Mr. Ellis has extensive experience in the securities industry, with a particular focus on the fixed income markets, including sovereign debt. His experience in emerging markets financial services encompasses trading, investment banking, debt restructuring and liability management, involving both the public and private sectors.  He started his career as a fixed income and foreign exchange trader on the international reserves desk of the Central Bank of Venezuela. He subsequently became part of the team in charge of renegotiating Venezuela’s external debt under the Brady initiative.  Given his experience in the context of the Brady Plan, he became Director of Financial Analysis at the Ministry of Finance of Venezuela. In 1995, he was appointed Director of Public Credit, and was responsible for the strategic design and execution of the financing plan of the Republic in the domestic and international markets. He was a member of the board of directors of Electricidad del Caroni (EDELCA), the largest public utility in Venezuela, and of Banco Republica. Beginning in 1997, he has been with several leading international institutions – Citibank, where he worked  on origination and structuring of project finance transactions, loan syndications, securitizations and other structured finance deals. He then moved to Salomon Smith Barney in the Latin American Investment Banking Group, where he was responsible for the coordination and execution of transactions encompassing debt issuance, debt restructuring and liability management. He parleyed his experience into a senior position at Deutsche Bank in the Latin American Debt Capital Markets desk, where he directed public and private sector origination and restructuring.  He then co-founded and managed FalconView Securities, a licensed US and offshore broker dealer. He holds a JD from Universidad Catolica Andres Bello in Venezuela, a Bachelor in Business Administration from Bellevue University, and has completed advanced  studies in mathematics and probability at Columbia University.