Radical Transparency: A Revolution in the Diamond Midstream
Howard Davies, Head of Commercial Development, De Beers
At Financing the Stone: Capital Markets, Banks or Fintech? 23 November 2017
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Speaker’s Biography
Howard joined De Beers in 1989 after completing a History degree at Cambridge University. His early career included buying rough diamonds for De Beers in central Africa, and managing a portfolio of customer accounts in India and Belgium. Over the past 18 years, he has been instrumental in shaping De Beers’ distribution strategy for rough diamonds, including the recent implementation of new, more stringent financial compliance standards for De Beers’ term contract buyers, the Sightholders. He also heads up De Beers’ liaison with the financial institutions that lend to the midstream diamond industry worldwide.
Need to know
De Beers Group is a member of the Anglo American plc group. Established in 1888, De Beers Group is the world’s leading diamond company with expertise in the exploration, mining and marketing of diamonds. Together with its joint venture partners, De Beers Group employs more than 20,000 people across the diamond pipeline and is the world’s largest diamond producer by value, with mining operations in Botswana, Canada, Namibia and South Africa. As part of the company’s operating philosophy, the people of De Beers Group are committed to ‘Building Forever’ by making a lasting contribution to the communities in which they live and work, and transforming natural resources into shared national wealth.