Leila Fourie

With over 30 years of international experience, primarily in financial services, Leila Fourie has served on multiple boards and held senior roles in banking, capital markets and payments. Leila has been the Group CEO of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (“JSE”) since October 2019. 

Prior to her role at the JSE, Leila served as Executive responsible for Consumer Finance at Australia’s largest bank, The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and served as the NSW Vice President of the Economic Society of Australia and on the Board Audit Committee of Lifeline Australia. Before this, Leila held the role of CEO of the Australian Payments Network. Before moving to Australia, Leila served on the Board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange as Executive Director. 

Leila previously worked for one of South Africa’s largest banks, Standard Bank, as Card Division Managing Director. During this time, she served as Chairman on the board of Diners Club and Board Member on Discover’s Chicago-based Diners Club International Advisory board. Leila started in Standard Bank’s Investment Bank as Global Director Credit Analytics, capital and Portfolio Management for SA, UK, Hong Kong, Russia, Brazil and Argentina. 

Leila currently serves as Co-Chair for the United Nations Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD) Alliance, convened by the UN Secretary General. She is a Non-Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact Network South Africa (UNGCNSA) and a member of the Independent Advisory Committee of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Board. Leila also contributes to the Henley Business School Advisory Board and the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, as an advisor to both. Leila serves on a number of local boards including Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), JSE Investor Services, JSE Private Placements, and the Youth Employment Service (YES) NPC. She has held roles on the boards of JSE Clear, Strate, and the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA). 

Leila has a PhD in Economic and Financial Sciences and won the Economic Society South Africa Founders’ award in 2012 for best Masters Economics thesis in the country. Leila has published several articles in academic journals and actively advocates for policy development in various sectors.Leila is an active rock climber, mountaineer and cyclist and plays the piano in her spare time.