Co-founder and CEO of Blockstream, Dr. Adam Back, invented Hashcash, the proof-of-work algorithm cited by Satoshi Nakamoto in the Bitcoin whitepaper, as the future basis for its mining function. Throughout his two-decade-long vocation as an applied cryptographer and security architect, he has held senior roles with a number of technology companies, including Microsoft, EMC, PI, VMware, and Zero-Knowledge Systems, as well as advised many more companies on cryptography and peer-to-peer finance. Dr. Adam Back holds a computer science Ph.D. in distributed systems from the University of Exeter.

Agustín Carstens served as General Manager of the BIS from 1 December 2017 to 30 June 2025. Under his tenure, the BIS Innovation Hub was created.

Mr Carstens was Governor of the Bank of Mexico from 2010 to 2017. A member of the BIS Board from 2011 to 2017, he was chair of the Global Economy Meeting and the Economic Consultative Council from 2013 until 2017. He also chaired the International Monetary and Financial Committee, the IMF's policy advisory committee from 2015 to 2017.

Mr Carstens began his career in 1980 at the Bank of Mexico. From 1999 to 2000, he was Executive Director at the IMF. He later served as Mexico’s deputy finance minister (2000–03) and as Deputy Managing Director at the IMF (2003–06). He was Mexico's finance minister from 2006 to 2009.Mr Carstens was member of the Financial Stability Board from 2010 to 2025 .

Mr Carstens is a member of the Group of Thirty and recently joined the GFTN International Advisory Board.

Mr Carstens holds an MA and a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago.

Mr. Alvin Tan serves in the Government of Singapore as Minister of State for the Ministry of Trade & Industry, and the Ministry of National Development. Mr. Tan also serves on the board of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

At MTI, he looks after start-ups, tourism, advanced manufacturing as well as trade with Latin America and Africa. He led efforts to sign two landmark free trade agreements with Latin American trade blocs MERCOSUR and the Pacific Alliance, and has been leading efforts on trade and investment deals in Africa.

At MND, his focus is parks and greenery, biodiversity and wildlife management, as well as the built environment sector. He is Minister-in-charge of the Municipal Services Office.

At MAS, Mr. Tan has been driving the development of the financial sector, particularly in the areas of fintech, green finance and financial sector talent development, as well as on AML/CFT initiatives.
Mr. Tan has worked in the private, public and non-profit sectors. Before joining the government as Minister of State, he worked at Goldman Sachs, Facebook and LinkedIn, expanding their business footprint in Southeast Asia.

Mr. Tan holds a First Class Honours in Economics from Sydney University and a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University. He received an International and Global Affairs Fellowship from Harvard’s Belfer Centre of Science and International Affairs.

Andréa M Maechler became Deputy General Manager of the BIS on 1 September 2023.

Ms Maechler was a member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank (SNB) from 2015 until 2023. At the SNB, she was responsible for the Money Market and Foreign Exchange, Asset Management, Banking Operations and Information Technology portfolios.

Prior to joining the SNB, she was Deputy Division Chief in the Global Markets Analysis Division of the International Monetary Fund. She has worked at other international organisations, including the European Systemic Risk Board and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

She was Chair of the Global Foreign Exchange Committee of central banks from December 2021 to June 2023. Ms Maechler has a PhD and a master's degree in International Economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Diploma of Higher Studies (DES) in International Relations from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland.

Antoine Martin, born in 1969, graduated in economics from the University of Lausanne and received his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He began his career with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City in 2001. Four years later he moved to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he went on to hold various leadership positions, for example in the Research and Statistics Group and the Money and Payments Studies Function. He held leadership positions as Senior Vice President from 2016 to 2022, and as Financial Research Advisor on Financial Stability Policy Research from 2022 to 2023.

The Swiss Federal Council appointed Antoine Martin as Member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank with effect from 1 January 2024. He took on the role of Head of Department III (Money Market and Foreign Exchange, Asset Management, Banking Operations and Information Technology, as well as the Singapore branch office) in Zurich. With effect from 1 October 2024, the Federal Council appointed Antoine Martin as Vice Chairman of the Governing Board and he took on the role of Head of Department II (Financial Stability, Cash, Risk Management, Accounting, Controlling, Operational Risk and Security) in Berne.

Antoine Martin is Co-Chair of the Regional Consultative Group for Europe of the Financial Stability Board.

Prof. Dr. Axel A. Weber is President of the Center for Financial Studies, Goethe University Frankfurt. He is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of RAISIN SE, Chairman of the VISA Economic Empowerment Institute, Chairman of the Trilateral Commission Europe and a Member of the Group of Thirty. He also is a Member of the TEMASEK International Advisory Council and Senior Advisor to CVC Advisors Limited and Boston Consulting Group. He previously was Chairman of the Board of Directors of UBS Group AG.

From 2004 to 2011 Weber was President of the Deutsche Bundesbank and a member of the governing council of the European Central Bank. In recent years he has also acted as a member of the steering committee of the European Systemic Risk Board and as a member of the steering committee of the Financial Stability Board. Dr. Weber served as German Governor at the International Monetary Fund. He was a member of the German Council of Economic Experts (2002-2004), of the expert advisory panel to the Deutsche Bundesbank, of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements, of the G7 and the G20 Ministers and Governors, and a member on the Grant Commissioning Panel of the Economic and Social Science Research Council of the United Kingdom.

Brian D. Quintenz is a Board Chairman, Director, investor, and advisor to the world’s most innovative financial technology companies. He has long stood out as an innovative thinker in derivatives, blockchain and DeFi and was one of the earliest leaders in Washington to recognize the value of event contracts and crypto networks.

Quintenz has been a Board member of KalshiEx, the CFTC-regulated futures exchange of Kalshi, since 2021. He also currently serves as: the Chair of the Board of Next Level Derivatives, which is innovating new Treasury derivatives, a Director on the Board of the publicly traded Sui Group (SUIG), and an advisor to Ubyx, a tokenized money acceptance network. Previously, Quintenz was the Global Head of Policy for a16z crypto, the crypto venture fund of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), where he translated between the crypto and policy communities.

Prior to joining a16z, Quintenz was nominated by President Trump to serve as majority commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and, in August 2017, was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He served four years in his role at the agency until stepping down in August of 2021.

Burkhard Balz, born in 1969, has served on the Bundesbank’s Executive Board since September 2018 and is responsible for the Directorates General Payments and Settlement Systems, Cash Management, Digital Euro and International Central Bank Dialogue. 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. Since January 2024 he is alternate member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements.
From 2009 up until joining the Deutsche Bundesbank, Mr Balz was a Member of the European Parliament. Prior to this he held various positions at Commerzbank AG in Brussels and Hanover.

Carolyn Rogers was appointed Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada in December 2021 for a seven-year term.

Prior to her appointment, Ms. Rogers served as Secretary General of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. From 2016 to 2019, she was Assistant Superintendent, Regulation Sector at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, where she was responsible for policy-related functions.

Ms. Rogers was Superintendent and Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Institutions Commission of British Columbia from 2010 to 2016, and she chaired the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators and the Canadian Credit Union Prudential Supervisors’ Association.

Christoph König (*1977) is Deputy State Secretary and Head of the Planning and Strategy Division at the State Secretariat for International Finance SIF of the Ministry of Finance, Switzerland.
Between 2014 and 2023 he held various management positions at the State Secretariat for International Finance, covering areas such as financial market analysis, bilateral relations as well as policy and strategy. Before joining SIF, Christoph König worked as senior expert for international affairs at the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA (2012-2014) and as diplomatic Counsellor for financial services, internal market and competition at the Swiss mission to the European Union in Brussels (2010-2012). From 2006 to 2010, he worked as a trade negotiator for trade in services at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO.
Christoph König holds a degree in political science from the University of Bern. He studied in Bern, Paris and Geneva

Daniela Stoffel (born in 1968) took up her role as State Secretary for International Finance at the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) on 1 March 2019. 

In 1998, Daniela Stoffel entered the diplomatic service of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). In 2005, she took over as Head of Public Relations and Culture at the Swiss Embassy in Washington D.C. and in August 2009 she moved to the Swiss Embassy in Berlin as Head of Economic and Financial Affairs. There she was appointed Deputy Head of Mission in 2012. In 2015, Daniela Stoffel assumed a staff function in the General Secretariat of the OECD in Paris. 

From 2015, Daniela Stoffel was on detachment to SIF with the title of Ambassador, latterly as Head of Political Staff. From 2016, she was also the Diplomatic Advisor to the Head of the Federal Department of Finance (FDF). In these functions, Daniela Stoffel was involved in safeguarding and dealing with current financial policy issues and challenges and in the corresponding international negotiations and contacts. 

Daniela Stoffel graduated from the University of Zurich in 1992 with a degree in Philosophy, Economics and German Linguistics. Accompanying her work as a University Assistant at the Institute of Philosophy of the University of Zurich, she wrote her thesis in 1996. She is a citizen of Winterthur, in the canton of Zurich, and is the mother of an adult daughter.

Dante Disparte is the Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy and Operations for Circle, a financial technology firm and the issuer of the world’s leading regulated digital currencies. In this role, he leads global strategy and operations, market expansion, regulatory policy, public affairs and corporate communications. Dante serves on the board of the Atlantic Council, and The Economic Club of Washington, D.C.

Prior to joining Circle, Dante was a founder of the Libra Association and has more than two decades of experience as an entrepreneur, business leader and global risk expert, most recently as founder and chairman of Risk Cooperative. Dante served as an appointee on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Advisory Council, the U.S. federal emergency response agency.

Dante is a frequent speaker and commentator on business and political issues shaping the world. His views on risk, economic competitiveness and technology are regularly featured in leading media and publications such as Harvard Business Review, BBC, Forbes, and Diplomatic Courier, where Dante serves on the editorial advisory board.

Dante is a graduate of Harvard Business School and holds an MSc. in Risk Management from the NYU Stern School of Business and a B.A. in International and Intercultural Studies from Goucher College, from which he received the highest alumni achievement award for public service. He is the co-author of “Global Risk Agility and Decision Making” (Macmillan, 2016) and was recognized as one of the 40 leaders under 40 by the Washington Business Journal and in the inaugural Powermeter 100 list. Dante is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the World Economic Forum, and the Bretton Woods Committee.

Elif Bilgi Zapparoli is head of International Client Strategy. In this role, Elif leverages her long-standing relationships around the world to ensure connectivity and consistency in delivering the firm to our clients and develops strategic business initiatives.

The role is a franchise function, covering both banking and markets clients and bringing the firm together, such as in Sovereign Solutions Group and International Analytics, with the objective of adding strategic value to clients and utilizing the full might of our platform.

Elif is a member of Bank of America’s Management Committee, International Management Committee and the Global Corporate & Investment Banking (GCIB) Executive Committee. She is based in Paris.

Prior to this position, Elif served as co-head of Global Capital Markets at BofA Securities, the institutional broker dealer business of Bank of America. In this role, she was responsible for leading four primary businesses – Equity Capital Markets, Investment Grade Capital Markets and Debt Advisory, Leveraged Finance and Rates and Currencies Solutions. Her earlier roles included serving as co-head of Asia Pacific GCIB from 2015 to 2018, head of Investment Banking coverage in Central-Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa, and country executive for Turkey.

Elif served from 2009 to 2019 as a member of the Supervisory Board of OMV Aktiengesellschaft. She was a trustee at Robert College from 2006 to 2022 and is on the Global Advisory Council of Harvard University.

She has been recognized by Barron's as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance in 2022; by American Banker as one of the Most Powerful Women in Finance for the fourth consecutive year in 2023; and by the World Economic Forum as one of the 100 Global Leaders for Tomorrow in 2004.

Elif holds a Master of Business Administration from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and international relations from Brown University and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Emma Pecenicic is Head of Digital Assets Distribution at Fidelity International, where she leads the firm’s global strategy, development, and commercialisation of digital asset products and Web3-enabled capabilities. Based in Hong Kong, Emma plays a central role in shaping Fidelity International’s approach to crypto investment products, fund tokenisation, and next-generation digital asset solutions across Europe and Asia.

Emma joined Fidelity International in 2021 as Head of Digital Propositions and Partnerships Asia ex Japan. Since 2023, she has led global distribution efforts for digital assets, supporting the commercialisation of Fidelity International’s Bitcoin spot strategy and the development of tokenised fund capabilities.

Prior to joining Fidelity, Emma spent over a decade at BNP Paribas Asset Management. From 2017, she was part of the firm’s global digital transformation team, where she designed and led the implementation of the Augmented Investments Programme, driving the adoption of artificial intelligence, blockchain, and advanced technologies across investment processes and operating models. She has been actively involved in digital assets and tokenisation initiatives since 2018. Earlier in her career, Emma was an Investment Specialist in the European Equities team in Paris before relocating to Hong Kong in 2012, where she specialised in China RMB capabilities and Indonesian equities for international investors.

Emma is an active contributor to the global fintech and digital asset community. She has been involved with the FinTech Association of Hong Kong since 2017, serving as Co-Chair of the Blockchain Committee from 2020 to 2022 and as a board member since. She is also a founding member of W3W, a non-profit organisation dedicated to supporting and advancing women in the Web3 and digital assets industry.

Emma holds an MSc in Financial Management and a Diplome des Grandes Ecoles with a major in Financial Analysis from EDHEC Business School in France.

Giuliano Benjamin Clark leads product for Agentic Payments at Amazon. With 12+ years at Amazon, he brings experience across global product leadership and general management roles spanning Italy, Luxembourg, and now the United States. Over his career he has tackled hard problems across Amazon's retail and marketplace businesses, EU VAT compliance, and payments. Giuliano is focused on driving payments innovation at scale, operating at the intersection of technology and commerce to discover and build new and delightful customer experiences. He brings a forward-looking perspective on how transformational innovations like AI are redefining how people discover, decide, and buy.

Ian Rogers has spent his career exploring and innovating at the intersection of music, artists, and the technology, currently serving as Chief Human Agency Officer at Ledger, the world leader in digital asset security for consumers and enterprises, which creates the iconic Ledger signers, Ledger Wallet, and Ledger Enterprise.

Prior to joining Ledger, he spent five years as Chief Digital Officer at LVMH, where he was responsible for building group-level digital excellence and accelerating digital transformation for LVMH maisons. Ian is also renowned for his work in the music industry, where he was the CEO of Beats Music and GM of Music at both Apple and Yahoo!.

Ian Rogers also built some of the earliest music-related websites in the early 90s, including Winamp.com, and has been working with Beastie Boys since 1993.

With over 13 years of international experience in financial and legal services, Mr. Kizenevič has served as Senior Vice President at Citibank (Citigroup) in London since 2021, responsible for risk management related to new investment products and services across the EMEA region. From 2018 to 2021, he was Vice President at Citi Handlowy (Citigroup) in Warsaw, working as Senior Risk Officer and Acting Deputy Chief Risk Officer. Between 2015 and 2018 he worked at HSBC Bank Polska S.A. in Warsaw as Corporate Governance and Strategic Projects Analyst, and from 2012 to 2015 served as a lawyer at Varul in Vilnius.

He holds a Master’s in Law from Vilnius University and a Master’s in Finance and Accounting from the Warsaw School of Economics, and has completed internships at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, the University of Cambridge, and the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

As Vice-Minister of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania, Mr. Kizenevič oversees financial markets policy, Lithuania’s European Union financial affairs, and international affairs.

Jochen is EMEA Head of Financial Technology at NVIDIA, the globally leading accelerated computing and AI platform company. He has spent the last 25 years in various roles on the topic of AI in financial services. He works with executives, data scientists, developers, and partners in the global NVIDIA ecosystem. Jochen is a financial data scientist and received his degree and Ph.D. from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Before NVIDIA he worked as a consultant, entrepreneur, and researcher with asset managers, banks, insurance companies, and central banks.

Justin Slaughter is the VP of Regulatory Affairs at Paradigm. Prior to joining Paradigm, Justin was Director of the office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs and Senior Advisor to Acting Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Allison Herren Lee. Justin has also served as Chief Policy Advisor and Special Counsel to former Commissioner Sharon Bowen at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and General Counsel to Senator Edward J. Markey. Justin has also served as a consultant in private practice focusing on fintech and smaller technology companies, and he began his career as a law clerk to Judge Jerome Farris on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Justin has a B.A. from Columbia University and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

Karin Keller-Sutter was born in 1963 and is from the Canton of St. Gallen. She attended school in Wil and Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Karin Keller-Sutter is a trained translator/interpreter and secondary school teacher. Between 1989 and 2000 she worked as a freelance translator, and also taught at a vocational school.

Karin Keller-Sutter began her political career in 1992 as a member of Wil town council. In 1996 she was elected to the cantonal parliament of St. Gallen. In 2000 she entered the cantonal government of St. Gallen where she headed the Justice and Security Department. In 2011 Karin Keller-Sutter was elected to the Council of States where she represented the canton of St. Gallen. She held the presidency of the Council of States in 2017/2018.

Prior to her election to the Federal Council, Karin Keller-Sutter held a variety of positions: chair of the board of Pensimo Management AG; president of the board of trustees of the Pensimo Investment Foundation; vice president of the St. Gallen Foundation for International Studies; board member of Bâloise Insurance Group and the ASGA pension fund in St. Gallen; president of the Swiss Retail Federation, and board member of the Swiss Employers Association. Between 2012 and 2016 she was also a board member of the NZZ Media Group. Following her election to the Federal Council in 2018, Karin Keller-Sutter stepped down from all of these posts.

Lawrence Calcano is the Chairman and CEO of iCapital. Since 2013, he has led the strategic vision and transformed the growth strategy, establishing iCapital as a leading global financial technology company shaping the future of global investing for financial advisors, wealth managers, asset managers, and other industry participants. Under Mr. Calcano’s leadership, iCapital now services more than $1 trillion in client assets on its platform across more than 2,100 funds and supports 118,000 financial professionals.
His vision and thought leadership continue to shape the industry, earning recognition as one of The World’s Most Influential Decision Makers by The Wall Street Journal (2024), the 2024 MMI Industry Leader, a 2023 ThinkAdvisor Luminaries honoree, and a three-time member of InvestmentNews’ Hot List.
Prior to joining iCapital, Lawrence was a Partner and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, where he co-led the Global Technology Banking Group and advised on technology financing, M&A, and merchant banking for internet, digital, e-commerce, software, services, and hardware clients. He began his career at Morgan Stanley. Lawrence also serves as a long-time board member of Vibrant Emotional Health. He holds a BA from Holy Cross and an MBA from Dartmouth’s Tuck School, where he graduated as a Tuck Scholar.

Mr Leong Sing Chiong was appointed as Deputy Managing Director for Markets and Development on 1 February 2021. He oversees the Markets & Investment, Development & International, FinTech & Innovation, as well as Sustainability Groups. Prior to this, Mr Leong served as Assistant Managing Director overseeing the Monetary & Domestic Markets Management Department and the Reserves Management Department since June 2018. He also served as Assistant Managing Director of the Development and International Group from 2013-2018.

Mr Leong began his MAS career with the Reserves Management Department in 1993 and served as Staff Assistant to the Managing Director from 1997-1998. In 1999, he joined the Monetary Management Division and was responsible for the implementation of MAS’ monetary policy and money market operations. Thereafter, Mr Leong was appointed Chief Representative of MAS’ London Representative Office from 2002-2004. Mr Leong spent six years with the International Department from 2004-2010 and was appointed as the Executive Director of Financial Centre Development Department from 2010-2013.

Mr Leong is a recipient of the Public Administration Medal (Silver). He holds a B.Sc Economics (Monetary Economics) from the London School of Economics and is married with two children.

Marco Kessler joined SDX in October 2018 and has been a core contributor since the early days of the platform. Following the integration of SDX into SIX in 2025, Marco serves as Head Product and Business Development for Digital Assets at SIX, where he is responsible for shaping product strategy and driving commercial growth across the digital assets portfolio. As of August 2025,
Marco also serves as Head of the Management Board of SDX AG.

Marco brings more than 14 years of experience in capital markets and digital transformation. Prior to joining SDX, he worked at Accenture, where he played a key role in large-scale digital transformation programs for global Swiss banks, with a particular focus on wealth management, advisory, and core banking.

His expertise spans management and technology consulting, business architecture for financial services, and IT strategy, with a strong emphasis on innovation in financial market infrastructures.

Since joining SDX, Marco has been instrumental in building and scaling the platform and in advancing the adoption of digital assets within regulated capital markets.

With a deep understanding of financial markets and a strong product and business mindset, Marco continues to play a central role in the development of SIX’s digital assets offering.

Maria Luís Albuquerque is currently the European Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union. She is a highly experienced Portuguese economist and politician, best known for her role as Minister of Finance in Portugal from 2013 to 2015. During her tenure, she played a critical role in managing the country's financial crisis. Prior to her position as finance minister, Albuquerque held various key positions in the public sector, including Head of Issuing and Markets at the Portuguese Treasury and Debt Management Agency. After leaving politics, she continued her career in the private sector, contributing her expertise in finance and economic policy to international organizations and advisory roles. Her professional experience reflects a deep understanding of fiscal management, economic reform, and European financial systems.

Marlene Amstad serves as Chair of the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) and as Chair of the SupTech Forum of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). She brings more than three decades of expertise at the intersection of finance and technology across Asia, the United States, and Europe, with a particular focus on how data and technology are reshaping central banking and financial supervision. Her previous roles include positions at the Swiss National Bank, the Bank for International Settlements, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. She spent nearly a decade in Asia, where she coordinated the Asian Bond Fund initiative at the BIS in Hong Kong and served as an asset management advisor to more than ten Asian central banks. In Shenzhen, she served as Co-Director of the FinTech Center at the Shenzhen Finance Institute, where she worked at the intersection of finance and emerging technologies and saw first-hand how quickly digital finance can reshape daily life. She is co-editor and co-author of the book CBDC and FinTech in Asia. Marlene Amstad is an Honorary Professor at the University of Bern and a Senior Fellow at Harvard University.

Masashi Watanabe is a Managing Director, Deputy Head of Digital Strategy Division and Head of Digital Asset in MUFG Bank, leading the Digital Asset Business Development team based in Tokyo, Japan.

He has been involved in the bank’s business development for more than 25 years, including Transaction Banking, IT & Payments and Digitalization area, having worked abroad in London and Bangkok.

Prior to his current role, he took part in developing a payment platform utilizing blockchain technology in Tokyo.

Michael Jefferson is Head of Financial Services Public Policy for Europe, Middle East and Africa at AWS. Michael leads on policy and engagement for issues relating to adoption and use of cloud across the finance sector, with a focus on developments relating to operational resilience and AI. Before joining AWS, he led on capital markets policy at the Investment Association and prior to that at UK Finance, representing the UK-based financial services industry. He was head of Public Policy EMEA at Nomura and started his career as a UK civil servant covering international trade and business.

Mikkel Grønlykke is President of Banking Circle Group, based in London. He leads the Group’s global strategy, growth ambitions and operational performance. A seasoned international banking executive who joined the business from Citi, Mikkel is driving Banking Circle’s next phase of expansion, cementing its position as a leading financial infrastructure partner to banks and regulated financial institutions worldwide.
As President, Mikkel spearheads the Group’s international growth agenda, working closely with clients, regulators and strategic partners to accelerate innovation and strengthen Banking Circle’s global footprint. He is focused on scaling the organisation at pace, enhancing its product and service capabilities, and embedding robust governance and risk management across all markets.
Mikkel brings more than 24 years of international banking experience, with a track record of building and leading high-performing teams. Prior to joining Banking Circle, Mikkel held a number of senior leadership roles at Citi, most recently serving as EMEA Corporate Banking Head, where he led corporate banking activities across the region.

Natia Turnava has been the Chair of the Board and the Governor of the National Bank of Georgia since February 2025. She has been a member of the NBG Board since June 2022. She served as the First Vice-Governor and Acting Governor of the National Bank of Georgia from June 2023 to February 2025. Prior to joining the NBG Board, in 2019-2022 Natia Turnava held the position of Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, having been a Deputy Minister in 2018-2019. Prior to that, she was the Deputy Executive Director of the Partnership Fund for five years. In 2006-2013, Natia Turnava was a member of the Board of Directors of Georgian Industrial Group (GIG), Ltd; General Director and a Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Georgian International Energy Corporation Ltd. Earlier, in 2000-2005, she served as the First Deputy Minister of Economy of Georgia. An economist by profession, she holds a Ph.D. in economics. She also earned her Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Cumbria, Great Britain, in 2014. Throughout her career, she has served as a lecturer at several higher education institutions.

Paolo Ardoino is the Chief Executive Officer of Tether, the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, with more than $200 billion in assets and 585 million users globally. A sci-fi enthusiast, he learned coding at the age of 8 and developed a strong background in distributed systems, highly scalable and resilient infrastructures, and cryptography.


Paolo operates at the forefront of financial and technological innovation, driving Tether’s strategy, vision, and expansion into digital assets, inclusive financial services, peer-to-peer telecommunications, AI platforms for infinite intelligence, and brain-computer interface research.

Under his leadership, Tether is accelerating the global push for financial freedom and technological sovereignty. His career has been defined by a relentless focus on building resilient infrastructure, advancing economic freedom, and pioneering a decentralized, stable, AI-powered future.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paoloardoino?originalSubdomain=uk
Twitter: https://twitter.com/paoloardoino?lang=en

Philip is the Global Head of Quantum Technologies at HSBC, where he leads the Quantum Technologies team and the bank’s Quantum Threat Programme. Phil is driving the adoption of new and emerging technologies to serve customers better, build competitive advantage and strengthen cyber resilience. Phil also sits on the Quantum Strategic Advisory Board for the UK Government. He has a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Cambridge, and delivered the world’s first demonstration of telecom fibre-based quantum key distribution using single photons from a quantum dot.

Piero Cipollone has been a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank since 1 November 2023. He is responsible for the Directorate General International and European Relations, the Directorate General Market Infrastructure and Payments and the Directorate Banknotes. He also chairs the Eurosystem High-Level Task Force on Digital Euro, the Euro Retail Payments Board and the Euro Cyber Resilience Board for pan-European Financial Infrastructures. Before joining the ECB, Mr Cipollone was Deputy Governor of the Banca d’Italia and a member of the Board of the Italian Institute for the Supervision of Insurance. He also served as a member of the Coordination Group for the Cross-border payments programme at the Bank for International Settlements. He previously served as an Executive Director on the Board of the World Bank Group. Mr Cipollone is the author of several books. His papers have been published in international journals such as the American Economic Review, the Journal of the European Economic Association and the Journal of Policy Modeling.

René Michau is a visionary leader in digital finance, serving as the Global Head of Digital Assets at Standard Chartered Bank, where he spearheads the bank’s innovation and delivery of secure digital asset solutions for institutional clients. Based in Singapore, René plays a key role in shaping the future of finance by integrating cryptocurrencies, tokenization, and stablecoins into the bank’s ecosystem.

Since joining Standard Chartered in 2016, René has held several influential positions, including Head of Fintech Client Advisory where he established the Fintech Banking business within CIB.

His expertise in fintech, crypto and digital payments is backed by an extensive career across major banks, including HSBC, ANZ, and National Australia Bank, where he led groundbreaking projects such as the launch of a cloud-based merchant platform and the development of a carbon trading capability.

René’s leadership extends beyond banking, as he is deeply embedded in the global fintech and crypto communities. He co-chairs the Global Digital Finance (GDF) Financial Institutions Crypto Working Group and the Institute of International Finance (IIF) Digital Assets Forum, driving industry-wide conversations on the future of digital assets. He is also an active member of the Digital Asset Markets sub-committee within the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Global Markets Advisory Committee, influencing regulatory discussions at the highest level.

A former officer in the Australian Army, René brings a disciplined and strategic approach to leadership. His passion for fintech goes beyond innovation—he is a strong advocate for empowering women in crypto and fintech, actively championing diversity and inclusion in the industry.

René is not only shaping Standard Chartered’s digital asset strategy—he is helping define the future of digital finance globally.

Roman Studer has an in-depth knowledge of the financial industry and many years’ experience as a senior manager and lecturer on economic policy and the financial markets.

He was Head Governmental Affairs Switzerland at UBS from 2018 to mid-2023, with a remit covering all regulatory and economic policy developments in Switzerland of relevance to the bank. Prior to that, from 2012 to 2017, he was Chief Operating Officer of the UBS Center for Economics in Society in the University of Zurich’s Department of Economics. The Center promotes economic research as well as dialogue between academia, business, politics and the broader public.

Roman Studer studied politics, economics and economic history at the University of Zurich as well as at Oxford University, where he obtained a PhD in economic history and also taught and researched. He was an Assistant Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and has been a lecturer at the University of St. Gallen since 2013. His first post in the private sector was as a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group, where his responsibilities included advising multinational financial institutions.

Roman Studer has been CEO of the SBA since August 2023.

Sarah Breeden became Deputy Governor for Financial Stability on 1 November 2023. She is a member of the Monetary Policy Committee, Financial Policy Committee, Prudential Regulation Committee and the Bank’s Court of Directors. She has specific responsibility within the Bank for financial stability, the supervision of financial market infrastructures, international issues, central bank digital currency and fintech.

Sarah also leads the Bank of England’s work on climate change, domestically and internationally, a role she has held since 2016. She has been a Steering Group member of the international central bank and supervisors’ Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) since its inception in 2017, and chaired its macrofinancial workstream from 2018 until early 2022.

Sarah joined the Bank in 1991. Prior to her current role, Sarah was the Executive Director for Financial Stability Strategy and Risk and a member of the Financial Policy Committee (2021-2023). Previously, she was the Executive Director for UK Deposit Takers Supervision (2019-2021), responsible for the supervision of the UK’s banks, building societies and credit unions, and Executive Director for International Banks Supervision (2015-2021), responsible for supervision of the UK operations of

international banks. Before that, Sarah held a variety of roles, including leading the design and risk management of financial market operations undertaken by the Bank during the financial crisis, and then leading the Bank’s work to support the transition of prudential regulation of banks and insurers from the Financial Services Authority to the Bank.

Sarah has an MA in Economics from Cambridge University and an MSc in Finance from the London Business School.

She is a trustee of the Education Endowment Foundation.

Sergio P. Ermotti has been Group CEO of UBS Group AG and President of the Executive Board of UBS AG since April 2023. He was already the Group CEO of the firm from 2011 to 2020. He re-joined UBS from Swiss Re, where he was Chairman of the Board of Directors until April 2023. Prior to joining UBS in 2011, he was at UniCredit Group where from 2007 to 2010 he served as Group Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Head of Corporate & Investment Banking and Private Banking, prior to that he served as Head of the Markets & Investment Banking Division. Between 1987 and 2004, he held various positions at Merrill Lynch & Co. in the areas of equity derivatives and capital markets. He became Co-Head of Global Equity Markets and a member of the Executive Management Committee for Global Markets & Investment Banking in 2001.

Shriyanka Hore is Managing Director, Swift Corporate Office and is Global Head of Industry Engagement and Insights. In this role she leads the organization’s strategic dialogue with policymakers, market infrastructures and the wider global financial ecosystem.

Shriyanka represents the Swift community in multiple forums and works across the industry to achieve coordinated and tangible impact towards driving efficiency, trust and resiliency in interconnected global markets . She is responsible for policy dialogue and strategic public-private industry initiatives and developing insights that shape industry outcomes and strengthen the collective resilience and inclusiveness of the global financial system.

In the past, Shriyanka led Swift's Market Infrastructures, Communities and Standards Services function and was responsible for product design, delivery and operations of over 235+ market infrastructures and the tools and translation services that supported the adoption and implementation of ISO20022.

A payments expert and technology leader, Shriyanka has held key leadership roles across big tech and consulting with roles spanning product design, strategy , delivery, consulting and sales.

She also serves on the boards of Swift India, Emerging Payments Asia and London Women’s Forums and serves on the CPMI PIE Taskforce and LRS taskforces and other industry groups currently shaping key industry initiatives.

Simone is the CEO of Elliptic and serves to guide its vision to create a freer, fairer, and safer financial system for all. Having seen first-hand the challenges banks face detecting financial crime during her tenure at Deutsche Bank and Kroll, she became inspired by the possibilities presented by blockchain technology and specifically, the opportunity to significantly improve the detection and disruption of illicit activity when fund movements are transparent and traceable. Simone is a leading voice on financial crime prevention and compliance in crypto and a champion for an inclusive crypto compliance community.

Steven Maijoor joined the Executive Board of De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) on 1 April 2021. As of 1 February 2024 he is also Chair of Supervision. Steven's remit includes supervision of banks, supervison policy and legal services. Furthermore, he is a member of the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Board of Supervisors of the European Banking Authority. He is also a member of the Trustees of the IFRS Foundation.
Before joining DNB's Executive Board, Steven was Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), from 2011-2021. Between 2004 and 2011 he was a managing director at the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM). Prior to that he was Professor (1994-2004) and Dean (2001-2004) at the School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University.
Steven graduated from the University of Groningen with a degree in business economics and obtained a PhD in the same subject from Maastricht University in 1991.
Steven was born in Hong Kong (1964).

Stuart Alderoty is the Chief Legal Officer at Ripple, overseeing the legal, compliance and regulation departments. Stuart brings more than 30 years of legal experience to the role with expertise in financial services and regulatory affairs. He’s been General Counsel and part of the executive leadership teams at CIT Group and HSBC North America Holdings. Stuart also was Managing Counsel at American Express where he served on the leadership team of the President and CEO of American Express’ Consumer Card Business. Stuart began his career in private practice and was a partner with the international law firm of LeBouef, Lamb, Greene and MacRae where he specialized in complex litigation.

Sunil Sabharwal is a highly successful, experienced fintech executive, and currently is an Operating Partner with the Blackstone Growth Equity Fund. In addition to Securitize, he is also on the boards of Thunes, TookiTaki (both Singapore) and the newly established Botswana Sovereign Wealth Fund. Mr Sabharwal was Chairman of Earthport, a regulated cross-border payments company, which he sold to Visa. He also served as the US board member at the IMF across two administrations, a position requiring Senate confirmation, and received US Treasury’s Distinguished Service Award. Mr Sabharwal was also Chairman of Ogone, a leading European payment services company, subsequently sold to Ingenico. Before setting up his own firm, he had a career with GE Capital, First Data Corporation, the EBRD, Coopers and Lybrand and GTE.
Mr Sabharwal has a deep engagement with the Olympic movement as a civic leader, and is currently President of the International Fair Play Committee, one of the longest standing International Olympic Committee recognized organizations, is member of the Executive Board of World Athletics, and previously served in the same function at the International Fencing Federation (FIE).

Thiébaut Meyer currently serves as Director, Office of the CISO, Google Cloud.
Before joining Google, Thiébaut worked for several public institutions in France, including the national cybersecurity agency (ANSSI), the French National Assembly and the French Presidency, where he served as the CISO and DPO. He has been a visiting lecturer at several institutions and contributed as an expert to some European Commission programs.
Thiébaut holds an engineering degree in telecommunications.

Tim is the Managing Director of Visa Payments Limited and Currencycloud, Visa’s regulated money movement businesses supporting domestic and cross‑border payments. He also serves as VP, Global Head of Strategic Initiatives & Execution for Visa Direct, where he leads core expansion and growth initiatives. Prior to Visa, Tim spent around 15 years across financial services and technology, including leadership roles in capital markets, payments, and consulting.

Todd Fox is President of the Visa Economic Empowerment Institute, a global center for research on financial innovation and public policy. In this role, Todd leads efforts to develop data-driven insights and practical tools that help financial institutions and policymakers navigate an increasingly complex political and regulatory environment. 

With more than 20 years of leadership experience across government and industry, Todd brings a multidisciplinary perspective to the study of payments and financial technology.  He partners with academic experts, industry practitioners, and policymakers from around the world to study the forces shaping the future of commerce. Todd is also actively engaged in initiatives to expand financial access and enhance cross-border payments.  He serves on the board of the DC Fintech Foundation and represents Visa on a number of international committees, including the Financial Stability Board’s Legal, Regulatory, and Supervisory Taskforce. He is a frequent commentator on payments and geopolitics and is the host of the Policy Sandbox podcast. 

Prior to joining Visa in 2012, was Principal Advisor for External Affairs at Rio Tinto — the global natural resources company. He also held key roles at the United States Department of Commerce and served as an advisor in the Office of the U.S. Executive Director at the Inter-American Development Bank. Todd studied economics as a Fulbright Scholar at McGill University. He holds an MA in international affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. 

Tom is Executive Director, Fintech and Payments Innovation at the Bank of England.

Tom leads the Bank’s strategy on frontier technologies and their implications for the financial system and economy. This work focuses on artificial intelligence, distributed ledger technology, and quantum computing. Tom also leads the Bank's work on payments innovation, across retail, wholesale, and cross border payments.

Tom has a breath of experience in finance, regulation, international policy, and technology strategy. His previous roles at the Bank include Director of Fintech, Head of International Policy and Strategy, Head of Division in Prudential Policy and time as a Senior Manager responsible for the supervision of major international firms.

He was educated at the London School of Economics.

Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli became Head of the BIS Innovation Hub on 1 March 2026. As Head of the Innovation Hub, he is a member of the Bank's Executive Committee.
Prior to joining the BIS, Mr Mancini-Griffoli was an Assistant Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In this role he was responsible for payments, currencies and financial market infrastructures including digital money and finance. In former roles, he led work on monetary policy and central banking operations. Prior to joining the IMF, Mr Mancini-Griffoli was a senior economist in the Research and Monetary Policy Division of the Swiss National Bank, where he advised the Board on quarterly monetary policy decisions. Earlier in his career, he worked in the private sector at Goldman Sachs, the Boston Consulting Group and technology startups in Silicon Valley. Mr Mancini-Griffoli holds a PhD from the Graduate Institute in Geneva, as well as degrees from the London School of Economics and Stanford University.

Ulrik Nødgaard, member of the Board of Governors of Danmarks Nationalbank since 15 August 2024.

Before taking upon the position as Governor, Mr Nødgaard has held a number of leading positions such as CEO of Finance Denmark, Director General of the Danish Financial Supervisory and Deputy Permanent Secretary, Financial Affairs, Ministry of Economics and Business Affairs.

He is a member of the Danish Systemic Risk Council and Chairman of the Danish Payments Council.

He has graduated with a Master of Science (Economics) cand. oecon. from University of Aarhus and has an Economics MSc from the University of Warwick.