Michael Vaughan
Secretary-General, World Federation of Diamond Bourses
Executive Director, World Federation of Diamond Bourses

Born in London, Michael Vaughan moved to Belgium in 1981 and became a member of the Antwerpsche Diamantkring cvba (ADK), the world’s leading rough diamond bourse.

In 2002 he was elected to the Executive Committee of the WFDB as Secretary-General at the 30th World Diamond Congress, which was held in London.

He was elected to the ADK’s Board of Directors in 1995, and in 2003 was appointed an Executive Board Member. He has been responsible for greeting the visiting English-speaking dignitaries to the bourse. Thus, in addition to welcoming HRH Prince Filip and HRH Princess Mathilde of Belgium, he has greeted former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, Botswana’s President Festus Mogae, and many other ambassadors, diplomats and politicians. He has also given numerous television, radio and newspaper interviews to journalists. 

Michael Vaughan, representing the Antwerpsche Diamantkring since 1995, has served on the Permanent Commission for Liquidation of Debts, a committee of the Belgian Federation of Diamond Bourses.

He was also responsible for providing guidance to the inter-governmental organisation the Financial Action Task Force, an organisation addressing terrorist financing and money laundering issues, lending his expertise in matters relating to the diamond industry. In addition, he was part of the electronic group providing input for the FATF RBA Guidance for Dealers in Precious Metals and Stones and was instrumental in the WFDB being accepted as a member of the FATF Consultative Forum.

From 1997 to 2005, Michael Vaughan was an active member of the Marketing and Public Relations Committee of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (formerly the HRD). He was also a member of the HRD Ad-Hoc Task Force Committee, specifically formed in 2002 to conduct negotiations and deliver recommendations on the “EU Regulation on the Control of Conflict Diamonds.” prior to the implementation of the Kimberley Process. In that capacity, he was involved in negotiations with Belgian government officials, a major international law firm and a public affairs company.

In addition to his responsibilities as Secretary-General, in 2007 Michael Vaughan was invited to become the first ever Executive Director of the WFDB. In this role he became responsible for implementing the WFDB’s decision in June 2007 to upgrade the operation and administrative infrastructure of the organization to enable it to provide an expanded range of services directly to bourse members across the globe.

Michael Vaughan has been honoured by the King of Belgium by being made Knight in the Order of the Crown for his services to the Antwerpsche Diamantkring in relation to the Belgian Diamond Industry.

He also heads his own company the MDL Group which is a diamond and a consultancy company. He is married with two married sons, both practising solicitors living in London.