Ziad Melhem

Since taking the reins as group CEO of CFI Financial Group in June 2025, Ziad Melhem has been leading the company through its next phase of transformation. Building on CFI’s more than 25-year legacy in financial markets, his focus is on advancing the company’s next chapter as a multi-regulated financial services group with a growing international presence.

Having worked across strategy, marketing, business growth, and executive leadership, Melhem brings a deep understanding of an industry being reshaped by technology and changing client expectations. His journey with CFI began in 2022 as a board advisor before he joined the executive leadership team as group CMO, helping strengthen the group’s international brand presence ahead of his appointment as CEO.

His leadership marks an important stage in CFI’s evolution. Under Melhem’s leadership, the focus has shifted from growth alone to building the foundations of a global institution, strengthening governance, operational discipline, technology capabilities, and regulatory depth across markets.

This transformation has translated into record performance. CFI closed 2025 with its strongest quarter at the time, reaching $2.076tn in trading volume in Q4 and $6.4tn in annual trading volumes, representing approximately 85 per cent growth compared to 2024.

The momentum carried into 2026, with CFI recording the strongest quarter in its history. Trading volume reached $2.314tn in Q1, an 81 per cent year-on-year increase, with more than 37.2 million trades executed across its platforms. Beyond scale, these results highlight the trust clients place in CFI.

A major part of Melhem’s vision is creating a group designed for sustainable, long-term growth. CFI follows a licence-first strategy, entering markets through regulated, locally established operations. This model combines global standards with deep local expertise. Today, the group operates through 15 regulated entities across multiple jurisdictions, including oversight from leading authorities such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), UAE Capital Market Authority (CMA), and the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB).

This approach has shaped CFI’s international growth journey, including its entry into Latin America through regulatory authorisation from the Banco Central do Brasil to operate as a securities brokerage firm and the launch of CFI Colombia following approval from the Colombian Financial Superintendence.

Working alongside the board and leadership team, Melhem’s focus has been on ensuring that growth is matched by the governance, operational discipline, and organisational maturity required of a global financial institution.

Technology remains central to this next chapter. CFI is strengthening its platforms and investing in AI-powered capabilities designed to create smarter experiences for clients. Melhem views technology and AI not simply as efficiency tools, but as strategic enablers that will redefine how financial services are delivered and experienced by clients globally.

For Melhem, long-term growth is also built around people. In 2026, CFI was recognised as a ‘Great Place To Work’ for the third consecutive year across three continents. The achievement reinforces his belief that companies built to last are shaped by the people behind them, and that empowering teams is essential to achieving CFI’s ambitions for the future.