Nikolai Kukharkin is a Managing Director, Global Head of Model Risk Management at MUFG. The function is responsible for the Model Risk Management framework, including model validation, EUC testing, control, and model governance activities. Nikolai has nearly 30 years of experience in quantitative finance, focusing on model risk assessment and management. Before joining MUFG in 2021, he was a Head of Model Risk Management at TIAA. Prior to that Nikolai spent 14 years with UBS, where he held various roles within Risk Control function, most notably serving as a Global Head of Model Risk Management & Control, where he led the design and implementation of a complete Model Risk Management framework. Previously, Nikolai also worked as a model risk officer at JPMorganChase Model Review Group for 5 years.

Nikolai holds a PhD in Plasma Physics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and, prior to his career in finance, he worked as a research physicist in controlled nuclear fusion and hydrodynamics in Russia and later in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University.