2025 Speakers

His Excellency Essa Kazim is the Governor of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Chairman of Borse Dubai, Deputy Chairman of Supreme Legislation Committee in Dubai, and a member in Dubai Supreme Fiscal Committee.

H.E. Essa
Kazim

Governor

DIFC

H.E. Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri was appointed Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) under the new government structure approved in July 2020. He is the Chairman of the General Civil Aviation Authority, UAE International Investors Council, and CSR UAE Fund’s Board of Trustees.

H.E. Abdullah
Bin Touq Al Marri

Cabinet Member & UAE Minister of Economy

Former: US Undersecretary of Treasury for International Affairs; Managing Director, The Lindsey Group, an economic advisory firm, Washington DC. As Undersecretary, was the Administration's point person on international financial issues, including exchange rate policy, G7 meetings, and IMF and World Bank issues. Regularly interacted with counterparts in key emerging markets including China, India and Brazil. Currently, President and Chief Executive Officer, Institute of International Finance (IIF), which represents more than 500 global financial institutions, including many of the world's largest banks, investment banks and asset management firms. Has travelled extensively throughout Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

Timothy
Adams

President and Chief Executive Officer

Institute of International Finance (IIF)

Marko Primorac holds a PhD in Economics from the Faculty of Economics & Business, University of Zagreb. Before becoming a Minister of Finance of the Republic of Croatia in July 2022, he was pursuing his academic career as an associate professor at the Faculty of Economics & Business, University of Zagreb, Department of Finance.

H. E. Marko
Primorac

Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia

Minister of Finance

Croatia

Following the legislative elections of 8 October 2023, Gilles Roth was appointed Minister of Finance on 17 November 2023 in the coalition government formed by the Christian Social Party (CSV) and the Democratic Party (DP).

H. E. Gilles
Roth

Minister

Ministry of Finance - Luxembourg

Luxembourg

Mr. Tony Elumelu is the Chairman of the United Bank for Africa(UBA), which operates in 20 countries across Africa, the United Kingdom, France, the UAE & United States. He also chairs Nigeria’s largest quoted conglomerate, Transcorp whose subsidiaries include Transcorp Power, one of the leading producers of electricity in West Africa and Transcorp Hotels Plc, Nigeria’s foremost hospitality brand. Mr. Elumelu is the founder and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, his family-owned investment company, committed to improving lives and transforming Africa through long-term investments in strategic sectors of the African economy, including financial services, hospitality, power, energy, technology & healthcare.

Tony O.
Elumelu

Chairman of United Bank for Africa

Founder of Tony Elumelu Foundation

Nigeria

Ahmed Abdelaal is an accomplished banking professional with over 30 years of experience in progressively senior roles across banking verticals spanning international and regional banks covering major global markets. He currently serves as the CEO of Mashreq Group, one of the UAE’s best performing banks for over five decades and a leading financial institution with an expanding footprint across the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and the USA. The group incorporates local and overseas operations, Oman Insurance, Mashreq Capital, Mashreq Global Networks, Mashreq Al Islami, Mashreq Securities, Shorouq Commodities Trading, Mindscape, Makaseb, and Injaz.

Ahmed
Abdelaal

Group Chief Executive Officer

Mashreq

He is a holder of numerous awards bestowed on him for his achievements as Governor of Narodowy Bank Polski by Polish and international media, including, “Gazeta Bankowa”, “Parkiet”, “Polska Press”, “Capital Finance International”, as well as the “Economic Award of the President of the Republic of Poland” and the “Special Award” bestowed under the “Economic Award of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship”. In 2020, Mr Glapiński ranked 6th in the ranking of the 200 most influential people in the Polish economy of RMF FM, Money.pl and 300Gospodarka. In 2021, he ranked 1st in the ranking of the 50 most influential people in the Polish economy in 2020 of “Dziennik Gazeta Prawna”.

H. E. Adam
Glapiński

Governor

National Bank of Poland

Poland

Mr. Vineet Mittal, an accomplished alumnus of Harvard Business School, is a visionary serial entrepreneur and the Founder of Avaada Group. Renowned for his transformative contributions to renewable energy and IT services, Mr. Mittal is a trailblazer in sustainability, driven by a deeprooted belief in nurturing the Earth, inspired by India’s Vedic wisdom and cultural heritage.

Vineet
Mittal

Founder & Chairman

Avaada Group

India

Vijay Shekhar Sharma is a prominent tech innovator and entrepreneur, recognized for his pioneering contributions to the transformation of India's financial services and mobile payments sector. As the Founder and CEO of One97 Communications and its well-known consumer brand Paytm, Sharma has played a crucial role in advancing financial inclusion and digital innovation across the nation. A passionate proponent of the power of emerging technologies, Sharma has significantly popularized QR code-based transactions and soundboxes among numerous small businesses, democratizing access to digital payments. His strategic vision extends to offering the distribution of a range of financial services including lending, wealth management, and insurance, solidifying his role as a key architect in India's progression towards a fully digital economy.

Vijay Shekhar
Sharma

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Paytm

India

Richard Teng is an experienced executive with over three decades of financial services and regulatory experience. Richard joined Binance in August 2021 as CEO of Binance Singapore. Soon thereafter, he held roles looking after the MENA region, the European region, and ultimately all regions outside of the U.S. as the Head of Regional Markets at Binance. In this role, he led regional teams to secure strategic partnerships, foster an ecosystem of innovation, and expand the cryptocurrency ecosystem within the respective regions.

Richard
Teng

Chief Executive Officer

Binance

Singapore

Justin Grooms is the CEO of Bolt, a leading checkout technology company. Bolt ignites retailers’ brands by unlocking access to a universal shopper network of 80 million shoppers—enabling merchants to offer a seamless shopping experience to customers at every touchpoint in their journey.

Justin
Grooms

Bolt

His Excellency Dr. Tariq Bin Hendi is the CEO and Board member of Astra Tech. He is also a Strategic Advisor at Global Ventures and the Chairman of Edelman Middle East.

H. E. Dr. Tariq
Bin Hendi

CEO and Board member

Astra Tech

Alex Manson set up SC Ventures, launched in 2018 as a unit of Standard Chartered Bank to provide a platform to promote innovation, invest in disruptive financial technology and explore alternative business models.

Alex
Manson

SC Ventures

Singapore

Dawn joined Lloyd’s in 2022 and oversees Lloyd’s global network across the Americas, Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa (APMEA) and European Regions. She is responsible for our Global Network governance, market development, strategic engagement with key trading partners, and New Entrants into the Lloyd's Market. She also leads on Strategy & Innovation at Lloyd’s, including the Lloyd’s Lab and Academy. Dawn is a member of the Lloyd’s Executive Committee and is a director of Lloyd’s Insurance Company in Europe.

Dawn
Miller

Chief Executive Officer

Lloyd's Americas

Mr. Abraham has over 30 years of banking experience, with experience in both developed and emerging markets. Before joining the Bank as Group CEO in June 2016, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Banking Group Indonesia since 2008. Mr. Abraham graduated with an MBA from the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University and has worked in Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Ghana, the United Kingdom and India in various banking roles and has a successful track record covering general management, corporate banking, strategy, product management as well as acquisitions and integrations.

Joseph
Abraham

Group Chief Executive Officer

The Commercial Bank (P.S.Q.C.)

Qatar

Fadi Ghandour is the Executive Chairman of Wamda Group, a platform that invests, nurtures and builds entrepreneurship eco-systems across the Middle East and North Africa. Fadi was also the co-founder of Aramex, one of the leading global logistics companies based in Dubai. Fadi spent the first 30 years of his work life as CEO of Aramex, building the company, to become one of the leading emerging market logistics companies, and making it the first company from the Arab world to be listed on Nasdaq.

Fadi
Ghandour

Executive Chairman

Wamda

As the Secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) of the Republic of the Philippines, Atty. Ivan John E. Uy is at the helm of the nation’s drive to establish itself as a regional leader in ICT advancement.

H. E. Ivan
John E. Uy

Secretary

Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) of the Republic of the Philippines

Philippines

Hashim Shawa joined Bank of Palestine in 2007 as Chairman and CEO, leading its transformation through financial inclusion, digitization, and sustainability. Under his leadership, the bank achieved global recognition, earning the title of the world’s best bank for financial and digital inclusion by the Financial Times’ The Banker.

Hashim
Shawa

Chairman

Bank of Palestine

Palestine

Diana
Guzmán

Chair of the Prudence Foundation & Chief Sustainability Officer

Prudential plc

Singapore

As Group CEO, Raman is responsible for leading the business and setting Starling’s strategy with the board. Before joining us in summer 2024, Raman was the CEO of OVO, one of the UK’s largest energy suppliers. He led OVO’s acceleration into green and sustainable technology and successfully campaigned for government support for customers during the energy and cost of living crisis.

Raman
Bhatia

Group Chief Executive Officer

Starling Bank

David founded R3 in 2015 and in his role of Chief Executive Officer is responsible for the strategic direction of R3. With 40 years of experience leading some of Wall Street’s top institutions, David is a longtime creative thought leader in financial markets and innovation and has played a significant role in the adoption of electronic trading in the global OTC derivatives industry.

David E.
Rutter

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

John Caplan is the CEO and Director of Payoneer. Prior to his appointment as CEO, he served as co-CEO of Payoneer from May 2022 to March 2023. Previously, he was President of North America and Europe at Alibaba.com, the cross-border B2B business unit of Alibaba Group. In this role, he helped lead its transformation into one of Alibaba Group’s fastest growing and most profitable business units. Caplan joined Alibaba’s team in 2017 following its acquisition of OpenSky, an SMB software platform he founded in 2009, which empowered ecommerce SMBs to optimize their distribution across marketplaces. Mr. Caplan was also previously Chief Executive Officer at Ford Models, Inc., a fashion talent agency, and CMO of About.com, an internet publishing business. Mr. Caplan has a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Rochester (1991).

John
Caplan

CEO & Director

Payoneer

Teddy currently serves as the CEO of JINGDONG Coinlink Technology, where he oversees overall planning and strategies, global expansion, and the implementation of its fintech, Web3 and stablecoin business. Teddy held the position of Vice President at JD Technology, the technology subsidiary of JD.com Group.

Teddy
Liu

Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer

JINGDONG Coinlink Technology Hong Kong Limited

Hong Kong

Mohammed Al-Othman heads the Consumer & Digital Banking at the National Bank of Kuwait, the largest bank in Kuwait and one of the oldest in the region. He has over 21 years of experience across various roles in Kuwait banking industry.

Mohammed
Al-Othman

Chief Executive Officer of Consumer & Digital Banking

National Bank of Kuwait (NBK)

Kuwait

Monica is an investor and entrepreneur, having launched a number of investment vehicles and products aimed at broadening financial inclusion. Monica spent her formative years in Silicon Valley, where she helped launch a $50 million multi-bank lending intermediary to finance small businesses. Monica also worked at Calvert Ventures and Anthuri Ventures—early-stage equity vehicles based in Bethesda, Maryland and Cape Town, respectively. While living in South Africa, Monica founded Anthuri Catalysts to prepare early-stage companies for investment.

Monica
Brand Engel

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Quona Capital

Ian Cramb joined UBP in November 2009 as Chief Operating Officer and Member of the Executive Committee. Before joining UBP, Ian Cramb, was EMEA Consumer Chief Operating Officer with Citigroup. During his career with Citigroup, where he started working in 1992, Ian Cramb held several high-level positions, including Risk Manager, Head of Human Relations, Chief of Staff and COO. Mr Cramb holds a modern languages degree from Durham University.

Ian
Cramb

Chief Operating Officer

Union Bancaire Privée (UBP)

Switzerland

Monica Long is President at Ripple. She leads the company’s two business units - Ripple Payments, Ripple’s flagship product, and RippleX, the team supporting an open-source community of blockchain developers. Most recently, Monica served as General Manager, and before that as SVP of Marketing and Design, having joined Ripple in 2013 as the company's first marketing/communications hire. She also supports the Women at Ripple Employee Resource Group as its Executive Sponsor. Throughout her career, she’s helped technology companies drive fundamental change in the financial services industry and was recognized among the Bay Area's Most Influential Women in Business in 2020.

Monica
Long

President

Ripple

Prof. Dr. Göksel Aşan, born in 1966, is a Turkish economist and academic. He has held positions at Istanbul Bilgi University and became President of Türkiye's Finance Office in 2018, shaping national financial strategy.

Prof. Dr. Göksel
Aşan

President

Finance Office of Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye

Türkiye

Stefan
Lindstrom

Ambassador - Digitilization & New Technologies

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland

Finland

Mr. Renat Bekturov assumed the role of the Governor of Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) in January 2023. Previously, he held senior positions at Astana International Exchange, National Investment Corporation of Kazakhstan's Central Bank and Development Bank of Kazakhstan.

Renat
Bekturov

Governor

Astana International Financial Centre

Kazakhstan

Yazeed AlDomaiji is the Chief Executive Officer of Wamid, Saudi Tadawul Group's innovation-focused company, driving technological advancement to boost economic growth across Saudi Arabia’s financial ecosystem. He has over 17 years of experience working in capital markets, corporate finance, fintech, strategy, and project management.

Yazeed
AlDomaiji

Chief Executive Officer

Wamid

Saudi Arabia

Ashish Mehrotra is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of our Company. He also serves as the Non-Executive Chairperson of Pragati Finserv, rural finance arm of Northern Arc Group and is the member of the board for Northern Arc Investment Managers, that houses our Alternate Investment Fund and Portfolio Management Service. Ashish has over 25 years of experience across Retail & Commercial Banking, Wealth Management and Insurance. In his last role, he was the MD & CEO of Niva Bupa Health Insurance (previously known as Max Bupa Health Insurance). Before that, Ashish spent over 20 years at Citibank. He was previously a Managing Director and also the Retail Bank Head for Citibank India.

Ashish
Mehrotra

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer

Northern Arc

India

Vishal Garg is the Founder & CEO of Better.com, the leading online mortgage originator. To date, under Vishal’s leadership, Better.com has provided over $100 BN in home financing and provided over $35BN in cumulative coverage through Better Cover and Better Settlement Services, the insurance divisions of Better.com. Better.com has raised over $1.75 Bln in equity capital and is backed by SoftBank, L Catterton, Kleiner Perkins, Goldman Sachs, Ally Bank, American Express, Citi, IA Ventures and other investors.

Vishal
Garg

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Better.com

Charlotte has been involved in capital markets, fintech and technology throughout her career – as CEO, Chair, Board Advisor and Non-Executive Director. Prior to CFIT, Charlotte was Chair and Trustee of Open Banking and was also CEO of the fintech industry body, Innovate Finance. In this role, she supported the work of Ron Kalifa in delivering the strategic fintech review (The Kalifa Review). She works closely with entrepreneurs, financial services firms, academia, government and regulators on fintech advocacy and strategy. Charlotte received an OBE for her contribution to financial services in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2021. She believes firmly in a diversity and innovation-first approach.

Charlotte
Crosswell OBE

Chair

Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology

Jigar Patel is a seasoned professional with over 16 years of experience in the financial services and technology industry. Jigar is a Managing Director and Global Head of Fintech & Internet at Morgan Stanley.

Jigar
Patel

Managing Director - Global Head of FinTech & Internet

Morgan Stanley

Max orchestrates all McKinsey’s Fintech work globally. He also co-leads McKinsey’s global Retail and SME Banking practice. Max works with incumbent financial institutions and attackers globally on strategy, M&A, and business building, often helping clients take an investor and value-creation perspective.

Max
Flötotto

Senior Partner

McKinsey & Company

Germany

Mark co-founded Sarwa in 2017 and is a new generation executive with 10 years of experience across diverse roles spanning strategy, management, operations and technology.

Mark
Chahwan

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Sarwa

Mr. Al-Tuwaijri joined Boubyan Bank in December 2011 and has more than 32 years of banking experience, including 23 years at NBK. During his time with NBK, he held different leadership roles in retail banking in Kuwait and London. Mr. Al-Tuwaijri got his bachelor’s degree in Finance from Kuwait University, and attended several executive development programs at Harvard Business School, INSEAD, and other reputable institutions.

Abdullah Abdulkareem
Al-Tuwaijri

Chief Executive Officer - Consumer, Private, and Digital Banking

Boubyan Bank

Kuwait

With 20+ years in financial services, Gaurav Kumar, Founder & CEO of Yubi Group, leads the world’s only end-to-end debt lifecycle platform, transforming capital access through innovation.

Gaurav
Kumar

Founder & MD

Yubi

India

Michael Faye is an economist and entrepreneur, whose work has focused on ending extreme poverty and increasing capital flows to the emerging markets. He is the co-founder and CEO of Taptap Send, a global cross-border payments company and the co-founder and Executive Chair of GiveDirectly (where he served as CEO for 6 years). GiveDirectly has been recognized 5 times by Fast Company as a top 10 most innovative company and has been said to be “sending shockwaves through the charity sector” by the Guardian. Michael also co-founded Segovia Technology, a cross-border B2B payments company and led it prior to its acquisition by CAB payments. Michael has been recognized as one of Foreign Policy’s 100 leading Global Thinkers. Michael’s work on international development has been published in the American Economic Review, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity and Foreign Affairs. He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s community of Young Global Leaders, and a term member of the Council of Foreign Relations. He holds a PhD in Economics from Harvard, where he also studied Math and Classics.

Michael
Faye

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

TapTap Send

Emma is the Senior Managing Director and Head of EMEA at the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC), the largest industry association for the blockchain technology and digital assets community. She has over 15 years of experience in the financial services sector, working with regulators, policymakers, members, and partners to advocate and accelerate the adoption of best practices for digital assets. At GBBC, Emma leads the financial services-related activities and oversees the strategic direction and growth of the association in the EMEA region. She also serves as a board director for GBBC USA and GBBC Giving. Previously, she was the Chief Executive Officer of GBBC Digital Finance (GDF). Emma is a recognized thought leader and speaker on policy and regulatory issues related to blockchain and digital assets, and was named one of the top 20 most influential women in crypto by Financial News in 2023

Emma
Joyce

Senior Managing Director and Head of EMEA

Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC)

Eduard Müller has been Executive Director at the FMA since February 2020. In this function, since September 2020 he is a Member of the Board of Supervisors of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) as well as a Member of the Single Resolution Board (SRB). In May 2022 he was also elected to the Management Board of ESMA. Prior to assuming his position at the FMA, worked at the Federal Ministry of Finance and the European Commission. In 2013, he was appointed General Manager of the Linde Verlag publishing house, before returning to the Federal Ministry of Finance in 2015 as Head of Section. Between June 2019 and January 2020, he served as Federal Minister of Finance as well as Minister for the Civil Service and Sport

Eduard
Müller

Executive Director

Financial Market Authority

Austria

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