Board of directors
Daiwa Capital Markets Europe Limited has its headquarters in London. Board member profiles are below:
Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Board
Maria Bentley was appointed as DCME’s Chair of the Board (and Chair of the Nomination Committee) on 1 April 2024. She joined DCME’s Board in May 2021 as an Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration Committee. In addition to DCME, Maria has appointments on the following Boards: Peel Hunt Limited, where she serves as Senior Independent Non-Executive Director and RBC Global Asset Management (UK) Limited, where she chairs of the Human Resources Committee.
Maria has over 40 years of experience in the investment banking sector. Having graduated with a BA from Oxford University, she trained as a credit analyst at Chemical Bank, followed by roles in fixed income sales at CSFB and at Goldman Sachs. During her 14 years at Goldman Sachs she also served as Managing Director in Human Resources, going on to lead the global Human Resources functions as a Group Managing Director at UBS Investment Bank and Senior Managing Director at Nomura International.
Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee
Ewa Kerin joined the DCME Board in September 2020 as an Independent Non-Executive Director, Ewa is DCME’s Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee and Senior Independent Non-Executive Director (SID). Further, she is a Board Trustee and Honorary Treasurer of the Smart Works Charity. Ewa is a qualified accountant and has held a number of senior positions within the Financial Services industry for over 25 years. She started her career at JP Morgan where she was a Vice President in Finance then moved to Credit Suisse, where as a Managing Director she led a number of functions across Global Finance. Following this, she was CFO of the International business at Willis Towers Watson before moving to HSBC where she was the Global Head of Financial Planning and Analysis.
Megan McDonald joined DCME as the CEO in January 2022. She has over 20 years’ experience in investment banking. After qualifying as a solicitor she started her banking career in debt capital markets with Standard Bank in 2001, Standard Bank is Africa’s largest bank by assets with a presence in 25 countries and over 40 000 employees.
Since then, she has held various roles across investment banking, working in South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States. Megan has been responsible for the global leadership of the Debt Capital Markets business as well as the International Investment Banking business, managing product teams including equity capital markets, debt capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, advisory and loan origination and syndication supported by sales and trading teams in the US, UK, Africa and Asia.
Most recently she was the Global Head of Client Coverage, leading specialised teams focused on business strategy and client relationships across key markets, including London, Dubai, Beijing, New York and Brazil. Megan was recognised by Financial News as one of the top 100 Women in Finance in Europe and shortlisted by Women in Finance Awards London in 2019 in the Banker of the Year category. Megan holds Bachelor of Commerce and LLB degrees from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa and a BCL from Oxford University, England.
Group Non-Executive Director
Naoki Suzuki joined the DCME Board in April 2025 as a Group Non-Executive Director. He has over 30 years of experience of the Daiwa Group, having joined Daiwa Securities Company Limited in 1991 and has held numerous roles in Japan, Korea and the US. In 2020, he was made Chairman and Chief Executive of Daiwa Capital Markets America Holdings Inc. (“DCMA”), following which he was made Head of Executive Office, Corporate Communication, Internal Relations and General Affairs for Daiwa Securities Group Inc. (“DSGI”) and Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd (“DSCL”). In 2023, he was made Deputy Head of Overseas Operations for DSGI and DSCL. As well as Group Non-Executive Director for DCME, he is currently the Head of Overseas Operations for DSGI and DSCL and Chairman of DCMA. DCME looks forward to working with him and utilising his wealth of experience from across the Daiwa Group.
Independent Non-Executive Director
Jim Gollan joined the DCME Board of Directors in 2024, and is Chair of the Remuneration Committee. He is also Chair of the Audit Committees of Euronext Securities, the operator of European securities depositaries, and Chair of Brain Research UK, a charity that funds medical research into neurological conditions.
Previously he was a director of Citibank Europe Plc, where he chaired its Audit Committee and a member of the Supervisory Board and Audit Committee Chair of Euronext NV. Before that he served on the Boards of the European subsidiaries of Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
His executive career includes roles as Board Chair, CEO and CFO, working in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia in banking, fund management and financial markets with Standard Chartered, Lloyds Bank, Gartmore and SIX Group. Jim was also the practice leader of KPMG’s Financial Services Consulting, Asia and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.