Maha El Dimachki

Chief Executive Officer, GFTN Solutions

Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN)

Maha is Chief Executive Officer, GFTN Solutions. GFTN (Global Finance and Technology Network) bridges policy, capital and technology to build resilient, efficient and inclusive ecosystems.

Prior to this Maha served as Centre Head, BIS Innovation Hub Singapore. The centre develops public goods in the technology space to support central banks in how they discharge their roles in a digital economy and improve the financial system using emerging technologies.

In the UK, Maha joined the Financial Conduct Authority to set up the first Payments Department and deliver Open Banking and PSD2. This followed by setting up Early and High Growth Oversight department, leading the FCA's response to the Kalifa review of Fintech. She served as Chief Payments Officer at Pay.UK on secondment from the FCA, responsible for running the payments operations of the UK’s payment operator.

Maha is the author of Fintech Regulation in Practice. A book that provides a clear, hands on guide to the practical considerations that fintechs, banks adopting fintech and other key players in the fintech ecosystem need to take into account when embedding regulation.

She serves as the independent reviewer of the Australian Regulatory Sandbox, appointed by the Australian Treasury.

Maha has a Degree in Commerce from Macquarie University and a Masters in Public Administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Speaking at

4:00–5:30pmTue 23 JunGFTN InsightsRoundtable Room 3, Ground FloorOpen
Empowering Entrepreneurship

The Future of Standard-Setting in Fintech Regulation

GFTN InsightsRoundtable Room 3, Ground FloorOpen
About this session

Countries worldwide are competing to attract fintech investment, talent, and innovation. But understanding the quality of fintech regulation remains a work-in-progress. Are rules and institutions working in lockstep to promote fintech? Are these rules findable, coherent, and comprehensive enough to give firms, consumers, and supervisors genuine confidence? Can they promote innovation, market access as well as economic opportunity?
The Financial Regulatory Futures Index (FRFI) is a joint initiative of the Fintech Foundation and GFTN designed to fill that gap. Structured around five analytical pillars, the FRFI will assess regulatory environments not by perception or reputation, but by reference to verifiable primary sources: statutes, supervisory guidance, licensing frameworks, and enforcement records. Its methodology is being developed by five specialist working groups comprising leading regulators, central bankers, academics, and industry practitioners from over 30 jurisdictions. An Executive Council – comprising globally recognized thought-leaders and experienced policy innovators – will oversee the development of this initiative.
This roundtable will offer one of the first public windows into the emerging draft methodology, including how the Index defines and scores: regulatory clarity and comprehensiveness, consumer protection and market conduct, innovation and market infrastructure, resilience and integrity as well as economic opportunity and market access.
It will open a moderated discussion on the Index's intended policy impact, the trade-offs embedded in any cross-jurisdictional benchmarking exercise, and how the FRFI can best serve as a tool for peer learning and reform rather than as a simplistic league table. Feedback from regulators, practitioners, academics and subject matter experts in this conversation will inform the methodology ahead of its launch at DC Fintech Week in October 2026.
1:15–1:55pmWed 24 JunForum StageKongresssaal, Level 1OpenModerator
Blueprint for Digital Assets

The Infrastructure Gap: What it Actually Takes to Put Assets On-Chain at Scale

Forum StageKongresssaal, Level 1OpenModerator
About this session

The technology is proven. The regulation is arriving. So why aren't tokenised assets mainstream yet? The answer lies not in the rails themselves, but in the institutional plumbing around them: interoperable networks, central bank money that can settle on-chain, and regulatory frameworks that work across jurisdictions simultaneously.
- How can central bank money underpin private tokenisation markets without constraining innovation?
- Can MiCA, the GENIUS Act, and Asia-Pacific frameworks converge enough to allow truly cross-border tokenised asset flows?
3:35–3:50pmWed 24 JunForum StageKongresssaal, Level 1OpenModerator
Blueprint for Digital Assets

Stocktake on the Digital Euro: A Virtual Fireside Chat with Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank

Forum StageKongresssaal, Level 1OpenModerator
- Piero CipolloneMember of the Executive BoardEuropean Central Bank
- Maha El DimachkiChief Executive Officer, GFTN SolutionsGlobal Finance & Technology Network (GFTN)Moderator
About this session

As the European Central Bank advances the Digital Euro towards legal and operational readiness, key design choices today will shape Europe’s payments architecture for decades. In this virtual fireside, Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank will be sharing the latest strategic updates on the Digital Euro initiative.
5:10–5:40pmWed 24 JunForum StageKongresssaal, Level 1OpenModerator
Blueprint for Digital Assets

Introducing the FinTech Regulatory Futures Index: A Global Benchmark for the Future of FinTech Regulation

Forum StageKongresssaal, Level 1OpenModerator
About this session

Every year, trillions of dollars move through fintech markets governed by rules that no one has systematically measured, compared, or ranked across sectors.
At PZF 2026, the Fintech Foundation and GFTN introduce the FinTech Regulatory Futures Index, the first rigorous, evidence-based benchmark that measures regulatory quality across jurisdictions.
The Index aims to function as a public-interest instrument and a call to action for every market that wants to lead. Built with regulators, practitioners, and academics from over 30 countries, the Index is designed to become the definitive global reference point for what good fintech regulation looks like, and what it costs when it falls short.
12:00–1:30pmThu 25 JunGFTN InsightsRoundtable Room 2, Ground FloorOpenModerator
Blueprint for Digital Assets

Building a Practitioner's Guide for Tokenization in Finance: Working Group Members Convening

GFTN InsightsRoundtable Room 2, Ground FloorOpenModerator
About this session

The problems that constrain tokenization at scale do not belong to one working group, one institution, or one regulatory perimeter. Cross-ledger settlement, stablecoin licensing fragmentation, FMI readiness in developing markets, and the legal enforceability of smart contracts are structurally connected with each a precondition for the next, each requiring actors across infrastructure and regulation to work from the same evidence base.
This session brings both working groups together for the first time in person. Working Group 1 (Interoperability and Infrastructure) and Working Group 2 (Regulation, Trust, and Governance) will each present their problem statements before presenting to the Oversight Panel. The purpose is to establish shared understanding of the initiative's full scope, test framing with peers who approach the same challenges from different vantage points, and sharpen the asks that each working group will direct to the Oversight Panel in the session that follows.
About the initiative
GFTN has launched _Tokenization in Finance: Evidence and Implementation Pathways_, a structured, multi-stakeholder initiative convening two working groups drawn from leading financial institutions, infrastructure providers, and market participants to assemble a practitioner-oriented evidence base spanning spanning digital money and payment rails through to tokenized real-world assets, securities, funds, and capital markets infrastructure. At Singapore FinTech Festival in November 2026, the initiative will publish a practitioner guide designed to give financial institutions a structured basis for sequencing their digital asset strategies, and to equip regulators and finance ministries in emerging and developing economies with implementation pathways they can draw on directly.
2:00–3:30pmThu 25 JunGFTN InsightsRoundtable Room 2, Ground FloorOpenModerator
Blueprint for Digital Assets

Building a Practitioner's Guide for Tokenization in Finance: Oversight Panel Convening

GFTN InsightsRoundtable Room 2, Ground FloorOpenModerator
About this session

Tokenization is reshaping financial infrastructure across many economies. The decisions that are being made now on architecture, standards and governance will determine whether that infrastructure serves developed and emerging and developing economies, or leaves some behind. Ensuring that outcome requires senior public sector voices at the centre of these conversations.
This session brings both working groups and the public sector Oversight Panel together for the first time. Working group leads will present their confirmed problem statements on what the evidence shows, and receive feedback and recommendations that working groups will pursue to build the practitioner's guide that will publish at Singapore FinTech Festival in November 2026.
About the initiative
GFTN is launching _Tokenization in Finance: Evidence and Implementation Pathways_, a structured, multi-stakeholder initiative convening two working groups drawn from leading financial institutions, infrastructure providers, and market participants to assemble a practitioner-oriented evidence base spanning spanning digital money and payment rails through to tokenized real-world assets, securities, funds, and capital markets infrastructure. At Singapore FinTech Festival in November 2026, the initiative will publish a practitioner guide designed to give financial institutions a structured basis for sequencing their digital asset strategies, and to equip regulators and finance ministries in emerging and developing economies with implementation pathways they can draw on directly.

Featured speakers

Hosted by

Maha El Dimachki

Speaking at

The Future of Standard-Setting in Fintech Regulation

The Infrastructure Gap: What it Actually Takes to Put Assets On-Chain at Scale

Stocktake on the Digital Euro: A Virtual Fireside Chat with Piero Cipollone, Member of the Executive Board, European Central Bank

Introducing the FinTech Regulatory Futures Index: A Global Benchmark for the Future of FinTech Regulation

Building a Practitioner's Guide for Tokenization in Finance: Working Group Members Convening

Building a Practitioner's Guide for Tokenization in Finance: Oversight Panel Convening