Ready To Hear Views From The Most Influential Payments & Regtech Experts?
#npf
17th NextGen Payments & RegTech Forum
OUR SPEAKERS
Robert Courtneidge
Payment Industry Expert
Robert Courtneidge is valued and respected industry expert in the emerging payments industry. He is working with a number of businesses assisting them on their strategy and products using his 30+ years legal experience to give them practical and innovative solutions. He is co-author and Editor of The PAYTECH Book 2020. He was co-founder of the Prepaid International Forum and has worked with the Emerging Payments Association since it was founded.
He has been regularly featured in the prestigious Payments Power 10 (including being ranked #1 in 2015), a highly competitive ranking of the most influential contributors in payments. As a lawyer in payments he was voted in the top 10 in the world by US publication Paybefore in 2015 being the only European in the list. As a lawyer he has worked closely with The Payments Services Regulator, HM Treasury, UK Finance and Financial Conduct Association, in the UK as well as other compliance and industry bodies globally. Robert has deep expertise in electronic money and payment services and is highly skilled in all aspects of payment services including consumer protection, banking regulation and compliance, and AML/CTF. Robert is highly active on the conference front regularly chairing and moderating events as well as speaking on issues facing the European Payments’ Industry including laws relating to blockchain, digital assets and Central Bank Digital Currencies.
Andrew Doukanaris
Chief Executive Officer at Flotta Consulting Ltd
Andrew has been at the heart of the digital payments transformation for almost three decades, holding senior roles in issuing and acquiring with Chevron/Texaco, Visa Inc., JCB Cards, and a Mastercard advisor in The Middle East - During which time has been based in Singapore, San Francisco, New York and London.
He is a Fintech mentor/board advisor at Level39 in London and the former CEO and Chairman of multinational QR code payments Pomelo Pay. In January 2022, Andrew was appointed CEO of Blukite Network - an Open Banking network with revolutionary patented technology.
Dr. Firas Nadim Habach
CFA, Head of Compliance & MLRO at Sygnum Bank AG
Dr. Firas Nadim Habach is the Head of Compliance and MLRO of Sygnum Bank AG, responsible for the activities within Switzerland, Luxembourg and Abu Dhabi. He was previously the Head of Corporate & Investment Banking Compliance at JPMorgan in Switzerland & Austria and the Head of Compliance Monitoring & Testing at Deutsche Bank in Switzerland
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Katerina Androutsou
Anti Financial Crime Compliance Officer & Deputy MLRO at Sygnum Bank AG
Katerina Androutsou is an Anti Financial Crime Compliance Manager & Deputy MLRO at Sygnum Bank AG, the world’s first digital asset bank founded in Switzerland and Singapore with a global reach.
Prior to joining Sygnum, she worked as Deputy Head of Compliance and Deputy MLRO in Crypto Finance (Deutsche Börse Group) and as AML/KYC Compliance Lead at Credit Suisse in Switzerland. She has been intrigued by the legal and compliance aspects of digital assets since her time at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. Katerina’s prior experience combines the private legal sector, governmental sector, and the EU institutions.
Katerina is an EU qualified lawyer holding Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in Law from the Universities of Athens and Brussels, as well as certificates on blockchain and digital assets. Her focus is on financial markets law, KYC/AML, financial crime compliance, crypto compliance and blockchain forensic analysis.
Timea Nagy
Senior Legal Counsel at AlpinumLaw & Co-founder WiW3CH
Tiema Nagy is a Legal Expert in the fields of Data Privacy, Fintech, AI and other Web3. With a focus on EU and Swiss data privacy law, Swiss financial market law, AI, Timea provides strategic legal counseling to clients worldwide. In addition to her current expertise, Timea is a very active member in the Web3 space. Her contributions to the Web3 community are significant as a Co-Founder & Board Member of Women in Web3 Switzerland (WiW3CH). Timea has published various articles and held various workshops, trainings related to data privacy, AI, and the Fintech. Finally, Timea is an accomplished global public speaker addressing diverse audiences on topics related to her legal field of expertise.
Hartwig Gerhartinger
SVP, Global Head of Regulatory and Government Affairs at the Paysafe Group
Dr. Hartwig Gerhartinger is a dedicated payments industry professional, an expert in payment services and e-money regulation as well as in anti-money laundering legislation.
As Senior Vice President, Global Head of Regulatory and Government Affairs, Hartwig advises Paysafe on all regulatory matters, including payment services and electronic money regulations and global licensing. He has additional responsibility for governmental affairs, representing Paysafe with political stakeholders and regulatory authorities globally.
Hartwig is Managing Director of paysafecard.com, part of Paysafe Group and at the Boards of several regulated entities of Paysafe Group. He is also at the Board of Directors of the European Payment Institutions Federation (EPIF), the Payments Innovation Forum (PIF) and Prepaid Verband Deutschland (PVD). Further to this, Hartwig is member of the Payment Systems Market Expert Group (PSMEG) of the European Commission and member of that Digital Euro Rulebook Development Group at the European Central Bank.
He holds a doctorate in law and is currently a guest lecturer for e-payments law at Danube University. He is the author and co-author of numerous publications in the field of payments regulation and IT law.
Christos Malikkidis
Business & Legal Advisor at Royal Pine
Christos is a Business & Legal Advisor at Royal Pine. He holds an LLB in English Law from Queen Mary University of London and an LLM in EU Law from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven of Belgium. Upon completing his studies, Christos trained at a Brussels boutique law firm and at the Pharma and Health services antitrust unit of the European Commission’s DG COMP. With his relocation to Cyprus, Christos practiced law for five years and was involved in high profile cross-border commercial litigation disputes, while his corporate legal expertise covered matters of EU & Competition, Data Privacy, IP & Technology and Corporate Insolvency. He is a member of the Cyprus Bar Association, a licensed Insolvency Practitioner, and a Certified Professional Development Trainer. Christos is fluent in English, Greek and conversational French. His favourite hobbies are podcasting, free diving and mountain climbing.
Jürg Baltensperger
Managing Director at JayBee Ltd
Jürg Baltensperger is one of the most experienced and well-known pioneers in the field of regulation & compliance for financial intermediaries in FinTech and Blockchain. As a graduated lawyer, risk manager & business economist and certified Blockchain expert, he covers regulatory aspects in his field of expertise in a holistic approach.
With the consulting firm JayBee he founded in 2017, Jürg and his team support around 120+ financial intermediaries in the areas of fintech & blockchain such as banks, asset managers and crypto exchanges. JayBee serves clients from startup level to international collaborations with regulatory consulting, licensing and outsourcing services. JayBee also provides staff lending & recruiting services and partners with various IT tool provider in order to offer implementation of RegTech solutions.
Jürg teaches in the areas of Corporate Governance, Risk Management & Compliance at universities of applied sciences and set up his own education CAS Digital Compliance Officer at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, where compliance officers, auditors & regulators are made fit in the areas of FinTech & Crypto.
Robert Edwards
Global Head of AML Transaction Monitoring at Credit Suisse
Robert Edwards is a Managing Director within the Global Financial Crime Compliance Division and a member of the Credit Suisse FCC Management Committee. He joined Credit Suisse in July 2022 as the Global Head of AML Transaction Monitoring and is based in Zurich. Robert provides senior coverage for Anti-Money Laundering Transaction Monitoring globally, with a focus on the Mantas platform upgrade and ensuring appropriate global transaction monitoring coverage.
Robert has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, including positions as the EMEA Head of Compliance for Barclays Bank PLC, and the Global Head of Anti-Money Laundering for Citigroup’s Private Banking and Wealth Management businesses. He was a member of the Global Compliance Management Committees at both Citibank and Barclays. Robert has developed and implemented successful Compliance and AML change programs across multiple jurisdictions, having lived and worked in the US, Europe, Asia and Africa. He is a frequent panelist at AML and Compliance industry conferences in Europe and Asia. Prior to working in financial services, Robert was a lawyer for several companies in the Asia Pacific region and focused on infrastructure investments and corporate debt restructuring.
Robert is originally from Portland, Oregon and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Linfield College and a Juris Doctorate degree from Brooklyn Law School.
Cedric Ming
Head of Compliance at radicant Bank
Cedric Ming is an experienced banking professional. Skilled in Legal Project Management, Regulation, IT, Sales, Payments, Financial Markets, Blockchain, Auditing, Risk Management, Compliance, AI and Cloud.
Cedric Ming, MLaw, CAMS, is Head of Compliance at radicant Bank AG, Switzerland’s first digital, sustainability bank. He is a seasoned business, legal, regulatory & compliance professional with a focus on innovation.
He was a Senior Consultant in the Legal, Regulatory & Compliance / Digital Law team at Ernst & Young (“EY”) in Switzerland. He focused on Financial Markets Law, with a particular focus on IT (Blockchain, Tokenization, Defi, Metaverse, NFTs, Web3, RegTech and AI), as well as ESG.
He is a Co-Founder and the Vice President of MetaverseTalks Association, a leading Web3 Non-Profit in Switzerland dedicated to education and events regarding Metaverse and NFTs. He is a Web3 SME for the Times Professional Learning, a division of Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd in India.
Prior to working at EY he work as a Senior Associate in the Compliance, RegTech and Managed Legal Services team at PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd. (“PwC”) in Zürich, Switzerland. He was a consultant in the financial services and non-financial services sectors. His main areas of focus were Financial Crime Compliance, Digital Assets, NFTs, the Metaverse, FinTech, Payments, Banking and Asset Management, AI, ESG, and Data Privacy. Within PwC, he also worked as a Regulatory Auditor in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Pierre-Yves Bonnardot
Director Cards & Payments at Capgemini Switzerland
As a seasoned professional in the banking industry, Pierre-Yves specialised in financial messaging, payments, and fraud detection for both financial institutions and corporates. Currently serving as Director in Capgemini's global Cards & Payments practice, he thrives on connecting the dots between technology and business, leveraging his passion to drive innovative solutions in the ever-evolving landscape of the payments industry.
Sylvain Bertolus
Founder & CEO at CashSentinel
Sylvain Bertolus is the Founder & CEO of CashSentinel, a payment service provider serving financial institutions, marketplaces and intermediaries in Europe. He started his career in the technology department of JPMorgan in Geneva. Later, he co-founded and helped grow a consulting firm, Newtone Associates, specialised in the financial industry. The firm was eventually acquired. As of the end of 2023, CashSentinel processes €500 million of yearly payments flows, and has been growing by nearly 100% year-on-year for the last three years.
Matthias Greiller
Independent Senior Advisor (Crypto-)AML/KYC
Matthias has over 20 years of experience in the Financial Services industry in Switzerland and abroad. He worked as a permanent employee and management consultant for Swiss international Private Banks, mainly focusing on Regulatory Compliance topics. Being passionate about Anti Financial Crime and in particular AML/CFT he specialized in this area and holds various certificates e.g. from ACFCS and ACAMS. Since end of 2022, Matthias is a member of the ACAMS faculty acting as an instructor for AML and Crypto AML classes. In 2021, Matthias joined BITCOIN SUISSE AG, the Swiss crypto-native pioneer and trusted gateway to crypto asset investing and is their Head Anti Financial Crime and MLRO.
Erik Meierhoff
Managing Director at S-Payment GmbH
With 20+ years of Digital Experience, Erik is currently heading the Payment branch of Europe's biggest finance group (Sparkassen Finanzgruppe). Before that he was supporting Volkswagen on its way to E-Mobility and implementing an Agency Sales Model, was heading idealo's 200+K merchants with 500+M offers in Europe and build the first marketplace business for Rakuten in Germany as well as heading Rakuten's Digital Ecosystem in Europe.
Michael Brüggler
Chairman at Swiss Fintech Alliance (SFA)
Michael Brüggler is an accomplished Managing Director at FinTechWerkstatt and serves as the Chairman at Swiss Fintech Alliance (SFA). With extensive expertise as an entrepreneur and a proven track record in founding and managing companies across diverse sectors, he has notably listed a company on the stock exchange.
As a co-founder and Chairman of SFA, Michael spearheads a platform where chairpersons and CEOs of all licensed FinTechs in Switzerland convene monthly for invaluable roundtable discussions. The SFA is dedicated to representing and safeguarding the interests of all licensed Swiss fintechs under Art. 1b BA in dealings with FINMA, SIF, SNB and other Swiss regulatory bodies.
At the helm of FinTechWerkstatt.ch, an exclusive consulting boutique for financial intermediaries, Michael achieved a milestone by securing Art. 1b Banking Act fintech licenses for clients within a remarkable 8-month period. His adept team offers guidance to banks, fintechs, securities traders, and asset managers, aiding startups in acquiring membership of a Swiss Self Regulatory Organization (SRO). Moreover, he and his team meticulously evaluate crypto projects for investors, establish companies for clients and establish and manage operational and IT teams within Switzerland.
Koen Vanderhoydonk
CEO & Founder at The Connector
Koen Vanderhoydonk has a passion for innovation in the banking industry and he is a #FinTech and #RegTech influencer with a large international follower’s base. He is the author of “The RegTech: BlackBook” and released the sequel in 2022. The first edition in 2019, was the first physical and collaborative RegTech book co-written with several specialists worldwide (www.regtechblack.com).
In 2022, Koen started “The Connector” and is a linking pin between multiple start-ups, banks and regulators and connect the dots between people and businesses. He helps B2B FinTech companies to scale their business (www.jointheconnector.com).
Koen has been working at large market infrastructures Euroclear, where he was director of Customer Experience & Global Marketing and for many years, he headed the account management and client relationship team covering all Euroclear Bank clients in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Central Europe. Before he was General Manager at Binck Bank (now Saxo bank) Professional Services Belgium, delivering innovative banking solutions to financial institutions in the Benelux. Before he launched his own business, he was CEO Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany for the fast-growing WealthTech scaleup Blanco.
Overall, he has over 25 years of experience of successfully growing and managing B2B businesses in the global financial landscape.
Silvan Andermatt
Director at Sielva Management SA
Silvan is Director with Sielva Management. He is a FinTech enthusiast with several years of experience as consultant, speaker and lecturer. Silvan supports FinTech Projects, in particular with DLT/Blockchain, to domicile and prosper in Switzerland.
Pascal John
Head of Operations at Crypto Helvetica AG
Pascal has over 15 years’ experience in banking, corporate finance and the digital asset industry. During his career, he worked for regional banks, large international corporates and start-ups in different roles, mainly focusing on operations and payments. Exploring the blockchain technology already in 2014, he decided to join the Crypto Industry in 2019 by helping to build up and later leading the operations department for a Swiss crypto pioneer. Currently, he is working for a digital asset start-up in Zurich and helps to build up the operations department. He has a profound knowledge in all aspects of the operational handling of payments as well as digital assets and blockchains in general.
Branislav Nikolovski
Deputy Head Compliance at China Construction Bank (Zurich Branch)
Branislav has been in the Compliance industry for 10 years. He holds an LLM law degree in financial and banking law as well as a Master in International Relations. He worked for American, Russian and Chinese banks. His specialisation is AML law and Client Due Diligence. He grew up in Vienna and came to Switzerland in 2008.
Carsten Miehling
CEO at PPI Schweiz
Carsten Miehling is an expert for standards that apply to the finance sector. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Banking. He is also a graduate of INSEAD's Fintech program. In the Payments Committee Switzerland (PaCoS) he led the ISO 20022 and the EBICS working groups. Since 2004 he is CEO of PPI Switzerland.
Bernhard Müller
General Manager / Chairman of the Board at Centi AG
Bernhard Müller holds an M.Sc. in Biology and entered the blockchain space in 2011. Before founding Centi, Bernhard was Business Development Manager at, Bitmain Switzerland, the financial services arm of the biggest Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer globally. Besides being a true vet in the blockchain space, Bernhard has also worked as a project manager in the highly regulated environment of medical diagnostics. Today, Bernhard serves as the Chairman and General Manager of Centi Ltd.
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Victor Ammer
Founder & CEO at Ammer Group AG
Victor is the CEO and Founder of Ammer Group AG.His previous experience includes senior management positions and board memberships of multi-billion valued technology companies and leadership positions of diverse investment firms with a focus on technology and emerging markets.
He studied business law with a concentration on corporate finance and compliance at Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences and completed executive education courses at Said Business School, University of Oxford, Harvard University, UC Berkeley and others.
He is an alumnus of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers Community and was the founding curator of the hub in Frankfurt am Main. Furthermore, he is an Ambassador of Nexus, a global community of next-gen wealth holders and young philanthropists.
Philippe Meyer
Head of Digital and Blockchain Solutions at BBVA
Philippe Meyer has extensive experience in blockchain development and implementation in leading companies such as BBVA or Avaloq Evolution. He has an international career that he has developed in countries such as Germany, at UniCredit and France where he started his professional career with CACIB, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank.
His interest in technology and the Blockchain world has led him to be part of the steering committee of the Fintech Association of Scotland, as well as the OpenVASP Association, an association that created an open protocol complying with the FATF travel rules. He recently leveraged his blockchain knowledge to create NFTs for an exhibition of a contemporary artist.
As a joyful father of three children, Philippe recently embraced the role of a grandfather and takes immense pleasure in witnessing the remarkable growth and development of a new addition to the family.
Mattia Rattaggi
Founder & Managing Partner at METI Advisory AG
Dr. Mattia Rattaggi is a Fintech business developer and promoter of initiatives to strengthen Web3 markets. He advises, and carries out digital, Web3 and blockchain projects at, private companies, trade associations and regulatory bodies. He is a thought leader in Web3, crypto finance, digital assets, financial risk and regulation, and speaker at international conferences and writer. Mattia combines an advanced exposure to DLT technology, deep expertise in digital finance and regulation, with 25-year experience in the financial industry, in senior risk, compliance, audit and governance positions. He holds a Ph.D in economics from the University of Fribourg and was researcher at the University of Cambridge.
Marianne Bregenzer
Country General Manager at Nexi Switzerland
Marianne Bregenzer joined the payment service provider Concardis, now Nexi Switzerland as Country General Manager for Switzerland in 2018. In a short time, she has been instrumental in driving the digital transformation of the payment card business and has established a strong leadership in the merchant acquiring business. Nexi Group is the European PayTech providing with the scale, the capabilities and the proximity for the simplest, fastest and safest payment solutions, to people, businesses and financial institutions.
Prior to joining the payment industry in 2010, Marianne Bregenzer held various senior positions in the travel industry. Marianne serves on Nexi’s DEI Board and other boards. She holds a Master in Business Administration with a major in strategic management. Marianne is originally from the French speaking part of Switzerland and is now living with her family (3 children) near Zurich.
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Victor Bergmann
Head of Partnerships domestic schemes & DACH at Google Pay
Victor joined Google Pay's Business Development team in 2018 and is currently leading partnerships with domestic payment schemes globally as well as with financial institutions across the DACH region. He previously cultivated key merchant relationships in Germany and spearheaded Google Pay's expansion into the Middle East and Northern Africa. Additionally, he was responsible for growing Passes/Valuables integrations for flight, transit, event tickets, and loyalty programs within Google Wallet for EMEA.
Prior to joining Google Pay, Victor was in key account management, working with some of Google's top advertisers in Dublin and New York from 2012 to 2018.
He holds business degrees from Imperial College, London and the University of Mannheim.
Josip Tolić
Head of Regulatory and Government Affairs at Aircash
Josip holds a Master’s degree in Law obtained from the Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb
and a title of Global Master of Business Administration with a major in Global Finance & Banking
from the Swiss School of Business and Management Geneva.
His key everyday task is to identify, analyse and evaluate new trends and developments in the
payments area and connected industries with an aim to formulate the impact and proposed
course of action for the company.
Skilled in EU digital payments, FinTech and digital policies, AML, GDPR, and connected regulatory
frameworks with a strong track record in EU policy debates, including the position of Aircash’s
representative within the European Digital Payments Industry Alliance (EDPIA).
Aleksandra Kjemhus
Co-Founder & CEO at Black Door Technology AS
Aleksandra Kjemhus co-founded Black Door Technology AS in 2020, where she specialises in advising leaders in AI strategy and business innovation. With over a decade of experience in digital transformation and innovation, Aleksandra excels in guiding leadership through complex strategical challenges. Her background includes significant roles in Financial Services, driving digital strategy and innovation in the largest bank in the Nordics, in healthcare, leading the development of AI-integrated dental services, and advising tech start-ups on everything from governance, strategy to product development. Aleksandra's global perspective is enhanced by her experiences living in nine countries and fluency in English, Norwegian, and Polish. With a double master’s degree in business economics and international management from the Norwegian School of Economics and CEMS – Global Alliance of Management Education, she combines strategic acumen with a passion for technology-driven innovations.
Jimmie Franklin
Senior Journalist, Payments at Vixio
Jimmie leads Vixio's editorial coverage for the EU and UK. His work has included exclusive interviews with politicians and regulators across the continent, hosting webinars, representing Vixio at global events such as Sibos and Money2020, and becoming an expert in regulations including PSD2, MiCA, DORA, and the GDPR.
He has also moderated panels at key events, including Merchant Payment Ecosystem in Berlin and Blockchain for Europe's 2023 summit in Brussels.
Ashley Barnes
Head of European Regional Treasury Centre (RTC) Countries Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg & Switzerland at HSBC Bank plc
Ashley has 19 years of experience in International Cash Management covering Global Banking, Commercial Banking and Institutional clients. He joined HSBC’s Switzerland office in 2019, from where he heads the European Regional Treasury Centre Countries (Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg & Switzerland). Prior to this role, Ashley held various Cash Management positions with HSBC in France and Hong Kong and with a German bank in Europe.
Ashley holds a M.Sc. Finance & Tax with honors and a B.Sc. Management & Economics from the University of Paris – Sorbonne, and speaks French and English.
Thomas Müller
Co-Founder & CEO at Rivero
Thomas Müller is the CEO and one of the co-founders of Rivero, a Swiss FinTech company offering SaaS solutions for fraud recovery and dispute management as well as scheme compliance management.
As a former Chief Information Security Officer at one of the large Swiss card issuers, he has a proven track record in security, product design, and software engineering. In his previous roles, he led projects pertaining to digital transformation, authentication, and managing API products, among others. He played a pivotal role in the launch of mobile payment wallets and created the award-winning information security campaign “Phantom Buster” during his time at Viseca. Prior to this, Thomas served as a Senior Security Consultant at Hewlett Packard, where he and his team established the new business stream of Security Consulting for HP Switzerland.
Costas Xitas
Managing Director at Chainblox
Costas is a seasoned financial services professional with over two decades of experience in diverse sectors like digital assets, brokerage, FX, e-money, investment banking, and asset management. He has served on the boards of multinational corporations and currently supports financial services institutions in the fintech sector, in his capacity as independent non-executive director, in addition to being the CEO and Founder of Chainblox.
Chainblox, is a leading consultancy in the Blockchain space offering, legal, regulatory, and technical advisory, technical development (smart contract audits, algorithmic design), crypto forensic analytics and blockchain education.
Costas holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Sheffield, Master of Laws (LLM) from University College London and Executive MBA from London Business School. He is a Certified Blockchain Expert from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, Certified Cryptocurrency Investigator from the Blockchain Institute Group and PRINCEII accredited project manager. He qualified as a solicitor in Cyprus in 2004.
Delphine Forma
Regulatory Advisor at Skyline Digital AG
Delphine is a compliance and regulatory affairs expert who worked across different countries and industries including large banks in the U.K. such as Bank of Tokyo – Mitsubishi UFJ and HSBC Bank plc., and blockchain/crypto businesses (exchanges and miners) in Switzerland. She holds a diploma from Sciences Po Lyon and two master’s degrees specialized in European Criminal Business Law and Frauds and Money Laundering Prevention. She currently worked as a Senior Compliance Manager at BitMEX and was a Board member of the OpenVASP Association and of the Crypto Valley Association. She is also the founder of the Crypto Compliance and Legal TG group with more than 400 members, and Skyline Digital Regulatory Advisor.
Claudia Naegeli
Vice President, Corporate Client Relationship Manager, CH at J.P. Morgan Payments
Claudia Naegeli is a Vice President within J.P Morgan Payments, based in Zurich. Claudia is a Relationship Manager with a portfolio of large corporate clients headquartered in Switzerland.
Claudia is responsible for the delivery of complex, multi-regional solutions, that include: payables, receivables, cards, trade services, merchant acquiring, liquidity and short-term liquidity investments.
Before joining J.P. Morgan in 2012, Claudia worked at ABN AMRO for five years in a variety of treasury services roles in Zurich.
Claudia graduated with a M.B.A. from the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, Ireland and with a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Portobello College, Ireland. She holds a CAS Swiss Certified Treasurer (SCT) from the Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ of University of Lucerne.
Thomas Nägele
Managing Partner at NÄGELE Attorneys at Law LLC, Chairman of International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications (INATBA)
Thomas Nägele advises international finance, technology and industrial enterprises, operating in the fields of Blockchain/DLT, AI, telecommunications and internet, as well as public institutions. As a Liechtenstein Attorney and being an software developer, he focuses on Internet/IT-law, artificial intelligence, cyber-security (resilience), as well as civil and corporate law. Besides being Attorney and legal Advisor, he teaches at the University of Liechtenstein and gives lectures and presentations on the newest legal developments.
Thomas Nägele was also a member of the government workgroup drafting the Liechtenstein TVTG (Trusted Technology Law; aka Blockchain Act). His doctoral thesis was written on the legal nature of tokens.
Alexandre Kech
Head Digital Securities, Executive Board Member at SIX Digital Exchange
Alexandre Kech joined SDX in November 2022 as Head Digital Securities. Over the past 25 years, Alex has constructed a unique career combining finance at BNY Mellon, payments/securities infrastructure and standards at SWIFT, and blockchain and digital assets at Onchain Custodian (ONC). As co-founder and CEO of ONC, Alex led the Singapore and Shanghai-based team that built from scratch a custody and prime brokerage service for crypto and other digital assets. Most recently, he moved to Switzerland to launch and run Citi Ventures’ Blockchain & Digital Asset team to engage across the European ecosystem on emerging use cases for blockchain technologies and digital currencies.
Valentine Labarthe
Head of Commercial Strategy at nChain AG
With a diverse background spanning 17 years across the Luxury, Healthcare, and ICT sectors, Valentine has a proven track record in driving business growth and embracing innovation. Her career journey, particularly in Asia, has been marked by significant roles in sales and business development. With experience at the C-level, she has been instrumental in delivering both top and bottom-line growth in rapidly evolving markets.
Since 2020, her focus has shifted towards Digital Transformation, Project Management, and Blockchain technologies, aiming to deliver comprehensive solutions especially in traceability, circularity and payment services. At nChain, her role in commercial strategy has seamlessly integrated cutting-edge technology with practical business applications, establishing key partnerships and driving transformative growth.
Valentine has a master’s degree in financial Markets & Trading from Paris Business School (ISC Paris) and a master’s degree in digital marketing form the European Business School (ESCP), associated with a certification from Duke University in “Blockchain Business Models”.
Daniel Eidan
Advisor & Solution Architect at BIS Innovation Hub
Daniel is an Adviser and Solution Architect at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in the Innovation Hub where he builds technology solutions for the central banking community with a special focus on blockchain, CBDC, payments and financial market infrastructure. Before the BIS, he was a global solution architect at R3, led various software engineering teams and was an educator at a leading technical training school. He started his career in the Israeli army and received an honours degree in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Toronto.
Milan Gauder
EVP of Expansion at Kevin.
Milan Gauder, the EVP of Expansion at Kevin, a European payment fintech has 20+ years of experience in the European, Middle-East, African and Global payment space. Started his career at Strategic consulting firms with a focus on banking, joined Mastercard at an early stage and was in leading roles to introduce and scale contactless payment in Europe and MEA, launch ApplePay and tokenisation in Europe. At his last job, he was globally responsible for all card acceptance development at Mastercard. He then left and joined a promising fintech in Europe which aims to revolutionise retail payment and combine mobile contactless with instant payment. He is a father of 2 girls and spends his spare time supporting NGOs, and social innovations.
Manuel Thomet
Associate Partner at Synpulse Schweiz AG
Dr. Manuel Thomet has 20+ years of experience in the financial services industry and has significantly contributed to the definition, development, and implementation of innovative customer and employee experiences during this time. His focus areas include the digital transformation of companies, the development of business and operating models, the design of digital product and service innovations, as well as topics such as Open Banking, Embedded Finance, and Banking as a Service.
After studying business administration at the University of St. Gallen, Dr. Thomet successfully completed his doctorate in 2006 on the topic of "Integrated Performance Management in Omni-Channel Distribution Systems of Banks." Throughout his career as a leader, C-level advisor, project manager, and subject matter expert, he has initiated and launched numerous digital innovations in the fields of online banking, wealth management, and lending.
Currently, Dr. Thomet is associate partner at Synpulse, where he leverages his expertise and experience with a focus on Embedded Finance and Banking as a Service.
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Stelios Georgakis
Director, Head, Financial Market Infrastructures & Payments Department at Central Bank of Cyprus
Stelios joined the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) in 1992, after qualifying as a Chartered Accountant with Coopers & Lybrand (now PwC) in the UK. In January 2013 he became the Head of the Licensing and Regulatory Compliance Section of the Supervision Division. As such, he negotiated the AML action plan with the Troika relating to the banking sector, and oversaw its successful implementation. With the introduction of the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) of the European Central Bank, he became responsible for the On-Site Inspections, the AML/CFT supervision and the prudential supervision of credit, payment and e-money institutions that fall outside the scope of the SSM. In March 2017 he became Head of the supervision of significant and less significant credit institutions. He was the CBC member of the EBA Board of Supervisors and alternate member of the Supervisory Board of the SSM. As of 1 November 2020, he is Head of the Financial Market Infrastructures & Payments Department and of the Accounting Services & Controlling Department.
Stelios also holds a B.Sc.(Hons) in Civil Engineering and an MBA.
Enrico Giacoletto
CEO at easyReg Sarl
Enrico Giacoletto founded easyReg to create e-Reg, a RegTech web application that simplifies and digitises regulatory work for banks, financial institutions, law firms and consultancies in Switzerland. e-Reg is used to simplify everyday work with regulation, to make the vast amount of applicable regulation more transparent and understandable, as well as to streamline the regulation implementation process. e-Reg enables fast and efficient searches in Swiss financial regulation, collaboration, regulatory knowledge management and regulatory watch management.
Enrico has 21 years of experience in the financial industry and was previously the risk management market leader of the French speaking part of Switzerland for a big 4. He is a CFA charterholder and has the FRM (Financial Risk Manager) designation.
He has a deep expertise in risk management and regulation for Swiss banks. Throughout his consulting career he helped many clients, mostly Swiss private banks to improve their risk management framework and implement new regulations. He is also a board member of a bank in Geneva.
Amir Peled
CEO and Founder at TIN Ventures
Amir Peled is a fintech and digital business executive leader. He currently is CEO and Founder of TIN Ventures.
Between 2022 and 2023 Amir was leading payments at an innovative Music-tech startup that is changing the music industry to allow “fair pay for every play.”
Prior to that Amir had been leading the digital partnerships and OTT team at Swisscom. Mainly focusing on digital, data, and media services, the OTT team at Swisscom was a small, and senior, team of Digital professionals focusing on the digital intersection between Telco`s and the global OTT providers. Under his guidance, his team developed and managed the Swisscom PAY digital service, a payment extraction layer used by Swisscom customers for frictionless and secure digital transactions
Before Swisscom, Amir spent several years in the field of IOT analytics and solutions with a company called AGT, where he led the global strategic alliances and partnerships team.
Amir has an MBA from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland, is married, has 3 children and lives in Zurich, Switzerland.
Besides everything digital and disruptive innovation, he enjoys outdoor sports like skiing and surfing and various other (relatively) extreme sports.
Partnerships and alliances are a part of his DNA, and he enjoys building scalable ecosystems in the Fintech, Payments, SAAS, Web 3.0, and other digital domains.
Roger Inderbitzin
Head of Alps Region at Swift
Roger Inderbitzin has been responsible for Swift's business development and customer relationships in Switzerland and Lichtenstein since March 2020 and since 2024 also in Austria.
He previously held various management positions at Swift. After joining as Account Director and Country Manager Lichtenstein in 2009, from 2014 onwards he was responsible for, among other things, supporting and managing leading global banks and corporate customers as Global Account Director and Deputy Head Switzerland.
Before joining Swift, Roger Inderbitzin was Head Global Messaging & Reporting Competence Center at the Swiss private bank Julius Baer. Roger Inderbitzin has an MBA degree in business administration from PHW Zurich.
Ella Adler
Regulatory & Oversight Affairs Counsel at EBA Clearing
Ella Adler is a regulatory lawyer with experience with EU, US and UK authorities. As Regulatory and Oversight Affairs Counsel at EBA CLEARING, Ella ensures that EBA CLEARING complies with all applicable sector-specific laws and regulations, as well as competition law. Prior to joining EBA CLEARING in 2020, she completed a traineeship at the European Commission. She then became an Associate at an international law firm in Brussels, where she advised clients on EU competition and trade law matters. In addition to a law degree from her native Ireland, Ella holds a Master in International Affairs from Sciences Po Paris, and an L.L.M. from Georgetown University Law Center. She is admitted to the New York Bar and is a member of the European Women in Payments Network.
Thierry Arys Ruiz
CEO at AgAu.io
Thierry Arys Ruiz is the Executive Chairman and CEO of AgAu.io : The Peer-to-Peer Electronic Money System backed by Silver (₳g) and Gold (₳u) in Switzerland. Thierry has worked for major trading houses and financial institutions such as Trafigura, LUKOIL, Scotia Capital, ICAP and Credit Suisse. Thierry also served as the Managing Director of the American Institute for Economic Research - Bastiat Society Switzerland, a Libertarian Think Tank. He is an expert in the Architecture working group at the United Nations - ITU - Digital Currency Global Initiative, a private forum for CBDC conversations. He is a University guest lecturer for topics ranging from Commodity Trading, Entrepreneurship, International Finance, and Technology. Thierry is a Mensa member and a venture philanthropist.
Kamran Hedjri
Group CEO at PXP Financial
The end-to-end payment platform: PXP Financial provides a single unified payments platform to accept payments online, on mobile and at the point of sale. Powered by inhouse acquiring, 200+ alternative payment methods & financial services, PXP processes over EUR 21.5 billion annually through our unified gateway. Whatever your business needs today or tomorrow, PXP Financials’ innovative payment platform will support your business growth with all the payment services you will ever need from one source, wherever your business takes you.
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Fabian Meyer
Managing Partner at CORE SE
Fabian Meyer is Managing Director in Switzerland and a member of the board of CORE SE - a European technology think tank based in Berlin. As an expert in payment services and FinTechs, he is responsible for large projects with renowned clients in the financial sector in the DACH region and the United Arab Emirates. He has several years of consulting experience in the banking sector and in transformation engineering.
Alexander Suhobokov
SVP, Head of Fintech at Dukascopy Bank
Dr Alexander Suhobokov is a seasoned financial industry professional with 20+ years of experience in banking and fintech. As the Senior VP at Dukascopy Bank, Alexander is responsible for digital banking operations across retail, corporate and institutional business lines. Dukascopy Bank is an innovative Swiss bank based in Geneva, specialising in digital banking and brokerage services delivered through in-house developed banking and trading systems and platforms. The Bank has 350,000+ clients from 150+ countries. Alexander holds a PhD in Finance from the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow. Alexander is a CFA, FRM and CAMS charter holder.
Katrin Koller
Head of Custody Product at Ripple
Katie is Head of Custody Products at Ripple where she is focused on developing Ripple's custody offering and helping clients identify use cases and design operating models to incorporate digital asset technology into their businesses. Katie assumed her role at Ripple following its acquisition of Metaco, which she joined in early 2023. She has been focusing on digital assets since 2018, helping financial institutions go live with new service offerings as blockchain continues to shape future financial services value chains. Prior to joining Metaco, Katie was at Accenture where she worked with banks, wealth managers, custodians, market infrastructure providers, regulators and central banks on business and operating model design and implementation, and advised on regulation and market structures in crypto markets with its very specific ecosystem. Katie regularly gives lectures and participates in panel discussions at industry conferences, universities and education programs for professionals. She is a part of the ISSA DLT Working Group and actively works with various industry associations in Switzerland and globally on white papers and industry thought leadership.
Rainer Olt
Head of Payments and Settlement Systems Department at Eesti Pank (The Estonian Central Bank) - Online
Rainer Olt is Head of Payments and Settlement Systems Department at Eesti Pank (the Estonian central bank). Before joining Eesti Pank in 2011, he worked for over six years in retail banking, responsible for customer offerings, incl. payment services. He started as a policy expert at Eesti Pank, promoting the smooth operation of payment systems and the overall harmonisation and integration of the retail payments market. Building on his central banking experience and developing the expertise to catalyse market (self-)regulation, he spent four years as a financial market expert at the European Central Bank. Today, his team of experts is responsible for the operator, oversight and catalyst functions in Estonia.
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Nicola Plain
CEO at Aktionariat AG
Nicola Plain graduated from the University of St. Gallen (HSG) with a Master's degree in Business Innovation and obtained a CAIA Level II certificate a few years later. He worked for five years as a business engineer and project leader in the automotive industry with his small consulting company. Disillusioned by the resistance of large companies to change, he decided to work only in very agile and flexible environments in the future. On 01.02.2021 he joined Aktionariat AG, a company that takes advantage of the new Swiss DLT law to allow companies to create a marketplace for their shares on their own website.
Matthew Osborne
Payments Policy Lead at Bank of England
Matthew works leads the payments policy team at the Bank of England. The team is adapting the Bank’s payments regulatory framework to reflect innovation, including the emergence of stablecoins as a means of payment. Matthew is a specialist in capital and liquidity management for financial institutions, and recently spent two years on secondment in NatWest Group’s treasury department. He also mentors with the Social Mobility Foundation. Matthew studied at Oxford University and London School of Economics and has a PhD from Bayes Business School.
Erika Borg
Head of Product (FinTech) at ComplyRadar
Erika Borg is the Head of Product at Computime FinTech, working on solutions focused on the FinTech and RegTech domain with a particular focus on credit and financial institutions products. She graduated from the University of Malta with Honours in 2010 in Information Technology, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. She holds an MBA from Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh) and also a certification in Financial Risk Management in Banks from the London Institute of Banking and Finance. Erika has worked in IT for over 14 years, engaging in various roles, and has specialised in the RegTech space for the past 8 years with hands-on experience in the provision of regulatory and compliance solutions working with major credit and financial institutions.
Kinga Pilat
Business Consultant, Head of Partnerships at Women in Web3 Switzerland
Business strategist and consultant. Extensive experience in Financial Services and Tech across Europe and APAC with roles ranging from external audit, financial controlling to business strategy and consulting. She contributed to several projects, including AML and Compliance within the financial industry. Involved in Web3 space since 2022. Passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship, Kinga leads Partnerships and Entrepreneurs groups at Women in Web3 Switzerland, while also contributing to the growth of the Fintech ecosystem at Swiss Fintech Association. Kinga recently moderated a panel discussion on female leadership in Web3 at the Women in Web3 Global Summit and spoke about financial inclusion at the Web3 Hub Davos during World Economic Forum 2024.
Peter Theunis
Senior Vice President Sales at BPC
Being a highly accomplished professional in the field of finance and fintech, driven by his passion for payments, fintech, digital banking, and embedded finance, with more than 25 years of extensive experience, Peter joined BPC ranks as SVP Sales Europe to drive business growth and expansion across the European market. Throughout his career, Peter has worked with customers in diverse regions, each with unique needs, gaining valuable insights into the global fintech landscape. His track record in business development and leadership is exceptional, having held key positions in internationally recognized fintech companies such as Pelican.ai, Rivero, Endava, Integri, Clear2pay, and TAS Group. He possesses an in-depth understanding of payments and banking, which allows him to navigate complex challenges and deliver tangible outcomes. With his wealth of knowledge and experience in IT, operations, business, and finance, Peter is adept at providing innovative and viable business solutions in the highly competitive fintech market.
Tina Balzli
LL.M. (NYU), LL.M. (NUS), Partner, Head of Fintech & Blockchain at CMS Switzerland
Tina Balzli is the Partner leading the Fintech & Blockchain practice at the international law firm CMS Switzerland. She is a highly experienced Swiss and internationally trained financial markets Attorney-at-law and certified Swiss Fund & Asset Management Officer.
Before joining CMS Switzerland, Tina was a partner at a Big Four firm in Switzerland, where she led the legal Banking, Fintech & Blockchain practice, extensively practiced as a banking and financial markets Attorney-at-law with major Swiss law firms, worked for a financial institution in Hong Kong and acted as research and teaching assistant at the Chair of Civil and Commercial Law at the University of Freiburg i.Ue. She further was a visiting researcher at the Max-Planck-Institute for Comparative and International Private law in Hamburg, Germany.
Her practice specializes in banking, asset management, financial and capital markets law, general corporate and commercial matters as well as mergers & acquisitions, with a particular focus on Fintech and Blockchain. She has an extensive and long-standing track record of holistically advising leading Swiss and foreign financial institutions as well as up-and-coming start-ups in her areas of specialization.
Felix Simon
Client Relationship Officer at InCore Bank AG
Felix Simon is responsible for transaction banking services across traditional and digital assets at InCore Bank AG. InCore, as Switzerland’s only transaction bank, is servicing banks and financial institutions globally. Clients receive efficient end-to-end services across trading, global custody, correspondent banking, securitisation of all asset classes, and BPO all the way to the operation of core banking systems and umbrella SaaS thereto. As bottom layer infrastructure bank, InCore runs high volumes at institutional cost efficiency and passes these advantages on to all users within one of Europe’s largest payment networks. Felix is an industry speaker since over 7 years, providing insights behind the scenes of banks, PSPs, brokers or crypto industry players. No corporate communications or sales pitches. People want real life examples, experiences and proven solutions not more questions and doubts. Felix holds multiple degrees from University of Oxford, University of Mannheim and Université Lyon III and has been working in Investment Banking, Investment Structuring and Digital Assets for 15 years.
Jiri Cejka
Head GRC Consultant for Europe & APAC, Finance Advisory at EPAM Systems (CH) GmbH
Over 40 years of experience in Banking and Insurance Services. Jiri has successfully delivered projects in Finance, including Regulatory requirements and Compliance assurance support for IT environment. Prior to joining EPAM, his responsibility encompassed IT Governance, Audit, Security and Engineering of Exchange systems, co-working on the development of IT Audits, Security, Governance and Strategy methods at KPMG as well as leading IT Transformation Programs.
Heidi Gysi
Co-Head Sustainable Finance Law at EY Switzerland
Heidi studied law in Finland and Switzerland, speaks multiple languages and holds a Dr. iur. degree from the University of Berne, Switzerland, where she researched the concept of qualified investors.
She re-joined EY in 2022 as a Senior Manager in the Zurich Legal, Regulatory & Compliance practice within the Financial Services Organisation from a boutique consulting firm. She has spent over a decade supporting different players in the financial industry in their regulatory transformation journey from a strategic point of view.
Heidi has a broad regulatory knowledge and experience as well as in-depth practical understanding of the financial industry and is a solution-oriented legal business advisor with sustainability at the heart. Her areas of specialism regarding sustainability are greenwashing mitigation, non-financial reporting, and supply chain due diligence.
Heidi is an advocate of a healthy portion of holistic pragmatism and does not let perfect be the enemy of good.
Dorian Selz
Co-founder and CEO at Squirro
Dr. Dorian Selz is co-founder and CEO of Squirro, an AI company. Before that he founded the Swiss search platform local.ch and made it the market leader in four years. Previously he was a partner and COO at Namics, the largest e-business consultancy in Switzerland & Germany. He holds a PhD from the University of St. Gallen and a Master in Economics from the University of Geneva. Bilanz & Le Temps, two leading Swiss Newspapers, have named him a member of the ‘Hall of Fame’ of the top 100 Digital Shapers of Switzerland.
Julio Ferron
CEO at NEITEC
Julio Ferrón joined NEITEC in January 2024 as CEO of the company. NEITEC is a cutting-edge technology company that uses DLT or blockchain technology to bring game-changing efficiencies to financial markets. Its purpose is to deliver innovative products that increase efficiency, improve liquidity and transform business models across multiple industries.
He previously held the role of Head of Crypto Solutions at KPMG Spain, where I had the opportunity to work with several of the world's leading banks in the field of digital assets. He is also a lecturer professor in UAM, UCM, or CEU San Pablo.