Written in Partnership with Tedfuel
Today, the banking sector is at a turning point, facing challenges from cross-industry platforms like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, PayPal, and Spotify. These companies are enjoying constant success due to better economic models. Market experts insist banks are heading in the wrong direction due to poor futuristic strategy.
What must be done to understand what went wrong? Maybe, a look at someone’s exceptional journey holds the answer, and who better to look at than Pascal Najadi? Having an extensive experience of 25 years in the banking sector, Najadi is the best man to look at.
What went wrong in the past few years for the banking industry? One of the reasons is poor credit and lousy loan policies. Another reason for the crisis is bad management practices and high-interest rates. Hence, by the Great Recession’s end, more than 600 banks had failed. Many experts and economists emphasized that it was because of bad government policies.
“The banking collapse was caused, more than anything, by bad government policy and the total failure of bad regulation rather than by greed.”
– Nigel Farage
Pascal Najadi, known for serving as a banker and advisor, demonstrated an extensive understanding of investment banking, public relations, and marketing throughout his career. Najadi, the retired Swiss banker, began his career as an intern at various banking sectors in Switzerland and was soon appointed Executive Sale Accountant at Open-End Mutual Funds to Swiss Banks.
Najadi’s professional work ethic made him a pro at his work. He was soon appointed as Assistant Vice President at Merrill Lynch Capital Markets. Later he served as Co-Head of Debt Capital Markets Swiss Francs, and by the end of 1994, he got promoted as Vice President at Merrill Lynch & Co., London, UK. In 1997, Najadi got an opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors of Dresdner Bank London. During his tenure, he was responsible for the Russian Federation as Sovereign Advisor looking after the bank’s capital markets and investment banking business for Central Europe, Central Asia, Russia, Africa, and the Middle East.
The successful venture of Najadi as a Sovereign advisor put him on the international banking canvas. His journey in Investment Advisory propagated from 2009 to 2012 in multiple countries, including Zurich AG, Zurich, and Singapore Republic. He served in significant positions such as a partner, a member supervisory board, and many others. In 2017, Najadi joined RBR Capital Advisors Zurich as a Strategic Advisor to the CEO.
In 2004, Najadi joined his family merchant banking operation in Malaysia along with his father, Hussain Najadi. He was a prolific international merchant banker; Hussain Najadi founded AmBank Group with over $35 Billion in assets. During his Malaysian consignment, Najadi’s life took an unfortunate turn. On July 29, 2013, his father got assassinated in a car parking in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The reason for the assassination and culprits is still unknown; however, this did not stop Najadi from demanding justice from the Malaysian government. On several occasions, Najadi spoke about the injustice the Malaysian government brought to his family and the way his family was treated.
According to Najadi, his father’s killing was a well-executed plan by the Malaysian government because he was about to expose corruption.
Najadi stated:
“My father died from reporting corruption within Malaysia. Here (in Moscow), I feel protected and safe. I can only return to Malaysia once we know who and why.”
A little progress was made when a car re-possessor named Koong Swee Kwan was charged and found initially guilty and sentenced to death for carrying out the shooting. Still, his case is currently subject to a re-trial. Because Najadi does not merely want the shooter’s execution, he wants to reach the original mastermind behind the assassination. During an interview with Cilisos, Najadi emphasized that he wants the truth unveiled, stating:
“That’s not the point; the point is to find out the truth.”
Najadi thinks that his father’s killing was more than just murder. In an interview with Sarawak Report, he quoted:
“I am willing to go on the record. Nothing else makes sense. This was an execution, not a killing. The story about the Temple doesn’t add up. He has nothing to do with the Temple. Why would you kill someone over some row about that?”added Najadi, referring to a supposed planning dispute that was floated at the time as being the reason for his father’s death.
After the heartbreaking death of his father, Najadi took a sabbatical from his banking career and started investing in bitcoins. But his father’s killing still remains at the top of his head. He decided to showcase his father’s assassination in a movie called The Najadi Assassination. A film that exposes the Malaysian 1MDB Scandal. Swiss Filmmakers Michael Steiner and Andrea Neuhaus are part of his team, and he will be producing the project. In 2006, he produced another Swiss blockbuster movie, Grounding, the Last Days of Swissair, directed by Michael Steiner. The film was touted as the best Movie in Swiss Film-making history.
After his father’s brutal assassination, Najadi’s inner activist woke up. Since then, he has been vocal about the injustice happening around him. After having Covid vaccinations, Najadi fell sick and, through several tests, learned that he had experienced a reaction and now suffers from an autoimmune disease. He immediately took action against this and filed a lawsuit against Pfizer’ because he had taken 3 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Pascal Najadi is part of the Litigation lawsuit Ana McCarthy filed on March 6, 2023, with the New York State Supreme Court Manhattan NYC vs. Pfizer Inc. New York.
As they say, life is an ocean; it goes up and down, which vividly applies to Pascal Najadi’s life. He started his career as a successful and diligent banker who became a dynamic activist. Not even in his wildest dreams, Najadi had imagined that his life would be shaped like this. However, the man of steel, Najadi, never gave up. For over a decade, he has been fighting for justice for his father’s murder and working incessantly to voice the injustice in the world. His ability to pinpoint lies and injustice is the reason for his valor and bravery.
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