OUR SPEAKERS
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Helena Forest
Executive Vice President, Global Product Management & Commercial, Real Time Payments at Mastercard
Helena is an experienced executive in the digital transformation and product management space within the payments industry, known for her strategic vision and innovative approach.
Her career highlights include significant roles at global institutions like J.P. Morgan Chase and Deutsche Bank AG. As J.P. Morgan's Global Head of Solution Design for payments, she has driven customer-focused digital initiatives, notably in e-commerce and marketplace expansion.
Her tenure at Deutsche Bank was marked by the launch of critical digital platforms and regional expansion, reflecting her deep expertise in managing complex technology and business transformations and driving significant business growth.
Helena holds degrees in International Business Management from universities in Germany and the Netherlands, and has obtained various certifications in the payments industry, and completed the Executive Women Global Leaders program at the London School of Economics. Her approach incorporates client-centric design into product strategy and successful delivery of innovative solutions at scale and boosting client satisfaction and fostering loyalty in a competitive field.
Hassan Ahmed
Head of Enterprise AI Architect at Banque du Caire
Dr. Hassan Ahmed Hassan is the Head of Business Architecture in a leading bank in Egypt. He is a pioneering leader at the nexus of digital technology, artificial intelligence, resilience, strategic foresight, banking and investment technologies. Holding a Ph.D. in Enterprise Architecture, Dr. Hassan brings deep expertise to enterprise-wide digital and AI transformation initiatives. He has successfully established and led business and enterprise architecture practices in large organizations, with a focus on capabilities, value streams, information architecture, AI use cases, and digital transformation. With a robust background in IT, Dr. Hassan has held roles such as solution architect, enterprise architect, and senior director for digital and AI strategy. He is also a holder of multiple professional credentials, including Certified Business Architect (CBA®), AI Diploma, TOGAF®, BIAN®, SAFe 6 SPC®, MSP®, CDMP®, and an MBA.
Handan Tokdoğan Över
Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), Paribu Kripto Varlık Alım Satım Platformu A.Ş.
Handan Tokdoğan Över has 17 years of experience dedicated to compliance, building and leading financial crime programs across banking and digital assets. She started her career in banking and currently holds the position of MLRO at Paribu. Tokdoğan Över is a founding member of the Compliance Association of Turkey (2020), a member of its Ethics Committee, and a panel judge at the GRC & Financial Crime Prevention Summit & Awards. In addition to her hands-on expertise in financial crime, Handan Tokdoğan Över brings 10 years of experience in FATCA & CRS and serves as a FATCA & CRS trainer at the Turkish Banking Association.
Sarfraz Gill
Chief Compliance Officer at Orient Exchange Co. (L.L.C)
Sarfraz Gill is a seasoned financial crime compliance professional with over 20 years of experience across the banking and financial services sector in the UAE. He currently serves as Chief Compliance Officer /MLRO at Orient Exchange Co. (L.L.C.), where he leads enterprise-wide AML/CFT, sanctions compliance, regulatory governance, and financial crime risk management initiatives.
Throughout his career, Sarfraz has played a key role in strengthening risk-based compliance frameworks, enhancing transaction monitoring and sanctions controls, and supporting correspondent banking and international regulatory engagement. Under his leadership, the organization successfully established multiple correspondent banking arrangements with financial institutions, reflecting strong alignment with global compliance standards.
He has actively participated in international compliance and sanctions forums hosted by institutions including Standard Chartered, Raiffeisen Bank International, Deutsche Bank and the U.S. Treasury’s OFAC, and regularly contributes to AML/CFT awareness and industry collaboration initiatives within the UAE.
Tabish Riaz
Team Lead Digital Projects at Al Baraka Bank Pakistan Ltd
Tabish Riaz is a seasoned digital banking and Alternate Delivery Channels (ADC) leader with over 18 years of experience in Pakistan’s banking sector.
He currently serves as Team Lead – Digital Banking Projects at Albaraka Bank Pakistan, leading large-scale national and international payment initiatives.
His expertise spans RAAST, ISO 20022, EMV issuing/acquiring, mobile and internet banking, QR/RTP payments, and AI-based lending solutions.
Tabish has held senior leadership roles at Bank Islami, Sindh Bank, and Dubai Islamic Bank, managing complex card, ATM, and switching ecosystems.
He is PMP-trained with strong command in project delivery, stakeholder management, and regulatory-compliant financial systems.
He holds a BS in Computer Science and is recognized for driving innovation, operational stability, and digital transformation in banking.
Errol Pereira
Head of Credit at Bank of Muscat
Errol Pereira is a seasoned banking professional with over 19 years of experience in credit risk management, SME and business banking, regulatory compliance, and digital transformation across the Middle East and India. He currently serves as the Head of SME – Credit Control, MIS & Projects at Bank Muscat, where he oversees a USD 700 million+ SME and mid-corporate portfolio, driving strategic initiatives that strengthen credit governance, enhance operational efficiency, and support sustainable portfolio growth.
Throughout his career, Errol has built deep expertise in credit assessment, deal structuring, portfolio management, and regulatory engagement, working closely with institutions such as the Central Bank of Oman and the Reserve Bank of India. He is widely recognized for his ability to transform SME banking operations into compliance-driven, digitally enabled ecosystems that deliver both business growth and risk resilience.
At Bank Muscat, he has been instrumental in spearheading key digital transformation initiatives, including the implementation of loan origination systems, scorecard-based lending frameworks, and advanced portfolio analytics tools.
Prior to his current role, Errol held leadership positions at Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, DCB Bank, and HDFC Bank, where he managed large credit portfolios, contributed to policy formulation, and mentored high-performing teams across regions. His experience spans credit sanctioning, risk monitoring, audit coordination, and strategic portfolio management, with a strong focus on maintaining asset quality and driving business performance.
Errol holds an MBA in Finance and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Mumbai. He is passionate about leveraging innovation, data-driven decision-making, and collaborative leadership to enable SME growth, enhance financial inclusion, and contribute to broader economic development.
Moeen Ahmad
Lead Product Manager at Pay10
Lead Product Manager with a strong technology background, specializing in building scalable digital
products and platforms. I have extensive experience working on UAE local schemes and
government-led digital transformation initiatives, including AANI, JAYWAN, WPS, TMS, and AML
systems. My expertise lies in simplifying complex payment rails and compliance-heavy workflows
into seamless, user-centric experiences. I work at the intersection of AI and emerging technologies,
focusing on Agentic AI use cases to transform payments, compliance, and transaction monitoring.
My goal is to improve efficiency, reduce friction, and enable real-time decision-making across
enterprise and government ecosystems.
Sarah Salah
Head of Global Transaction Banking at Trade Finance, Payments &
Cash Management Expert
Sarah Salah is a Global Transaction Banking executive with over 17 years of experience in transaction banking, trade finance, cash management, payments, and product management within the banking industry. She has extensive expertise in developing innovative financial solutions that support corporate clients across trade, liquidity, working capital, and cross-border banking.
Alongside her executive career, Sarah is an experienced professional trainer, delivering advanced programs on transaction banking, trade finance, and international banking practices for banking professionals.
Throughout her career, she has held leadership positions across multinational financial institutions, leading strategic initiatives in product development, digital transformation, and corporate banking innovation.
Sarah holds internationally recognized professional certifications from the London Institute of Banking & Finance (LIBF), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Academy, the New York Institute of Finance (NYIF), and the Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE). Her areas of expertise include Open Finance, corporate payments, transaction banking, trade and supply chain finance, cash management, and financial innovation. She is particularly passionate about how digital innovation is reshaping transaction banking and enhancing the corporate banking experience.
Swathy Kirupakaran
Senior Manager, Partnerships at Sokin
Swathy Kirupakaran is a Senior Banking Partnerships Manager at Sokin, leading strategic
partnerships across the Middle East and Africa. She specializes in cross-border payments,
FX, and building scalable bank and fintech relationships.
She drives end-to-end partnership execution, including commercial structuring, regulatory
alignment, and onboarding across key markets such as the wider GCC and Africa.
Swathy collaborates closely with senior stakeholders and internal teams to deliver
commercially impactful and strategically aligned outcomes, supporting Sokin’s regional
expansion.
Ilham Tamimi
Founder & Managing Director at FinEthica Advisory
Ilham Tamimi is a Senior Compliance Executive with thirty years of international banking
experience across Citigroup, HSBC, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and Zand Bank. She is Founder
and Managing Director of FinEthica Advisory, a boutique firm advising banks, fintechs, and
virtual asset businesses on financial crime, licensing, and governance. She holds dual
approvals as Chief Compliance Officer and Money Laundering Reporting Officer from the
Central Bank of the UAE and the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority. A Board Member of
the Middle East Stablecoin Association, a Fellow of the International Compliance
Association, and a Certified AI Ethicist from Oxford University, she is a sought-after keynote
speaker and thought leader.
Sebastian Heine
Chief Compliance Officer & MLRO at MANTRA Finance
Sebastian Heine is a senior Compliance, AML and Risk leader with over 10 years across the UAE, EU, UK and Switzerland, spanning both traditional finance and digital assets. He is Chief Compliance Officer and MLRO at MANTRA Finance, the VARA-regulated entity of MANTRA, where he led the approval of the first DeFi licence in the UAE and runs the sanctions screening and AML transaction monitoring program for the firm’s stablecoin, mantraUSD. His work sits squarely at the intersection of stablecoins, payments and crypto custody, including building eToro’s German crypto-custody licence under BaFin and leading EMEA licensing across six jurisdictions at Amber Group. He has direct regulator experience with VARA, MiCA, BaFin, the Danish FSA, FINMA and NYDFS, and is known for getting cautious regulators comfortable with novel digital-asset use cases. He combines institutional, board-level governance from TradFi with the fast, product-led execution of digital assets and fintech. Sebastian also writes his weekly newsletter 'The SHeine Brief' on Digital Assets, Compliance and AI regulation, with a focus on the UAE. He is based in Dubai.
Mohamed Helmy
Compliance Director - EMEA at XTransfer
Mohamed Helmy is the Head of Compliance for the Middle East and Africa at XTransfer, a global
B2B trade payment platform. He brings over 18 years of experience in compliance, financial
crime, and regulatory affairs across regional banks and global fintechs, with a particular focus on
payments, cards, and cross-border financial services. At XTransfer, Mohamed leads regulatory
strategy, licensing, and compliance initiatives across multiple jurisdictions. He has been closely
involved in developing XTransfer`s stablecoin settlement strategy and the integration of digital
assets into global trade payments. His work spans engagement with regulators, banks, and
digital asset service providers across the UAE, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Mohamed is passionate
about how regulated digital assets can modernize cross-border payments and enable more
efficient global settlement infrastructure for businesses.
Abdulla Kanoo
Co-Founder and Co-CEO at ARP Digital
Abdulla is a CEO and a Co-Founder of ARP Digital (Bahrain) and a fifth-generation member of the Kanoo family with deep roots in trade, shipping, and finance across the Gulf. His technical background is distinct: he specializes in statistical arbitrage and delta-neutral strategies in the digital asset space, holding an MS in Operations Research and Financial Engineering from Columbia University Fu Foundation School of Engineering. Abdulla leads ARP`s product and technical architecture. The quantitative rigour behind ARP`s netting engine, rate optimisation, and settlement infrastructure reflects his background in financial engineering applied to digital asset markets.
Muhammad Rashid
Group Chief Compliance & Risk Officer at Jingle Pay
Muhammad Rashid is the Group Chief Compliance & Risk Officer of Jingle Pay and a fintech
entrepreneur, payments expert, and financial crime and compliance specialist with more
than 20 years of international experience across financial services, digital payments, and
financial technology. Based in Dubai, he has founded, scaled, and advised fintech ventures
globally, helping organisations drive innovation while strengthening regulatory compliance,
AML frameworks, and operational resilience.
Throughout his career, Rashid has worked at the intersection of fintech, risk, and financial
crime prevention, supporting financial institutions and technology companies in building
secure, compliant, and future-ready financial ecosystems. His expertise spans payments,
digital financial infrastructure, regulatory strategy, and the evolving landscape of financial
crime risk.
As a recognised industry thought leader, Rashid is a frequent speaker on fintech innovation,
digital transformation, regulatory strategy, financial crime prevention, and the future of global
payments.
Amir Tabch
Executive Director & CEO at OFZA
Amir Tabch is Executive Director and CEO of OFZA, a VARA-regulated virtual asset exchange and
broker-dealer, where he leads the development of institutional digital asset market infrastructure in
the Middle East. Over a career spanning more than two decades, he has worked at the intersection
of financial services, regulation, and technological transformation, advising financial institutions,
regulators, and market participants on the evolution of digital finance. His work focuses on the
governance and infrastructure required for stablecoins, tokenization, and digital assets to integrate
safely into the global financial system. Amir is widely recognized for his thought leadership on the
convergence of payments, capital markets, and blockchain, with a particular emphasis on how
regulation can enable innovation while preserving market integrity and trust. He is a frequent
speaker at international industry forums, where he contributes to discussions on the future of
regulated digital finance and the transformation of financial market infrastructure.