Our Profile
Our Profile
Blaze Meridian is led by senior banking and commercial leaders with over four decades of combined experience across J.P. Morgan, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered.
We have held Managing Director and Regional P&L roles across Asia and the Middle East, leading large sales organisations, complex institutional bids and multi-jurisdiction commercial mandates within regulated financial environments.
Collectively, we have originated and executed over 120 enterprise-level mandates spanning payments, liquidity, trade finance and financial infrastructure partnerships — operating across both the sell-side and buy-side.
We bring institutional commercial discipline, financial oversight and regulatory alignment to growth initiatives — ensuring scale is structured, defensible and resilient.
Our Philosophy
Growth should be:
Structured Not opportunistic
Disciplined Not chaotic
Balanced Buy-Side & Sell-Side
Our Team
The Visionaries Behind the Momentum
MALIKA BERI
Senior commercial leader with over 25 years of experience across J.P. Morgan, Citibank, Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered. Most recently Managing Director and Co-Head of MEA Payments at J.P. Morgan in Dubai, with concurrent responsibility for CEEMEA Corporate Payments Sales.
A Managing Director since 2015, she has held leadership roles across Singapore, Hong Kong, India, China and the UAE, spanning transaction banking, payments, client origination and the development of specialist sales capabilities in markets at different stages of maturity. Her work has included the leadership of more than 100 RFPs and major mandate processes, the launch of new revenue verticals, and the building of high-performing sales teams for businesses entering or repositioning in demanding markets.
She is known for the depth of her client relationships, the discipline she brings to execution, and her judgement in senior stakeholder environments. Her work suits organisations where growth depends on considered engagement at decision-maker level, and on delivery that sustains client relationships well beyond the initial mandate.
SALES LEADERSHIP & CAPABILITY BUILDING
Building and leading sales teams has been a consistent thread through my career, across different products, markets and institutional cultures. The work has involved bringing together specialist teams, shaping new revenue verticals, and strengthening sales capability across coverage groups operating in demanding settings.
This includes:
- Building high-performing teams and new revenue verticals
- Leading coverage across markets with varied client and regulatory contexts
- Developing sales capability across senior and junior bankers
How I work:
- Set a clear standard for client focus, judgement and execution
- Bring together the right people around each meaningful opportunity
- Stay close to the most important deals as a player-coach, and lend senior weight to the client relationships that matter most
SALES STRATEGY, MARKET EXPANSION & CORRIDOR GROWTH
I help organisations understand where their growth opportunity genuinely lies, and how to pursue it with realism about what it will take. Much of my work has involved sharpening positioning, shaping market entry strategies, and developing new corridors and client segments for businesses that are scaling or repositioning.
This includes:
- Sales strategy, market positioning and competitive analysis
- Market entry, corridor development and new client segment growth
- Rebuilding growth plans that have not kept pace with market or client change
How I work:
- Ground the strategy in data, market context and direct client insight
- Define the gap to market, the opportunity set and the corresponding business case
- Set out the analysis clearly enough for the business to make a confident decision on where to commit
STRATEGIC MANDATES, RFPs & MAJOR PURSUITS
Leading significant pursuits has been one of the most rewarding parts of my career. Whether a competitive RFP, a structured mandate or a strategic bid, these are situations where the quality of thinking, the clarity of the story and the discipline of execution shape the outcome.
This includes:
- End-to-end leadership of major RFPs, bids and mandate processes
- Building pursuit strategy and solution design, often from a blank sheet
- Orchestrating the team, the story and the proposition
How I work:
- Take time at the outset to understand what the client is genuinely solving for
- Pressure-test the proposition for credibility, delivery and competitive positioning at every stage
- Make sure the response stands up on the page, in the room, and through to delivery
FARAH FLISHER
Senior leader with over 30 years’ experience across Tier-1 financial institutions including First Abu Dhabi Bank, Barclays and Citibank.
Proven track record of leading group-level strategy, transformation and operating model design within highly regulated, multi-country banking environments.
Operating at the centre of complex change agendas – building functions from inception, leading regulator-facing transformations and advising executive committees on operational strategy, risk and long-term value creation.
Engaged by organisations when outcomes matter, conditions are uncertain and experienced judgement is required.
COMPLEX CHANGE & TRANSFORMATION
I support organisations navigating complex, high-stakes change where execution matters
This includes:
- Divestments, carve-outs and separations
- Regulatory-driven transformation
- Organisation design and target operating models
- Multi-country, cross-functional change
How I work:
- Lead regulator-facing transformation programmes
- Align stakeholders across jurisdictions, and functions
- Translate complexity into clear, executable decisions
- Adapt plans as conditions evolve
- Hold execution risk across interfaces and stakeholders
Value delivered:
- Delivery stability under intense pressure
- Strong execution with controlled risk
- Defined outcomes achieved
COMPLIANCE, GOVERNANCE, RISK & CONTROLS, AUDIT
I help organisations design and operate effective Governance, Risk & Control environments
This includes:
- Governance, Risk & Control design & reset
- First Line of Defence (1LoD) effectiveness
- Risk ownership, accountability & escalation
- Regulatory engagement and remediation
- Internal audit alignment and effectiveness
- KYC, AML, Financial Crime & CPR oversight
How I work:
- Clarify decision rights, ownership & accountability
- Translate regulatory expectations into operational reality
- Stabilize & lead regulatory engagement
- Reinforce first-line risk ownership
- Align governance, compliance, risk and audit to remove duplication
Value delivered:
- Control environments that operate effectively
- Strong first line ownership & accountability
- Increased regulatory confidence
Stewardship & Senior Leadership
I work with leaders to navigate complexity and sustain performance
under pressure
This includes:
- Leadership through scrutiny, transition and reputational risk
- Organisational & human scale stewardship
- Advisory support to CEOs, ExCo & Boards
How I work:
- Support judgement, prioritisation and decision-making under pressure
- Bring a human lens to governance and delivery
- Reinforce leadership behaviours grounded in responsibility
- Act as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders
Value delivered:
- Increased organisational trust and stability
- Effective leadership behaviours
- Sustainable high performance under pressure
Let’s Build Your Growth Engine
Whether scaling revenue, strengthening financial oversight or reinforcing compliance discipline — we’re ready.
Our Philosophy
Growth should be
Structured Not opportunistic
Disciplined Not chaotic