Dr Ayman Omar

I joined the University of Leicester School of Business in October 2016 having previously taught at Coventry University. I hold a BA in Finance from the University of Jordan, MSc in Finance with distinction from the University of Leicester, and a PhD in Finance from the University of Leicester. Prior to higher education studies I worked for over 5 years first as a broker at brokerage house and subsequently for the National Bank of Kuwait where I built a strong record of performance and experience in sales operations and anti-money laundry reporting.

Research Interests:

(i) Financial risks related to/arising from climate change 

(ii) Blended finance and development banks

(iii) Determinants of capital flows in/out of offshore banking centres. 

(iv) Pricing and economic implications of political and geopolitical risks.

(v) Empirical asset pricing in the context of commodities markets with particular interest in crude oil and petroleum products markets.

Omar, A., Lambe, B., and Wisniewski, T. (2026) “Offshore accounts and corruption: evidence from private investments in infrastructure projects” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Vol. 246, pp.: 1 – 27

Omar, A., and Lambe, B. (2022) “Crude oil pricing and statecraft: Surprising lessons from US economic sanctions” International Review of Financial Analysis, Vol. 83, pp.: 1 – 10

Omar, A., Lambe, B., and Wisniewski, T. (2021) "Perceptions of the threat to national security and the stock market" Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Vol. 186, pp.: 504 - 522.

Omar, A., Wisniewski, T., and Yekini, S. (2019) 'Psychopathic Traits of Corporate Leadership as Predictors of Future Stock Returns' European Financial Management, 25(5), pp.: 1195 - 1228.

Beware the Corporate Psychopath, with Wisniewski, T., and Yekini, S., Governance and Compliance, September 2017, pp. 22-24. This article was produced in response to an invitation from the Chartered Governance Institute UK & Ireland after the working paper version of the paper titled “Psychopathic traits of corporate leadership as predictors of future stock returns” had received media coverage (Reuters 21/06/2017: www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN19C2XZ/). 

Omar, A., Wisniewski, T., and Nolte, S. (2017) 'Diversifying away the Risk of War and Cross-Border Political Crisis' Energy Economics, 64, pages: 494 - 510.

Omar, A. (2015) 'West Texas Intermediate-Brent Spread during Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries Supply Disruptions' International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Vol. (5), No. (3), pages: 1-11.

I am interested in projects that fall within my research interests. Currently supervising three PhD students and accepting two additional students to start in 2026/2027.  

In the academic year 2026/27, I only teach on MSc Fintech and Regtech, specifically the module: Blockchain, DeFi, Cryptoassets (30 credits module). 

2017-2020: Awarded University of Leicester Student Union’s Superstar award for teaching in 2017 and nominated for this award for two consecutive academic years.

2017: Awarded certificate of recognition from the Dean of the University of Leicester School of Business for efforts to create positive working environment.

2013: I received the “Best PhD Spring Conference Presentation Award” from the then University of Leicester School of Management following my presentation of my research findings at that internal conference.

2011: Awarded funding in the form of the Graduate Teaching Assistant Scholarship from the University of Leicester School of Management to study Finance at PhD level.

Presented the paper titled “How do equity markets reflect carbon-intensive economic activity and policy regimes” at the inaugural Accounting and Finance Conference: The Future of Finance and Accounting – Innovations and Trends Shaping Financial Management, Leicester, June 4, 2026.

Presented the paper titled “Self-selection into voluntary carbon markets” at the Nature Finance: Incentives and Barriers workshop (jointly organised by the Centre for Finance, Governance, and Sustainable Growth and the Land Use for Net Zero (LUNZ) Hub, June 11, 2025.  

Delivered a talk before the Accounting, Accountability and Ethics Cluster PGR Workshop 2023 for PGR students at Derby Business School (University of Derby), July 19, 2023.

Presented the paper titled “Corruption in infrastructure projects: evidence from offshore banking” at the internal finance seminar of the University of Leicester School of Business, June 28, 2023.

Invited and attended Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC) 9^th annual conference in response to an invitation by IBBC and Central Bank of Iraq, April 10, 2019. 

Presented the paper titled “Psychopathic traits of corporate leadership as predictors of future stock returns” at Behavioural Finance Working Group Conference, London June 14-15, 2018.

Presented the paper titled “Diversifying away the War Risk” at the 17^th Annual Conference of the International Network for Economic Research, Luton May 21-23, 2015, and the 53^rd Meeting of the Euro Working Group on Commodities and Financial Modelling and the 2nd International Conference of the Research Centre for Energy Management, Chania; Crete May 22-24, 2014.

Attended the Recent Advances in Commodity Markets Conference held at Queen Mary University of London on November 8, 2013.

Attended the 3^rd ESRC seminars in the series” Financial Modelling post-2008: where next? At Manchester Business School from October 30 – 31, 2013.

2022: Obtained Sustainability and Climate Risk Certificate of the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP)

2018 - 2019: Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy

2017-2018: Associate Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy

2011-2015: PhD Management (Finance-focused)

2009-2010: MSc Finance

1999-2003: BA Finance