Speakers

Alina Aldambergen

Chairman of the Management Board, Kazakhstan Stock Exchange JSC (KASE)

Alina Aldambergen is Chairman of Management Board, Kazakhstan Stock Exchange JSC since 2016. Previous positions were Deputy Chairman of Management Board of JSC "National Managing Holding "Baiterek" (2013-2016), Deputy General Director, General Director of Samuryk-Kazyna Finance LLP (2011-1013), Deputy Chairman of Kazakhstan's Agency for Regulation and Surveillance of the Financial Market and Financial Institutions (2008-2011), Deputy Chairman of Kazakhstan's Agency for Regulation of Activities of the Regional Financial Center of Almaty (2006-2008), Deputy Chairman of Management Board of JSC "SJSB "ABN AMRO Bank Kazakhstan" (2005-2006), Chairman of Management Board, member of Board of Directors at the company for investment management of pension assets "ABN AMRO Asset Management" (2003-2005).

 Education: Kazakh State Academy of Management, Washington University, Rochester University.

In 2018 she was awarded the Order of Kurmet.

Abena Amoah

Managing Director, Ghana Stock Exchange

Abena Amoah is the first female Managing Director of the Ghana Stock Exchange, appointed by the Exchange’s Council on November 24, 2022. Ms. Amoah, who joined the Exchange as Deputy Managing Director on August 1, 2020, has been in the capital market industry over the past 25 years and is highly respected for her technical knowledge, business acumen, outstanding professionalism, and integrity. 

She is currently the Co-Chair of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Pan-African Committee, and the World Federation of Exchanges named her one of the top 20 Women Leaders for 2023.

She has broad boardroom experience gained from serving on, or advising, the boards of publicly listed, private and not-for-profit organisations such as the Central Securities Depository (Ghana) Limited, Minerals Income and Investment Fund, Access Bank (Ghana) PLC, Coronation Asset Management (Nigeria), Kosmos Energy Ghana HC, The Foschini Group (Ghana) Ltd, the University of Ghana, the Ghana Petroleum (Stabilization and Heritage) Funds and the African Women’s Development Fund. 

She has previously worked with the BlackIvy Group LLC; Renaissance Group, where she was CEO of New World Renaissance Securities Ltd and Head of Investment Banking & Finance in West Africa (ex-Nigeria) for Renaissance Capital; and Strategic African Securities Ltd, where she was Executive Director.

She is an alumna of the University of Ghana, which recently awarded her with an Honorary Doctorate Degree for her immense contribution to Industry. She has also undertaken academic and leadership studies at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Harvard Business School, and the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business.

Sunil Benimadhu

Chief Executive, Stock Exchange of Mauritius

Sunil Benimadhu joined the Stock Exchange of Mauritius (SEM) as Chief Executive in May 1998. He has played an instrumental role in uplifting the operational, technological and regulatory infrastructure of the SEM and contributed to its emergence as one of the leading Exchanges in Africa. He is the Chairman of Global Finance Mauritius, the apex body of private sector operators in the financial services industry. Sunil was a Board member of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), a key standards-setter in the Exchange industry at the global level.

Thomas Book

Member of the Executive Board, Deutsche Börse AG

Thomas Book is a member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Börse AG, responsible for Trading & Clearing. A pioneer in electronic trading, he joined Deutsche Börse Group in 1995 as a member of the team that rolled out Deutsche Terminbörse’s remote membership concept across Europe and the US, gaining deep insights into the impact of innovation and technology in the exchange industry. Book was also a member of the project team that built Eurex, the first cross-border exchange merger of its kind. In 2001, he rounded off his profound industry knowledge with his Ph. D. thesis Electronic Exchange Trading and Global Markets”. As a member of the Executive Board of Eurex and Eurex Clearing, Book subsequently shaped Deutsche Börse’s trading and clearing business for many years. From 2007 to 2016, he was responsible for the clearing business of Eurex, expanding the value proposition following the 2008 financial crisis. In 2016, he took responsibility for trading at Eurex as its CEO, before being appointed to the Executive Board of Deutsche Börse in 2018. He is responsible for the Trading & Clearing division, which includes Cash Market, Financial Derivatives, Foreign Exchange, Commodities and Market Data.

Tim Brennan

Head of Capital Markets & Exchange Strategy, Standard and Poor Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI)

Tim Brennan is Head of Capital Markets and Exchange Strategy for S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI). In this role, Tim focuses on how S&P DJI interacts with the various areas of capital markets with an emphasis on exchanges, liquidity and product issuance (exchange-traded derivatives [ETDs], exchange-traded products [ETPs]). Tim ensures that S&P DJI has a comprehensive strategy for how best to optimize its exchange collaboration, with the aim of getting S&P DJI branded ETDs and ETPs listed on the exchanges that satisfy the needs of our clients, liquidity providers and liquidity seekers.

Prior to joining S&P DJI, Tim was the Chief Commercial Officer for ABN AMRO Clearing Chicago. It was in this role that balance sheet optimization became a primary focus. Previous to working in clearing, Tim held various roles in trading, market making, execution and industry advocacy across multiple asset classes for both the buy side and sell side. He was at the forefront of automated trading in the U.S. as a member of the team at Morgan Stanley that built the automated options market making business. After Morgan Stanley, Tim joined Citadel and was instrumental in starting the Citadel Execution Services business. Tim was a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch, where he was responsible for the options market making business. He also spent time at the NYSE, rounding out his education in trading and markets. Tim has extensive knowledge covering ETDs, ETPs, fx derivatives, market structure, algorithmic trading, clearing and exchanges. He is passionate about the benefits of transparency and open access in markets. 

Tim has served as a Director on the boards of the International Securities Exchange (ISE) and Boston Options Exchange (BOX). He holds the following licenses: 7, 63, 3, 4, 24, 55 and 56.

William Brodsky

Chairman, Cedar Street Asset Management

The Hon. E. David Burt, JP, MP

Premier of Bermuda

Premier the Hon. E. David Burt, JP, MP, is Bermuda’s youngest Premier. He is a graduate of The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Business Administration with a double major in Finance and Information Systems. 

He was awarded The George Washington University Presidential Administrative Fellowship and received his Master’s of Science degree in Information Systems Development in 2003. Mr. Burt attained a Project Management Professional certification in 2009. He is also a licensed private pilot. 

An entrepreneur, Premier Burt started GMD Consulting Limited, an IT consulting company focusing on project management. He served as President since its inception until 2016 when he stepped down upon being appointed Leader of the Opposition. Premier Burt co-founded HITCH Limited and was the lead developer for the award winning HITCH Mobile App enabling Bermuda residents to hail taxis. 

In the past, Premier Burt has served on the Tourism Board, National Training Board, as a Director of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, and has been a Director of the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation. 

Mr. Burt is also active in local and international public service and community organizations. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, the Western Stars Sports Club, and the Devonshire Recreation Club. 

Premier Burt and his wife Kristin have two children, Nia and Edward.

George P.  Bush

28th Land Commissioner for the State of Texas

Commissioner George P. Bush is a Managing Partner at Pine Cove Capital, LLC, a Texas-based opportunistic partnership he co-founded with his wife, Amanda Bush.  Pine Cove Capital offers consulting services, client development, and strategic advice to clients ranging from start-up companies in fin-tech, reg-tech, and gov-tech to established, diversified corporations in industries such as oil and gas, renewable energy, infrastructure, and commercial real estate.

Commissioner George P. Bush is also a Partner at Michael Best & Friedrich, LLP where he counsels business interests, public entities and individuals alike on a range of complex matters that affect their growth prospects.  

Bush previously served as the 28th Land Commissioner for the State of Texas where he led the largest housing recovery in State history in response to Hurricane Harvey, helping more than 60,000 victims rebuild their homes and their lives.  During his tenure, he worked to ensure Texas’ 1.8 million veterans received the benefits they earned and prioritized conserving the hallowed grounds of the Alamo—the State’s most visited and cherished site of freedom.  

Prior to his election to statewide office, Bush co-founded and served as general counsel for a Texas-based private equity fund and practiced corporate & securities law with a national law firm in Dallas.  He clerked for U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater after earning his Juris Doctorate at The University of Texas School of Law.  Bush proudly served his nation as an Intelligence Officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves for a decade.  Among his military decorations, Commissioner Bush was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal and Navy Achievement Medal for his meritorious service, he also received the Afghanistan Campaign Medal and earned the Intel Warfare Designator pin.

Jeb Bush

43rd Governor of the State of the Florida

Governor Bush was the 43rd governor of the state of Florida, serving from 1999 through 2007. During his two terms, Governor Bush remained true to his conservative principles, cutting taxes, vetoing earmarks, and championing major reform of government programs.

Under his leadership, Florida was on the forefront of consumer healthcare advances, led the nation in job growth, and launched and accelerated restoration of America's Everglades. In education, Florida raised academic standards, required accountability in public schools and created the most ambitious school choice programs in the nation. As a result, Florida students have made the greatest gains in academic achievement and Florida is one of a handful of states to significantly narrow the achievement gap.

Prior to and after his tenure as Florida's chief executive, Governor Bush has been actively involved in the private sector, helping to build the largest full service real estate company in South Florida and owning and operating successful consulting and investing businesses. Governor Bush is also the Chairman and Founding Partner of Finback Investment Partners which is a private equity firm that takes active minority interest in middle market and growth-stage companies.

Governor Bush maintains his passion for improving the quality of education for students by serving as the chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, a national non-profit organization he founded to work with education leaders, teachers, parents, and advocates to develop and implement reforms that lead to rising student achievement.

Governor Bush has written three books, Profiles in Character; Immigration Wars: Forging an American Solution; and Reply All: A Governor's Story 1999-2007.

Governor Bush lives in Miami with his wife Columba. They have three children and five grandchildren.

Olga Cantillo

Executive President, Latinex - Latin American Stock Exchange

Jos Dijsselhof

Chief Executive Officer, SIX Group

Jos Dijsselhof joined SIX in January 2018 as CEO. He holds degrees in computer science and business administration, and has a long track record in international management in the financial sector. He has previously held positions at ABN Amro Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland and ANZ Australia & New Zealand Banking Group in various countries including Hong Kong and Singapore. His most recent role was Chief Operating Officer (2014–June 2017) and CEO ad interim (2015) at Euronext in Amsterdam.

Other Activities and Mandates

Chairman of the Board of Directors Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME), Madrid

Background

Before his appointment as COO of Euronext, Dijsselhof was a general manager at Australia and New Zealand Bank in Singapore. He has over 20 years of experience in the financial industry and has worked in Europe and Asia institutions including Royal Bank of Scotland and ABN Amro Bank.

Education

Jos Dijsselhof earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from the Stenden University of Applied Sciences and an MSc in business administration from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences. He completed the Advanced Management Program at INSEAD.

Kurt  Eckert

Director, Bermuda Stock Exchange

Kurt Eckert was a Partner and Head of Market Structure at Wolverine Trading until December 31, 2022. Wolverine Trading is comprised of a number of diversified financial institutions specializing in proprietary trading, asset management, order execution services, and technology solutions. 

In his role at Wolverine Trading, Mr. Eckert built execution algorithms that incorporated the latest market structure dynamics. He started his career at Wolverine Trading by trading equity options and concluded by managing Wolverine Execution Services. 

Mr. Eckert serves as a director on the Boards of Miami International Securities Exchange, LLC, MIAX PEARL, LLC, MIAX Emerald, LLC, MIAX Futures, LLC and The Bermuda Stock Exchange. He also is a board member of Ledger X.

Mr. Eckert has served on other Boards including Bats Options Advisory Board, NYSE ARCA Options, CBOE Advisory Board, BOX Options Exchange and Options Clearing Corporation. Additionally, Mr. Eckert has been a Director of online broker dealers TradeMonster and OptionsHouse and is a director of STRATiFi Technologies (a financial technology firm focused on Registered Investment Advisors.) Mr. Eckert graduated from Indiana University Kelley School of Business with degrees in Finance and Computer Information Systems.

Moad Fahmi, Chief Digital Officer

Senior Advisor, Supervision (Financial Technology), Bermuda Monetary Authority

As Chief Digital Officer, Senior Advisor, Supervision (Financial Technology) at the Bermuda Monetary Authority (Authority) Mr. Fahmi leads the team responsible for regulatory authorisation and supervision efforts under the Digital Asset Business Act 2018. Mr. Fahmi’s team is also responsible for instigating and advancing FinTech innovation, as well as developing the digital asset regime in Bermuda, one of the world’s first jurisdictions with a regulatory framework for digital assets.

Prior to joining the Authority in August 2018, Mr. Fahmi was Director - Fintech and Innovation at the Authority of Financial Markets (Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF)), the regulator of the financial services sector in Quebec, Canada.

Gilson Finkelsztain

Chief Executive Officer, B3 - Brasil Bolsa Balcão

Mr. Finkelsztain was the CEO of Cetip (Brazilian Central Securities Depository) from 2013 to May 2017 when he was appointed as CEO of B3, resulting from the merger of Cetip and BM&F Bovespa.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil and Production Engineering from Pontíficia Universidade Católica – PUC Rio de Janeiro (1994) with an extension in Advanced Management at INSEAD (2011).

Gilson served as a member of the Board of Directors of Cetip from 2011 to 2013, while working at Santander Global Banking & Markets as Managing Director - Head of Rates: FX, Fixed Income and Commodities Sales and Structuring.

Gilson has more than 20 years of experience in the financial and capital markets, always in global institutions such as Bank of America Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan and Citigroup, where he held different management positions working in Sao Paulo, New York and Mexico City.

Dr. Leila Fourie

Group Chief Executive Officer, Johannesburg Stock Exchange

With over 25 years of international experience, primarily in financial services, Leila Fourie has served on multiple boards and held senior roles in banking, capital markets and payments.

Leila was appointed as CEO of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange effective 1 October 2019. Leila also currently holds the role of Co-chair for the United Nations Global Investors for Sustainable Development convened by the UN Secretary General.

Prior to this role, Leila served as Executive responsible for Consumer Finance at Australia’s largest bank, The Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and served as the NSW Vice President of the Economic Society of Australia and on the Board Audit Committee of Lifeline Australia. Before this, Leila she held the role of CEO of the Australian Payments Network.

Before moving to Australia, Leila served on the Board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange as Executive Director. Leila previously worked for one of South Africa’s largest banks, Standard Bank as Card Division Managing Director. During this time, she served as Chairman on the board of Diners Club and Board Member on Discover’s Chicago-based Diners Club International Advisory board. Leila started in Standard Bank’s Investment Bank as Global Director Credit analytics, capital and portfolio management for SA, UK, Hong Kong, Russia, Brazil and Argentina.

Leila has a PhD in Economic and Financial Sciences and won the Economic Society South Africa Founders’ award in 2012 for best Masters Economics thesis in the country. Leila has published several articles in academic journals and actively advocates for policy development in various sectors.

Leila is an active rock climber, mountaineer and cyclist and plays the piano in her spare time.

Emil  Framnes

Global Head of Equity Trading and Transition, Norges Bank Investment Management

Emil Framnes is the Global Head of Equity Trading and Transition at Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund.  Emil’s responsibilities include all execution spanning electronic and high touch equity markets, managing teams of traders based in Oslo, New York and Singapore. 

Emil also manages a team of portfolio managers who manage the Fund’s transition activities including inflows, rebalances and implementation of strategic investment decisions. To support these global functions, Emil also manages a trading regulation review team, which publishes industry white papers on well-functioning markets and submits NBIM’s views on market structure regulatory reviews. He is also a member of NBIM’s investment committee. 

Emil earned a BSc in Mathematics and an MSc in Financial and Actuarial Mathematics from University of Oslo, Norway.

Sandy Frucher

OCC Board of Directors Member, OCC (Options Clearing Corporation)

Meyer "Sandy" Frucher is the Former Vice Chairman of The NASDAQ Group. In this role, Mr. Frucher was responsible for developing global exchange relationships and served as an advisor to the NASDAQ senior management team. He joined the exchange after NASDAQ acquired The Philadelphia Stock Exchange in 2008, where he was Chairman and CEO since June,1998.

Mr. Frucher has a distinguished career in New York City, State, and Federal government, including serving as the Chief Labor Negotiator for New York State, CEO of Battery Park City Authority, and the Chairman of the School Construction Authority.

Mr. Frucher is the founding Chairman and Trustee Emeritus of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. He is the former Chairman of the Sirius Insurance Group, and currently serves as the Vice Chairman of MVGX, as well as on the Boards of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the Options Clearing Corporation, Eikonoklastes Therapeutics, and OwlTing.

Umesh Gajria

Global Head of Index-Linked Products, Bloomberg

Umesh Gajria is the Global Head of Index-Linked Products at Bloomberg, overseeing index derivative products and analytics. In addition, he leads the firm’s efforts in the transition to Risk Free Rates (RFRs) including ISDA fallbacks. Earlier he served as COO for Bloomberg’s Enterprise Product business, after joining the firm in 2017. Previously, Mr. Gajria was an Executive Director of Global Business Development at CME Group where he led growth initiatives for the Financial Products business. Before that he worked in various roles at US Bank, JP Morgan and Lexis Nexis.

Mr. Gajria holds a B.S. in industrial engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Thomas P.  Gallagher

Chairman & CEO Miami International Holdings, Inc. and Chairman, Bermuda Stock Exchange

Thomas P. Gallagher is one of the Company’s principal founders and has served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of MIH and the MIAX Exchanges since 2008. Mr. Gallagher has been serving as the Chief Executive Officer of MIH and the MIAX Exchanges since 2012. He was a founding partner of the law firm Gallagher, Briody & Butler, a corporate and securities law firm located in Princeton, New Jersey, and was associated with the firm until joining the Company full time in December 2012. Mr. Gallagher has been a director of MGEX since October 2019, becoming Chairman of the MGEX Board of Directors in June 2021. Mr. Gallagher has also been a member of the BSX Council since July 2019, becoming Chairman of the BSX Council in February 2020. Mr. Gallagher is also the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the following subsidiaries of MIH: MIAX Technologies since May 2010; MIAX Products since January 2019; MIAX Global since June 2015; and Dorman Trading since October 2022. He is also the Chairman of MIAX Futures since February 2008. From 2005 to 2014 Mr. Gallagher served on the Board of Trustees of The Hun School of Princeton and is currently a Trustee Emeritus.

Paul Jiganti

Managing Director of Business Development, IMC

Paul Jiganti has been at IMC as Managing Director of Business Development in since 2015. He is responsible for facilitating IMC’s business expansion by building new partnerships and expanding into new areas. Mr. Jiganti began his career as an independent market maker on the Cboe floor before spending 16 years at Susquehanna Investment Group in many roles eventually as Associate Director in charge of the Chicago office. He spent a year as a consultant to Nasdaq before joining TD Ameritrade where he was Managing Director in charge of market structure and retail client advocacy from 2012-2015.

Mr. Jiganti previously served on the Board of Directors of both the Cboe and Direct Edge, Nasdaq Quality of Markets Committee, FINRA’s Limit up Limit down Advisory Committee, as well as Co-Chaired Cboe’s PAC. Until recently he chaired the SIFMA Listed Options Committee and today he chairs the Listed Options Market Structure Working Group, serves on FIA PTG executive committee, Miami International Securities Exchange, and MIAX Emerald Securities Exchange Board of Directors, as well as Cboe Advisory Committee. Mr. Jiganti has an Economics degree from University of San Diego and is series 7 and 24 licensed.

Kristin N. Johnson

Commissioner, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)

Commissioner Johnson was sworn in as a CFTC Commissioner on March 30, 2022, after being nominated by President Joseph Biden in September 2021, and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate. Commissioner Johnson is a nationally recognized expert on financial markets risk management law and policy with specialization in the regulation of complex financial products including the origination, distribution, and secondary market trading, clearing, and settlement of securities and derivatives. She is an internationally recognized expert on financial markets regulation and corporate governance, compliance, and risk management. Her recent work examines the implications of emerging innovative technologies including distributed digital ledger technologies that enable the creation of digital assets and intermediaries and artificial intelligence technologies that target commercial and consumer financial transactions, transfers, and assessments. 

In April of 2021, she testified at a hearing before the United States House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions entitled Banking Innovation or Regulatory Evasion? Exploring Trends in Financial Institution Charters. The single-panel hearing discussed policy considerations with respect to banking charters and explored disintermediation in legacy financial markets such as banking and the provision of clearing and custody services. In July of 2019, she testified before the United States House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Task Force on Financial Technology and the Task Force on Artificial Intelligence entitled Examining the Use of Alternative Data exploring the implications of integrating artificial intelligence in financial technology (fintech) platforms. 

Prior to joining the Commission, she held endowed professorships at Emory University and Tulane University Law Schools and visiting professorships at prestigious law schools around the nation. She taught courses in the regulation of securities and derivatives markets, financial institutions, including courses on fintech, the development of blockchain technologies and artificial intelligence, as well as corporations and ethical leadership. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute, an American Bar Foundation Fellow, and Chair of the Securities Regulation Section and the Executive Committee of the Business Associations and Financial Institutions and Consumer Financial Services Sections of the Association of American Law Schools. 

Prior to entering the academy, Commissioner Johnson served as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel in the Treasury Services Division of one of the largest financial institutions in the world supporting private funds cash management services, a corporate associate at Simpson, Thacher, and Bartlett LLP’s New York and London offices where she represented issuers and underwriters in domestic and international debt and equity offerings, lenders and borrowers in banking and credit matters, and private equity firms and publicly-traded companies in mergers and acquisitions. Before attending law school, Commissioner Johnson served as an analyst in the Asset Management Division of a storied financial institution. She clerked for a federal judge who previously served on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Commissioner Johnson has a B.S. with honors from Georgetown University Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service and a J.D. from The University of Michigan Law School where she served as a senior editor on the Michigan Law Review and received the Clara Belfield and Henry Bates International Research Fellowship.

Paul Leder

Of Counsel, Miller & Chevalier Chartered

Paul Leder, a former Director of the SEC’s Office of International Affairs (2014-2018), specializes in securities enforcement, compliance, and complex litigation, with a particular focus on cross-border issues. He helps clients navigate the challenge of conflicting regulatory regimes, as well as simultaneous investigations by criminal and regulatory authorities, both from the U.S. and other jurisdictions.  

Mr. Leder has advised globally active firms on cross-border issues, including on developing engagement strategies with foreign regulators and international standard setting bodies.  He has led internal investigations on behalf of boards of directors and management involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), accounting fraud, and insider trading.  Mr. Leder also advises clients on developing and evaluating compliance programs on a range of issues, including insider trading and anti-corruption.

Boon Chye Loh

CEO, Singapore Exchange

Mr Loh Boon Chye joined SGX as CEO on 14 July 2015.  He is also an Executive and Non-Independent Director on the SGX Board.  As CEO, he drives SGX’s growth strategy, with the aim of transforming SGX into a world-class multi-asset exchange. 

Over the years, Mr Loh has played a key role in the development of Southeast Asia’s capital markets, having held a number of senior advisory positions.  Apart from his directorship on the SGX Board from 2003 to 2012, he has been on the Boards of GIC Pte Ltd since November 2012, Economic Development Board Singapore since February 2017 and the World Federation of Exchanges since September 2017.  He is also Chairman of the Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics Advisory Board and Co-Chair of the Council for Board Diversity.

With a career in the financial industry that spans three decades, Mr Loh was most recently Deputy President and Head of Asia Pacific Global Markets at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch from December 2012 to May 2015.  He was also the bank’s Country Executive for Singapore and Southeast Asia and a member of its Asia Pacific Executive Committee.  From 1995 to 2012, Mr Loh was with Deutsche Bank AG, where he held various leadership roles including Head of Corporate & Investment Banking for Asia Pacific and Head of Global Markets for Asia.

Mr Loh is a council member and Distinguished Fellow at the Institute of Banking & Finance Singapore and a council member at the Singapore Business Federation.  He was also previously Chairman of the Singapore Foreign Exchange Market Committee, as well as Deputy President of ACI Singapore. 

Mr Loh holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from the National University of Singapore.

Alex Matturri

Board Member, Cboe Global Markets

Alex Matturri is the retired CEO of S&P Dow Jones Indices. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of CBOE Global Markets, the Advisory Board of The Index Standard along with being an advisor to several data and analytics firms. He has extensive experience in index and data intellectual property and regulatory issues, ETFs, index/quant investment management and global capital markets.

Prior experience includes serving as Senior Vice President and head of index portfolio management at Northern Trust Global Investments, Director and Index Strategist at Deutsche Asset Management and Vice President and head of the Special Investment Products Group at The Bank of New York.

Alex graduated with a BS in Finance with Honors from Lehigh University in 1980 and a JD from Syracuse University College of Law in 1983. He is admitted as an attorney in New York and New Jersey along with having earned his CFA.

Jim McCaughan

Asset Manager & Board Director

Master of Mathematics at Cambridge University. 

Qualified as an Actuary (FIA). 

Asset Management roles with title of President or CEO at UBS, PIMCO, Credit Suisse, and Principal. Most recently 17 years building Principal Asset Management from a small subsidiary to annual revenues of $1.5 billion and assets under management of $500 billion.

Portfolio manager focusing on Global Equities. Responsible for business in 80 countries and all asset classes, and frequent media activity, including CNBC and Bloomberg.

Director and consultant. Board Chair for Polen Capital, Chair of US Institute, a membership group for US Asset Managers, and US practice leader for INDEFI, a strategic consultant to asset managers. Involvement with two FinTech companies.

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.

Guy Melamed

Co-Founder & CEO, Exberry

Guy Melamed is the co-founder and CEO of Exberry, the exchange technology pioneer revolutionizing marketplaces. With his innovation and passion, Guy leads the world’s most skilled product strategists in disrupting the industry by bringing top-notch products to the market. Guy Has been selected on investing.com as one of 12 Fintech Leaders that are shaping the industry.

As a serial entrepreneur, Guy has experience leading many high-performing teams within the fintech industry. Under his dynamic leadership, companies have brought new solutions to a traditional market. Previous roles include CEO at Zeex, Finova Capital – a hedge fund for blockchain technology and digital assets, GreenRoad – the global leader in driver behavior technology; and Ginger Software – leader in Natural Language Processing (Acquired by Intel).

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.

Eric W. Noll

CEO of Stone Ridge Capital Partners and Chair of the Board, FINRA

Eric Noll is starting his second term as Chair of the Board of Governors of FINRA, the SRO that regulates broker/dealers in the United States. He is also the CEO of Stone Ridge Capital Partners (formally known as Context Capital Partners) in Bala Cynwyd, PA. He joined the Stone Ridge team to further develop and execute the strategic vision through partnerships, alternative investments, and financial technology.

In 2013, Eric was named President and CEO of Convergex, a global, institutional, agency Broker-dealer – one of the three largest in the world - headquartered in New York City. The private equity-backed venture was successfully sold under Eric’s leadership in 2018. Before Convergex, Eric was the Executive Vice-President, Transaction Services for NASDAQ, responsible for all NASDAQ’s global exchange businesses. After the sale of Convergex, Eric founded Willow Creek Capital, LLC, a firm providing advisory and consulting services to the financial technology, capital markets, and private equity space. With over two decades of experience in the financial services and financial technology space, Eric is a well-recognized industry expert on capital markets and has been twice named to the Institutional Investor Trading Technology list of Top 40 Executives in Financial Technology. He also served on the SEC Equity Market Structure Task Force serving as the Chair of the Market Quality Sub-Committee. Prior to NASDAQ, Eric worked for over 15 years at Susquehanna International Group, serving in many different capacities. Earlier in his career, Eric worked at Philadelphia Stock Exchange and Chicago Board Options Exchange.

Along with Eric’s career accomplishments, in 2018, he was the Interim President of Franklin and Marshall College where he remains a long-standing Board member, currently serving as Chair of the Board. He is also the Chair of the Board of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, a Governor of FINRA, a Trustee of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA), and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Owen School of Management, Vanderbilt University.

Eric earned his Masters of Business Administration from Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, with a finance concentration. He received his A.B. from Franklin and Marshall College, with a double major in government and economics.

Oscar N. Onyema, OON

Group Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange Group

Mr. Onyema is the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Exchange Group Plc. Prior to attaining this position, he was the CEO of The Nigerian Stock Exchange for 10 years. In his current role, he is the Chairman of the Group Executive Committee. He is also the Chairman of two affiliate companies: Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS), the clearing, settlement and depository for the Nigerian capital market; and NG Clearing Limited, which is the premier Central Counter Party Clearing House (CCP) in Nigeria. He serves on several other boards domestically and internationally including Pension Commission of Nigeria (PENCOM), London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) Africa Advisory Group (LAAG), and the World Federation of Exchanges.

He was the President of African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA) between 2014 and 2018. He has served as a Council member of Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS); Global Agenda Council member of World Economic Forum (WEF); and Board member of FMDQ OTC Plc (now FMDQ Securities Exchange Plc). Prior to relocating to Nigeria, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at American Stock Exchange (Amex). He also ran the NYSE Amex equity business after the merger of NYSE Euronext and Amex in 2008.

Mr. Onyema is the proud awardee of the Nigerian national honour, Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON); Fellow of the Institute of Directors (IOD); Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS); Associate of Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) in the UK; and Holder of FINRA Series 7, 24, and 63 in the USA. Forbes listed him as one of the ten most powerful men in Africa in 2015.

Mr. Onyema holds a B.Sc (Computer Engineering) (1991) from Obafemi Awolowo University, MBA (Finance and Investments) (1998) from Baruch College, New York. He has also completed the Advanced Management Program (AMP) of Harvard Business School (2015).

Mark Peterson

Chief Executive Officer, NZX Limited

Mark joined NZX in May 2015 and became Chief Executive in April 2017. He has 30 years’ experience in financial services covering the capital markets, private wealth, institutional and retail banking, and insurance. Mark previously worked as the Managing Principal of ANZ Securities, and before that held senior management roles with First NZ Capital, ANZ and The National Bank of NZ.

Mark Peterson holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration from Victoria University of Wellington, has completed executive training at Mt Eliza business school, and was an accredited NZX Advisor and Authorised Financial Adviser.

Joseph Portelli

Executive Chairman, Malta Stock Exchange

Joseph has over 35 years of experience employed in various capacities within the financial industry in the U.S and in Malta. He has vast experience as a portfolio manager, currency, and commodity trader, and has worked with Bank of America, Nomura Securities, Goldman Sachs, Millburn Ridgefield, and Liongate Capital Management. He was also chief investment officer and managing director of FMG Funds, an emerging markets specialist.

He is currently Executive Chairman of the Malta Stock Exchange and sits on its Audit Committee. Between April 2013 and April 2015 he sat on its board and chaired its Risk Management Committee. In 2015 he was named chair of the Malta Stock Exchange PLC and has founded and chairs various MSE-owned subsidiaries such as the Malta Stock Exchange Institute, MSX a payment provider, and MDX a digital asset exchange. He also offers risk management consulting, and sits on the boards and investment committees of numerous asset management and financial service companies domiciled in Malta. Joseph also sits on the Malta Financial Services Advisory Council a board, constituted by the Finance Ministry of Malta. 

Joseph founded the Institute of Investment Analysis and was also a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta, and has taught courses at the Central Bank of Malta, Malta Institute of Accounting, and other institutions. He was a regular contributor to the Times of Malta, writing about investor education. Joseph graduated with a BA from Baruch College, City University of New York.

Brett W. Redfearn

Founder and CEO, Panorama Financial Markets Advisory

Prior to PFMA, Brett headed Capital Markets for Coinbase, where he focused on building the emergent ecosystem for digital asset securities and overseeing the Coinbase exchange.

Between October 2017 and December 2020, Brett led the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets where he oversaw several groundbreaking rulemakings and market initiatives.

Mr. Redfearn joined the SEC after a 14-year career at J.P. Morgan, where he was, most recently, Global Head of Market Structure for the Corporate and Investment Bank across asset classes. Currently, Mr. Redfearn chairs the Advisory Board for Securitize, a leading regulated platform for issuing and trading digital asset securities and, previously served on the boards of Bats Global Markets, BATS Exchange, the National Organization of Investment Professionals, the Chicago Stock Exchange and BIDS Trading.

Tom Skinner

Managing Director, pTools Software

Tom Skinner is founder and Managing Director of pTools Software, the provider of Market Information automation solutions for Exchanges, related financial organisations and regulated market operators. He has worked in software development for over twenty years and is responsible for directing innovation and product development at pTools across applications including; ISIN and LEI issuance, Corporate Actions & Announcements automation, Sanctions Screening and ESG validation, Digital Asset Tokenization and Listing. pTools works in technologies including; Digital Risk Mitigation and Data Quality, Notarization and Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing. A technologist by training Tom Skinner has worked in the past for the Irish Board of Trade and LG Electronics Corporation.

John  Smollen

Executive Vice President, Head of Exchange Traded Products and Strategic Relations, MIAX

John Smollen is Executive Vice President and Head of Exchange Traded Products and Strategic Relations for the MIAX Exchange Group™. He is responsible for business development, new products and joint ventures as well as maintaining and growing all client relationships at MIAX®.

John joined MIAX in 2014 as a senior strategic consultant, advising on multiple facets of MIAX’s expanding business models and helping to enhance current and new client relationships. In 2015, John joined MIAX as a full time employee. His expanded role included having him concentrate on identifying and cultivating business opportunities and partnerships that are aligned with the long-term goals and vision of the company. A majority of his time is spent on future strategy and opportunity.

John brings over 30 years of experience in the exchange and trading community. He spent a significant part of his career with Goldman Sachs as a Managing Director in the US Equity Trading division. John was responsible for the floor based market making business in the United States.  Additionally, he was a board member of the Chicago Board Options Exchange from 2001-2011. In 2006, he was the Exchange Vice Chairman.  John was also part of the Executive Committee that took the exchange public in 2010.

He is currently a board member of MidChains and One Creation and serves as an advisor to all of the MIAX investments and partners.

Steve Sosnick

Chief Strategist, Interactive Brokers 

Steve is the Chief Strategist at Interactive Brokers.  He also serves as Head Trader of IBKR Securities Services, the firm’s trading division (formerly known as Timber Hill), and is a Member of Interactive Brokers Group, the firm’s holding company.  

Steve has held numerous roles in the organization since joining Timber Hill in 1995 as Equity Risk Manager and an options market maker.  He led the firm into Canada in 1998 and managed Timber Hill Canada throughout its existence.  Much of Steve’s career was spent quietly developing and implementing algorithmic and electronic trading strategies for stocks and options before moving into a more visible role as Chief Options Strategist and later Chief Strategist.  

Steve has guest authored several columns in Barron’s and made numerous live appearances on Bloomberg TV and Radio, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, and several other media outlets in North America, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East in addition to being quoted frequently in print and electronic media. He has held board memberships at various stock and options exchanges.   He currently serves on the board of MIAX Pearl, after stints on the boards of CBSX, NSE and ISE-SE. In Canada, he is a member of the MX Regulatory User Group and the IIAC Derivatives Committee.

Prior to joining Interactive Brokers, Steve held senior trading roles at Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers, and Salomon Brothers, where he completed the firm’s famed training program.  

He holds both an MBA in Finance and a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

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.

Muhamad Umar Swift

Chief Executive Officer, Bursa Malaysia

Muhamad Umar Swift is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bursa Malaysia Berhad, a position he has held since 2019. He serves as the director of all subsidiary companies within the Bursa Malaysia Group and is the Chairman of Bursa Malaysia Derivatives and Clearing.  

As the CEO of the Exchange, Umar aspires to play a catalytic role in the economy’s transition to green, as expressed in the Exchange’s vision to become “ASEAN's leading, sustainable and globally-connected marketplace”. His approach to achieving this is underscored in the Exchange’s mission which is to creating opportunities, growing value, for the stakeholders participating in the ecosystem while improving investability for issuers and investors. 

Umar has more than 25 years of leadership experience across multiple industries. Prior to joining the Exchange, he was the CEO / Group Managing Director of MAA Group Berhad.   

Umar currently serves on the Boards of Securities Industry Development Corporation, Capital Market Development Fund and Malaysia Forest Fund. He is also the advisor for the UN Global Compact Network Malaysia and Brunei as well as Councillor of the Overseas Regional Council of Malaysia, Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. Besides being a Chartered Accountant with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants, he also holds various fellowships and qualifications in accounting and finance, including Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand and CPA Australia, to name a few.  

Josephine Wang

President & CEO, Securities Investor Protection Corporation

Josephine Wang is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). Under a law passed by Congress, SIPC protects customers of failed securities broker-dealers.  Securities brokerage liquidations overseen by SIPC have included MF Global, Lehman Brothers, and the ongoing Madoff liquidation.  Ms. Wang previously served as General Counsel of SIPC. 

Ms. Wang is the co-author of a comprehensive article on stockbroker liquidations under SIPA (12 Cardozo Law Review 509 (1990)), and the author of “On the Road to Recovery: Victims of the Madoff Fraud,” 8 International In-house Counsel Journal 3141 (Winter 2015).  She has been a speaker on behalf of SIPC at various programs, sponsored by, among others, the International Belgrade Stock Exchange; the American Bar Association; the Futures Industry Association Law and Compliance Division; the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation; the George Washington University Center for Law, Economics, and Finance; and the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

Ms. Wang is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C.

Ariane West

COO and Head of Structured Finance, Re2

Ariane focuses on platform development, product structuring, commercial execution, operations, reporting and oversight. Previously, she was the Director of Structured Finance at Nephila Climate, engaged in all aspects of the group’s climate risk and resilience products, from origination to final execution, with an emphasis on finance-linked and capital markets offerings. She led efforts with respect to development of ESG and Impact aware underwriting and reporting, as well as participating in several industry panels and working groups developing frameworks for sustainable investment. Ariane is a lawyer and began her career in New York, where she specialized in structured products and capital markets with a focus on new and innovative financial products, including the first ETFs, multi-asset structured funds, and large securitization vehicles, prior to joining a desk in the Structured Products Trading group (FICC) at Goldman Sachs in New York as a trader. At GS she worked on the origination, structuring, and marketing of principal as well as agented transactions, and bespoke structured trades. Prior to joining Nephila Climate, Ariane was a partner at a leading offshore law firm where she was head of the Insurance, ILS and Asset Management practice in Bermuda. Ariane has an Honors BA from the University of Toronto and a LLB (JD) and BCL from McGill University.

Gregory A. Wojciechowski

President & Chief Executive Officer, Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX)

Greg Wojciechowski is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Bermuda Stock Exchange (BSX).  He is also, the Chairman of the Financial Intelligence Agency in Bermuda, sits on the Board of Directors of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) and the Bermuda Business Development Agency (BDA) and is a member and past-Chairman of the ILS Bermuda Ltd Steering Committee.

Prior to assuming the role of President and CEO in January 2002, Mr. Wojciechowski was the Exchange’s Chief Operating Officer.  In this capacity, he was responsible for the development of the Exchange’s regulatory and operational infrastructure as well as the day-to-day running of the Exchange.  

Prior to joining BSX in 1993, Mr. Wojciechowski, over a period of several years, held management positions at three large US brokerage firms. During this time his attention was focused on brokerage administration and operations in the global equity and fixed income capital markets.

Mr. Wojciechowski received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  He studied International Business at The University of Copenhagen under Denmark’s International Studies Program and French and International Relations at the Universite D’Aix-Marseille (Institut Pour Etudiants Etrangers) in Aix-en-Provence France. In 1998, Mr. Wojciechowski attended and completed the Young Managers Programme at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.