Saema Somalya
Chief Legal and Corporate Affairs Officer (Former), Remitly Global, Inc
Saema Somalya is a fintech and governance executive with two decades of experience scaling high-performing teams, shaping regulation, and advising CEOs and Boards. As Chief Legal & Corporate Affairs Officer at Remitly from 2020-2026, she oversaw the company’s $6.5B IPO and built global Legal, Compliance, Risk, Government Affairs, and Impact teams from 10 → 200+, enabling growth from $255M → $2B in revenue and $7B → $70B in transaction volume. She also established Remitly’s first Government Affairs team, which successfully secured regulatory reforms worth over $100M+ in revenue impact. She also established Remitly’s Foundation. Previously, Saema served as Deputy General Counsel at Fifth Third Bancorp and Senior Legal Director at PepsiCo. Saema began her career as a capital markets attorney in private practice at Davis Polk. Named one of American Banker’s Most Influential Women in Fintech (2024), Saema is a recognized thought leader on governance and fintech policy. In her civic life, she is deeply committed to civil rights for all and serves as Board Chair for the national civil rights organization Muslim Advocates. She holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.A. from Yale University, magna cum laude. She lives in Bellevue, WA with her husband Nabeel Kaukab and eleven year old daughter
