Where Europe’s Payments & RegTech Leaders Shape the Future of Finance
#npf
NextGen Payments & RegTech Forum
11 JUNE 2026
Conrad Hotel - Dublin, Ireland
OUR SPEAKERS
Sara Savidge
CEO at Fexco International Payments
Sara is a business transformation executive with vast experience spanning domestic, regional, and international payment ecosystems: delivering scalable, compliant, and innovative financial solutions to meet the demands of a rapidly shifting global landscape. Leading go-to-market initiatives, spearheading business transformation, and executing bold growth strategies at several major financial institutions, her expertise blends the scale, diversity and complexity of industry giants like JPMorgan, Fiserv & Barclays with the agile, innovative spirit of FinTech disruptors such as TransferMate and Fexco. Navigating and embracing the evolving regulatory landscape that shapes payment processes, Sara has a history of crafting strategies that strike a balance between commercial objectives, compliance and innovation.
Driven by a commitment to building a more accessible and inclusive financial ecosystem, Sara champions technology-led solutions that empower underserved communities while improving experiences for consumers, clients, and colleagues. Renowned for her advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Sara also serves on the board and advisory panels of several industry forums, payments communities, and STEM initiatives. Her visionary approach harnesses cutting-edge technology to drive regulatory compliance and deliver scalable, inclusive financial solutions, transforming the financial landscape for underserved populations and paving the way for a more equitable future.
Konstantinos Maragkakis
EEA CEO Paysafe Payment Solutions Ltd
Konstantinos is a business executive with more than 17 years experience in corporate governance and operational management in highly regulated sectors in the EU related to e-platforms and digital businesses in-house or as consultant.
In 2018, Konstantinos was appointed as the EEA CEO of the eCash EEA business entity of the Paysafe Group and currently, as CEO of Paysafe Payments Solutions Ltd Konstantinos is managing the Digital Wallets, Issuing, and Acquiring division in the EEA ensuring that the Group’ attains its growth goals successfully and in line with the broader EEA regulatory framework.
Konstantinos is managing various EEA initiatives in embedded finance as well as payments services to create digital wallets ecosystems for merchants and consumers in crypto, games of chance, travel, gaming etc.
Garrett Cassidy
Founder & Managing Director at Abarta Consulting
Garrett Cassidy has over 30 years’ experience in banking, payments, digital assets, and fintech. He began his career at Goldman Sachs and has held leadership roles at Monese, Circle, and Bank of Ireland. After founding, building, and successfully exiting Trezeo, a regulated payments and lending business, he now serves as a board chair, independent director, and strategic advisor to financial institutions and fintechs.
Gary Bampton
Executive Director at Dojo
Gary Bampton is Executive Director of Paymentsense Ireland Ltd trading as Dojo, a regulated entity of Paymentsense Limited headquartered in London. Paymentsense Ireland is regulated as an electronic money institution by the Central Bank of Ireland. Dojo provides predominantly face-to-face payment acquiring solutions to help customers accept card payments, trade securely and get paid fast. With more than 20 years experience in the payments industry, Gary has worked across card issuing, e-commerce and digital wallets in both local and multi-national companies. His main focus has been acquiring having spent time in operational and commercial leadership roles in Elavon, Realex Payments, Global Payments and Paysafe where he oversaw business functions including customer service, onboarding, account management and customer success. In his current role with Dojo, Gary is part of a team that is rolling out Dojo solutions at scale to European merchants, providing them with fast, reliable payments. His chief responsibilities include commercial growth, operational delivery and regulatory governance.
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Piotr Jan Pietrzak
New Markets Lead at European Payment Initiative (EPI)
Piotr is New Markets Lead at the European Payment Initiative (EPI), following developments in potential new markets, as well as establishing and maintaining relations with key players at both the European and local level. He also leads regular updates of EPI’s Market Expansion Strategy.
In managing key expansion projects and coordinating proposals for new markets to join EPI, he conducts bilateral meetings with banks, acquirers, banking associations, and central banks, while supporting the negotiation and validation of new market onboarding plans.
Before joining EPI, Piotr worked across the financial sector in insurance (Achmea), banking (ING), software development (Opera), and payments (BLIK). He was involved in the development and launch of web and app-based products around the world, from London to Manila.
Piotr completed the executive program at Stanford Graduate School of Business in 2022, holds a postgraduate degree from University of Tartu (MA 2012) and undergraduate degree from Warsaw University of Technology (BA 2010).
He is actively involved in mentoring young professionals as EPI works to help build the first truly pan-European payment scheme.
Gillian Byrne
Head of Payments, Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI)
Gillian Byrne is Head of Payments at the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), where she leads the development and delivery of the payments agenda on behalf of the Irish banking and payments sector. With over 20 years’ experience specialising in payments in Ireland, she works closely with member institutions, regulators and public authorities to support innovation, resilience and customer choice across the payments ecosystem.
In her role, Gillian represents BPFI and the Irish payments industry across a wide range of domestic and European forums. She is an active participant in the Irish Retail Payments Forum (IRPF) and represents Ireland on payments‑related committees and working groups at European level, including within the European Payments Council (EPC) and the European Banking Federation (EBF), ensuring that Irish perspectives are reflected in EU policy and regulatory discussions.
Gillian regularly engages with policymakers, industry stakeholders and the media on key payments topics, including cards, cash, instant payments and emerging payment technologies, and frequently moderates and contributes to industry conferences and public events in Ireland.
Mustafa Hussain
MLRO at ACE Money Transfer & ACE Union
Mustafa Hussain is a seasoned Regulatory Compliance and Financial Crime specialist with over eight years of experience in AML, CTF, and global compliance frameworks. Currently serving as MLRO at ACE Money Transfer and ACE Union Limited, he leads the development and implementation of robust compliance programmes aligned with international regulations. He holds ACAMS and CFCS certifications, along with a diploma in Governance, Risk, and Compliance, reflecting his strong expertise in financial crime prevention and regulatory strategy. Mustafa has a proven track record in risk assessment, transaction monitoring, and regulatory reporting across multiple jurisdictions, and has directly engaged with regulators across six different countries. He works closely with senior leadership and regulatory bodies, providing strategic guidance on compliance and risk mitigation.
David Wilson
Chief Technology Officer at Fire
David, as Fire’s CTO, leads the Technology team, driving the engineering of Fire's services and platforms. He sets the technology strategy and standards, ensures the security and availability of the platform, and oversees architectural and technical changes.
Vincent Brennan
Industry Authority in Payments & Banking
Vincent Brennan is an industry authority on the future of banking, and payments, with an extensive executive leadership track record in transformation, operations and risk management. He has over 40 years’ experience in FS with 20+ working in banking payments and on industry bodies (including Euro Banking Association Deputy Chairman up to 2021), and more recently as a Transformation Director at Accenture and as a non-Executive Director.
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Anna Antimiichuk
Head of Marketing at Vivox AI
Having worked with Clausematch and Corlytics, Anna Antimiichuk has been at the forefront of RegTech innovation since 2016 - before the regulation caught up with the technology. Specialising in growth, communications and go-to-market strategy, she has helped shape how regtech, fintech and AI companies enter, position and scale in regulated financial markets across European and international markets. She is currently working with Vivox AI, a regulatory technology company building AI agents for AML, KYB and financial crime compliance operations.
John Martin
Chief Product Officer at Flagstone
John Martin is an accomplished leader with over 20 years of experience across the financial services industry and the defence sector. As Chief Product Officer at Flagstone, John has spearheaded innovative product strategies that have helped grow Flagstone into the UK's leading cash deposit platform. His expertise spans product development, market analysis, and team leadership, underpinned by the discipline and strategic thinking developed across a diverse career. Passionate about leveraging technology to solve complex challenges, John is a recognised thought leader in the UK fintech sector, combining operational excellence with a client-first approach.
Shane Horan
Head of Compliance and Risk at Corpay Cross-Border
Shane Horan is an experienced financial services leader at Corpay Cross-Border, part of Corpay (NYSE: CPAY), a leading global business payments company. He specialises in regulatory compliance, risk management, and operational strategy. His expertise spans enterprise risk frameworks, financial crime prevention, and regulatory reporting. He carries senior EMEA governance responsibility, overseeing compliance for a Central Bank of Ireland, an authorised payment institution. Shane holds an MBA from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and has a strong track record of driving organisational growth and transformation across European markets. Through cross-functional initiatives, he has improved operational performance and supported long-term strategic objectives.
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.
Ran Weissblech
Fintech Compliance & Risk Professional / Founding Partner of Digital Asset Venture
Ran Weissblech is a senior compliance and regulatory professional with over 15 years of experience across banking, fintech, payments, and digital assets. He has held senior AML, governance, and Compliance Officer roles at PayPal, Coinmama, GTLK Europe, and AvaTrade EU Ltd, where he served as a CF-2 controlled function under the Central Bank of Ireland. Ran holds an LL.B (Hons) from the University of Manchester, a Bachelor’s Degree in Fintech Risk & Compliance from TU Dublin, and the ICA International Diploma in Anti-Money Laundering. He is a Certified Fintech Risk & Compliance Professional and a Fellow of the Digital Euro Association. He writes for ICQ Magazine and contributes to the Compliance Institute’s Consumer Protection Working Group. He is currently the Founding Partner of a digital asset venture pursuing MiCAR-compliant CASP authorisation.
Russel Burke
Interim Chair at Owl Payments Europe Ltd
One of Ireland’s leading payments experts, since 2021 Russell has been supporting both applicant and regulated payments businesses where he has worked with 40% of the authorised firms in the sector.
He serves on the boards of a number of regulated payment businesses in Ireland including Associated Foreign Exchange Ireland, a member of the Corpay Group, and Owl Payments Europe Limited, a Tripadvisor company, where he is also interim chair. He also works with Yale Consulting as a Senior Board Advisor, fscom as a Senior Associate Consultant and as an Associate Faculty Lecturer at the PAT Business School.
Russell has 48 years of experience in banking and payments including seven years with the Central Bank of Ireland as its Senior Payments and Electronic Money Authorisation Specialist and 36 with Bank of Ireland including seven years at the Irish Payment Services Organisation. He represented Ireland on the European Payments Council’s Mobile Channel Working Group for six years and was a director of Mobey Forum for four years, two as deputy chair. Russell has been a guest speaker and panellist at numerous international and domestic industry events.
Dmitrijs Grebnevs
Advisor to the Board at Payswix
Dmitrijs Grebnevs is a senior fintech and payments executive with over two decades of experience in card issuing, acquiring, and banking product development.
Most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer, leading operational strategy, performance, and governance within a regulated financial environment.
He previously held senior leadership roles including Chief Product Officer and Product Director, and has also advised CEOs and Boards on strategic and operational matters.
Dmitrijs brings deep expertise in card schemes, regulatory frameworks, and the delivery of complex, multi-market payment solutions.
He has successfully launched and scaled payment products across Europe and international markets, supporting both fintechs and financial institutions.
Combining strong technical knowledge with strategic leadership, he focuses on driving innovation, operational efficiency, and sustainable growth in the evolving fintech and regtech landscape.
Neil Brennan
Head of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs at Crédit Agricole, Ireland
Neil Brennan is Head of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs at Crédit Agricole in Ireland. He has more than 20 years’ experience in financial services, specialising in compliance, governance, risk management, regulatory affairs and consumer protection across banking and insurance sectors. Neil works extensively with European regulators, including the EIOPA, the Central Bank of Ireland, ACPR, IVASS and BaFin, and has led major regulatory initiatives involving digital transformation, data governance, operational resilience and conduct risk. He is also an Independent Non-Executive Director and Audit Committee Chair, with a strong interest in the evolving intersection of regulation, technology, payments and innovation.
Tommy Hannafin
Head of Payments and E-Money Institutions Supervision Division Central Bank of Ireland
Tommy is a career Central Banker with over 35-years’ experience across a number of roles,
including Chief Dealer for the Central Bank’s investment portfolio, leadership roles in
prudential supervision of banks and credit unions, AML/CFT supervision across the full
financial system and since January 2025 prudential, conduct and AML/CFT supervision for
Payment and E-money Institutions. Tommy has extensively represented the Bank at
international fora such as the EBA, ECB, SSM and FATF.
Tommy holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Financial Services) undergraduate degree and two
Masters in Business Studies (Finance and Business Practices).
Jackie Daly
Head of Compliance and AML (Ireland) at Sparkasse Bank Malta plc
Jackie joined Sparkasse Bank Malta plc Ireland Branch in 2024 as Head of Compliance and AML/CFT, having previously served as Head of Compliance and AML at EDB Custodial Services Limited in Ireland. She began her financial services career at HSBC in the Isle of Man in 2010, where over 11 years she progressed to lead the Corporate Banking Onboarding team. During her tenure, she gained broad experience across team leadership, client relationship management, financial crime prevention and AML compliance. Throughout her career, Jackie has built expertise in developing and strengthening risk management frameworks, with specialisations spanning policy development, due diligence, governance, compliance oversight, process improvement, regulatory reporting, and internal training.
Danny Finnan
Dept Head of AML/CTF at Coinbase
Danny is a dynamic Financial Crime professional with over 14 years of expertise across Ireland, Europe, and the USA in both the first line of defense (1LOD) and the second line of defense (2LOD). He specializes in managing AML regulatory compliance programs, managing regulatory relationships, risk assessments, customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, and policy development. He has held roles across Retail Banking, Investment Banking, Payments, EMIs, Wealth and Asset managers and most recently Crypto, in his role as Dept Head of AML/CTF for Coinbase.
Viorela Dragomir
VP, Payment Network Relations at J.P.Morgan
Viorela Dragomir is a VP, Payment Network Relations at J.P.Morgan, managing the acquiring-side relationship with major payment networks across Europe.
With over 15 years of experience across banking, payments, and financial services, she brings deep expertise in payments ecosystems, regulatory alignment, and the evolving payments landscape.
Her experience spans the payments value chain - from issuing to merchant and acquiring - giving her a holistic view of how networks, regulation, and commercial priorities intersect.
In her role, Viorela partners closely with network and internal stakeholders to navigate regulatory change, interpret scheme rules, and align business priorities with network and compliance requirements.
Abhilash Edakadampil
Co-Founder, CTO & CISO at Global PayEX
Abhilash Edakadampil is Co-Founder, CTO & CISO at Global PayEX, where he leads the design of enterprise platforms that automate how money is applied, reconciled, and controlled across Accounts Receivable, Payables, and payments. His work focuses on solving the "last mile" problem in finance — the gap between payment movement and financial clarity.
His platforms support global enterprises including 3M, Bridgestone, Stanley Black & Decker, and Valvoline. With over 18 years in technology leadership, he specialises in high-scale financial systems, secure ERP and banking integrations, and automation governance — and has been focused on how agentic AI workflows can be deployed safely with auditability, control, and human oversight at enterprise scale.
Prior to Global PayEX, he was CEO of Byzan, working closely with Citi, JPMorgan Chase, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank. He also advised enterprises and government organisations at Deloitte US on security, privacy, and risk.
He holds a Master of Information Systems Management from Carnegie Mellon University and engineering qualifications from the University of Mumbai.
Ciaran Murphy
Managing Director, Global Payments Compliance (Services ICRM) at Citi
Ciarán is the global Compliance lead for Payments, a key product vertical within Citi’s Services business. This global coverage remit provides opportunities to form holistic perspectives on the evolution of the global regulatory landscape as it relates both to payments and the wider financial ecosystem.
He has been based in Dublin, the Headquarters of Citibank Europe Plc (CEP), since 2016 and prior to that, worked with Citi in the Asia-Pacific region, based in Hong Kong. Ciarán began his career with Citi in Belfast in 2009.
During his time with Citi, Ciarán has been in a range of Legal and Compliance advisory roles, covering Banking, Investment Research and various products within the Services business line.
Ciarán has Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degrees from the University of Galway and is a Certified FinTech Risk and Compliance Professional (CFRCP) (Compliance Institute of Ireland).
Michael Higgins
CEO & Cofounder at Payemoji
Mick is the CEO & Cofounder of Payemoji, an AI-powered Fintech revolutionizing payments and conversational commerce. We empower any business handling Card-Not-Present payments or refunds to deliver ultra-secure transactions and boost sales by transforming payments into conversations with agentic AI. We are already doing this for clients like Pizza Hut, Dominos, Cover-More Group, and partnering with largest acquirers in the world like Fiserv, Global Payments.
Hubert O’Donoghue
Independent Consultant, ex-CEO of AIB Merchant Services
Hubert O’Donoghue is a veteran payment industry professional with over 30 years of senior strategic experience, combining technical, operational, and business expertise. He recently retired as CEO of AIB Merchant Services having previously held the position of Vice President of Processing at First Data Europe. Hubert co-founded Omnipay, one of the world’s largest global payment processing platforms holding the position of CTO and later CEO.
Tony Craddock
Director General at The Payments Association
Enthusiastic leader of the world’s most influential trade association in payments, a lively
public speaker and avid networker, Tony is passionate about payments and the difference it
can make to lives everywhere.
Tony shares his knowledge derived from 20 years in payments and his evangelical zeal for
innovation when speaking and chairing conferences, publishing books and white papers, or
enrolling payments leaders to join The Payment Association’s collaboration network.
Tony frequently invests in early-stage payments companies, helping them to win in a highly
competitive payments ecosystem.
He founded The Payments Association in 2010 to
promote the UK as global hub for payments innovation and the interests of its 250+ members in the UK, EU and Asia, which include banks, card schemes, PSPs, issuers, processors, acquirers and legal experts, who all come together to drive collective industry change.
Julian Farley
Sales Director UK and Europe at BPC
Julian Farley is an expert in the payments industry with nearly 25 years’ experience across
solutions consulting, sales, and business development. As Sales Director for the UK and EU at
BPC, he advances the company’s regional growth and equips financial institutions with tools to
innovate in issuing, acquiring, fraud, and digital banking, working closely with leaders across
Eastern and Western Europe. Driven by a passion for customer-centric innovation, he aims to
accelerate payments technology adoption accross the region to provide secure, modern
banking experience for all.
Daniel Jonas
Chief Strategy Officer at Currency Network
Daniel Jonas is Chief Strategy Officer at Currency Network, a quantum-safe financial market infrastructure uniting identity and payments, and founder of Hypercubed.xyz. An acknowledged industry expert in the development of next-generation payments systems strategy, financial technology and digital infrastructure, he previously headed Research and Insight at Pay.UK and works across industry to drive whole-system strategy, innovation and interoperability, collaborating with peer organisations to create a uniquely powerful network covering 50+ countries. He is a specialist in driving technological and organisational change in complex industrial and societal “systems of systems”, with a long history of involvement in Critical National Infrastructure innovation and renewal.
Jan Lorenc
CEO at CurrencyFair
Jan Lorenc is a seasoned fintech leader with over 20 years’ experience across global
finance and digital innovation. Appointed as CEO in early 2025, Jan heads up
CurrencyFair’s mission to provide accessible, cost-effective cross-border payment solutions
for individuals and businesses alike.
Having held senior roles at major institutions like J.P. Morgan and pioneering firms such as
TransferMate and Nuvei, Jan specialises in bridging the gap between traditional banking and
the future of digital assets. His leadership is defined by a human-first approach, focusing on
transparency, regulatory excellence, and stripping the jargon out of international finance.
Under his guidance, CurrencyFair continues to empower expats and SMEs to embrace new
global opportunities with total confidence.
Tony Gilfedder
Finance Senior Director at Planet
Tony joined Planet in 2007. Planet provides flexible payments, software, and tax-free solutions built around customers’ needs through a single partnership. He is responsible for managing the merchant payment strategy for pan-European acquiring through a network of banks. Tony was instrumental in Planet’s transition from an ISO and third-party processor to a merchant acquirer across multiple card networks. He also manages foreign exchange for Planet’s DCC business, along with the associated risk.
Eoin Cumiskey
Director of Franchise Innovation at Mastercard
Eoin is a certified banker specialising in strategy and financial services product innovation. Highly experienced in development and launch of market strategies for new and emerging innovative banking and payment products. His career to date has provided him with a comprehensive understanding of both the regulatory environments and operating realities faced by Banks and Payment Firms in deploying new business models and products. He has deep domain expertise in cross-border payment ecosystems, alternative payment methods, and emerging payment ecosystems including tokenised and crypto enabled payment products.
Derek Corcoran
CEO and Executive Director at Confirmo Limited
Derek Corcoran is the CEO of Confirmo Limited. Confirmo is a stablecoin-first payment platform that enables businesses to make global payments faster, more efficiently, and with greater transparency. Confirmo Limited is authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland as both a Crypto-Asset Service Provider and as a Payment Institution.
Prior to joining Confirmo, Derek served as Chief Operating Officer for OKG Payment Services (OKX Ireland), European Chief Operating Officer for Squareup International, part of Block, Inc., and led the Irish acquiring business for Mastercard. He has also held a variety of payment roles at AIB. He is now leading Confirmo's European expansion as the July MiCA regulatory deadline reshapes the crypto payments market.
Mayur Patel
Payment Industry Expert
Seasoned Payments and Banking Executive with 18+ years of experience leading payment transformation, platform modernization, and regulatory compliance programmes across global financial institutions including Citibank, Allied Irish Banks, Bank of Ireland, HSBC, Barclays, and JPMorgan Chase. Recognized expert in Global PAYplus (GPP) platforms including GPP SP and GPP MP, with deep expertise across SWIFT, SEPA, SEPA Instant, FED, CHIPS, and global clearing and settlement systems including TARGET2, EURO1, STEP2, and RTGS. Works closely with banks, governments, fintechs, and institutional clients to deliver scalable, compliant, and customer-centric payment solutions while driving innovation in nextgeneration payments and digital banking transformation.
Tommie Toomey
Deputy Chief Compliance Officer at 1Money
Tommie Toomey is Deputy Chief Compliance Officer at 1Money, the world's first vertically integrated stablecoin infrastructure stack: the 1Money Network, a Layer-1 blockchain purpose-built for stablecoin payments and real-world asset settlement; 1Money Issuance, regulated stablecoin issuance infrastructure; and 1Money.com, a regulated orchestration platform enabling businesses to receive, buy, sell, convert, send, and store stablecoins and fiat currencies with zero platform fees. 1Money merges the rigour of traditional financial regulation with the efficiency of Web3.
In his role, Tommie leads 1Money’s global compliance programme across its U.S., Bermuda, and international operations, overseeing AML/CTF policy, VASP licensing, and transaction monitoring frameworks. He brings over a decade of financial crime compliance experience across crypto, payments, funds, and investment banking. Prior to 1Money, he served as Global Head of CDD Governance at Binance, where he led the global KYC and KYB framework. He has also held senior AML roles at Citco Fund Services and U.S. Bank Global Fund Services.
Khristina Quigley
Head of Payments | Director of Partnerships at Journey
Head of Payments driving revenue innovation across fintech and hospitality, leading global
strategy for luxury hotel eCommerce Proven track record scaling payment ecosystems,
partnerships, and performance across SaaS, PMS, and distribution networks. Experienced in
building high-impact partnerships across fintech, PSPs, and hospitality technology ecosystems.
Passionate about combining commercial strategy, technology, and data to help hospitality
brands outperform.
Kent Henderson
VP Product at Mangopay
Kent Henderson is a product leader with experience in payments, banking and financial technology. He is currently VP Product at Mangopay, where he leads Banking, FX and Wallet Infrastructure for marketplaces and platforms across Europe. His work focuses on building reliable payment and payout products, expanding local banking coverage, and helping large clients solve complex payment challenges. He has previously worked at companies including CurrencyFair, PayPal and Lululemon.
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Patrick Coyne
Independent Expert
Patrick is an AI Governance and Compliance Advisor and Non-Executive Director with over 18 years’ experience designing and implementing enterprise-wide AML and regulatory frameworks across banking, asset management, payments, and digital assets. He advises boards and senior leadership teams on regulatory strategy, AI governance, and risk oversight. Particular expertise in PSD3, real-time payments AML, AI governance audits, and EU AI Act compliance.
Patrick previously served as Chief Compliance Officer and Executive Director at Zodia Custody Europe, and as Head of Compliance and MLRO at OKG Payment Services (OKX Ireland), where he led on regulatory strategy, licensing, compliance infrastructure for digital assets and payment services, and supervisory engagement. Earlier in his career, Patrick held senior compliance roles at Citco, HSBC, and Morgan Stanley, building a strong foundation in financial services governance and the evolving payments and digital asset landscape.
Cormac Bane
Senior Product Manager at Global Payments
Cormac Bane is an experienced product manager specialising in payments, FinTech, and innovation. With a strong background in scaling payment solutions and launching products, he brings valuable insights into leveraging technology to drive seamless, secure, and customer-centric financial services. Cormac is passionate about advancing open banking initiatives that foster collaboration, improve user experience, and enable smarter financial ecosystems.
Sarah Browne
Independent Non - Executive Director on the Board of Payoneer Europe Ltd.
Sarah Browne is an independent non-executive director for the regulated e-money institution Payoneer Europe Ltd. She is a risk management and compliance leader who has worked in the retail banking and fintech sectors for nearly 30 years. Sarah’s areas of specialism include governance, risk management, compliance and regulatory engagement. She has held a variety of business, change, risk and compliance roles in Stripe and Bank of Ireland. Her roles in Stripe included Chief Risk Officer and Head of Compliance for the company's Irish and UK regulated firms, and then as Global Head of Regulatory Compliance & Enterprise Risk. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Geography from Trinity College Dublin, a Graduate Diploma in Financial Services from UCD, and in 2014, was awarded the Compliance Institute Gold Medal for attaining first place in the Professional Diploma in Compliance exams.
Jamie McDonnell
Compliance Director for Rippling, Head of Compliance and Head of AML/CFT for Rippling Payments Ireland Limited (PCF-12 & PCF-52)
Jamie McDonnell is a senior compliance leader at Rippling, where he leads compliance and financial crime functions for Rippling Payments Ireland Limited. Operating at the intersection of fintech and regulation, he is responsible for building and scaling robust compliance frameworks across a fast-growing, multi-jurisdictional business.
He plays a key role in safeguarding regulatory integrity, overseeing Compliance & AML/CFT strategy, and embedding strong governance into product and operations. Jamie specialises in turning complex regulatory requirements into practical, scalable solutions that enable innovation without compromising control.
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Juan Rio Salvador
Chief Risk and Compliance Officer at Solance
Juan Rio Salvador is a senior risk and compliance executive with over 20 years of international experience across governance, risk, and compliance in regulated financial services. His background spans global banking with institutions such as Citibank, FinTechs, electronic money institutions, digital assets, outsourcing, and regulatory engagement across Ireland, the EU, UK and the US.
He is currently Chief Risk and Compliance Officer at Solance Europe Ltd in Dublin, where he sits on the Executive Committee and leads the design and implementation of the firm’s end-to-end Governance, Risk and Compliance Framework, including its Central Bank of Ireland and FCA EMI licence applications.
Juan has successfully led global enterprise risk management, governance build-outs, PCF frameworks, Board and committee structures, and regulatory authorisation programmes. He is a Certified Fintech Risk and Compliance Professional™ and has particular expertise in AI, blockchain, digital assets, and operational resilience requirements.
Outside work, Juan is passionate about endurance sports, including Ironman training, as well as golf, reading, travel, and meeting people across cultures and industries.
Sam Buxton
Chairman at Damex
A student of finance with a Bachelor”s Degree in Finance and an MBA in Banking and Finance. Sam is also a Chartered Banker in the UK. Sam is an entrepreneur and an investor living in Gibraltar. He has worked for multiple fintech startups and is passionate about venture creation and blockchain.
Sam has experience managing portfolios of a range of asset classes including Equities, Fixed Income, Structured Products, Commodities, FX and Digital Assets. In 2012, Sam joined the Investment Challenge Team at Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) as an Equity Analyst, where his team outperformed the S&P 500 in 2013 with a return of 44.15%.
In 2013, he also completed his CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) investment research course where he was awarded a CFA certificate for outstanding investment research. This CFA initiative promotes best practices in equity research through hands-on mentoring and intensive training in company analysis and presentation skills.
From August 2014 to May 2016, Sam joined Plurimi Wealth in Gibraltar as an Equity Analyst and direct support for the head of portfolio management. Plurimi’s offerings included advisory, discretionary and execution only Mandates.
In September 2017, Sam completed his MBA in Banking and Finance from Bangor University, where his research on new venture creation and crowdfunding h
as been officially published by Bangor and available to read in Bangor University Library.
Jason Robinson
Chief Compliance Officer at Global Payments
The Chief Compliance Officer for the world’s largest acquirer - Global Payments. Previously the Chief Compliance Officer for Worldpay before the acquisition by Global Payments. Deep expertise navigating complexity at the intersection of regulation, commercial strategy, and technology, spanning the UK, Europe, US and Asia Pacific. Combines strong technical command of payment systems, digital assets, and alternative payment methods with a pragmatic, forward-looking mindset.
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Brenda McVeigh
PAT Business School Fintech Advisory Board; iNED Chairperson at Solance
Brenda is INED Chairperson of Solance, as well as a member of the PAT Business School Fintech
Advisory Board, having previously served as head of the AML and Sanctions Unit in the Department
of Finance, where she led Ireland’s delegation to the Financial Actions Task Force (FATF) and played
a central role in shaping international AML/CFT/PF standards and policy. She was the lead in
Ireland’s engagement on the EU’s AML/CFT/PF legislative framework and the establishment of the
EU AML Authority (AMLA). Her career spans significant leadership and governance roles across the
public, private and semi-State sectors, including as Chief Operations Officer at the Tax Appeals
Commission, Director on the Housing Finance Agency and NED then CEO of Care Ireland Ltd.
Amongst other consultancies Brenda has undertaken, currently she is developing a training
programme in financial crime compliance frameworks in multiple jurisdictions.
Sinead Halhed-Moran Walsh
Fintech INED and Advisor
Sinead Halhed-Moran Walsh is a fintech INED and Chair, who previously represented thirty
fintech organisations with regulators and government bodies, leading the Irish arm of a fintech
trade body. Prior to that she held multiple senior positions in a multinational fintech, following
time spent in traditional banking following her qualifying as a barrister.