Cynthia Whelan, Managing Director
Chief Executive, Australia / New Zealand

Cynthia Whelan is based in Sydney and is the Chief Executive for Barclays in Australia/New Zealand. She has responsibility for the Global Markets, Distribution, Infrastructure and Investment Banking operations of the Bank in this region. Ms Whelan is also a member of Barclays' Asia Pacific Executive Committee.

Ms. Whelan returned from Hong Kong in 2009 where she was the Head of Debt Capital Markets for the Asia Pacific region. Prior to joining Barclays in 2004 to establish a DCM franchise for the Bank, she spent four years with Merrill Lynch as Head of A$ Syndicate and later as part of the debt capital markets coverage team. Ms Whelan started her career at UBS in a variety of roles, including fixed income sales and debt capital markets

Over a 20 year career Ms Whelan has worked with clients across Australia and Asia, originating and executing financing and risk management transactions as well as providing strategic advice in sectors including Real Estate, Banking, Insurance, Government and Infrastructure.

In Hong Kong Ms Whelan was the co-founder of Women in Finance Asia, a financial services industry body supported by the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA). Ms Whelan also represented Barclays on the Board of ASIFMA. She was co-chair of Barclays Womens Initiatives Network for Asia Pacific and continues to be a member of the firm's regional Community Investment Committee and the EXCO representative for the firm's Parents and Family Network regionally.

Ms Whelan represents Barclays on the Board of the Sydney Women's Fund, a not-for-profit organisation focused on the needs of women and children in Greater Sydney.  She is also a founding member of the Australia Advisory Board for Room to Read.

In October 2012, Ms. Whelan won the Telstra Business Women's Award in the Hudson Private and Corporate Sector category and in 2011 she won the Women of the Year award for Outstanding Achievement globally within Barclays. 

Ms. Whelan graduated from the University of New South Wales with a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Finance and Japanese Studies and also holds a Masters of Applied Finance from Macquarie University.