OUR SPEAKERS
Ritika Tondak
Senior Business Development Manager at GTCFX
Ritika is a Dubai-based Business Development Director with 15+ years of experience in global financial markets, having started her professional journey in 2011. With an MBA in Marketing & Finance and CISI certification, she has built strong expertise in business development, forex, strategic partnerships, client acquisition, IB development, and leading high-performing teams across international markets. Her professional achievements have also been recognized through prestigious WikiFX Awards, highlighting her contribution to the financial industry. A strategic and growth-driven leader, Ritika believes in creating opportunities, building lasting partnerships, and leading with confidence, integrity, and vision while continuously evolving in the dynamic world of finance.
Deepak Stephen
Chief Strategy Officer at GTCFX
With 17+ years of international leadership experience, Deepak Stephen has successfully evolved from senior HR leadership into the role of Chief Strategy Officer, combining deep expertise in people, strategy, operations, and business growth. His career spans FinTech, Forex, technology, liquidity, payments, and banking across global markets. Having lived and worked globally, he brings a truly international perspective. A passionate mentor, speaker, trainer, and business connector, he has delivered workshops and training across 27 countries and built an extensive global professional network.
Alexander Kolpokchi
CEO and Co-Founder at Base Markets
Alexander Kolpokchi is CEO and Co-Founder of Base Markets, a regulated CFD broker. He began his career at IG Group in London before joining Pepperstone in Dubai. At Pepperstone, he served as Head of Middle East and as Director of its DFSA-regulated entity.
His experience spans commercial strategy, brokerage operations, international growth and governance across multiple jurisdictions. At Base Markets, Alexander is focused on building a credible, transparent and commercially disciplined brokerage for active traders and partners. The firm prioritises fair pricing, strong trading conditions, reliable execution and responsive human service over promotional noise or exaggerated marketing claims. He believes long-term trust is earned when the substance of the client and partner experience consistently matches a broker’s public commitments.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and a Master’s degree in European Business from Cass Business School in London.
Rajesh Kumar
Head of Treasury at LuLu International Exchange
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Rajesh Kumar is the Head of Treasury at LuLu International Exchange, where he leads treasury strategy and operations, global liquidity management, multi-currency FX management, pricing strategy, and strategic banking partnerships. With over 17 years of leadership experience in banking and treasury, he specializes in foreign exchange, liquidity optimization, treasury transformation, digital payments, and financial risk management. Rajesh has spearheaded large-scale treasury modernization initiatives, introduced innovative FX pricing solutions, and played a pivotal role in expanding digital remittance capabilities. Passionate about fintech, AI, and emerging payment technologies, he is committed to advancing the future of global treasury and cross-border payments through innovation and operational excellence.
Habib Akiki
Director of Research and Market Education at Daman Markets
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Habib Akiki is a financial markets professional with more than 16 years of experience trading and analysing global markets. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Banking and Finance and a Master’s degree in Financial Management from SDA Bocconi in Italy. He is also a certified technical analyst and holds the CFTe II Diploma from the International Federation of Technical Analysts.
Vince De Castro
Head of Marketing at Acuity Trading
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As Head of Marketing at Acuity Trading, Vince De Castro leads the company’s global brand strategy and market positioning within the forex and fintech space. With over 20 years of experience in digital marketing and financial technology, he focuses on helping brokers and trading platforms strengthen trader engagement, product differentiation, and long-term growth.
Vince works closely with product, sales, and executive leadership to align AI-driven market intelligence with the real commercial challenges brokers face today. His background in fintech marketing and conversion strategy enables him to bridge the gap between technology, brand positioning, and measurable business outcomes across global markets.
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Bhaskar Dasgupta
Chairman at Middle East Stablecoin Association
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Dr Bhaskar Dasgupta is a Board Member, Advisor and Investor with proven regulatory engagement, strategic business development, and business transformation experience, deploying advanced analytical and pragmatic delivery skills in various regulated and unregulated sectors - banking, markets, crypto, asset management, and technology. He runs his family office from Abu Dhabi, investing in funds, firms and startups globally in the financial services/fintech, virtual
assets, health tech, defense, and F&B sectors.
He currently serves on boards or advises regulated firms globally (Cohesion Asset Management, ICICI Ventures, Rudo Wealth, Caravella Asset Management, Liongevity Asset Management, Truleum Ventures, Trillium Ventures, AusGulf Ventures, Royal Investments Limited, AirWallex). He chairs the Apex FundRock Board – a $ 550 B global fund platform & FundRock ADGM Limited. He advises UAE-, India-, and UK-based families, as well as regulators in the UAE & Vietnam. He
is a visiting faculty member/member of advisory boards at several universities in the UK, UAE and India. He chairs the Middle East Stablecoin Association, the Trade and Investment Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce, Abu Dhabi, and serves on the boards of other associations globally.
Dr Dasgupta’s previous full-time role was leading market development for Abu Dhabi’s Financial Centre (Abu Dhabi Global Market) and Financial Regulator (Financial Services Regulatory Authority) across sectors including Exchanges, Crypto, Digital Banking, Broker/Dealers, Venture Capital, FinTech, Sustainable Finance & Commodities. He was also responsible for Emerging Markets and Europe. He helped triple AUM, making ADGM the largest regulated crypto
jurisdiction in the world; quadrupled the number of broker-dealers; helped launch ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (trading a million contracts within 6 months); and made ADGM the biggest hub for venture capital in the region.
Before joining ADGM in 2019, Dr Dasgupta was the Chief Operating Officer of UK Export Finance at the Department for International Trade, UK Government. The 25-year career included senior-level leadership, business development and transformation roles in investment banking, transaction banking, technology, and consulting in firms such as HSBC, ABN AMRO, Citigroup, and PwC. He has read for a BSc in Mathematics at the University of Bhopal, an MBA in Finance at Indore University, a PhD in Neural Networks/AI at the University of Manchester, a PhD in Politics at King`s College London, and a PhD in Food History at Brunel University. He has begun a PhD in Subtractive Architecture at the University of Westminster.
