Nandini Sukumar

Chief Executive Officer The World Federation of Exchanges

Nandini Sukumar is the Chief Executive Officer of the World Federation of Exchanges, the global association for exchanges and CCPs. The WFE represents more than 250 exchanges and clearing houses globally, educating stakeholders on the vital role played by market infrastructures in the real economy and as a standard setter, finding the consensus on issues among the global membership. Of its members, 35% are in Asia-Pacific, 45% in EMEA and 20% in the Americas. WFE exchanges are home to 47,919 listed companies, and the market capitalisation of these entities is over $109 trillion; around $137 trillion (EOB) in trading annually passes through WFE members (at end 2020). WFE’s 57 member CCPs collectively ensure that risk takers post some $800bn (equivalent) of resources to back their positions, in the form of initial margin and default fund requirements. Ms. Sukumar is Vice Chair of IOSCO’s Affiliate Members Consultative Committee and Chair of the AMCC’s Sustainability Taskforce.

Dr. Pedro Gurrola Perez

Head of Research The World Federation of Exchanges

Pedro joined the World Federation of Exchanges in October 2019 from the Bank of England, where he led the Financial Market Infrastructures Directorate’s Research Team. He had joined the Bank of England in 2013, after two years at the UK Financial Services Authority. Previously, Pedro spent more than 15 years lecturing and doing research at a range of well-regarded academic institutions, including the University of Barcelona and the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM).

Pedro holds two PhDs: one from the University of Barcelona, Spain, and one from the University of Montpellier, France, and has published across key academic journals, including the Journal of Financial Market Infrastructures, the Journal of Risk, International Finance and the Journal of Futures Markets. His recent work includes research on the economics of distributed ledger technologies (DLT) for securities settlement, on the network structure of settlement fails and on market liquidity risk in CCPs. He has also published research on payment systems, back-testing methodologies and on the structure of interest rate futures markets. In 2007 he received the National Award on Derivatives Research, awarded by the Mexican Derivatives Exchange (MexDer).

Javier Hernani

Chief Executive Officer of BME & Head of Securities Services SIX

Javier Hernani took up his role of Head of the Securities Services business unit and member of the Executive Board of SIX Group in January 2021, after the takeover of Bolsas y Mercados Españoles, Sociedad Holding de Mercados y Sistemas Financieros, SA (BME), which he has led as CEO since April 2017.

Javier served as General Manager of BME from December 2012 to April 2017, with the specific role of coordinating the action of business units and corporate areas. Chairman of the Risk and Security Committees as well as Member of the board of several subsidiaries. Previously, he joined BME as Chief Financial Officer and member of the Executive Committee, assuming the role of conducting the integration process of the newly created group and leading the IPO process which took the company public as of 14th July 2006.

Prior to its incorporation into BME, Javier was Deputy General Manager of the Bilbao Stock Exchange until 2003. Javier was also CFO of Norbolsa, S.V.B. (until 1998) and Consultant in Coopers & Lybrand Brussels (until 1989).

Javier earned a Degree in Economics and Business by University of Deusto in 1986, a Master’s Degree in European Economic Studies (specialising in Economics) by The College of Europe in Brussels in 1988, and a Master’s Degree in Advanced Management by University of Deusto in 1997.

Froukelien Wendt

Director for CCPs, Independent Member of the CCP Supervisory Committee European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)

Froukelien Wendt is an Independent Member of the CCP Supervisory Committee at the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). In this role, she is responsible for the supervision of third country CCPs and convergence in the supervision of EU CCPs, including CCP stress tests. Previously, she worked at the IMF and led missions in the area of CCPs, central securities depositories and payment systems in the context of IMF Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) and Technical Assistance projects. She also worked at the World Bank as a Senior Securities Settlement Expert and at De Nederlandsche Bank, where she was responsible for oversight of payment and securities settlement systems, and CCPs. Froukelien started her career at Euronext N.V., where she worked in the strategy and cash market development departments. She holds a master in Economics from the RijksUniversiteit Groningen, and a master in Financial and Investment Analysis from the Universiteit van Amsterdam.

Vikesh Patel

President Cboe Clear Europe

George Kormas

President Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation (CDCC)

George Kormas is President of CDCC and has over 20 years of experience in the post-trade business with a proven track record of balancing commercial, risk management and regulatory needs. Prior to his current role, he was Vice-President, Chief Risk Officer for CDCC and Chief Risk Officer for CDS with responsibility for the overall risk profile and risk management operations for the two clearinghouses.

Mr. Kormas holds a Master of Science in Finance (MSc) from Concordia University, Montreal.

Michele Hillery

Managing Director, General Manager of NSCC Equity Clearing and DTC Settlement Service DTCC

Michele Hillery serves as General Manager of NSCC’s Equity Clearing and DTC’s Settlement Service at DTCC. In this role, she is responsible for setting business strategy and day-to-day management for the clearing & settlement of US equities, corporate and municipal bonds and UITs trades. In addition, Michele oversees DTCC’s ongoing efforts to collaborate and build industry support for modernizing and transforming DTCC’s Equity Clearing and Settlement businesses. She is also a member of DTCC’s Investment and Management Committee.

Michele has over 20 years of experience in the financial industry, having held past roles within Product Management, Quality Assurance and Operations. Prior to joining DTCC’s Equity Clearing Product Management in 2013, Michele led FICC’s Mortgage-Backed Securities Division (MBSD) where she managed business operations and project development. 

An active member of the industry, Michele often speaks at key conferences and events on topics that are shaping financial markets. She is also a member of SIFMA’s Operations and Technology Committee.

Michele earned a BBS from University of Limerick, Ireland and a MS from New York University.

Nandini Sukumar

Chief Executive Officer The World Federation of Exchanges

Nandini Sukumar is the Chief Executive Officer of the World Federation of Exchanges, the global association for exchanges and CCPs. The WFE represents more than 250 exchanges and clearing houses globally, educating stakeholders on the vital role played by market infrastructures in the real economy and as a standard setter, finding the consensus on issues among the global membership. Of its members, 35% are in Asia-Pacific, 45% in EMEA and 20% in the Americas. WFE exchanges are home to 47,919 listed companies, and the market capitalisation of these entities is over $109 trillion; around $137 trillion (EOB) in trading annually passes through WFE members (at end 2020). WFE’s 57 member CCPs collectively ensure that risk takers post some $800bn (equivalent) of resources to back their positions, in the form of initial margin and default fund requirements. Ms. Sukumar is Vice Chair of IOSCO’s Affiliate Members Consultative Committee and Chair of the AMCC’s Sustainability Taskforce.

John McPartland

Senior Advisor Hidden Road Partners LP

John McPartland is Senior Advisor at Hidden Road Partners, a quantitative investment firm.  He spent the entirety of his professional career in the derivatives industry in the roles of commercial banker, broker, FCM executive, exchange member, CCP executive and until his recent retirement, Senior Policy Advisor in the Financial Markets Group of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.  In that capacity, he participated in influencing public policy germane to high frequency trading, market structure, CCP default waterfall components, and market concentration issues.  He is a graduate from the University of Minnesota and a US Air Force veteran.

Peter Youngman

Senior Policy Advisor, Supervision Department Bank of Canada

Peter Youngman is a Senior Policy Advisor in the Supervision Department at the Bank of Canada. In this role, he works to anticipate and explore emerging issues in oversight of financial market infrastructures (FMIs) and advise on appropriate policy responses. He represents the Bank on several international working groups related to FMI oversight and cross-border payments. Over the course of his career at the Bank, Peter has worked in various leadership roles within FMI oversight and risk management.

Jose Manuel Ortíz-Repiso

Head of Clearing & Repo Operations SIX

José Manuel Ortiz-Repiso is the Head of Clearing & Repo Operations at SIX. José Manuel is in charge of the management and the strategy of two highly diversified CCPs and the Repo and Collateral Management services. In this role, he leads the Clearing and Repo operations teams, while managing these businesses and liaising with clients, regulators and other key stakeholders.

He has been with BME since 2000. More than 20 years of experience in the entire financial industry value chain, from trading to post-trading, holding different roles in multiple areas, acquiring in-depth knowledge about infrastructures management, participating in their growth, in their adaptations to different regulatory and technical changes, and involved in coordinating the most important projects of the company.

Jose Manuel holds an Executive MBA from IE Business School and an economics and business degree from Alcala de Henares University.

Summer Mersinger

Commissioner Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)

Summer K. Mersinger was nominated by President Biden to serve as a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate. She was sworn into office on March 30, 2022. 

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Mersinger served as the Chief of Staff to CFTC Commissioner Dawn D. Stump.  She also served as the Director of the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under former Chairman Heath Tarbert. 

Ms. Mersinger has 20 years of Capitol Hill and government relations experience. Prior to joining the CFTC, she was Senior Vice President at Smith-Free Group, a leading government affairs practice, where she worked on financial services issues including advocating for large fintech organizations. 

From 2004 to 2016, Ms. Mersinger was a top aide to current Senate Minority Whip John Thune, who represents her home state of South Dakota. Most recently she served as his DC Chief of Staff, coordinating legislative activities for Sen. Thune’s team and working regularly with Senate leadership and senior staff on both sides of the aisle. Ms. Mersinger was instrumental during policy debates involving banking, finance, telecommunications, surface transportation, agriculture, and trade issues. Ms. Mersinger was also directly involved in the communications efforts spearheaded by Sen. Thune through his leadership post on the Senate Republican Conference. 

Prior to joining Sen. Thune’s staff, Ms. Mersinger was a director of government relations at Arent Fox, and she also worked in Sen. Thune’s office while he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2002. Summer completed her undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota and her law degree from the Catholic University’s Columbus School of law. She is a proud mother of four children, two daughters and two sons, and resides in Northern Virginia with her husband.

Robert Steigerwald

Senior Policy Advisor Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Robert Steigerwald is a senior policy advisor in the financial markets group at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, where his work focuses upon public policy issues relating to financial market regulation and payment, clearing and settlement infrastructures.

Steigerwald began his legal career with Kirkland & Ellis, an international law firm based in Chicago, where he represented clients including the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, the Board of Trade Clearing Corporation and National Futures Association. He later served as legal counsel for a clearinghouse for foreign currency transactions and was instrumental in developing the global multicurrency settlement system for foreign exchange before joining the Chicago Fed in 2000.

He currently represents the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago as a member of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Market Risk Advisory Committee and has participated in the work of the Over the Counter Derivatives Regulators’ Forum, an international forum for information sharing and regulatory cooperation among central banks, prudential supervisors and securities and markets regulators.

Steigerwald is a graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook with a B.A. and University of San Francisco School of Law, J.D., cum laude.

Summer Mersinger

Commissioner Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)

Summer K. Mersinger was nominated by President Biden to serve as a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate. She was sworn into office on March 30, 2022. 

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Mersinger served as the Chief of Staff to CFTC Commissioner Dawn D. Stump.  She also served as the Director of the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under former Chairman Heath Tarbert. 

Ms. Mersinger has 20 years of Capitol Hill and government relations experience. Prior to joining the CFTC, she was Senior Vice President at Smith-Free Group, a leading government affairs practice, where she worked on financial services issues including advocating for large fintech organizations. 

From 2004 to 2016, Ms. Mersinger was a top aide to current Senate Minority Whip John Thune, who represents her home state of South Dakota. Most recently she served as his DC Chief of Staff, coordinating legislative activities for Sen. Thune’s team and working regularly with Senate leadership and senior staff on both sides of the aisle. Ms. Mersinger was instrumental during policy debates involving banking, finance, telecommunications, surface transportation, agriculture, and trade issues. Ms. Mersinger was also directly involved in the communications efforts spearheaded by Sen. Thune through his leadership post on the Senate Republican Conference. 

Prior to joining Sen. Thune’s staff, Ms. Mersinger was a director of government relations at Arent Fox, and she also worked in Sen. Thune’s office while he was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2002. Summer completed her undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota and her law degree from the Catholic University’s Columbus School of law. She is a proud mother of four children, two daughters and two sons, and resides in Northern Virginia with her husband.

Prof. Paolo Saguato

Professor of Law Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University

Paolo Saguato is a Professor of Law at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, specializing in financial regulation. His research interests encompass the intersection of banking, securities and derivatives regulation and the international and comparative dynamics of financial markets. Professor Saguato serves as a member of the ESMA Consultative Working Group of the CCP Policy Committee. In addition, he is the co-editor of “Financial Markets Infrastructures: Law and Regulation,” recently published by Oxford University Press, and the author of multiple academic articles on clearinghouses and financial market infrastructures. 

Before joining Antonin Scalia Law School, Professor Saguato was a Research Fellow at the Georgetown Law Center, a Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Global Hauser Fellow at New York University School of Law. Professor Saguato earned a BA (Laurea in Scienze Giuridiche) and a JD (Laurea Magistrale in Giurisprudenza) summa cum laude at the University of Genoa (Italy) and a PhD in Private, Business, and International Law at the same university. In addition, he holds a LLM from Yale Law School, which he attended as a Fulbright Scholar, where he focused his studies on financial markets regulation and corporate law and was a senior editor of the Yale Journal on Regulation.

Vikram Kothari

Managing Director, NSE Clearing National Stock Exchange of India

Mr. Vikram Kothari has worked in areas of product development, operations, risk management, sales in the stock exchange, custody, clearing and banking space for more than 20 years.

Prior to his current role as Managing Director of NSE Clearing Limited (formerly known as National Securities Clearing Corporation Limited) in India, he worked with organizations like JP Morgan Chase, HSBC, and NSE in various capacities. He joined NSE Clearing Limited in November 2017.

He is a graduate from Mumbai University and a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Richard Metcalfe

Head of Regulatory Affairs The World Federation of Exchanges

Richard Metcalfe is Head of Regulatory Affairs at the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). Before taking up his WFE post in March 2018, he worked on MiFID implementation at the Markets Division of BNY Mellon in London. He also has extensive experience in wholesale financial services and policy issues, with particular emphasis on derivatives and central clearing; and on asset management. In addition to working at ISDA and the IA, he has worked for SWIFT. 

Earlier in his career, he wrote for and edited various financial publications. He lives in London and studied languages at university.

Giles Ward

Senior Policy Advisor General Secretariat, International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)

Giles is responsible for IOSCO's policy work on Secondary markets, including coordinating the work of Committee 2; Cyber-resilience, including coordinating the cyber resilience work of the board task force; and coordinating IOSCO's position with the FSB Plenary, Steering Committee, SRC and G20.

Giles joined the General Secretariat in July 2017. Prior to this, he spent seven years at the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) where he worked as a Senior Associate, in charge of International, Trading and Market Conduct Policy for the last three years. He also worked at the European Commission (at the DG Internal Market and Services) as a Securities Markets National Expert for three years.

Giles holds a Bachelor's degree (Hons) in Economics from St John's College, University of Cambridge and a Master's degree in Economics (Hons) from the University of Sydney. Giles is a qualified solicitor and started his career as an international finance and shipping lawyer in private practice.

Laura Bayley

Head of Clearing Services SIX

Laura Bayley is originally a lawyer and has extensive experience in regulatory topics and projects related to financial market infrastructures. She has worked at SIX since 2016 and at SIX x-clear since 2020. As responsible for regulatory and strategic topics within SIX x-clear she has gained insights into the functioning of the clearing market and has been heavily involved in various integration projects between SIX x-clear and BME Clearing. On 01 May 2022, Laura took over the management of SIX x-clear at a legal entity level and continues to be responsible for regulatory and governance topics across BME and SIX on a functional level within the area of clearing. She is also a permanent guest on the Management Board of the Securities Services Business Unit.

Prior to working at SIX, Laura worked for a large Swiss law firm after finalising her double degrees in Law and Sinology from the Universities of Zurich and Berne.

Stéphane Janin

Head of Global Regulatory Developments and Public Affairs AXA Investment Managers

Stéphane heads up AXA IM’s Global Regulatory Developments and Public Affairs directorate at worldwide level.

Before joining AXA IM in 2015, Stéphane was Head of the International Affairs Division at the French Asset Management Association (AFG), responsible for international regulatory strategy and promotion.

He was previously Head of Market Surveillance and Responsible for Strategy and Risks at the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF). Still at French level, since 2020 Stéphane has been a member of AMF’s External Advisory Committee as well as a member of AFG’s Non-Executive Strategic Committee.

At the European level, since 2021 Stéphane has been Co-Chairman of the Asset Management and Investors Council, International Capital Markets Association (ICMA). From 2018 to 2021, he was a member of the Board of Directors at the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA). Beforehand, within the European Commission, he was a Seconded National Expert from 2000 to 2004 – in charge of UCITS, Hedge Funds, Credit Rating Agencies and Market Abuse.

At the worldwide level, Stéphane is a member of the Stakeholders’ Panel of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). He is also a member of the World Economic Forum (Davos Forum)’s working group on the Future of Capital Markets.

Stéphane started his carrier at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in Washington D.C.. He graduated from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques (IEP) – “Sciences Po”, in Paris.

Dr. Pedro Gurrola Perez

Head of Research The World Federation of Exchanges

Pedro joined the World Federation of Exchanges in October 2019 from the Bank of England, where he led the Financial Market Infrastructures Directorate’s Research Team. He had joined the Bank of England in 2013, after two years at the UK Financial Services Authority. Previously, Pedro spent more than 15 years lecturing and doing research at a range of well-regarded academic institutions, including the University of Barcelona and the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM).

Pedro holds two PhDs: one from the University of Barcelona, Spain, and one from the University of Montpellier, France, and has published across key academic journals, including the Journal of Financial Market Infrastructures, the Journal of Risk, International Finance and the Journal of Futures Markets. His recent work includes research on the economics of distributed ledger technologies (DLT) for securities settlement, on the network structure of settlement fails and on market liquidity risk in CCPs. He has also published research on payment systems, back-testing methodologies and on the structure of interest rate futures markets. In 2007 he received the National Award on Derivatives Research, awarded by the Mexican Derivatives Exchange (MexDer).

Dr. David Murphy

Visiting Professor, Department of Law London School of Economics (LSE)

David Murphy is a visiting professor in practice in the Law School at the London School of Economic and Political Science.  He is a leading expert on derivatives regulation, central clearing, and prudential policy, having published extensively in these areas, and worked in both bank and central counterparty policy at national and international levels.

Javier Aguilá

Head of Clearing Architecture SIX

Javier is the Head of Clearing Architecture at SIX, in charge of the management and evolution of the architecture of two highly diversified CCPs, and being part of the senior management team of SIX Clearing.

With his other role as General Manager at BME Clearing, Javier supports BME Clearing management of the legal entity and contacts with regulators and Members, in coordination with the rest of senior management.

Javier has been in the CCP since 1992, playing various roles. First as Head of Risk, creating the risk model MEFFCOM2, supervising and controlling the risks, and leading the first authorization process under EMIR. Later as COO of Derivatives and Repo segments, managing in recent years the projects to adapt the Repo segment to T2S, connecting to Brokertec and adding new sovereign debts, and finally getting involved in the transversal Collateral Strategy with IBERCLEAR. He has been in continuous coordination with the Exchanges, the CSDs and the CCP Risk area, where he has been a Member of the Executive Risk Committee and the EMIR Risk Committee. He also has been participating for years in EACH, being now a Member of the Board.

Javier holds a degree in Economics from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, a Master’s degree in Programming and Public Expenditure from Instituto de Estudios Fiscales, a Master’s degree in Economics from Universidad Pompeu Fabra, and the GARP Financial Risk Manager Certification.

Udesh Jha

Managing Director, Head of Post-Trade Services CME Group

Udesh Jha is a Managing Director within the Clearing and Post-Trade division at CME Group. He heads the Post-Trade Services team, handling Quantitative Risk Management & Solutions, Credit Risk, Collateral Risk, and Liquidity Risk Management for the clearing house. 

Udesh has worked at CME since 2010. Prior to this joining CME Group, he worked at Capital One, Banc of America Securities, and QRM in different risk management roles ranging from ALM, Funds Transfer Pricing and CDO Structuring. Prior to that, Udesh was a Senior Management Consultant with IBM assisting clients with Supply Chain Management solutions across different industrial sectors.

Udesh holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, a Masters in Science in Civil Engineering from University of Connecticut, and an MBA degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Dr. Dermot Turing

Visiting Fellow Kellogg College, Oxford

Dermot Turing was a partner in the international law firm Clifford Chance until 2014, specializing in financial sector regulation, financial market infrastructure and bank failures. He is the author of Clearing and Settlement, now in its third edition, and of many papers and book chapters on CCPs and their regulation. He is a writer on historical aspects of cryptology, a trustee of the Turing Trust and a Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College, Oxford.

Dr. David Murphy

Visiting Professor, Department of Law London School of Economics (LSE)

David Murphy is a visiting professor in practice in the Law School at the London School of Economic and Political Science.  He is a leading expert on derivatives regulation, central clearing, and prudential policy, having published extensively in these areas, and worked in both bank and central counterparty policy at national and international levels.

Ashwini Panse

Chief Risk Officer, North American Clearing; Managing Director, ICE India Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE)

Ashwini Panse is the 2nd Line Chief Risk Officer for the North American clearing houses at ICE. Panse is also the Head of Risk Oversight for ICE Clear Netherlands and ICE Clear Singapore. Panse oversees the risk management framework at the clearing houses and provides expertise, support, and challenge to the management of all financial and non-financial risks.

Panse joined ICE in 2010 and prior to becoming the 2nd Line Chief Risk Officer, Panse served in other leadership roles in Risk, Compliance, and Internal Audit across ICE’s global business units. Panse has served as the Chief Compliance Officer for ICE Trade Vault U.S. and in her Internal Audit role, Panse administered the Global Sarbanes Oxley 404 compliance and testing program and internal audits for ICE’s U.S. subsidiaries. 

Panse is Chair of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) CCP Working Group. She is a Board Member of the FIA Operations America Division, which promotes industry cooperation and exchange of ideas on all topics impacting the U.S. Marketplace. She is also a Board Member and Treasurer at McKenna Farms Therapy Services Inc., a non-profit organization that provides therapeutic programs and resources for children with special needs and their families.

Panse began her career at Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLC, holds an MBA in Finance from Xavier University, Williams College of Business and is a Certified Public Accountant and a Chartered Accountant.

Dr. Pedro Gurrola Perez

Head of Research The World Federation of Exchanges

Pedro joined the World Federation of Exchanges in October 2019 from the Bank of England, where he led the Financial Market Infrastructures Directorate’s Research Team. He had joined the Bank of England in 2013, after two years at the UK Financial Services Authority. Previously, Pedro spent more than 15 years lecturing and doing research at a range of well-regarded academic institutions, including the University of Barcelona and the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM).

Pedro holds two PhDs: one from the University of Barcelona, Spain, and one from the University of Montpellier, France, and has published across key academic journals, including the Journal of Financial Market Infrastructures, the Journal of Risk, International Finance and the Journal of Futures Markets. His recent work includes research on the economics of distributed ledger technologies (DLT) for securities settlement, on the network structure of settlement fails and on market liquidity risk in CCPs. He has also published research on payment systems, back-testing methodologies and on the structure of interest rate futures markets. In 2007 he received the National Award on Derivatives Research, awarded by the Mexican Derivatives Exchange (MexDer).

Tao Chen

Group Head of Quantitative Risk Management Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEX)

Tao Chen is the Group Head of Quantitative Risk Management at Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Limited. He worked at the London Metals Exchange prior to his relocation to Hong Kong in 2020, where he established and headed the Quantitative Risk department. Prior to his role at the LME, he has worked extensively in the investment banking industry – primarily in London.

Amar Radia

Head of Analytics, Financial Market Infrastructure Directorate Bank of England

Amar is Head of the Analytics division in the Bank of England’s Financial Market Infrastructure Directorate. His division develops the evidence base for excellent policy making and supervision through data and risk expertise. He has previously held various roles in the Bank of England, spanning financial stability, monetary policy and a number of other special projects.

Udesh Jha

Managing Director, Head of Post-Trade Services CME Group

Udesh Jha is a Managing Director within the Clearing and Post-Trade division at CME Group. He heads the Post-Trade Services team, handling Quantitative Risk Management & Solutions, Credit Risk, Collateral Risk, and Liquidity Risk Management for the clearing house. 

Udesh has worked at CME since 2010. Prior to this joining CME Group, he worked at Capital One, Banc of America Securities, and QRM in different risk management roles ranging from ALM, Funds Transfer Pricing and CDO Structuring. Prior to that, Udesh was a Senior Management Consultant with IBM assisting clients with Supply Chain Management solutions across different industrial sectors.

Udesh holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, a Masters in Science in Civil Engineering from University of Connecticut, and an MBA degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Dr. Richard Haynes

Deputy Director, Risk Surveillance Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)

Richard Haynes is currently the Deputy Director of the CFTC’s Risk Surveillance Branch, which focuses on the risk monitoring of derivatives clearinghouses and their members.  During his time at the agency, in addition to his regulatory and market monitoring roles, he has written multiple papers analyzing the intersection of market structure and regulatory policy, including papers published in the Journal of Futures Markets, the Journal of Commodity Markets, and the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis.  

Prior to his time at the CFTC, he worked as a trader and quant in New York and Hong Kong for Credit Suisse and received his PhD in Mathematics from the University of Chicago.

Dmitrij Senko

Member of the Executive Board and Chief Risk Officer Eurex Clearing AG

Dmitrij Senko is a Member of the Executive Board and Chief Risk Officer of Eurex Clearing AG. He took on this role in 2019, following 9 years in previous positions at Eurex Clearing. He was one of the main architects of Eurex Clearing’s industry-leading risk engine Prisma back in 2011–2012, and he led the Risk stream in the Eurex Clearing EMIR authorisation project in 2013. Dmitrij has been part of the project team building up the clearing house in Singapore since 2014 and held the role of Chief Risk Officer of Eurex Asia from July 2015 until February 2018. From 2013, Dmitrij was Head of Risk Analytics and Model Validation in the Risk Department of Eurex Clearing. 

Prior to joining Eurex Clearing, Dmitrij worked for Accenture Management Consulting in different roles supporting clients in the banking industry on a range of topics in risk management, regulation and technology. He holds an Executive MBA degree from the London Business School and a PhD in physical-mathematical science from Belarus State University.

Meshal Al-Homaid

Chief of Risk Management Muqassa, Saudi Tadawul Group

Meshal is currently the Chief of Risk Management at Muqassa, the Securities Clearing Center Company.

Meshal brings with him around 17 years of experience in Risk Management in the financial sector where he held a number of positions across leading banks in Saudi Arabia. Prior to becoming Chief of Risk, Meshal was Head Risk Modelling and Methodology at Muqassa where he was responsible for model development, calibration, monitoring and documentation.

Meshal holds a BSc in Information Systems from King Saud University and a Master’s Degree in Information Systems Management from The University of Sheffield.

Patrik Löhr

Chief Executive Officer Nasdaq Clearing

Patrik Löhr joined Nasdaq Clearing in 2021 taking up the role as Head of Clearing Risk , and since October 2023 he holds the position as CEO.

Prior to joining Nasdaq in 2021, Löhr has been working in the banking industry where he held several positions as Head of Risk management.

Patrik received a Master’s degree in finance from Stockholm University

Dr. Shane Worner

Senior Economist Investment Company Institute (ICI)

Shane is a PhD (Econ) qualified financial services professional with 30 years experience spanning investment banking, asset management, academia and public policy formation (both domestic and international). In March 2023, he joined ICI as a Senior Economist in their Brussels office where he undertakes research on European and international policy issues impacting the asset management industry. 

From 2011 to August 2022, Shane was employed in a variety of positions by the Madrid-based securities markets standard setter, IOSCO. While there, he coordinated IOSCO’s engagement in international asset management policy initiatives from 2012-2018. From 2018 -2022 he led IOSCO’s Market Intelligence and Data Analytics department, tasked with data collection initiatives on margining, leverage in investment funds and liquidity tool usage. 

Previously, he held the position of Economist at Australia’s securities market regulator, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).  From 2007 - 2008, Shane was Senior Economic Advisor to the Honourable Senator Watson in the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia.  

He commenced his career in 1993, working with various investment banking houses (such as Banque Indosuez, UBS and ABN AMRO) in international global financial centres including Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo and London. 

Shane was awarded a PhD (Economics) from the Australian National University in 2007 and holds a B.Commerce (Economics) from the University of Wollongong.  

Aniket Bhanu

Vice President, NSE Clearing National Stock Exchange of India

Mr. Aniket Bhanu has been associated in various capacities with the National Stock Exchange of India group since 2009. His areas of expertise are risk management, derivatives, regulation and policy and has been instrumental in implementation of several market reforms in the CCP space in India. 

He holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.

Dr. Kaitao Lin

Senior Financial Economist The World Federation of Exchanges

Kaitao joined the World Federation of Exchanges in May 2020 and currently holds the position of senior financial economist in the Research Team. Kaitao holds a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Houston and is a Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) charterholder. His research focuses on market microstructure issues, such as trading rules, their effects on market participants, and market quality.  His current work includes ESG and crypto assets. Kaitao’s papers have been accepted for publication in well-regarded academic journals, such as the Quarterly Journal of Finance, and presented in various international conferences, including the U.S. SEC Ph.D. Symposium, the China International Conference in Finance, and the Financial Management Association Annual Meeting.

Carol Alexander

Professor of Finance University of Sussex

Carol Alexander is an expert in crypto asset and derivatives markets, financial risk analysis, high-frequency data analysis, blockchains, pricing and hedging financial instruments and volatility analysis. She has a dual career in industry and academia and is currently Professor of Finance at the University of Sussex and Visiting Professor at Peking University Business School. She also edited the Journal of Banking and Finance for 10 years. She has designed and implemented mathematical models for pricing, trading, hedging and risk assessment for numerous asset management, exchange, banking and legal clients such as Credit Agricole Asset Management, New York Stock Exchange, Intercontinental Exchange and the FTX.US Exchange. Carol has held corporate roles as a Director and Head of Market Risk Modelling for Nikko Securities; as Academic Director of Algorithmics Inc., and Risk Research Advisor for SAS software. She currently acts as an expert witness, specialising in crypto asset litigation. She sits on several advisory boards including the Fields Institute Centre for Financial Industries, Louis Bachelier and Philip Leverhulme prize committees, FT Wilshire digital assets and its taxonomy working group. She appears regularly in the media, most recently about crypto asset markets.

Dennis McLaughlin

Independent Non-Executive Director Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation (CDCC) and Canadian Depository for Securities (CDS)

Dennis is currently an Independent Director at the Canadian Derivatives Clearing Corporation (CDCC) and the Canadian Depository for Securities (CDS), following extensive experience in the financial services industry. 

Most recently, Dennis was the Group Chief Risk Officer at the London Clearing House, and Head of Financial Risk at the London Stock Exchange Group. Prior to thatm he was the founding CEO of the Aon Centre for Innovation and Analytics in Dublin. 

Dennis also held various roles in risk and finance as an MD at Merrill Lynch and was Head of Economic Capital and Operational Risk at Citi Global Consumer Bank, in addition to his time as a consultant in the Global Banking, Securities and Risk Management practise at McKinsey in New York, where he was heavily involved in fintech and financial innovation. 

Dennis started his career as a mathematics professor at Princeton University, and holds a PhD in mathematics from Brown University and an MBA in finance from Wharton.

Carol Alexander

Professor of Finance University of Sussex

Carol Alexander is an expert in crypto asset and derivatives markets, financial risk analysis, high-frequency data analysis, blockchains, pricing and hedging financial instruments and volatility analysis. She has a dual career in industry and academia and is currently Professor of Finance at the University of Sussex and Visiting Professor at Peking University Business School. She also edited the Journal of Banking and Finance for 10 years. She has designed and implemented mathematical models for pricing, trading, hedging and risk assessment for numerous asset management, exchange, banking and legal clients such as Credit Agricole Asset Management, New York Stock Exchange, Intercontinental Exchange and the FTX.US Exchange. Carol has held corporate roles as a Director and Head of Market Risk Modelling for Nikko Securities; as Academic Director of Algorithmics Inc., and Risk Research Advisor for SAS software. She currently acts as an expert witness, specialising in crypto asset litigation. She sits on several advisory boards including the Fields Institute Centre for Financial Industries, Louis Bachelier and Philip Leverhulme prize committees, FT Wilshire digital assets and its taxonomy working group. She appears regularly in the media, most recently about crypto asset markets.

Maggie Sklar

Principal & Founder, Sklar Strategies Managing Director, SEDA Experts

Maggie Sklar is a highly distinguished legal and policy professional with a comprehensive background in law, financial markets, and regulatory policy. She provides advisory services to financial institutions, regulated entities, and start-ups on futures, swaps, securities, and digital assets regulation or litigation. Maggie has gained extensive expertise from her senior policy and regulatory roles at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Federal Reserve.

Maggie previously served as Senior Policy Advisor and the Director of International Engagement, Financial Markets Group, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Before joining the Federal Reserve, she worked at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), where she held multiple roles, including as the Senior Counsel to the Chairman, the Senior Counsel to a Commissioner, Associate Director of the Office of International Affairs, the Senior Counsel to LabCFTC, and Special Counsel in the Division of Market Oversight. At the CFTC, she advised on legal and policy matters, as well as on rulemakings, applications, new products, examinations, and enforcement actions, touching a wide range of issues: designated contract markets, derivatives clearing organizations, swap execution facilities, broker-dealers, asset managers, fintech, cryptocurrencies, and Dodd-Frank Act rules. She served as a deputy to the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), and represented the CFTC in various international forums, including at the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). She also later served as a member of the CFTC's Global Markets Advisory Committee (GMAC).

Maggie was also a large law firm partner in their banking and financial services practice, and an associate at large international law firms on securities and complex civil litigation matters, as well as internal or government investigations.  More recently, she was Chair of the Global Digital Asset and Cryptocurrency Association’s Public Policy and Regulation Committee.  

Orly Grinfeld

Executive Vice President and Head of Clearing Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE)

Mrs. Orly Grinfeld spent the last 5 years as an Executive Vice President and Head of Clearing of Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. 

She also serves as the CEO of Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Clearing House (TASECH), Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Derivative Clearing House (MAOF) and Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Nominee Company (TASENC) - a fully owned subsidiaries that deals with registration, Clearing, Settlement, Custody and operation of securities and derivatives traded on Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange.

Mrs. Grinfeld also holds 20 years of experience in business and financial risk management, serving as the Chief Risk Officer of Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Chief Risk Officer of Israel Railways, and the Head of Business Risks Department of Ernst & Young Israel.

She holds Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Ben-Gurion University and Bachelor of Administration (BA) from Tel Aviv University.

Randy Priem

Markets & Post-Trading Unit Coordinator Belgian Financial Services & Markets Authority (FSMA)

Randy Priem is the coordinator of the markets and post-trading unit at the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) where he supervises - and coordinates a team supervising - the Belgian trading venues, multilateral trading facilities, and central securities depositories.

He is a member of various ESMA standing committees and working groups, such as the markets standing committee, the data standing committee, the European supervisory policy committee, the post-trading working group, the CCP policy committee, and the DLT working group. He further represents the FSMA at the CPMI-IOSCO Steering Group. He is a member of six EMIR colleges of central counterparties, four CCP resolution colleges, and also represents the FSMA at the T2S cooperative oversight college. He often represents Belgium as a national expert at the European Council when new legislation (EMIR, BMR, CSDR, etc.) is drafted and was a member of the Belgian presidency when EMIR 3.0 was drafted.

In addition, he is a finance professor at UBI Business School and Antwerp Management School where he teaches financial and FinTech courses and published in various international academic journals. He holds a PhD from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

Lars-Göran Larsson

Partner Vermiculus

Burkhard Balz

Member of the Executive Board Deutsche Bundesbank

Burkhard Balz has served on the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank since September 2018. He is responsible for the Directorates General Payments and Settlement Systems, Banking and Financial Supervision, Cash Management, Information Technology, General Economic Education, University and International Central Bank Dialogue. 

Mr Balz is Member of the Supervisory Board of the Single Supervisory Mechanism at the European Central Bank. . He is a member of the Eurosystem High-Level Task Force on central bank digital currency. Mr Balz is also a Member of the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures of the Bank for International Settlements. From 2009 up until joining the Bundesbank, Mr Balz, who is a law graduate and trained bank clerk, was a Member of the European Parliament, where he sat on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and served as the financial policy spokesman of the European People’s Party (EPP) between 2014 and 2018. In his role as European Parliament rapporteur, Mr Balz presented reports on, inter alia, Latvia’s accession to the euro area, the Solvency II Directive, and regulations pertaining to the European Supervisory Authorities. From 2014 to 2018, he was a member of the EPP Group Bureau. 

Prior to his membership of the European Parliament, Mr Balz held various positions at Commerzbank AG in Hanover, where he most recently headed the department for institutional clients. 

Froukelien Wendt

Director for CCPs, Independent Member of the CCP Supervisory Committee European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)

Froukelien Wendt is an Independent Member of the CCP Supervisory Committee at the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). In this role, she is responsible for the supervision of third country CCPs and convergence in the supervision of EU CCPs, including CCP stress tests. Previously, she worked at the IMF and led missions in the area of CCPs, central securities depositories and payment systems in the context of IMF Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) and Technical Assistance projects. She also worked at the World Bank as a Senior Securities Settlement Expert and at De Nederlandsche Bank, where she was responsible for oversight of payment and securities settlement systems, and CCPs. Froukelien started her career at Euronext N.V., where she worked in the strategy and cash market development departments. She holds a master in Economics from the RijksUniversiteit Groningen, and a master in Financial and Investment Analysis from the Universiteit van Amsterdam.

Yuji Yamashita

Deputy Commissioner for International Affairs Japan’s Financial Services Agency (JFSA)

Yuji Yamashita is currently the Deputy Commissioner for International Affairs at Japan’s Financial Services Agency (JFSA).

He plays leading roles in various global financial fora, including chairmanship of Joint Committee of APEC’s Asian Regional Fund Passport (ARFP) and Committee of Evaluation of Standards of Legal Entity Identifiers (LEI) at Regulatory Oversight Committee (ROC).

In addition, he is a member of IOSCO Fintech TF Steering Committee, CPMI-IOSCO-BCBS Senior Group on Margin, G20-OECD TF on Consumer Protection and FinCoNet. He is also engaged in international dialogues on Insurances.

Mr. Yamashita started his career at the Bank of Japan (BoJ) in 1993.

He has been engaged in various monetary and prudential policy functions. He also worked at International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) as a project manager to develop accounting standards for Financial Instruments. Before the current position, he was the Chief Representative in Paris of BoJ.

Mr. Yamashita has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from University of Tokyo and Master’s degree of Public Financial Policy from London School of Economics (LSE).

Burak Akan

CCP Director, Takasbank Borsa Istanbul

Burak AKAN joined Takasbank in 2013 as CCP Director. As such, he is responsible for the design and execution of risk, collateral and default management processes for the CCP.

Prior to joining Takasbank, Burak served in banking sector who is responsible from various risk management roles including market risk, liquidity risk, interest rate risk and model risk management.

Before risk management, Akan also worked as Treasurer and Dealer in Turkish and Russian banks.

He holds a bachelor's degree in engineering and a master's degree in economics.

Dr. Clemens Völkert

Chief Risk Officer European Commodity Clearing (ECC)

Clemens is Chief Risk Officer and Member of the Management Board at European Commodity Clearing AG, the largest commodity Central Counterparty (CCP) in the EU with focus on spot & derivatives contracts in power, gas, and emission allowances markets. 

Previously he held several senior risk management positions within Deutsche Börse Group, primarily focusing on the trading & clearing area and covering all key asset classes. 

Clemens has a PhD in finance, a diploma in business administration, and is a holder of the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) designation.

Roberto Bermejo

Head of CCP Supervision & Post-Trading Division Deputy Director Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV)

Roberto is Deputy Director of the post-trading area, in charge of the supervision of CCPs, CSDs and derivative reporting issues. Roberto joined the CNMV in 2018. Since then, Roberto has been involved in the supervision of the Spanish CCP, and he has been the CNMV’s representative in other EU-CCPs’ colleges of supervisors. Roberto participates in EU policy developments regarding post-trading. He has also supervised internal models, both for CCPs and investment firms using advanced models.

Previously, Roberto has worked for entities participating in financial markets and for global advisory firms. Roberto has extensive experience in the fields of risk management, financial instruments valuation and corporate finance.

Richard Wise

Group Chief Risk Officer Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEX)

Richard Wise is the Group Chief Risk Officer of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Limited. Prior to this role, he has worked within risk management in the investment banking industry since 1993, and of note, at JP Morgan for twenty one years where he headed the Global Market Risk Management function.

Dingqiu Zhu

Head of Quantitative Solutions, Quantitative Risk Management Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing (HKEX)

Dingqiu Zhu is the Head of Quantitative Solutions in the Quantitative Risk Management department of Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Limited. Prior to his relocation to Hong Kong, he worked in various major international investment banks in London in numerous quantitative research roles.

Aniket Bhanu

Vice President, NSE Clearing National Stock Exchange of India

Mr. Aniket Bhanu has been associated in various capacities with the National Stock Exchange of India group since 2009. His areas of expertise are risk management, derivatives, regulation and policy and has been instrumental in implementation of several market reforms in the CCP space in India. 

He holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.

John McPartland

Senior Advisor Hidden Road Partners LP

John McPartland is Senior Advisor at Hidden Road Partners, a quantitative investment firm.  He spent the entirety of his professional career in the derivatives industry in the roles of commercial banker, broker, FCM executive, exchange member, CCP executive and until his recent retirement, Senior Policy Advisor in the Financial Markets Group of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.  In that capacity, he participated in influencing public policy germane to high frequency trading, market structure, CCP default waterfall components, and market concentration issues.  He is a graduate from the University of Minnesota and a US Air Force veteran.

Dr. Dermot Turing

Visiting Fellow Kellogg College, Oxford

Dermot Turing was a partner in the international law firm Clifford Chance until 2014, specializing in financial sector regulation, financial market infrastructure and bank failures. He is the author of Clearing and Settlement, now in its third edition, and of many papers and book chapters on CCPs and their regulation. He is a writer on historical aspects of cryptology, a trustee of the Turing Trust and a Visiting Fellow at Kellogg College, Oxford.

Christy Goldsmith Romero

Commissioner U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Commissioner Goldsmith Romero was sworn in as a CFTC Commissioner in March 2022.  The mission of the CFTC is to promote the integrity, resilience, and vibrancy of the U.S. derivatives markets through sound regulation.  Prior to becoming a CFTC Commissioner, Commissioner Goldsmith Romero served for a decade as the Special Inspector General for TARP (SIGTARP). In that role, she led a nationwide federal law enforcement agency and watchdog over TARP.

Commissioner Goldsmith Romero also served on the staff at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  She served on the Executive Staff during the financial crisis, as counsel to SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro and Chairman Christopher Cox. Before that, she served as senior counsel in the SEC’s Enforcement Division.

Ashwini Panse

Chief Risk Officer, North American Clearing; Managing Director, ICE India Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE)

Ashwini Panse is the 2nd Line Chief Risk Officer for the North American clearing houses at ICE. Panse is also the Head of Risk Oversight for ICE Clear Netherlands and ICE Clear Singapore. Panse oversees the risk management framework at the clearing houses and provides expertise, support, and challenge to the management of all financial and non-financial risks.

Panse joined ICE in 2010 and prior to becoming the 2nd Line Chief Risk Officer, Panse served in other leadership roles in Risk, Compliance, and Internal Audit across ICE’s global business units. Panse has served as the Chief Compliance Officer for ICE Trade Vault U.S. and in her Internal Audit role, Panse administered the Global Sarbanes Oxley 404 compliance and testing program and internal audits for ICE’s U.S. subsidiaries. 

Panse is Chair of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) CCP Working Group. She is a Board Member of the FIA Operations America Division, which promotes industry cooperation and exchange of ideas on all topics impacting the U.S. Marketplace. She is also a Board Member and Treasurer at McKenna Farms Therapy Services Inc., a non-profit organization that provides therapeutic programs and resources for children with special needs and their families.

Panse began her career at Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLC, holds an MBA in Finance from Xavier University, Williams College of Business and is a Certified Public Accountant and a Chartered Accountant.

Pui Hoon Loh

Director & Specialist Leader, Markets, Infrastructures & Intermediaries Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

Ms Pui Hoon Loh is a Director & Specialist Leader in the Markets, Infrastructures & Intermediaries Department at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). She has many years of experience in the regulation and supervision of financial market infrastructures, particularly on clearing houses. In her role, she also undertakes the review and formulation of regulatory policies and legislative reforms, to ensure Singapore's regulatory framework for financial market infrastructures remains relevant and appropriate with market and international developments. On the international front, Pui Hoon has been a member of the CPMI-IOSCO Steering Group and CPMI-IOSCO Policy Standing Group and is actively involved in these workstreams.

Dr. Shengwu Du

Senior Economist, Quantitative Risk Analysis Section Federal Reserve Board

Shengwu Du is a Senior Economist in the Board of Governors of the Federal System in Washington D.C. 

Shengwu’ s primary research interests are applied econometrics and quantitative finance, with extensive professional experience in quantitative risk management as well as derivatives pricing. 

Prior to the Board, Shengwu worked as quantitative risk manager for different investment banks in New York City. 

Shengwu received his Ph.D. from the Pennsylvania State University and his master’s degree from Peking University.

Dr. Elaine Zhang

Assistant Professor of Finance IE Business School

Elaine Zhang is an Assistant Professor of Finance at IE Business School. Elaine’s primary research interests are sustainable finance and empirical asset pricing. Her work “ESG Preference, Institutional Trading, and Stock Return Patterns”, which investigates the impact of ESG on stock returns, has been published in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. The paper also won the 2019 AAM-CAMRI Prize in Asset Management, and got the Alternative Risk Premia Research Grant of the Paris–Dauphine House of Finance and Unigestion. In addition, her papers, which study the interaction between sustainable finance and different asset classes, have been presented at major finance conferences such as American Finance Association annual meeting, Western Finance Association annual meeting, and European Finance Association annual meeting. She serves as a referee for Management Science, Journal of Banking and Finance, Bank of Spain and various other Journals. Elaine received her Ph.D. from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and her bachelor’s degree from CUHK Business School. Elaine is a CFA Charterholder and has professional experience as a quant researcher at a hedge fund.

Dr. Alicia Greenwood

Chief Executive Officer, JSE Clear, and Director of Post Trade Services  Johannesburg Stock Exchange

Alicia joined the JSE in February 2016, as Director of the Post Trade Services division, and is responsible for risk management, clearing and guaranteeing the settlement of central order book equity and bond transactions. Alicia is also the CEO of JSE Clear, the central counterparty clearing house (CCP) for listed derivatives in the equities, interest rate, foreign exchange and commodities markets.

Alicia’s business career spans more than 20 years working in management consulting, investment banking and capital markets. Her experience has been acquired at some of South Africa’s leading companies in these fields, including Accenture, Discovery, Standard Bank and the JSE. Alicia has worked extensively in strategy development, risk management, capital management, and clearing and settlement, both in South Africa and across numerous African countries. She has experience in portfolio optimisation and regulatory transformation, and has overseen large-scale business and IT projects, and joint ventures.

Alicia holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Cape Town, having majored in Chemistry and Mathematics, and is published in various scientific journals.

Nancy Doyle

Senior Special Counsel Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)

Ms. Doyle works on international financial policy issues, with a focus on margin, data standardization, and operational resilience.  She is the CFTC representative on the Joint Working Group on Margin and was the US representative on the FSB’s Third Party Risk Workstream.  She has been a leader on international data standardization and interoperability for almost a decade at the CFTC.  She has participated and led in various international regulatory policy teams at IOSCO and the FSB. 

Before joining the Office of International Affairs as a senior special counsel, Nancy Doyle worked in other capacities at the CFTC, including as Commissioner’s legal assistance and has a lead appellate litigator for the CFTC, including litigation defense of the CFTC’s Dodd-Frank rulemakings.

Ms. Doyle is a graduate of Harvard Law School (magna cum laude), Harvard College (mathematics, Phi Beta Kappa), and is a former Assistant United States Attorney (federal prosecutor).  Prior to law school, she worked as a programmer and continues to program recreationally.  She has written a compile from assembly language.  She has taught Complex Derivatives Transactions and other derivatives law courses as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law School.

Vishal Thakkar

Chief Risk Officer Options Clearing Corporation (OCC)

Vishal Thakkar is Chief Risk Officer at OCC, the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization. 

In this role, Mr. Thakkar is responsible for implementing OCC's Risk Management Strategy, which includes Enterprise Risk Management, Third Party Risk Management, Model Risk Management, Strategic Risk, Model Validation and Model Risk Governance areas.

Previously, Mr. Thakkar led the Enterprise Risk Management function for OCC and was responsible for designing a sound risk management framework with processes and systems to conduct risk assessments, support risk management decisions and prepare the company’s risk profile. He previously served as First Vice President of Financial Risk Management (FRM), Risk Advisory Services where under his leadership, FRM defined a transformation roadmap and significantly strengthened the risk and control environment to enhance process effectiveness and meet regulatory requirements. Mr. Thakkar first joined OCC in 2016 as First Vice President, Internal Audit and was responsible for leading Technology and Operations Audits for the company.

From 2004 to 2016, Vishal held internal audit and risk management roles for Southern Company Gas, most recently serving as Director Internal Audit, Corporate/Shared Services and Regulated Operations and prior to that as Senior Manager of Risk Management. Before joining Southern Company Gas, Vishal served in a variety of consulting, operations, and technology roles at Accenture and MCI.

Vishal earned both a bachelor’s degree in information systems and an MBA in entrepreneurship from DePaul University. A member of the Institute of Internal Auditors and ISACA, Vishal has been a regular speaker at industry events. He is a Certified Information Systems Auditor and a Certified Fraud Examiner.

Takeshi Shirakami

Deputy Head of the Secretariat of Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) Bank for International Settlements (BIS)

Takeshi is Deputy Head of the Secretariat of the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI). As Deputy Head, he supports CPMI parent committee and represents the CPMI at various international groups. Areas of his current responsibilities cover: risk management issues in financial market infrastructures (FMIs), including margining practices, CCP financial resources in recovery and resolution, and operational and cyber resilience, and regulatory and supervisory issues in stablecoins and digital innovations.

Before joining the BIS, he served as chief representative in Frankfurt of the Bank of Japan (BoJ) from 2014 until 2016. Within the BoJ he spent many years in the areas related to FMIs, BoJ’s policy and oversight work regarding Japanese and international FMIs. He represented the BoJ at various FMI-related international groups and cross-border cooperative oversight arrangements.

He also led the BoJ’s supervisory team for Japanese banks and broker dealers, and represented the BoJ at supervisory colleges and crisis management groups for G-SIBs.

Earlier in his career he was a junior representative at the BoJ Frankfurt office. From 2008 and 2010 he was seconded to the BIS as a member of the CPSS Secretariat. He studied law at Kyoto University and economics at University of Göttingen.

Iosif Itkin

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Exactpro

Iosif Itkin is the co-founder & CEO of Exactpro, an independent provider of AI-enabled software testing services for financial sector organisations. Founded in 2009, Exactpro employs over 450 specialists. Spearheading Exactpro’s AI Testing practice, Iosif also manages business development and research trading systems reliability & Artificial Intelligence (AI). He holds a MSc degree in Theoretical Physics. 

In his professional career, Iosif has held many technology roles: software developer, performance testing department lead, technology architect, VP of technology – on a number of global financial industry initiatives. Iosif’s expertise at the intersection of high-availability systems and capital markets has enabled him to successfully facilitate technology transformations within exchanges, investment banks and clearing and settlement organisations in London, New York, Milan, Singapore, Sydney and in other major financial centres.

Nandini Sukumar

Chief Executive Officer The World Federation of Exchanges

Nandini Sukumar is the Chief Executive Officer of the World Federation of Exchanges, the global association for exchanges and CCPs. The WFE represents more than 250 exchanges and clearing houses globally, educating stakeholders on the vital role played by market infrastructures in the real economy and as a standard setter, finding the consensus on issues among the global membership. Of its members, 35% are in Asia-Pacific, 45% in EMEA and 20% in the Americas. WFE exchanges are home to 47,919 listed companies, and the market capitalisation of these entities is over $109 trillion; around $137 trillion (EOB) in trading annually passes through WFE members (at end 2020). WFE’s 57 member CCPs collectively ensure that risk takers post some $800bn (equivalent) of resources to back their positions, in the form of initial margin and default fund requirements. Ms. Sukumar is Vice Chair of IOSCO’s Affiliate Members Consultative Committee and Chair of the AMCC’s Sustainability Taskforce.

Dr. Pedro Gurrola Perez

Head of Research The World Federation of Exchanges

Pedro joined the World Federation of Exchanges in October 2019 from the Bank of England, where he led the Financial Market Infrastructures Directorate’s Research Team. He had joined the Bank of England in 2013, after two years at the UK Financial Services Authority. Previously, Pedro spent more than 15 years lecturing and doing research at a range of well-regarded academic institutions, including the University of Barcelona and the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM).

Pedro holds two PhDs: one from the University of Barcelona, Spain, and one from the University of Montpellier, France, and has published across key academic journals, including the Journal of Financial Market Infrastructures, the Journal of Risk, International Finance and the Journal of Futures Markets. His recent work includes research on the economics of distributed ledger technologies (DLT) for securities settlement, on the network structure of settlement fails and on market liquidity risk in CCPs. He has also published research on payment systems, back-testing methodologies and on the structure of interest rate futures markets. In 2007 he received the National Award on Derivatives Research, awarded by the Mexican Derivatives Exchange (MexDer).

Ki-Kyung Kim

President, Management Strategy Division Korea Exchange (KRX)

Ki-Kyung Kim is President at the Management Strategy Division at Korea Exchange, having worked at KRX since 2016, in roles such as Director General of the Market Surveillance Department,  Executive Director of the KOSDAQ Market Division, and Director General of the KOSDAQ Listing Department. Mr. Kim has a Bachelor of Laws from Seoul National University.