Nik Adlina Nik Mokhtar ’23

I’m part of the team that ensures the safety and soundness of banking institutions in Malaysia. Supervising large domestic banking groups requires that you always be at the forefront, anticipating systemic risk triggers and noticing red flags. Complex intricacies in the global financial system today make regulation and oversight very complex.

The Systemic Risk program offers the perfect platform to sharpen my technical competencies and broaden my perspectives. I was attracted to the opportunity to learn directly from faculty with distinguished careers in central banks, and as I’ve moved through the program, the combination of a syllabus catered to central banks and the option to customize my elective courses has only confirmed my choice to study at Yale SOM. 

One of the highlights of this program has been access to the vast resources that Yale offers, including amazing guest speakers who take the classroom way beyond theoretical learning into real life. For someone from a country 15,000 kilometers away to be able to pose questions to and understand the thought process behind the critical decisions made during the global financial crisis directly from former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is a rare opportunity. And talks with Donald Kohn, former vice chair of the Federal Reserve; Patricia Mosser, former senior vice president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and Sandra Lee, deputy assistant secretary, Financial Stability Oversight Council, to name a few, have all been deeply thought-provoking.

I find myself continuously inspired by the diversity of experiences and insights from each of my classmates. We learn from each other all the time, and we’ve built a strong sense of camaraderie that I know will go with us when we leave Yale. Another bonus point: with friends all over the world, I now have more countries to visit!