NHYIRABA YAW SOMPA OKYERE is a lawyer, enterprise risk professional, information security master and an author of two books. Yaw has extensive experience as a Finance, Sustainability and Governance lawyer in Ghana. Yaw has about fifteen years’ experience as an Enterprise Risk Management expert and a Finance and Regulatory Compliance practitioner.

Yaw is an Actuarial Science graduate with a Risk Management, Finance and Information Security masters. Yaw has a career spanning across several universal banks in Ghana. He has the unique ability and diversity to provide clients with commercially sound legal advice.

Yaw has a deep understanding of the business landscape in Ghana. His experiences include setting up Enterprise Risk and Regulatory Frameworks in three universal banks in Ghana. Yaw worked as a sole investment adviser on an EUR 8 million European Investment Bank direct finance scheme through UT Bank, he also worked on a USAID Direct Guarantee Agreement with UT Bank and an Agricultural Finance Scheme in Ghana between DANIDA, AGRA and UT Bank. Yaw has worked on Environmental, Social and Governance projects with both International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Advanced Finance and Investment Group (AFIG) whiles he worked with UT Bank and First Atlantic Bank.

Some of his past roles include working as a Head of Operational and Market Risk at First Atlantic bank where he was the lead in Enterprise Risk design, implementation, monitoring and continuous improvement. Yaw was the senior officer responsible for conducting gap assessment at the bank and to implement the control framework necessary to keep the operations within acceptable risk levels. Yaw led in building a bank risk profile adjustable to the changing context and reported directly to the board on a continuing basis. Yaw was also responsible for policy draft, implementation, and trainings for Information Security and Sustainability Banking. He led the First Atlantic Bank to achieve its first ISO 27001 and PCI DSS certifications.

Yaw was a member of the Legal team that acted as local counsel together with Asafo & Co as external legal counsel to AFC and Zenith in respect of the provision of a line of credit of up to US$ 85.5 million to a borrower in respect of an EPC contract of which the Government of Ghana is a beneficiary. Yaw was also part of the Legal team that worked with the Government of Ghana on the US $ 3 Billion Sovereign Bond Issue in 2021. Yaw was recognized by the Institute of Directors-Ghana, the African Corporate Governance Network, and the Bank of Ghana as the Partnership sponsor as an ‘Up and Coming Director of the Year’ in 2021. Yaw served as the Secretary/Member of the African Corporate Governance Network (ACGN) that reviewed the African Corporate Governance Code for the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) of the African Union. Yaw served as the lawyer that reviewed the Constitution of the ACGN in 2022. His second book, ‘Be the Difference’ was nominator for Best Author in the Entertainment Achievement Awards in Ghana.

Yaw served as a lawyer for the National Film Authority and led the policy drafts and proposal for a Ghana Film Tax Incentive Policy. Yaw has also contributed to drafting of the Legislative Instrument to the Development and Classification of Film Act, 2016 (ACT 935). He currently serves as the Head of Legal and Risk for Metropolitan Ghana.

Yaw has an MBA from the Business School Netherland and an LLB from Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration. He is a member of the Ghana Bar Association and the Institute of Directors-Ghana, Yaw is an accredited ISO 27001 Lead Implementer, Lead Auditor, and Certified Trainer. He is a trained ADR practitioner as well as a Compliance Management System Implementer. Yaw is an author of two books and has been part of some landmark Litigation and Arbitration cases in Ghana. He is a co-contributor to the 2022 Legal 500 Public Procurement Country Comparative Guide and the IFLR Africa Market Makers 2022 Report. He also authored the Mondaq ESG Comparative Guide for Ghana in 2022.

Yaw is passionate about Law, Strategy, Enterprise Risk Management, Sustainability, Information Security, Culture and Art and he is an amateur chess player. He is a certified Insolvency Practitioner in Ghana