Baillie Gifford Distinguished Speaker Series
In this talk, Sir Danny Alexander will discuss lessons from establishing the AIIB. Drawing on his experience in the UK government and 9 years in Beijing founding and leading the Bank, he will discuss the process of establishing the AIIB, how it has become established as an international institution and as a financier, and the lessons from this for the development of the multilateral system and for meeting current global development challenges.
Sir Danny Alexander joined HSBC in November 2024 and is CEO of HSBC Infrastructure Finance and Sustainability, Corporate and Institutional Banking. In this role, Sir Danny leads on infrastructure and export finance and project finance advisory opportunities with a focus on the transition to net zero in HSBC’s strategic markets. He also leads on sustainable finance and clean tech initiatives and oversees partnerships such as Pentagreen Capital, HSBC’s joint venture with Temasek that targets marginally bankable clean energy and adaptation projects in Southeast Asia.
Previously Sir Danny was Vice President, Policy and Strategy, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). He joined the AIIB – the first new multilateral development bank of the 21st century and the first to be headquartered in Beijing ‒ at its inception in 2016 and led the Bank through its start-up and growth phases. Sir Danny was responsible for AIIB’s strategic direction, including its thematic sectoral and country priorities. He led the Bank’s ambitious climate agenda and oversaw AIIB’s environmental and social and other operational policies. He represented AIIB at the G20 Finance Ministers meetings, climate COPs, and other international meetings. He led the Bank’s partnership with the World Bank and other multilateral, bilateral, and private sector partners.
From 2010-2015, Sir Danny was Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the United Kingdom Cabinet. He led the Liberal Democrat negotiating team that established the Coalition that governed in that period, and was one of the four member ‘Quad’ that provided the core political leadership of that government. In government, he was responsible for the UK’s deficit reduction, pension reform, and national infrastructure plan. He was a member of the National Security Council. He was MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey from 2005 to 2015. He was Knighted by Her Majesty the Queen in 2015 for his services to government.
He holds a BA in philosophy, politics and economics from the University of Oxford and is an honorary fellow of St Anne’s College, Oxford.
He was born and brought up in the Highlands and islands of Scotland.
