European Financial Forum

Ronald P. O’Hanley is President and Chief Executive Officer of State Street Corporation. He is also a member of State Street Corporation’s Board of Directors.

Ron was previously President and Chief Operating Officer of State Street Corporation, and before that President and Chief Executive Officer of State Street Global Advisors, the investment management arm of State Street Corporation. He joined State Street in 2015.

Prior to State Street, Ron was President of Asset Management & Corporate Services for Fidelity Investments, responsible for all Fidelity asset management organizations and Fidelity’s corporate functions and enterprise technology. He served at Fidelity from 2010 to 2014.

Prior to joining Fidelity, Ron served as President and Chief Executive Officer of BNY Mellon Asset Management in Boston, a position to which he was named in 2007. During this time, he also served as Vice Chairman of Bank of New York Mellon Corporation and was a member of its Executive Committee. Additionally, Ron oversaw all of Bank of New York Mellon's activities in Asia. Prior to the 2007 merger of Bank of New York and Mellon Financial Corporation, he was Vice Chairman of Mellon Financial Corporation and President and Chief Executive Officer of Mellon Asset Management. He served at Mellon and Bank of New York Mellon from 1997 to 2010.

Prior to Mellon, Ron was with McKinsey & Company, Inc., from 1986 to 1997 and was elected a Partner in 1992. He founded the Investment Management practice worldwide and was Co-founder and Co-leader of the firm's North American Personal Financial Services practice. Additionally, he was a member of the Worldwide Property & Casualty Insurance practice. During his tenure with McKinsey, Ron served in the company’s Boston, New York, and Stockholm offices, where he focused primarily on financial services.

Ron received his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Syracuse University in 1980 and his Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 1986.

Ron serves on the boards of Unum Corp. and Rhode Island Commerce Corporation. He also serves on the boards of The Boston Foundation, the IYRS School of Technology and Trades, Syracuse University and WBUR. Ron’s philanthropic and civic interests include corporate governance, retirement/healthcare policy and funding, education, and climate. He has led several initiatives on gender equality.

Steven Maijoor has been the Chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) since taking up office 1 April 2011. He is the first chair of the authority and is currently serving his second five-year term. He is responsible for representing the Authority as well as chairing ESMA’s Board of Supervisors and the Management Board.  The role of the Board of Supervisors is to give strategic guidance to ESMA and make all main regulatory and supervisory decisions. The Management Board's purpose is to ensure that the Authority carries out its mission and performs its tasks.

Prior to taking up this role, Steven was Managing Director at the AFM, the Dutch financial markets regulator, where he was responsible for capital market supervision, including financial reporting and auditing, prospectuses, public offerings, and the supervision of the integrity of financial markets. During his term, the scope of activities of the AFM vastly expanded and he was responsible for building and implementing supervision in the capital market area. In his regulatory role at the AFM, Steven has held a number of international positions, including the Chairmanship of IFIAR (International Forum of Independent Audit Regulators).

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

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

Clare Woodman is Head of EMEA and CEO of Morgan Stanley & Co. International Plc. She is a member of both the global operating and management committees. Clare was previously Global Chief Operating Officer for Morgan Stanley’s Institutional Securities Group. She joined Morgan Stanley in 2002 from Clifford Chance.

Clare is a Trustee of the Morgan Stanley International Foundation, overseeing the firm’s longstanding partnership with Great Ormond Street Hospital, and she is an active sponsor of the firm’s Women's Business Alliance.

Clare holds senior non-executive roles at The UK Finance Board, The Banking Standards Board, TheCityUK and the Association for Financial Markets in Europe.

Clare studied at the London Business School where she obtained her MBA.

James Lau, JP was appointed the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury in the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on 1 July 2017. 

Mr Lau joined the Hong Kong Government as an Administrative Officer (AO) in 1979 and was promoted through the ranks to AO Staff Grade C in April 1988. He joined the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in April 1993 and was the Head and Executive Director of various divisions of the HKMA until 2004. In July 2004, Mr Lau was seconded to the Hong Kong Mortgage Corporation as Chief Executive Officer until he retired in December 2012. He was appointed Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury in January 2014. 

Mr Lau holds a Bachelor of Mathematics (Computer Science and Statistics) Honours degree and a Master of Mathematics degree in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo, Canada.

Sir Gerry Grimstone is Chairman of Barclays Bank plc, Europe’s largest investment bank, which oversees Barclays’ Corporate and Investment Bank, Private Bank, and International Cards and Payments businesses. He is also a Non-Executive Director of Barclays plc. He is also the immediate past Chairman of Standard Life Aberdeen, the UK’s largest savings and investments business. He still chairs Standard Life’s business in China, Heng An Standard Life, a joint venture with TEDA, headquartered in Tianjin with branches in over 80 cities throughout China. He chairs TheCityUK/China-Britain Business Council’s China Market Advisory Group and also sits on the Board of HDFC Life in India, one of India’s largest life insurance businesses. He is the UK chair of the India-UK Financial Partnership and the UK Chairman of the UK- India CEO Forum which have been set up by the Indian and British Governments.  Sir Gerry is the board advisor to the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and an Independent Non-Executive Board Member of Deloitte North West Europe. Within the UK public sector, he is the Lead Non-Executive on the Board of the Ministry of Defence, and is a member of HM Treasury’s Financial Services Trade and Investment Board. From 2012 to 2015, Sir Gerry served as the Chairman of TheCityUK, the representative body for the financial and professional services industry in the UK. He was previously a senior investment banker at Schroders and ran businesses in London, New York and Asia Pacific, including Japan. He specialised in mergers and acquisitions and capital-raising for major companies worldwide. Prior to that, he was an official in HM Treasury where he was responsible for privatisation and policy towards state-owned enterprises.

Masazumi Wakatabe is a Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan. Prior to joining the Bank of Japan, he was a Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Political Science and Economics at Waseda University from April 2005, and also a visiting scholar at the Center on Japanese Economy and Business of Columbia Business School from March 2017 to February 2018. He holds a BA in Economics from Waseda University, and a MA in Economics both from Waseda University and from the University of Toronto.

Dr Raphael W. Bostic took office June 5, 2017, as the 15th President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. He is responsible for all the Bank's activities, including monetary policy, bank supervision and regulation, and payment services. In addition, he serves on the Federal Reserve's chief monetary policy body, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).

From 2012 to 2017, Dr Bostic was the Judith and John Bedrosian Chair in Governance and the Public Enterprise at the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California (USC).

He arrived at USC in 2001 and served as a professor in the School of Policy, Planning, and Development. His research has spanned many fields, including home ownership, housing finance, neighborhood change, and the role of institutions in shaping policy effectiveness. He was director of USC's master of real estate development degree program and was the founding director of the Casden Real Estate Economics Forecast.

Dr Bostic also served USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate as the interim associate director from 2007 to 2009 and as the interim director from 2015 to 2016. From 2016 to 2017, he was the chair of the center's Governance, Management, and Policy Process department.

From 2009 to 2012, Dr Bostic was the Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In that role, he was a Principal Adviser to the Secretary on Policy and Research, helping the secretary and other principal staff make informed decisions on HUD policies and programs, as well as on budget and legislative proposals.

Dr Bostic worked at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors from 1995 to 2001, first as an economist and then a senior economist in the monetary and financial studies section, where his work on the Community Reinvestment Act earned him a special achievement award. He served as special assistant to HUD's assistant secretary of policy development and research in 1999. He was also a professional lecturer at American University in 1998.

Dr Bostic graduated from Harvard University in 1987 with a combined major in economics and psychology. He earned his doctorate in economics from Stanford University in 1995.

He has previously served on many boards and advisory committees, including the California Community Reinvestment Corporation, Abode Communities, NeighborWorks, the National Community Stabilization Trust, the Urban Land Institute, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, the National Economic Association, and Freddie Mac.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta serves the Sixth Federal Reserve District, which covers Alabama, Florida, and Georgia, and parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The Bank has branches in Birmingham, Jacksonville, Miami, Nashville, and New Orleans.

Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors since October 2018 and President of the Bank of China since August 2018. Mr LIU joined the Bank in 2018. He served as Vice Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank of China from July 2015 to June 2018. Mr LIU served as Vice President of the Export-Import Bank of China from March 2007 to February 2015. He also served as Director of the African Export-Import Bank from September 2007 to February 2015, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Sino-Italian Mandarin Capital Partners from March 2009 to June 2015, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Regional Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (Asia) from March 2014 to May 2015. Mr LIU worked in the People’s Bank of China for many years, and successively served as Deputy Director – General of the International Department of the People’s Bank of China, President of the Fuzhou Central Sub-branch of the People’s Bank of China and Director of the Fujian Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Director General of the Anti-Money Laundering Bureau (the Security Bureau) of the People’s Bank of China. He graduated from Graduate School of the People’s Bank of China with a Master’s degree in Economics in 1987. He holds the title of Senior Economist.

Ingrid van Wees is the Vice-President for Finance and Risk Management of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). She assumed the position in December 2016. 

Ms  van Wees is responsible for the overall management of the operations of the Office of Risk Management, the Controller’s Department, and the Treasury Department.

Before ADB, Ms van Wees was a senior official at the German Investment and Development Corporation (DEG). Her responsibilities included origination and portfolio management of debt and equity investments in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia and treasury. Prior to DEG, Ms. van Wees held management positions in corporate finance and business development at international corporations.

She holds a Master's of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands and a MBA degree from INSEAD.

Philip R. Lane is the 11th Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland, taking office on 26 November 2015.

During 1997-2015, he was on the academic staff at Trinity College Dublin and he remains affiliated with the university as Whately Professor of Political Economy (on leave). Prior to joining the central bank, he also chaired the Advisory Scientific Committee of the European Systemic Risk Board and was Director of the International Macroeconomics and Finance Programme at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR).

In 2001, he was the inaugural recipient of the German Bernacer Award in Monetary Economics for outstanding contributions to European monetary economics; in 2010, he was co-recipient of the Bhagwati Prize from the Journal of International Economics. He has also acted as an academic consultant for the European Central Bank, European Commission, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, OECD, Asian Development Bank and a number of national central banks. He is a former managing editor of Economic Policy.

Mathematician and Former CEO of Credit Lyonnais Asset Management (“CLAM”, AUM €70B). Having spent more than 10 years with CLAM in diverse senior roles (CIO, Head of Financial Engineering and Quantitative Investment Management), Mr Choueifaty left in 2004, went back to Mathematics research and founded the Maximum Diversification^® approach and TOBAM in 2005.

As one of the pioneers of the smart beta movement, Yves Choueifaty is a frequent speaker at conferences and is a member of The 300 Club (17 members throughout the world), whose mission is to raise awareness about the potential impact of current market thinking and behaviors.

Mr Choueifaty graduated in 1992 from ENSAE (leading French Engineering School) in Statistics, Actuarial studies, Finance, and Artificial Intelligence.

Dominique Laboureix as Member of the Board is more particularly in charge of resolution planning and preparations of decisions about banking groups coming from 6 Member States of the Banking Union and 3 GSIBs. He is involved in several policy issues and chairs the Resolution Committee of the European Banking Authority.

Before 2015, he was Deputy Director General in charge of the Directorate of Resolution within the ACPR (Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution, France) and was notably responsible for the French banking institutions’ resolution planning. He has also been involved in several international committees, in particular with the Financial Stability Board and the European Banking Authority. From 2011 to 2013, he was Director of the Finance and Management Control Directorate within the French Central Bank. Previously, between 2007 and 2011, he had been Director of the Research and Policy Directorate of the ACPR, benefiting from over 10 years’ experience of banking supervision with the Off-Site Directorate of the prudential authority. Mr Laboureix is a graduate of the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris and has a Master’s in Commercial Law from Paris II University.

John Berrigan is currently the Deputy Director General in DG FISMA (Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union) of the European Commission.

DG FISMA is responsible for EU-level legislation for the financial sector; in this context, John represents the EU Commission on the Economic and Financial Committee, the Financial Services Committee and the Single Resolution Board.

John has been a Commission official since the mid-1980s and has spent much of this time working on financial-sector issues - first in DG ECFIN, where he contributed to financial-sector aspects of the assistance programmes for other Member States, and now in DG FISMA.

Earlier on, he also worked on monetary policy and exchange-rate analysis in the context of preparations for the introduction of the euro in 1999.

In the mid-1990s, he worked for several years with the International Monetary Fund. 

John has a Master’s Degree in Economics from University College Dublin

Carl Tannenbaum is the Chief Economist for The Northern Trust.  In this role, Mr Tannenbaum briefs clients and colleagues on the economy and business conditions, prepares the bank’s official economic outlook and participates in forecast surveys.  He is a member of the bank’s investment policy committee, its capital committee, and its asset/liability management committee.

Mr Tannenbaum publishes weekly commentaries and is frequently interviewed by media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, and Reuters.

Prior to joining Northern Trust, Mr Tannenbaum spent four years at the Federal Reserve, where he led the risk section.  He was deeply involved in the central bank’s response to the 2008 financial crisis, helped to create and conduct its stress testing program, and advised senior Federal Reserve leaders on developments in banking and the financial markets.

Mr Tannenbaum began his career in banking at LaSalle Bank/ABN AMRO, a global banking organization with $1 trillion in total assets.  He served for more than 20 years there as the organization’s Chief Economist and Head of Balance Sheet Management.

Mr Tannenbaum is a member and past Chairman of the American Bankers Association’s Economic Advisory Committee, the National Association for Business Economics, the Conference of Business Economists, and the North American Asset/Liability Management Association.

Mr Tannenbaum also serves on the Board of Working in the Schools (WITS), a literacy organization that supports the Chicago Public Schools.

Mr Tannenbaum holds an MBA and a BA in Finance and Economics from the University of Chicago.

Paschal Donohoe is the Fine Gael TD for Dublin Central and in June 2017 was appointed as the Minister for Finance & Public Expenditure and Reform.

Prior to his appointment as the Minister for Finance & Public Expenditure and Reform, he served, from May 2016-June 2017, as the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, and from July 2014-May 2016, as the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. Mr Donohoe has also held the position of Minister for European Affairs at the Department of An Taoiseach and the Department of Foreign Affairs from July 2013-July 2014.

He was elected as a TD in February 2011, where he topped the poll in Dublin Central. Prior to his election, he was a member of Seanad Éireann from 2007 to 2011. He served as member of Dublin City Council from 2004 to 2007.

Minister Donohoe was formerly the Chair of Ireland’s Future in Europe Oireachtas Sub-Committee, as well as a member of the Public Accounts Committee. He has also served as the Vice-Chair of the European Affairs Committee and, as a Senator, he served as a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport.

During his time as member of Dublin City Council, Minister Donohoe served as Chair of the Environment & Engineering Strategic Policy Committee, as a member of the Corporate Policy Group and also as Chairman of the Central Area Committee.

Minister Donohoe is a graduate of University of Dublin, Trinity College, with a Degree in Politics and Economics and has attended St. Declan’s CBS, Cabra.

Lisa Kidd Hunt is Executive Vice President of International Services and Business Initiatives for Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., where she leads global products and services along with four broker dealers outside the United States, and drives strategic initiatives for the firm.

Ms Hunt has worked in the securities industry for 32 years, the past 26 with Charles Schwab. She has extensive general management, sales and client service, and product experience and always focuses on driving profitable long-term growth while creating more meaningful outcomes for clients.

Ms Hunt was the 2018 Chairperson of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), and currently serves as Chair Emeritus. Prior to that industry appointment, Ms Hunt led International Services and Business Initiatives for Schwab, including launching a social media program for the firm’s relationship management and business development employees.

Previously, Ms Hunt served as the head of Schwab's branch network and acquisition delivery, leading over 2,000 employees in more than 325 branches and the acquisition delivery group.

Before that, she served as EVP, Schwab Investor Development and focused on providing Retirement and Stock Plan Services participants a path for financial fitness through world class service and advice.

Ms Hunt also served high net worth investors as Senior Vice President of Schwab Private Client and led Local Marketing, Sales Training and Relationship Support. Prior to joining Schwab in 1992, she worked as a municipal bond trader.

Ms Hunt received her Bachelor's degree in Finance with an emphasis in economics from the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland. She is a fellow with the International Women’s Forum and has participated in executive leadership programs at Harvard Business School and Cambridge University, and is a current participant in The Securities Industry Institute. In addition to serving on the SIFMA Board of Directors, Ms Hunt serves on the Board of Directors of the SIFMA Foundation. Hunt is an advisory board member for the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, an Advisory Board member for Scout, a lifestyle brand and a former board member of EBRI.

As the Director and Global Head of IFC’s Climate Business, Alzbeta’s role is to facilitate business growth, provide thought leadership, fundraise and facilitating all work related to renewables, climate-smart agribusiness, green bonds and other climate business areas. Prior to her current appointment, she was a director and global co-head of Agribusiness, Manufacturing and Services Investments group where she managed over $13 billion of assets in emerging markets, leading a group of 400 bankers in 60 IFC offices worldwide. During the past 20 years, Alzbeta worked in many areas of IFC and rose through the ranks, including serving for two years as the Chief of Staff to IFC’s former CEO Mr. Lars Thunell.

In her current position, Alzbeta revitalized and grew IFC Climate Business which now accounts for a quarter of all IFC investments. She created and currently executes the new climate business strategy which envisages further growth of business anchored in new technologies and their facilitating role in business growth, particularly in emerging markets. Her team also piloted and implemented carbon pricing for the Corporation’s largest investments, and a corporate disclosure of carbon footprint.

Alzbeta joined IFC from the Export Development Corporation (EDC Canada) and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). She received Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Ottawa, Canada, where she also studied for her doctorate; engineering degree from Prague University, Czech Republic; and executive education from Harvard Business School and INSEAD. She holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. She has served on several corporate and non-profit boards, including New York University Stern Center for Sustainable Business Advisory Board, Hans Merensky (South Africa), Grupo Los Grobo (Argentina), ShoreCap Investment Fund (US) and as the founding board member of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Society in Russia.

IFC is a Member of the World Bank Group and is the world’s largest multilateral financier of the private sector in emerging markets. IFC’s portfolio is over $60 billion, comprising investments in some 1,800 companies worldwide.

Michael D'Arcy is the Minister of State at the Department of Finance with special responsibility for Financial Services and Insurance. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) since 2016 and previously, from 2007 to 2011, for the Wexford constituency. He served as a Senator for the Administrative Panel from 2011 to 2016.

Mr D'Arcy was co-opted to Wexford County Council as a councillor for Gorey in 2003 and re-elected at the 2004 local elections. He was elected TD for Wexford at the 2007 General Election. He served as the party Deputy spokesperson on Justice, with special responsibility for Equality, from 2007 to 2010, and was the party Deputy spokesperson on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, with special responsibility for Telecommunications, from 2010 to 2011.

Andrew Douglas is the Managing Director of Government Relations for Europe & Asia at The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and Chief Executive Officer of DTCC’s European Trade Repository (DDRL Europe).

As CEO of DDRL Europe, Douglas leads day-to-day operations with responsibility for all aspects of the European business, including new product development, regulatory outreach and strategy.

As Managing Director of Government Relations, Douglas plays a key role in representing DTCC's public policy positions to officials of the European Union and its Member States as well as multiple jurisdictions in Asia. He represents DTCC in dealings with other European organizations, such as regulators, central banks and industry associations. He is also responsible for communicating DTCC's European policy agenda and for building upon existing relationships with key individuals and groups in the public policy-making process. In addition, he represents DTCC at relevant forums, advises senior management on pending legislation and policy issues and provides input to DTCC line business managers about European issues relevant to their products.

Douglas joined DTCC from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), where he most recently served as head of that Belgium-based cooperative's Securities Research and Development Team. During his tenure at SWIFT, he was instrumental in developing the "Giovannini protocol," which harmonized communication standards among equity post-trade infrastructures in Europe.

Prior to joining SWIFT in 1999, Douglas spent two years as head of the middle office and client service teams for fixed income and money market products at Deutsche Bank's investment bank. He began his financial services career in 1988 at Citibank, where he worked in the clearing and custody business. Mr. Douglas has an MBA from Manchester Business School and a Bachelor of Science degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Surrey.

As CEO, Brian is responsible for all global operations for EquiLend, its affiliates and subscribers. He brings 20 years of hands-on experience and a deep knowledge of the global securities finance industry with an emphasis on technology solutions.

Prior to joining EquiLend, Brian spent 17 years with Barclays Global Investors (BGI). While at BGI, Brian held various positions, including head of Global Derivatives Services and Cash Strategist. Brian spent many years in securities finance while at BGI. His roles in that area ranged from Product Manager for Fixed Income Securities Lending, as well as Program Manager and alternate board member of EquiLend. He is one of the thought leaders among the initial ownership group that helped design the EquiLend platform.

Brian is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, and holds a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance.

Martina L. Cheung is President of S&P Global Market Intelligence. Previously, Martina served as Head of Risk Services in S&P Global Market Intelligence, where she was responsible for monetizing and leveraging S&P Global’s significant risk intellectual property (research, content, models, data, analytics and solutions) cross-divisionally to serve clients in managing complex risk challenges.  Martina also oversaw S&P Global’s enterprise-wide growth strategy in Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) and Cyber risk. 

Martina joined S&P Global in 2010 as Vice President of Operations and was appointed Managing Director of the Global Strategy group in 2012. She went on to serve as S&P Global’s Chief Strategy Officer, where she was responsible for the execution and measurement of S&P Global’s Growth and Performance objectives, positioning the Company for sustainable growth and the continuing expansion of its global footprint.  As Chief Strategy Officer, Martina was also head of S&P Global Ventures, overseeing investments in early stage Fintech startups.

Prior to joining S&P Global, she worked in the consulting industry, first in Accenture’s Financial Services Strategy group and later as a Partner at Mitchell Madison Consulting. 

Martina serves on the Board of Directors of CRISIL.  She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce and a Master’s degree in Business Studies from University College Galway.

During his tenure in office as Director-General he was part of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), and chaired both, the Standards Implementation Group (SIG) of the BCBS and the Joint Forum during the tenure of the BCBS.

He founded and was the first Chairman of the Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS); the forerunner of the European Banking Authority (EBA), after being President of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) and chaired the extinct Banking Advisory Committee (BAC) of the EU.

Mr. Roldán joined the Bank of Spain as Senior Economist of the Research Department in 1989, but in 1994 he takes up a post at the European Monetary Institute (the forerunner of the European Central Bank) in Frankfurt.

Zeeshan Feroz is the UK CEO of Coinbase. A fintech and payments veteran, he previously worked as Global Head of Payments at crowdfunding firm Tilt.com (since acquired by Airbnb), as well as VP of Sales at online payments firm Skrill. He also studied cryptography as part of his Masters in Advanced Computing at King’s College London.

Zeeshan heads up Coinbase’s operations across Europe, where he focuses on bringing its products to consumers and institutional investors, and speaking to regulators about the potential of digital currency.

Launched in 2012, Coinbase is the world’s largest platform for transacting in digital currency like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin, with now over 20 million customers globally. The company is working to create a more open global financial system to bring about more economic freedom, innovation, efficiency and equality of opportunity around the world.

Martin D. Shanahan is CEO of IDA Ireland. IDA (Industrial Development Agency) is Ireland’s inward investment promotion agency responsible for the attraction and development of foreign investment in Ireland. Martin took up this position on the 1st September 2014. Prior to this, Martin was Chief Executive of Forfás – Ireland’s policy advisory board for enterprise, trade, science, technology and innovation. Martin has been at the forefront of the development of enterprise and innovation policy in Ireland for many years including leading the development of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs 2011-2014. Martin is a board member of IDA Ireland and Chair of its Investment Committee. Martin is also a member of the National Competitiveness Council. He has previously been a member of the Management Advisory Committee of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation, the Advisory Council for Science, Technology and Innovation, and Ireland’s Expert Group on Future Skills Needs. Martin holds an M.Res (Educational Research) from Lancaster University, a M.Sc. and H.Dip from Dublin Institute of Technology and a B.Sc (Mgmt) from University of Dublin, Trinity College. He has undertaken executive education in economics at Oxford University and in innovation for economic development at the Kennedy School of Government in Harvard.

Seán Páircéir, Partner, Global Head of Investor Services for Brown Brothers Harriman

Prior to assuming this role in January 2016, Seán was head of the Investor Services Relationship Excellence group, co-head of Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Supervising Partner for BBH’s Dublin and London offices.

Seán has over 25 years of financial services experience. After joining BBH in 2000 as a Managing Director resident in Dublin, he was appointed Partner in 2010. Seán is also a director of: Brown Brothers Harriman Trustee Services (Ireland) Limited, Brown Brothers Harriman Investor Services Limited (London), Brown Brothers Harriman (Luxembourg) SCA, Brown Brothers Harriman (Poland) Sp. z o.o. and Brown Brothers Harriman Services AG (Switzerland).

Having spent his entire career in the financial services industry, Seán has been a significant contributor to BBH’s success in building its footprint in global funds servicing. He has served as a member of the Investment Management Advisory Committee of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA); has played a leadership role in the broader global funds industry as the Chairman of the Irish Funds Industry Association; and as a member of the Irish Government's International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) Funds Group. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and contributor to publications on regulation and product innovation.

Seán is a graduate of University College Dublin.

Fiona Gallagher is Managing Director, Global Head of Securities Services and Chief Country Officer. She is based in Dublin.

Deutsche Bank Securities Services provides custody, clearing and settlement, as well as fund administration services across 30 markets globally. Deutsche Bank Ireland employs 750 people across the Transaction Bank, Operations, Global Investment Solutions and the Chief Data Office.

Fiona joined Deutsche Bank in 2004 and has held a number of leadership roles including Head of EMEA Coverage for GTB focused on priority financial institutions, Global Head of Relationship Management and Global Head of Private Placements for Capital Markets and Treasury Solutions covering both corporate and financial clients.

Fiona previously worked in Debt Capital Markets at both Barclays Capital and Merrill Lynch in London and New York respectively.

Fiona graduated from University College Dublin (Ireland) in 1996 with a Bachelor of Civil Law, and in 1998 earned a postgraduate degree in Business Studies with First Class Honours from the Business School at University College Dublin.

Yann Le Pallec is Executive Managing Director and Head of Global Ratings
Services. He is based in Paris and is a member of the S&P Global Ratings
Executive Committee. Yann oversees a group of approximately 1,500 credit
analysts present in 28 countries and covering more than one million outstanding
ratings on entities and securities across a wide range of sectors including
governments, corporations, financial institutions and structured finance.
Yann has held a diverse set of responsibilities in his career at S&P.

In 2016, he was Head of Global Corporate Ratings, a group composed of 500
analysts responsible for analyzing over 4,000 non-financial corporations
worldwide.

From 2011 until 2015, he was responsible for S&P’s market leading credit
ratings business in EMEA, leading a team of over 900 rating analysts and
support staff operating from 12 offices.

Previously, Yann was Head of EMEA Corporate and Government Ratings, after
occupying various managerial and analytical positions in the Insurance and
Sovereign & Public Sector groups.

Before joining S&P in 1999, Yann was a Senior Manager with the Paris-based
audit firm Salustro Reydel.

Yann holds a Master’s degree in Business from Ecole Supérieure des Sciences
Economique et Commerciales (ESSEC) in France.

A qualified accountant, securities professional, computer specialist, and management consultant, educated at Harvard University and Trinity College Dublin, Michael gained his PhD at the London School of Economics where he was also a Visiting Professor.  He began his career as a research scientist, later becoming an accountancy-firm partner and a director of Ministry of Defence research.  During a spell in merchant banking in 1994, he co-founded Z/Yen, the City of London’s leading commercial think-tank.  He has led Z/Yen from creating smart ledgers (aka blockchains) in 1995 through the Financial £aboratory, Taskforce 2000, Long Finance, Global Financial Centres Index, Global Green Finance Index, and Global Intellectual Property Index.  He is an Alderman of the City of London for Broad Street, a non-executive director of two listed firms and a regulator, Emeritus Professor at Gresham College, Fellow of Goodenough College, and Past Master of the Worshipful Company of World Traders.  His third book, The Price of Fish: A New Approach to Wicked Economics and Better Decisions, won the 2012 Independent Publisher Book Awards Finance, Investment & Economics Gold Prize.  His most recent publications are Long Finance’s 2018 Cyber-Catastrophe Insurance-Linked Securities On Smart Ledgers and Smart Jurisdictions Index

Kevin G. Byrne is the Chief Financial Officer at Millennium Management LLC. based in New York. Mr Byrne is responsible for leadership and oversight of the financial-related activities of the firm. Specifically, he oversees Finance & Accounting, Tax and Corporate Services and Real estate and has been with the firm since 2014. Mr Byrne has 25 years of global financial services experience and prior to Millennium was with Goldman Sachs for 13 years. From 2010, he served as Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer of Goldman Sachs Bank USA in New York. Prior to this role, Mr Byrne held various roles globally including Treasurer of Goldman Sachs Bank USA, European and Asia Treasurer, Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities Structurer in London, and Head of Operations, Technology & Finance for the Frankfurt office. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Mr Byrne was with Lehman Brothers in London and Allianz Ireland based in Dublin. Mr Byrne graduated from the Dublin Institute of Technology (Business Studies) in 1990 and qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1995.