Fintech 2020

Senior policy makers and industry came together to discuss key aspects of FinTech regulation at the 4th Annual Conference on ‘FinTech and Digital Innovation: Delivering for the Future’ on 3rd March 2020.

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Speakers

Nickolas Reinhardt

Nickolas Reinhardt

Director
Afore Consulting
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Nickolas Reinhardt
Director
Afore Consulting

Nickolas Reinhardt is Co-Founder and Director of Afore Consulting, a premier European public affairs consultancy in Brussels specialized in financial services, regulation and policy.

With a career of over 25 years in European public affairs focused on financial services, his specialist knowledge sets him apart as one of the most influential financial services consultants in Brussels. His ability to be a strong advocate with commercially astute and user friendly advice is based on his knowledge of the industry having trained and worked as a merchant banker and securities trader.

Nickolas has an MA in History and Politics from the Christian-Albrechts University, Kiel and has also studied and lectured at the University of Limerick and Queen’s University, Belfast.

Carmine Di Noia

Carmine Di Noia

Commissioner
CONSOB
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Carmine Di Noia
Commissioner
CONSOB

Carmine Di Noia is the Commissioner at the Italian Securities and Exchange Commission (Consob).

He is also an Alternate member of the Board of Supervisors at ESMA, the Chair of the Committee of Economic and Markets’ Analysis at ESMA and the Deputy Chair of the Corporate Governance Committee at OECD.

Before joining Consob, Carmine Di Noia was Deputy Director General and Head of Capital Markets and Listed Companies at Assonime (the Association of the Italian Corporations), and he served two tenures as a member of the Securities and Markets Stakeholders Group at the European Securities and Markets Authorities (ESMA). He was also member of the board of directors of the Italian Stock Exchange (Borsa Italiana Spa).

He was appointed to various expert groups selected by the European Commission, including the ESME (European Securities Market Expert) Group, the Clearing and Settlement Advisory Monitoring Expert Group (CESAME) (2005-06), the Forum Group on Auditors Liability (2005-06), the Securities Expert Group on Financial Services Action Plan (2003-04). He was also member of the Consultative Working Group on Market Abuse of CESR (The Committee of European Securities Regulators).

He was chairman of the Policy Committee of EuropeanIssuers and member of the Legal Committee of EALIC (the European Association of Listed Companies). He was member of the working group that drafted the new version of the Italian Corporate Governance Code.

He received a Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Pennsylvania (USA) and a doctorate in Economic Theory at the University “Tor Vergata” of Roma, Italy.

Andris Strazds

Andris Strazds

Advisor, International Relations and Communication Department
Bank of Latvia
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Andris Strazds
Advisor, International Relations and Communication Department
Bank of Latvia

Andris Strazds has been Adviser to the International Relations and Communication Department of Latvijas Banka since 2014. Currently he is also a Member of the European Council on Foreign Relations and part-time faculty member at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga. Prior to his work at Latvijas Banka, he was Chief Economist at the Latvian Branch of Nordea Bank Finland Plc. and Transactions Manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd. Andris holds a Master’s degree in international economics and business from the Stockholm School of Economics.

James Kemp

James Kemp

Managing Director
AFME
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James Kemp
Managing Director
AFME

James Kemp has been the Managing Director of the GFMA’s Global FX Division since establishing it in 2010 and additionally is also the MD of both AFME’s Technology and Operations Division, which he created in 2016, as well as the Compliance, Tax and Accounting Committees which he has merged to form a new Policy Division. He is heavily involved with efforts to enhance industry conduct, having been instrumental in the formation of the Global FX Code, as a Board member of the UK’s FICC Market Standards Board and as a member of the Bank of England’s FX Joint Standing Committee.  He is actively involved in initiatives that involve the application of technology and the transformation this will bring to investment banking.  He is a strong supporter of diversity initiatives to bring forward the best talent.

James has previously been a business strategy consultant at The LEK Partnership, working out of London and Chicago, as well as UK Head of Equities and Fixed Income Products at Reuters. He was the founder and managing director of the financial markets technology consultancy, Stentra, a market leader in FX e-trading, as well as commodities, fixed income and swaps. Six years after the company was established, it was sold to ION Trading.  James is a keen hockey player and for the last 10 years has been a lead junior section coach at Spencer Hockey Club.

Pēteris Zilgalvis

Pēteris Zilgalvis

Head of Unit, Blockchain and Digital Innovation
DG Connect, European Commission
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Pēteris Zilgalvis
Head of Unit, Blockchain and Digital Innovation
DG Connect, European Commission

Pēteris Zilgalvis is the Head of Unit for Digital Innovation and Blockchain in the Digital Single Market Directorate in DG CONNECT and is the Co-Chair of the European Commission FinTech Task Force. He was nominated on the list of CoinDesk’s Most Influential People in Blockchain 2017.

He was the Visiting EU Fellow at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford for 2013-14, where he is an Associate of the Political Economy of Financial Markets Programme. From 1997 to 2005, he was Deputy Head of the Bioethics Department of the Council of Europe, in its Directorate General of Legal Affairs.

In addition, he has held various positions in the Latvian civil service (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Environment). He was Senior Environmental Law Advisor to the World Bank/Russian Federation Environmental Management Project and was Regional Environmental Specialist for the Baltic Countries at the World Bank. He has been a member of the California State Bar since 1991, completed his J.D. at the University of Southern California, his B.A. in Political Science Cum Laude at UCLA, and the High Potentials Leadership Program at Harvard Business School.

A recent publication of his is “The Need for an Innovation Principle in Regulatory Impact Assessment: The Case of Finance and Innovation in Europe” in Policy & Internet.

Vilius Šapoka

Vilius Šapoka

Minister of Finance of Lithuania
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Vilius Šapoka
Minister of Finance of Lithuania

On 13 December 2016, Mr Vilius Šapoka was appointed as Minister of Finance following the decision by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Mr Šapoka also became Governor of the European Investment Bank for the Republic of Lithuania.

Before his appointment as Minister of Finance, Mr Šapoka held the position of Director of the Financial Services and Markets Department, Central Bank of the Republic of Lithuania.

He served as Vice-Chairman, Chairman and Commissioner for the Lithuanian Securities Commission from 2006 to 2012.

Mr Šapoka held various positions in the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania from 2002 to 2006 including Deputy Unit Head, Chief Specialist and Senior Specialist.

From 1999 to 2001, Mr Šapoka worked as Analyst and Head of Client Service Division for the Lithuanian Savings Bank.

Mr Šapoka holds a Master of Economics in Banking from the Vilnius University and an International Executive Master of Business Administration from the Baltic Management Institute.

Steve Purser

Steve Purser

Member of several Steering Boards and Advisory Committees
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Steve Purser
Member of several Steering Boards and Advisory Committees

Steve Purser was born in the UK and currently has joint UK and Belgian nationality. He attended the universities of Bristol and East Anglia where he obtained a BSc. in Chemistry and a PhD in Chemical Physics respectively. He started work in 1985 in the area of software development and systems integration, subsequently progressing to project management and consultancy roles. From 1993 to 2008, he occupied the role of Chief Information Security Officer for a number of financial institutions. He joined ENISA in December 2008 and is currently responsible for all operational activities of the Agency.

Steve is currently a member of several Steering Boards and Advisory Committees, including notably the Steering Board of the CERT EU, the Programme Board of the EU Cyber Crime Centre and the Euro Cyber Resilience Board. In the area of standards, he is the ENISA representative on the ISO SC 27 working group. As Head of Core Operations, he regularly represents ENISA in international conferences on information security.

He was a co-founder of the ‘Club de Securité des Systèmes Informatiques au Luxembourg’ (CLUSSIL) and has frequently published articles in the specialised press. He is also the author of ‘A Practical Guide to Managing Information Security’ (Artech House, 2004).

Nick Cook

Nick Cook

Director of Innovation
UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
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Nick Cook
Director of Innovation
UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

Nick is the first Director of the newly created Innovation division at the FCA. Nick is accountable for leading the FCA’s RegTech initiatives, its data and analytics strategy, machine learning endeavours, and Innovate activities (including regulatory sandbox, Global Financial Innovation Network, Green FinTech challenge, and direct support). Nick represents the FCA on the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) Financial Innovation Standing Committee and is an advisor to the RegTech for Regulators Accelerator Programme (R2A). Nick joined the Financial Services Authority (the FCA’s predecessor) in 2009, initially in its Enforcement and Market Oversight Division. Prior to joining the regulator, Nick qualified as a chartered accountant at KPMG Forensic.

Steven Maijoor

Steven Maijoor

Chair
European Supervisory and Markets Authority
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Steven Maijoor
Chair
European Supervisory and Markets Authority

Steven Maijoor has been the Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) since April 2011. He is the first chair of the Authority and is currently serving his second five-year term. He is responsible for representing the Authority as well as chairing ESMA’s Board of Supervisors and the Management Board.  The role of the Board of Supervisors is to give strategic guidance to ESMA and make all main regulatory and supervisory decisions. The Management Board’s purpose is to ensure that the Authority carries out its mission and performs its tasks.

Prior to taking up this role, Steven was Managing Director at the AFM, the Dutch financial markets regulator, where he was responsible for capital market supervision, including financial reporting and auditing, prospectuses, public offerings, and the supervision of the integrity of financial markets.

Before joining the regulatory world, Steven was the Dean of the School of Business and Economics at Maastricht University, and had pursued a long career in academia, which included a variety of positions at Maastricht University and the University of Southern California.

He holds a PhD in Business Economics from Maastricht University, was a research student at the London School of Economics, and has a master in Business Economics from the University of Groningen.

Lisa Rabbe

Lisa Rabbe

Chief Government and Public Affairs Officer
Moody's Corporation
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Lisa Rabbe
Chief Government and Public Affairs Officer
Moody's Corporation

Ms. Rabbe is Chief Government and Public Affairs Officer of Moody’s Corporation. In this role, Ms. Rabbe oversees Moody’s global engagement with regulators, policymakers and other external groups to educate and inform discussion on key issues and Moody’s role in the capital markets. Her remit includes identifying emerging policy areas and initiatives that may impact business operations and strategies.

As founder and CEO of Stratosphere Advisors LLC, a political risk and public policy consultancy, and of Stratosphere Analytics LLC, a regulatory analytics startup, she has extensive experience in financial regulation, financial technology (FinTech) and regulatory technology (RegTech) within global banking, securities regulation, anti-trust and data privacy.

Prior to launching the Stratosphere group companies, Ms. Rabbe was Managing Director and Head of Public Policy for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region for Credit Suisse and Managing Director and Head of Government Affairs EMEA region for Goldman Sachs International. She has been a member of the Advisory Board of the European Corporate Governance Institute since 2012.

Ms. Rabbe was recognized as one of the “100 Most Influential Women in Finance”. She has served as an instructor on the Oxford Saïd Business School’s Future of Finance (FinTech) Course and as an advisor to the European Cloud Alliance, which promotes the use of cloud technologies in Europe. She holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College.

Thomas Lillelund

Thomas Lillelund

CEO Europe Middle East & Africa
AIG
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Thomas Lillelund
CEO Europe Middle East & Africa
AIG

Mr. Thomas Lillelund has been CEO for Europe at AIG since November 1st, 2018.

Before joining AIG, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Aspen Re based in London since May 2016 and prior to this role the Managing Director of Aspen Re In Asia Pacific since 2008. Mr. Lillelund spent four and a half years at AIG in Southeast Asia where he was the Regional Vice President for Commercial Property. He held underwriting management roles at Swiss Re in Hong Kong and South Africa and began his underwriting career at Gen Re in the United States in 1995. In this role he undertook further study to become an Associate in Reinsurance (ARe) of the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters.

Mr. Lillelund served as the Chairman of the Singapore Reinsurance Association (SRA) from 2014 to 2016 and was a member of the Board of the Singapore College of Insurance from 2015 to 2016. He was also on the organising committee for the Singapore International Reinsurance Conference (SIRC) during this period.

He holds a Bachelors of Arts in Economics from the The College of William & Mary in Virginia and an MBA from the Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario.

Jean Paul Servais

Jean Paul Servais

Chairman of the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA)
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Jean Paul Servais
Chairman of the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA)

Jean-Paul Servais is the chair of the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA), the Belgian supervisory authority for financial markets, products and conduct.

Internationally, he holds mandates as vice chair of the IOSCO Board, as well as chairman of the IOSCO European Regional Committee, the Audit Committee of IOSCO-OICV and IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board.

He is also a board member of several international supervisory bodies for the financial sector: ESMA, ESRB, and the College of Euronext Regulators. Within ESMA, he chairs the Financial Innovation Standing Committee (FISC).

He obtained a Master of Law (Master en droit) from the ULB and a Master of Economics in Business Management (Master in de economie, bedrijfskunde) from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).

Kirston Winters

Kirston Winters

Managing Director, Co-head of Product Management
MarkitSERV, IHS Markit
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Kirston Winters
Managing Director, Co-head of Product Management
MarkitSERV, IHS Markit

Kirston Winters is managing director at IHS Markit and co-head of product management for MarkitSERV, the largest, global service for processing OTC derivatives trades. He is also responsible for MarkitSERV’s cross asset real-time public and regulatory transaction reporting service which launched in 2011 and heads product management for our MiFID II offering.

Prior to joining the firm in 2009, Kirston served as Director of Business Development at the DTCC Deriv/SERV LLC subsidiary of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC).  Early in his career, he worked at Barclays Capital where he held various roles in OTC derivatives.  Kirston holds a BSc in economics from the University of Manchester.

José Manuel Campa

José Manuel Campa

Chairperson of the European Banking Authority
EBA
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José Manuel Campa
Chairperson of the European Banking Authority
EBA

José Manuel Campa, is the Chairperson of the European Banking Authority (EBA). He was appointed in March 2019 and is serving a renewable five-year term. He represents the Authority and by chairing the meetings of the Board of Supervisors and of the Management Board, he steers the strategic direction of the Authority.

From 2015 and prior to this appointment, Campa served as Global Head of Regulatory Affairs, for the Grupo Santander.  Prior to that, he was Professor of Finance and Economics at IESE Business School.

Between 2009 and 2011, Campa served as Secretary of State for the Economy in the Ministry of Economy and Finances of Spain.  He was a member of the Financial Stability Board, the board of the European Financial Stability Facility, the Economic and Financial Committee and alternate governor in multilateral financial institutions. He has served in the Expert Group, chaired by Mr. Erkki Liikanen, evaluating policy recommendations on structural reforms for the European Banking industry.

He has also taught at the Stern School of Business of New York University and at Columbia University. He has been Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and Research Fellow at the Center for Economic Policy Research. Mr. Campa has also been a consultant to a large number of international organizations, including the International Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Bank of International Settlements in Basel, and the European Commission.

He has served on the boards of Prime Collateralised Securities (PCS) Europe, Bruegel, and General de Alquiler de Maquinaria.

José Manuel Campa holds a Ph.D. and a master degree in economics from Harvard University and a Licenciatura in law and in economics from the Universidad de Oviedo.

Fausto Parente

Fausto Parente

Executive Director of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority
EIOPA
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Fausto Parente
Executive Director of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority
EIOPA

austo Parente is the Executive Director of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA). In his role, he presides over the day-today management of EIOPA. Mr. Parente was elected by the Board of Supervisors of EIOPA on 28 January 2016. His nomination followed an open selection procedure and a public hearing at the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. On 9 March 2016 the European Parliament confirmed his appointment. Mr Parente has a distinguished career in supervisory regulations and policies at national and international level. Prior to his current role he was Head of the Supervisory Regulation and Policy Directorate at the Italian Insurance Supervisor, IVASS – Istituto di Vigilanza sulle Assicurazioni.

He was the Alternate Member in EIOPA Board of Supervisors and member of the Advisory Technical Committee of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB). In the context of the Italian Chairmanship in the EU Council (second half of 2014), Mr Parente chaired the Council’s working group on Insurance Mediation Directive negotiations. In 2011-2016 he chaired the Insurance Group Supervision Committee of EIOPA and in 2015-2016 – the Joint ESAs Committee on Financial Conglomerates. For several years he was an alternate member in the Technical and Financial Stability Committees of the International Association of Insurance
Supervisors (IAIS).

Mr Parente has a degree in Economics from the University Federico II, Naples, and he is graduated to practice as a certified accountant and financial analyst. He has attended many post-graduate courses in the fields of management, European Community law, economy and finance of insurance undertakings. He is author of a series of publications on insurance supervision.

Christopher Buttigieg

Christopher Buttigieg

Chief Officer Strategy, Policy and Innovation
Malta Financial Services Authority
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Christopher Buttigieg
Chief Officer Strategy, Policy and Innovation
Malta Financial Services Authority

Dr Christopher P. Buttigieg was appointed Chief Officer Strategy, Policy and Innovation after 4 years heading the Securities & Markets Supervision. During his tenure as Head of Securities and Markets supervision, Dr Buttigieg was responsible for work in the field of policy, regulation and supervision of securities, markets and FinTech. He joined the Authority in 2000 as Manager in the Investment Services Unit and has gained professional experience in various areas of financial regulation, supervision, the investigation of market misconduct and the enforcement of sanctions.

Dr Buttigieg was responsible for implementing various pieces of EU legislation in the field of securities and markets and has led different regulatory and supervisory teams within the Authority. He sits on the Authority’s Supervisory Council and represents the MFSA at various European Fora on financial regulation and supervision. He is the MFSA’s alternate member on the ESMA Board of Supervisors and is the Chair of the ESMA Data Standing Committee.

Dr Buttigieg is a lecturer in the Banking and Finance Department of the University of Malta and has published various papers on financial regulation and supervision in academic and professional journals.

For a period of two years, up to April 2015, Dr Buttigieg was a director on the board of the Malta Resources Authority, Malta’s energy regulator. In 2015, the President of Malta appointed Dr Buttigieg as a member on the board of the Fund for Voluntary Organisations. Dr Buttigieg is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Academy of European Law (Trier).

Yuko Kawai

Yuko Kawai

General Manager for Europe and Chief Representative in London
Bank of Japan
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Yuko Kawai
General Manager for Europe and Chief Representative in London
Bank of Japan

Ms Kawai joined Bank of Japan in 2003 and had served as Kochi branch manager, Head of Foreign Exchange Division, Chief Representative in Hong Kong and also held various roles in the Financial Markets and in the Financial System and Bank Examination Department.

Prior to her current position, shw was the Head of FinTech Centre, which aims to conduct research and to facilitate the information amongst practitioners, researchers and other related parties both outside of and within the Bank for FinTech and the associated subjects. Previously, she worked in JPMorgan/Chase/Chemical bank group in the financial market division, most notably dealing derivatives products, and subsequently at RPTech, an independent think tank, as a research director.

She has an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and an LL.B from Kyoto University.

Ksenia Duxfield-Karyakina

Ksenia Duxfield-Karyakina

Government Affairs & Public Policy Manager, Google Cloud
EMEA
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Ksenia Duxfield-Karyakina
Government Affairs & Public Policy Manager, Google Cloud
EMEA

Ksenia Duxfield-Karyakina is a regional Public Policy Manager for Google Cloud in EMEA. She is leading on Google Cloud Policy work in the UK, and pan-regional financial services policy issues across Europe and emerging markets.

Ksenia has been with Google since 2011, previously covering YouTube, innovations and AI Policy in Asia-Pacific based out of Hong Kong, and before that she was with the Russian Government Relations team in Moscow. Prior to Google, her experience includes leading Public Affairs at an OECD organization tackling financial crime, and working as a PR manager in the international VTB Banking Group, and Russia’s national railway company (RZD).

Ksenia holds a PhD in new media economics from Moscow State University and enjoys reading old fashioned paper books and cooking in her spare time. She lives in London with her husband and baby daughter.

Dr. Jörg Kukies

Dr. Jörg Kukies

State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany
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Dr. Jörg Kukies
State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany

Dr. Jörg Kukies is the State Secretary for Financial market policy and European policy at the German Federal Ministry of Finance since April 2018.

Before that, he was the Co-Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs AG and Managing Director of the Frankfurt branch of Goldman Sachs International between 2014 and 2018. Between 2011 and 2014, he was the Head of equity derivatives for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Goldman Sachs International, London.

Between 2004 and 2011, Dr Kukies was Associate and then (from 2007 to 2011) head of the equities division for Germany and Austria, Goldman Sachs International, Frankfurt. He began his career at Goldman Sachs International, London, in 2001 as an associate in product development team.

He studied Sciences Economiques at Pantheon-Sorbonne University, Paris, and received a Master degree in Public Administration, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He obtained a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business.

Artur Granicki

Artur Granicki

Attorney-at-Law at the New Technologies Practice, Wardynski & Partners; Member of the Next CMU High-Level Group
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Artur Granicki
Attorney-at-Law at the New Technologies Practice, Wardynski & Partners; Member of the Next CMU High-Level Group

Artur Granicki is an attorney-at-law in the New Technologies Practice.

He practises in the field of capital markets law, new technologies law, and financial law. He is particularly involved in FinTech, blockchain, compliance, licensing proceedings, and financing of startups.

He co-founded the Startup Poland foundation and co-authored the Simple Stock Company Act. Artur is author or co-author of numerous publications on new technologies, financial law, and agreements for investing in startups.

Before joining Wardyński & Partners he served as director of the FinTech Department at the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). Before that, his experience included working in the Investment Funds Department at KNF, as in-house counsel at financial institutions, and as a lawyer in renowned law firms.

He is a member of the Lublin Bar He was a member and co–author of Next Capital Market Union – High Level Working Group Report.

He joined Wardyński & Partners in 2019.

Mitchell A. Silk

Mitchell A. Silk

Acting Assistant Secretary for International Markets
U.S. Department of the Treasury
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Mitchell A. Silk
Acting Assistant Secretary for International Markets
U.S. Department of the Treasury

Mitchell Silk is Acting Assistant Secretary for International Markets and Development at the U.S. Treasury. In this role, he advances U.S. interests in multilateral organizations on financial stability and regulatory issues, while promoting growth. He furthers an international energy and infrastructure growth agenda by formulating, negotiating and implementing infrastructure finance frameworks with key trading partners, and advocating for standards that level the playing field for U.S. firms. He has been actively involved in the trade negotiations with China and reform, oversight of OPIC and US Exim, and the establishment of U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.

Mitch joined the Treasury Department in October 2017 as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Investment, Energy and Infrastructure, and began performing the duties of Assistant Secretary in April 2019. Mitch was previously a senior partner at the global law practice of Allen & Overy LLP, where he concentrated in energy and infrastructure matters and was Head of the During his 30 year legal career, Mitch developed deep expertise in real assets matters (including energy, infrastructure, mining, and real estate), asset management, banking and finance, and China and Asia, as well as growth capital matters involving technology with disruptive applications in energy and infrastructure. He advised on many landmark project financings in a number of sectors, as well as on major wind, solar, gas, coal and nuclear power, water, mining and transportation projects, real estate acquisitions, and financings in the U.S., Asia, Latin America, Caribbean and Africa. He also has considerable private investment funds experience and as fund counsel to numerous sponsors on the structuring, formation, marketing and financing of a number of international real assets funds in the property, infrastructure and energy, mining and real property sectors. Mitch also specialized in advising foreign financial institutions (banks, insurance companies and asset managers) in their strategic expansion in the U.S. and globally and their on-going operations, including advising on acquisition financing in the US (including take private transactions) that involve multiple jurisdictions and complex regulatory, financing and corporate issues as well as their AML and other regulatory compliance requirements.

Mitch spent over 15 years of his professional career in Greater China, and speaks fluent Mandarin and Cantonese. He holds a JD from University of Maryland, a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Law from Beijing University (completed under a U.S. National Academy of Sciences Fellowship) and a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown.

Tom Mutton

Tom Mutton

Director of Fintech
Bank of England
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Tom Mutton
Director of Fintech
Bank of England

Tom is Director of Fintech at the Bank of England. He took on this this positon when it was established in July 2018.

Previously Tom was Head of International Policy and Strategy. His responsibilities included leading the Bank’s strategy on financial sector issues in the G20, Financial Stability Board, European Systemic Risk Board and the Bank for International Settlements.

Tom has also been a Head of Division in Prudential Policy and also worked in supervision of major international firms.

He was educated at the London School of Economics.

Peter Kerstens

Peter Kerstens

Adviser, DG FISMA, European Commission and Co-Chair of the FinTech Task Force
European Commission
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Peter Kerstens
Adviser, DG FISMA, European Commission and Co-Chair of the FinTech Task Force
European Commission

Peter co-chairs the Taskforce on financial technology and is the Advisor for financial sector cybersecurity at the European Commission’s DG for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union.

He joined the European Commission in 1996. He has extensive experience in EU policy and legislation in a range of areas through his work on the ESPRIT research programme, in health and consumer protection, e-commerce, single market and financial services policy and regulation. Peter has also been a Member of the Private Offices of Internal Market and Services Commissioner Charlie McCreevy and Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne. From 2008 until 2013 he was the Finance Counsellor at the EU Delegation to the USA in Washington DC.

Prior to joining the European Commission, Peter worked as a public affairs consultant in Brussels advising major financial services companies on EU affairs.

He holds a masters degree in European affairs from the College of Europe in Bruges and a masters degree in political science from the University of Leuven, Belgium.

Slavka Eley

Slavka Eley

Head of Banking Markets, Innovation and Products
European Banking Authority
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Slavka Eley
Head of Banking Markets, Innovation and Products
European Banking Authority

Slavka Eley was appointed Head of the Supervisory Convergence Unit within at the EBA in February 2013. She has been responsible for the EBA’s work on the common EU supervisory policy and convergence, including IT risks, outsourcing to cloud and risks related to financial innovation, efficient supervisory cooperation, recovery planning and the early intervention framework. Since 1 March 2018 she is the Unit Banking Markets, Innovation and Products, which has a leading role in the EBA Fin Tech work.

She chaired different working groups at the EBA as Sub-group on Risk Assessment Systems mandated to develop the common SREP framework. Currently she chairs the Sub-group on Supervisory Effectiveness and Convergence.

Prior to joining the EBA Slavka worked for the National Bank of Slovakia where she held a number of roles in supervision and prudential policy.

She holds a MBA in general management from the City University of Seattle and a Master degree in Mathematics, Physics and Education from the Comenius University Bratislava.

Claire Alexandre

Claire Alexandre

Head of Government Relations
PayPal
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Claire Alexandre
Head of Government Relations
PayPal

Claire Alexandre heads PayPal’s Government Relations team in the European, Middle East and Africa region and is part of PayPal Europe’s leadership team, based in Luxembourg. She has been at the forefront of promoting financial access and enabling innovative financial service schemes. She was previously with Vodafone, where she supported the development of the mobile payment and money transfer service M-Pesa in Africa, Asia and Europe: first while in charge of financial services policy and regulation, and then as the Head of the Commercial and Strategy team. Claire was also a Senior Program Officer for Financial Services for the Poor at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, leading their policy and regulatory strategy and programs. Prior to that, Claire held various policy and regulatory positions promoting an enabling environment for digital and mobile services in London, Brussels, Copenhagen and Stockholm.

Sabrina Feng

Sabrina Feng

Chief Technology Risk Officer
London Stock Exchange Group
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Sabrina Feng
Chief Technology Risk Officer
London Stock Exchange Group

Sabrina joined LSEG in January 2019 prior to joining Sabrina was Group CISO for four years, at Equiniti, where she set up and matured its Group Security function and delivered a transformation programme.

Prior to that she held senior roles at AXA Group and VISA EMEA managing Security and Risk.

She actively participates in ISO standard drafting activities, currently serving as Vice Chair of IST33/1, the UK Mirror Committee of ISO/IEC SC27/WG1, and the Editor for the revision of ISO/IEC 27002:2013. She is a guest lecturer for the MSC in Information Security at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Sabrina has an MSc. Information Security from Royall Holloway, University of London.

John Berrigan

John Berrigan

Acting Director-General in DG FISMA
European Commission
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John Berrigan
Acting Director-General in DG FISMA
European Commission

John Berrigan is currently the Acting Director General in DG FISMA (Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union) of the European Commission. DG FISMA is responsible for EU-level legislation for the financial sector; in this context, John represents the EU Commission on the Economic and Financial Committee, the Financial Services Committee and the Single Resolution Board.

John has been a Commission official since the mid-1980s and has spent much of this time working on financial-sector issues – first in DG ECFIN, where he contributed to financial-sector aspects of the assistance programmes for other Member States, and now in DG FISMA. Earlier on, he also worked on monetary policy and exchange-rate analysis in the context of preparations for the introduction of the euro in 1999. In the mid-1990s, he worked for several years with the International Monetary Fund.

John has a master degree in economics from University College Dublin. He is married with two children.

Franziska Löw

Franziska Löw

Head of International Affairs
FINMA
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Franziska Löw
Head of International Affairs
FINMA

Franziska Löw is Head of International Affairs at the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA. She is responsible for the overall coordination of FINMA’s representation in international bodies as well as its relations to foreign authorities. Prior to joining FINMA in 2015, Franziska Löw worked in various policy and regulatory positions at the Swiss Ministry of Finance and the Swiss National Bank. Franziska Löw graduated from the University of Basel with a doctorate in law, holds a LL.M. of the University of Edinburgh and is admitted to the Swiss bar.

Leena Mörttinen

Leena Mörttinen

Director General of Financial Markets Department
Ministry of Finance of Finland
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Leena Mörttinen
Director General of Financial Markets Department
Ministry of Finance of Finland

She is also a Member of the Board of Directors at the State Business Development Company Vake and the Metsä Group. She has a doctoral degree in Economics from the University of Helsinki.

As Director General, she leads the Financial Markets Department’s work on Banking and Capital Markets policy and regulation, including Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Terrorist Financing. In her role, she also serves as a Member of the EU Financial Services Committee.

She has previously worked at the European Central Bank (Senior Economist), the Bank of Finland (Advisor), the Nordea Bank (Chief Economist and Director for European Affairs), the Confederation of Finnish Industries (Director, Competiveness and growth) and the Finnish Family Firms Association (Executive Director).

Ante Žigman

Ante Žigman

Envoy of Vice-Prime Minister of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency and President of the Board of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA)
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Ante Žigman
Envoy of Vice-Prime Minister of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency and President of the Board of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA)

Mr. Ante Žigman, PhD, is the President of the Board of the Croatian Financial Services Supervisory Agency (HANFA) whose scope of competence includes a wide range of financial non-banking services, from regulation and supervision of the capital market, through insurance to investment and pension funds.

He is a member of the Mediation Panel of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and a member of the Executive Committee of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) as a representative of the CEET region (Central and Eastern Europe and Transcaucasia). He actively participates in the work of these international bodies.

Prior to his appointment as the Head of HANFA, he held a number of important functions, some of them being: Assistant Minister of Finance for Macroeconomic Analysis and Planning, followed by Secretary of State at the Ministry of Finance. He has also served as the vice president of the Committee for Fiscal Policy of the Croatian Parliament, and member of the Economic and Financial Committee’s Sub-Committee on EU Sovereign Debt Markets (ESDM).In the banking sector, he was a Board Member of the Partner Bank, as well the Head of Macroeconomic and Financial Research Division and the Chief Economist at the Raiffeisen Bank in Croatia. He has spent a significant part of his career at the Croatian National Bank where he worked in the Office of the Governor until being appointed to the current position.

He has written numerous scientific and expert papers in the field of fiscal policy and finance and is an active lecturer in the area of economics and finance.

Hartwig Gerhartinger

Hartwig Gerhartinger

Senior Vice President, Legal & Regulatory, Deputy General Counsel
Paysafe Group
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Hartwig Gerhartinger
Senior Vice President, Legal & Regulatory, Deputy General Counsel
Paysafe Group

Dr Hartwig Gerhartinger is Vice President Legal & Regulatory and Deputy General Counsel of Paysafe Group, a leading global provider of payment services. In that role, Hartwig is responsible for all legal and regulatory matters of the Group, in particular financial regulation, payment services regulation and anti-money laundering regulation within Europe and globally. He also chairs the Paysafe Group’s Regulatory Committee. In addition to that, Hartwig is responsible for governmental affairs of Paysafe Group, representing the Group with law-makers and regulatory authorities around the world.

Hartwig is a dedicated industry professional and an expert in payment services law and e-money regulation as well as anti-money laundering legislation. He is a Director of the Prepaid International Forum (PIF) and Chairman of the PIF AML Working Group, focusing on European AML/CTF legislation. He is also member of the Board at the European Payments Institutions Federation (EPIF) and appointed expert to the European Commission’s Payment Systems Market Expert Group.

Hartwig holds a doctoral degree in law (Dr. jus). In his doctoral thesis, he analysed regulatory and civil law aspects of electronic money, in particular in the light of PSD and 2EMD. He is author and co-author of numerous publications in the fields of e-money and payment services law and is also a requested speaker on AML legislation. Before joining Paysafe Group, Hartwig worked as Assistant Professor at universities in Austria and Germany. He is also a guest lecturer for payment services and e-money regulation in the LL.M. programme for Bank and Capital Markets Law at Danube University Krems, Austria.

Thomas Grosse

Thomas Grosse

Chief Banking Officer
N26
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Thomas Grosse
Chief Banking Officer
N26

Thomas Grosse has been the Chief Banking Officer at N26 since October 2019 and he is globally responsible for N26 bank entities and bank specific functions. Previously, he worked for four years at Google as Industry Leader Banking leading Google’s business with banks and FinTechs in Germany. Prior to Google, he worked for twelve years in the banking industry in various roles at Deutsche Bank and Wüstenrot, last being a member of the board at Wüstenrot. Thomas started his career in consulting at McKinsey and holds a Master Degree in Economics as well as Business Administration.

Matt Holmes

Matt Holmes

Managing Director and Head of Regulatory Policy & Advocacy
Deutsche Bank
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Matt Holmes
Managing Director and Head of Regulatory Policy & Advocacy
Deutsche Bank

Matt Holmes is Managing Director and Head of Regulatory Policy & Advocacy for Deutsche Bank. In that role he is responsible for managing the bank’s engagement with key regulatory policy debates globally and has been closely involved in preparation for Brexit.

Before joining Deutsche Bank in 2010, Matt headed up the financial services practice in a leading UK public affairs consultancy and prior to that worked as a policy advisor at HM Treasury covering financial services and regulatory issues.

He has an MSc from the London School of Economics and a BA from the University of Cambridge.

Sharon Yang

Sharon Yang

Deputy Assistant Secretary
U.S. Department of the Treasury
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Sharon Yang
Deputy Assistant Secretary
U.S. Department of the Treasury

Sharon S. Yang is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Financial Markets in the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of International Affairs. Sharon heads a team of international economists and financial analysts responsible for addressing a wide range of international financial policy issues, including advocating U.S. financial regulatory interests in multilateral forums such as the Financial Stability Board, G7 and G20, bilaterally through formal dialogues with international counterparts in Europe and Asia, and by assessing potential systemic financial risk in key international financial markets. Sharon is currently Treasury’s representative at the FSB’s Standing Committee on Supervisory and Regulatory Cooperation, Standards Implementation, Resolution Steering Group, Surveillance Framework Group, and Regional Consultative Group for the Americas. She also co-chairs the current G7 workstreams on digital assets and data governance. Sharon was previously the Director of the Office of International Financial Markets and in Treasury’s Office of the General Counsel. She is the recipient of the 2017 Legal Team of the Year award for her work on financial regulation and of the Treasury 2016 Special Act award for her work on China.

Sharon’s work at Treasury builds on 15 years’ private sector financial regulatory, strategy and legal experience, including as in-house counsel and in private practice in New York. Sharon began her career as a management consultant, where she advised Fortune 500 companies on corporate strategy. Sharon holds a Juris Doctorate from the Georgetown University Law Center and is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Olaf Sleijpen

Olaf Sleijpen

Executive Director
De Nederlandse Bank N.V.
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Olaf Sleijpen
Executive Director
De Nederlandse Bank N.V.

Prof. Dr. Olaf C.H.M. Sleijpen (1970) is Executive Director at De Nederlandsche Bank N.V. (DNB), responsible for economics and research, financial stability, payments and market infrastructure, financial markets and statistics. Olaf is also an alternate member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB). Since 2007, he has also been part-time professor, holding an endowed chair in European Economic Policy at Maastricht University.

Olaf was Director of Insurance Supervision at DNB from October 2018 to early 2020, Director of Supervision Policy, from 2015 until October 2018 and Director of Pension Supervision from 2011 to 2015. In the former positions, he was a member of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and an (alternate) member of the Board of Supervisors of the European Baking Authority (EBA) and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA). Before (re)joining the Dutch central bank in 2011, he held several executive positions in the pension industry, at APG Groep N.V. (2008-2011) and pension fund ABP (2004-2011), one of the largest pension funds worldwide.

From 2001 to 2003, Olaf worked at the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt am Main, as personal adviser to President Wim Duisenberg, and Co-ordinator of the Counsel to the Executive Board. Before joining the ECB, he held various positions at DNB from 1993 to 2001, such as DNB’s Communications Director and (senior) economist at the Monetary and Economic Policy Department and the International Affairs Department.

Olaf Sleijpen studied Economics at Maastricht University. He obtained his doctorate at Groningen University in 1999, having written a thesis entitled “Does Economic and Monetary Union require a Fiscal Union? Some evidence from the United States.” He (co-)authored several publications in the area of European monetary and economic integration, pensions and financial regulation. He was awarded the “Young Captain Award” in 2008, an accolade for talented young private-sector executives in The Netherlands.

Wendy Jephson

Wendy Jephson

Head of Behavioral Science
Nasdaq
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Wendy Jephson
Head of Behavioral Science
Nasdaq

Wendy Jephson is Head of Behavioural Science for Market Technology Risk and Surveillance solutions at Nasdaq. Wendy is responsible for leading a unique team of experts that combines behavioural science, financial domain knowledge, and advanced analytics to bring diverse thinking and cross-industry experience to solving some of the biggest challenges in financial services.

Dual qualified as a commercial solicitor and Business Psychologist, in her role as Co-Founder Wendy was instrumental in the original vision, growth phase and the recent acquisition of Sybenetix by the US exchange and technology giant, Nasdaq.

Wendy’s behavioural science & legal expertise was developed in major corporations such as Eli Lilly and Xerox and through her MSc in Business Psychology. The British Psychological Society and leading psychologists have recognised Wendy’s expertise in enhancing decision-making skill, applying psychology to the management of risk and the understanding of how physiological factors affect investment behaviour.

Valdis Dombrovskis

Valdis Dombrovskis

Executive Vice-President
European Commission
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Valdis Dombrovskis
Executive Vice-President
European Commission

He is the European Commission Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works for People and Financial Services. He has extensive political experience at the European and national levels.

He was in the last Commission as Vice-President of the European Commission for the Euro, Social Dialogue as well as Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union.

Prior to his office in the European Commission, he served three consecutive terms as Prime Minister of Latvia from 2009 to 2014.

Before joining the European Commission he was a Member of the European Parliament and was Head of the Latvian Delegation in the EPP Group.

He was Latvia’s Minister of Finance from 2002 to 2004.

Prior to joining politics, he worked as a senior economist and Chief Economist at the Bank of Latvia (1998-2002).

Jan Eger

Jan Eger

Head of International Government and Regulatory Affairs
Refinitiv
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Jan Eger
Head of International Government and Regulatory Affairs
Refinitiv

Jan Frederic Eger leads the International Government and Regulatory Affairs team at Refinitiv. Refinitiv is one of the world’s largest providers of financial markets data and infrastructure, serving over 40,000 institutions in over 190 countries. It provides leading data and insights, trading platforms, and open data and technology platforms that connect a thriving global financial markets community – driving performance in trading, investment, wealth management, regulatory compliance, market data management, enterprise risk and fighting financial crime. On 1 October 2018, the Financial & Risk business of Thomson Reuters became Refinitiv following the closing of a partnership deal between Thomson Reuters and private equity funds managed by Blackstone. Jan Frederic Eger joined Thomson Reuters in London in 2011. In 2016 he moved to Hong Kong to establish the Thomson Reuters Government Affairs presence in Asia. In March 2017 Jan returned to London to manage the global Financial Services Government and Regulatory Affairs team at Thomson Reuters. He is Vice-Chair and Member of the Board of the EU-Asia Financial Services Roundtable and is serving his third term as Vice-Chair of the AmCham EU Financial Services and Company Law Committee.

Sian Jones

Sian Jones

Founder
European Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Forum (EDCAB)
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Sian Jones
Founder
European Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Forum (EDCAB)

Siân is a regulatory policy consultant focusing on cryptoassets and distributed ledger technology, advising public and private sector organisations, and providing policy support to EU, UK and Gibraltar officials and parliamentarians. She also leads the European Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology Forum, a public policy platform helping EU policymakers and legislators shape sound policy and regulation.

From November 2017 to August 2019, Siân was seconded to the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission as Senior Adviser on DLT, having previously architected Gibraltar’s DLT regulatory framework. She is now senior partner of xReg LLP and a director of xReg Consulting Ltd and COINsult Ltd.

Siân is a member of ISO’s technical committee on DLT and sat as an expert on several of its working groups. She also sits on BSI’s national mirror committee, the Financial Markets Law Committee Fintech Scoping Forum and, until July 2019, was a delegate and technical expert on the Financial Action Task Force’s Policy Development Group on virtual assets. She is convenor and co-lead of the Joint Working Group on interVASP Messaging Standards.

Siân helped found the first publicly-quoted blockchain technology company and the first blockchain platform provider on the UK Government’s G-Cloud.

Her 48-year career in information technology, security, data protection and compliance includes working in Europe, the Middle East and Asia in industries as diverse as banking, transport, healthcare, pharmaceuticals and security.

Jan Ceyssens

Jan Ceyssens

Head of Unit for Digital Finance
DG FISMA, European Commission
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Jan Ceyssens
Head of Unit for Digital Finance
DG FISMA, European Commission

Jan Ceyssens is Head of the “Digital Finance” Unit in the Directorate General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union at the European Commission. He was previously Member and Deputy Head of the Cabinet of Vice President Dombrovskis and Member of the Cabinet of Vice-President Barnier, and Team Leader for Financial Supervision at the European Commission’s Internal Markets and Services Directorate General. He graduated in law from Humboldt University in Berlin and holds a Masters degree in European Law from King’s College London. He works at the European Commission since 2006, initially in the Directorate General for Competition’s Cartels enforcement Directorate and since 2009 in the Internal Markets and Services Directorate General.

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