client relationship, covering all upstream as well as downstream customers, trading and banking accounts. Prior to this, Xavier has worked two years for a Geneva based law firm prior to take the bar exam and another two years for Ernst & Young in a legal and regulatory department dedicated to banks and other financial intermediaries. He holds a master’s Degree in law from Lausanne University, and a Diploma of advanced studies in Commodity Trading from Geneva University.
Kulathusarma (Venkatesh) Thandaveswaran
Group Head of IT
Head of Information Technology since 2017. Venkatesh joined MKS PAMP GROUP in 1999 as Project Manager for Goldavenue, where he played a key role in implementing IT Systems for precious metals online and catalogue retail business. With his in-depth knowledge in precious metals refining, manufacturing, retail and trading processes, Venkatesh is instrumental in implementing several IT systems across MKS PAMP GROUP. Since 2010, he has been driving the group’s IT strategy. Prior to this, he worked for six years in the United States and India as Systems Analyst. Venkatesh holds a bachelor’s Degree in computer science and Engineering from Sathyabama University in India.
2 MKS Australia
Based in Sydney, Australia
MKS Precious Metals (Australia) Pty Ltd, is the trading and distribution company for the MKS PAMP GROUP which focuses on servicing the specific needs of the Australian market, including the operation and administration of the Group trading book during Asian trading hours.
Jason Cerisola
Managing director
Managing director since 2018, Jason was first Head of Trading for the Australian Office, responsible for the management of the Group's trading operations in the Asian time zone. He joined the MKS Sydney office in 1998 as a Trainee Dealer and has been involved in the development of the Group's trading business in precious metals and foreign exchange ever since. Jason and his team co-ordinate the trading and other business activities with the Group’s subsidiary offices throughout Asia and India.
3 MKS Hong Kong
Based in Hong Kong
MKS Precious Metals (Hong Kong) is the trading and distribution company for the MKS PAMP GROUP which focuses on servicing the specific needs of the Hong Kong market.
Frederick Siu
Managing Director
Frederick has more than 28 years of physical trading experience, having worked in ScotiaMocatta HK and Mitsui HK as head of precious metals sales and marketing. Frederick received a MBA (Financial Management) at University of Hull (UK) and BA (Hons) in Accounting at London Metropolitan University (UK). He is also a certified Public Accountant (CPA) from Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) and Chartered Public Finance Accountant (CPFA) from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA UK).
4 MKS Singapore
Based in Singapore
MKS Precious Metals (Singapore) is the sales representation office for the MKS PAMP GROUP which focuses on servicing the specific needs of the Singaporean and south-east Asian region.
Eddie Ng
Managing Director
Having joined the company in 2009 as a bullion dealer, Eddie has since progressed through increasingly responsible roles in business development and physical trading with MKS Singapore. Eddie holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the National University of Singapore, majoring in Finance.
5 MKS Malaysia
Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
MKS Precious Metals Sdn Bhd is the trading and distribution company for the MKS PAMP GROUP which focuses on servicing the specific needs of the Malaysian market.
Joseph Ng
Managing Director
Managing Director for MKS PAMP Group’s business in Malaysia, Joseph is also currently acting as strategic director for the South East Asian markets, responsible for the development and implementation of business strategies in Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. As an active member of the Federation of Goldsmiths and Jewellers Association of Malaysia, Joseph has been instrumental in the negotiations with the Malaysian authorities on Goods and Services’ Tax exemptions and taxations for precious metals.
6 MKS Thailand
Based in Bangkok, Thailand
MKS Precious Metals (Thailand) is the sales representation office for the group which focuses on servicing the specific needs of the Thai market. Please visit the MKS Thailand website.
Sudarat Unakul
Managing Director
Managing Director of the Thailand office, Sudarat was significantly involved in the establishment of MKS Precious Metals (Thailand) in 1997 and has since built a strong business relationship with all major gold traders, especially on the precious metals physical trading via renowned services team. She studied Business Administration in the US.
7 MKS Dubaï
Based in Dubaï, UAE
MKS Precious Metals DMCC is the sales representation office for the group and focuses on servicing the specific needs of the Middle East region.
Frederic Panizzutti
Managing Director
Managing Director of the Dubai office, he joined the Group in 1997, initially as Head of Research and Strategy, before taking a customer- and product-orientated position. Frederic is also responsible for MKS's press and media relationships and is a regular contributor and columnist for online media, TV and newspaper agencies covering the precious metals industry worldwide.
8 MKS Turkey
Based in Istanbul, Turkey
MKS Turkey’s office is the trading and distribution company for the MKS PAMP GROUP which focuses on servicing the specific needs of the Turkish Gold Exchange.
Cumhur K. Timucin
Managing Director
Managing Director of MKS Turkey office since 2010, he has more than 15 years of experience in gold trading and is regarded as an authority on the Turkish market. He holds an MBA degree from Middle East Technical University with a Bachelor of Science in Materials & Metallurgical Engineering. Cumhur also acts as the chairman of LCO Precious Metals and GCL Recycling and Refining.