LIBF: an accredited awarding body
LIBF was established in 1879 as a professional body. In 2023, the educational activities of LIBF were acquired by the IU Group. LIBF’s education and training activities now continue under a new wholly owned UK subsidiary of IU Group – LIBF Limited – trading as 'LIBF' and 'The London Institute of Banking & Finance'.
LIBF’s charitable object, and the awarding of chartered status, continued independently as a renamed charity – The London Foundation for Banking & Finance (LFBF).
LIBF Limited
LIBF Limited is an accredited and awarding body, providing:
Responsibility for our strategic management lies with our Board of Directors.
Board of Directors
Meet the leaders driving the strategic direction and governance of LIBF as members of our Board of Directors.
Gerard Lemos: Chair
Gerard Lemos CMG is currently the Chair of the NS&I, English Heritage and of His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. He is a former Chair of the Council of University of York and trustee of University of London. In financial services he has been chair of UKFinance’s Payments Products and Services Board, PaymentsUK, Payments Council, Money Advice Service and Lending Standards Board.
He is also the author of many books on social policy including The End of the Chinese Dream: Why Chinese people fear the future which was a Sunday Times Christmas book. He has written for the New York Times, BBC and the Guardian.
Alex Fraser: Executive Director
Alex Fraser joined LIBF as Chief Executive in March 2015 from Cass Business School, City University London, where he was Chief Operating Officer for six years.
His career has encompassed management roles in the private, public and voluntary sectors. He spent ten years working for a number of investment banks in a variety of operational roles; his last such post was as Head of Operations at Schroders in the late 1990s. Alex was appointed Logistics Director at HM Customs and Excise in 2000 and subsequently worked for a number of organisations in the not-for-profit sector prior to joining Cass in 2009. Since July 2024, Alex serves as an Executive Director on our Board of Directors.
Prof. Dr. Regina Cordes: Executive Director
Regina Cordes is the Vice-Rector of Accreditations and Asynchronous Learning at IU International University of Applied Sciences, Germany’s largest university. She joined IU in 2018, as a full professor in Management and Organisational Behaviour. Her teaching and research focus on the areas of leadership, marketing research, service management, and the connection between customer- and employee satisfaction.
Over her career, Regina has held positions at Russel Reynolds Associates and has taught and researched at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and the Dieter Schwarz German Graduate School, winning the Teaching Award from the Division of Student Affairs, The Parents Association, and The Teaching Council at UNL in 2016. She holds a degree in business from Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany and a PhD from University of Mannheim, Germany.
Prof. Dr. Florian Hummel: Executive Director
Florian is the Vice-Rector International at IU International University of Applied Sciences, Germany’s largest university, making him responsible for growing the university's international relations, its educational activities abroad and collaborations with foreign partners. He has also held other positions at IU, including Academic Director for the Berlin, Erfurt, Hamburg, and Hanover Campuses.
Over his career, Florian has held a variety of positions in academia and academic management, including at Cologne Business School, European Management School in Mainz, and Angell Business School in Freiburg, Germany. Florian holds degrees in Travel Management from the University of Brighton, in Air Transport Management from Cranfield University, as well as a Doctor of Education from the University of Sheffield, having spent around 10 years living and working in the UK.
Carolin Kreuder: Executive Director
Carolin is the COO of Strategic Partnerships & Upskilling at IU, a key division of IU International University of Applied Sciences (Germany’s largest university). With over a decade of leadership expertise across dynamic sectors, Carolin has a proven track record in education, media, and telecommunications. At IU, she focuses on forging global alliances, embodying the institution's commitment to making education universally accessible.
Before her current role at IU, Carolin's journey saw her in senior management positions with Altman Solon and ProSiebenSat1, advising clients, devising innovative strategies, and playing an influential role in the investment sector. Her academic prowess is underlined by degrees from ESB Business School in Germany and Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Spain. As the former CEO of a training provider, Carolin emphasized the importance of personal development and lifelong learning.
James (Sangwon) Oh: Executive Director
James (Sangwon) Oh is the CFO International at IU International University of Applied Sciences (“IU”), Germany’s largest university. His day-to-day responsibilities include overseeing the core financial functions of IU’s international subsidiaries, namely LIBF and University of Fredericton. His additional responsibilities include corporate finance, M&A and investor relations activities within IU.
Prior to joining IU, James has spent his career across various roles in Investment Banking & Private Equity, with his latest role at Lazard, where he was part of the execution team responsible for numerous high-profile transactions across the secondaries industry. While he started his studies and career in Toronto, Canada, he has also pursued his MBA at Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University in Chicago, USA and currently resides in London, UK.
Hanif Barma: Independent Director
Hanif is founder of board governance consultancy, Board Alchemy. He brings extensive experience of governance, risk and assurance to LIBF. In addition, he has an excellent understanding of board culture and dynamics, board information and board processes. He has worked with clients across a wide range of sectors, including higher education.
Hanif is a member of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee for the Department of Business and Trade, and a director of several boards. He is also a co-founder of the Risk Coalition, a network of not-for-profit professional bodies and membership organisations committed to raising the standards of risk governance. He is an Honorary Visiting Fellow at Bayes Business School, a Chartered Accountant and MBA.
Prof. Damian Ward: Independent Director
Damian has worked in higher education for 20 years and is currently Dean of Hertfordshire Business School. He is a leading economics for business textbook author and continues to teach on a number of internationally ranked MBA programmes.
Damian has applied economic analysis to the functioning of financial services markets. His research has examined the links between insurance market growth and economic development; and the impact of regulatory change on insurance company performance and on consumer decision making. His work has been cited by the World Bank and informed national reviews of financial services market performance.
Registered office address
Our registered office address is:
8th Floor
Peninsular House
36 Monument Street
London
EC3R 8LJ
United Kingdom