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 also the chairman of the General Civil Aviation Authority, UAE International Investors Council.
H.E. ABDULLAH
BIN TOUQ AL MARRI
Cabinet Member & UAE Minister of Economy
UAE
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 of
DIFC
UAE
Bill Winters is the Group Chief Executive of Standard Chartered PLC (since Jun ‘15). Standard Chartered is a UK headquartered, emerging markets focussed bank, with a presence in 59 markets across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
BILL
WINTERS
Group Chief Executive
Standard Chartered PLC
UK
Piyush has been the Chief Executive Officer and Director of DBS Group since 2009. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Singapore Management University, Vice-Chairman of the Institute of International Finance, Washington among other prestigious roles he holds.
PIYUSH
GUPTA
Group Chief Executive Officer
DBS Bank
Singapore
In a career at Franklin Templeton spanning over 30 years, Ms. Johnson has been a key driver in the company's transformation. She has been named to Barron's list of the 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance for three consecutive years.
JENNY
JOHNSON
President & CEO
Franklin Templeton
USA
H.E. Khalfan Belhoul is the CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF). H.E. brings more than a decade of experience as a driving force in transforming businesses and organizations that contribute to Dubai's strategy of economic diversification.
H.E. Khalfan
Belhoul
Chief Executive Officer
Dubai Future Foundation
UAE
ARIF
AMIRI
Chief Executive Officer
DIFC
UAE
As Governor, Mr. Al Maraj carries a ministerial ranking and is the chief executive of the CBB. His career highlights include senior positions with Government, having served as Assistant Under-Secretary at the then Finance and National Economy Ministry and Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Transportation.
H.E. RASHEED
MOHAMMED AL MARAJ
Governor
Central Bank
Bahrain
Brian Armstrong is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Coinbase. Before founding Coinbase, Brian served as a software engineer at Airbnb. Prior to that, Brian co-founded and was CEO of Universitytutor.com, an online tutoring company.
BRIAN
ARMSTRONG
Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder
Coinbase
USA
Brad is the CEO of Ripple and a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to Ripple, he served as the CEO of file collaboration service Hightail. From 2009 to 2012 he was President of Consumer Applications at AOL and prior to that in executive positions at Yahoo.
BRAD
GARLINGHOUSE
CEO
Ripple
USA
Michael is the CEO and co-founder of Fireblocks, a secure digital asset infrastructure company. Prior to Fireblocks, he co-founded Lacoon Mobile Security, which was acquired by Check Point.
MICHAEL
SHAULOV
Co-Founder & CEO
Fireblocks
USA
Adrienne Harris is a prominent financial technology expert and former White House and Treasury Senior Official. She currently leads DFS, overseeing financial institutions with assets of over $9t.
ADRIENNE
A. HARRIS
Superintendent
New York State Department of Financial Services
USA
Patrick Chalhoub is the Group President of Chalhoub Group, partner and creator of luxury experiences in the Middle East. He is a Board Member of the UN Global Compact, a Council Member of UAE’s Circular Economy, and a Board Member of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
PATRICK
CHALHOUB
Group President
Chalhoub Group
UAE
Sopnendu is responsible for creating development strategies, public infrastructure, and policies around technology-driven innovation. He has over two decades of public and private sector experience in technology, operations, digital Finance, and investment strategies.
SOPNENDU
MOHANTY
Chief Fintech Officer
Monetary Authority of Singapore
Singapore
Ahmed Abdelaal is a banking professional with over 25 years of experience in progressively senior roles across banking verticals spanning across international & regional banks.
Ahmed
Abdelaal
Group Chief Executive Officer
Mashreq
UAE
Courtney Powell is tasked with helping multi-stage venture capital firm 500 Global scale globally and explore new opportunities across both new and existing markets.
Courtney
Powell
Chief Operating Officer & Managing Partner
500 Global
USA
Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola is the Founder and CEO of Flutterwave. A serial entrepreneur with two exits under his belt, GB has over 15 years of experience in building scalable financial technology firms.
OLUGBENGA
GB AGBOOLA
Founder and CEO
Flutterwave
USA
Ian Johnston was appointed Chief Executive of the DFSA in September 2022. He previously served as the DFSA’s Chief Executive from 2012-2018.
IAN
JOHNSTON
Chief Executive
Dubai Financial Services Authority
UAE
Magnus Grimeland, founder and CEO of Antler, the investor backing the world’s most driven founders from day zero to greatness.
MAGNUS
GRIMELAND
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Antler
Singapore
Umar Farooq is the Global Head of Financial Institution Payments and CEO of Onyx by J.P. Morgan. Prior to this Umar was the Global Head of Digital Wholesale Payments and Head of Blockchain for the Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB).
UMAR
FAROOQ
CEO, Onyx by JP Morgan; Global Head of Financial Institution Payments
JP Morgan
USA
Christian Lanng is the CEO and co-founder of Tradeshift, the world’s largest business commerce platform, bringing connectivity and value to buyers and suppliers in over 190 countries. Christian is a recognized thought leader and Fortune 500 advisor.
CHRISTIAN
LANNG
CEO
Tradeshift
USA
Ivan Soto-Wright is the Co-Founder & CEO of MoonPay, the world’s leading web3 infrastructure provider.
IVAN
SOTO-WRIGHT
CEO & Co-Founder
MoonPay
USA
Jonathan has been at the leading edge of the financial services industry for 33 years. Prior to Ping An Group, he spent 18 years at Citigroup where he was Global Head of the firm’s retail banking and mortgage businesses, generating ~$12Bn in revenues.
JONATHAN
LARSEN
Chief Innovation Officer of Ping An Group; Chairman & CEO
Ping An Global Voyager Fund Ping An Group
Hong Kong
Staci Warden is CEO of the Algorand Foundation. She has done business in more than 50 countries and has advocated widely on the potential for cryptocurrencies & blockchain to solve real-world problems.
STACI
WARDEN
CEO
Algorand Foundation
USA
Monica Brand Engel is a co-founding Managing Partner of Quona Capital. Along with that, she is an investor and entrepreneur, who has launched funds and products aimed at broadening financial inclusion globally.
MONICA
BRAND ENGEL
Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Quona Capital
USA
Michael is the Global Head of Innovation and Advanced Solutions at BNY Mellon and has 20 years of experience in technology, financial services, and strategy consulting.
MICHAEL
DEMISSIE
Managing Director, Global Head of Innovation and Advanced Solutions
BNY Mellon
USA
Martin is member of the Board of Management at DekaBank since May 2013 and responsible for the Banking Business Divisions (Capital Markets, Credits, Real Estate Lending) and the Depositary Business.
MARTIN
MÜLLER
Board Member
DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale
Germany
Tomaso Rodriguez is an accomplished technology executive and entrepreneur, startup enthusiast, and venture capitalist currently holding the role of CEO at talabat.
Tomaso
Rodriguez
Chief Executive Officer
talabat
UAE
Hosam Arab is the CEO and Co-founder of Tabby, a shopping and financial services app in MENA. Prior to that, he co-founded online fashion retailer Namshi which was later acquired by Emaar Malls.
HOSAM
ARAB
CEO and Co-founder
Tabby
UAE
Faraz has an extensive experience in the areas of E-commerce, digital innovation, fintech, building digital ecosystems, customer centricity, and relevance, building tools to support local business and economy growth.
FARAZ
KHALID
CEO
Noon
UAE
Gavin is a seasoned leader with more than three decades of experience across financial services, technology, and innovation.
GAVIN
MICHAEL
President & CEO
Bakkt
USA
Renier Lemmens is the Group CEO of Geidea and is responsible for driving Geidea’s strategic growth across the region. His past roles include serving as the CEO of PayPal Europe, Middle East, and Africa – and COO for Barclays International Retail and Commercial Banking.
RENIER
LEMMENS
Group CEO
Geidea
Saudi Arabia
Sarvjeet Virk is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Finvasia. He is a serial entrepreneur who has established and guided numerous ventures, while actively participating in diverse industry roles.
SARVJEET
SINGH VIRK
Co-founder & Chief Managing Director
Finvasia
India
After years of consulting for Canada's major financial institutions as a member of Accenture Strategy's Financial Services division, Lebanese national Mark Chahwan co-founded Sarwa, a wealth advisory service, in 2017.
MARK
CHAHWAN
Co-founder
Sarwa
UAE
Geoff Kot is the Managing Director and Global Head of FM Electronic Trading and Platforms for Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Limited. Prior to joining Standard Chartered Bank in 2014, he worked at Barclays and Merrill Lynch.
GEOFF
KOT
Global Head, FM Electronic Trading & Platforms
Standard Chartered Bank
Singapore
Jonathan is responsible for the digital asset strategy and offering development at Julius Baer.
JONATHAN
HAYES
Head of Digital Assets Development
Julius Baer
Switzerland
Karim Atiyeh is the co-founder and CTO of Ramp. As CTO, Karim focuses on building the next generation of finance tools – from corporate cards and expense management, to bill payments and accounting integrations – designed to save businesses time and money.
Karim
Atiyeh
CTO & Co-Founder
Ramp
USA
Sailesh oversees Geidea’s operations, strategic partnerships as well as business development. Prior to Geidea, Sailesh worked in a variety of senior-level positions at leading payment service providers and financial institutions.
SAILESH
MALHOTRA
General Manager GCC
Geidea
UAE
Tajinder Virk is the co-founder and CEO of Finvasia. He has broad experience in the financial services industry, having held key positions across geographies and noteworthy hedge funds.
TAJINDER
VIRK
Co-founder & CEO
Finvasia
India
Luis is responsible for Citi Ventures’ fintech investments globally. Luis started his investing career at Softbank, was a consultant at McKinsey, and prior to joining Citi founded and ran JPMorgan’s Strategic Investments group where he invested in 30+ companies.
LUIS
VALDICH
Managing Director
Citi Ventures
USA
Guy Goldstein is the CEO and co-founder of NEXT. Guy has led NEXT to become the leading digital insurance company transforming small business insurance.
GUY
GOLDSTEIN
CEO
NEXT Insurance
USA
Caroline leads public policy internationally at Chainalysis. Prior to this, Caroline was the founding Head of the OECD's Global Blockchain Policy Centre, from 2018 to 2021.
CAROLINE
MALCOLM
Global Head of Public Policy
Chainalysis
UK
As Global Director of FSP Advocacy and a designer, Marina engages with financial services providers globally to adopt best practices, share knowhow, and drive actions on women's financial inclusion.
MARINA
DIMOVA
Global Director, Financial Industry and Network Advocacy
Women's World Banking
USA
Ola Doudin is the co-founder & CEO of BitOasis. Forbes Middle East featured Ola among the ‘Top 10 Women Behind Middle Eastern Tech Brands 2021’. She has also been honored with ‘Young Global Leader 2022’ – an initiative by the World Economic Forum.
OLA
YOUNIS DOUDIN
CEO & Co-founder
BitOasis
UAE
With over 15 years of experience, Jigar is currently the Global Head of FinTech for Morgan Stanley, overseeing strategic advisory and capital raising for the most innovative and disruptive companies in FinTech.
JIGAR
PATEL
Global Head of Fintech
Morgan Stanley
USA
Chris is known as one of the most influential people in technology and a best-selling author. He is an independent commentator on the financial markets and fintech through his blog, the Finanser.
CHRIS
SKINNER
CEO
The Finanser Ltd
Poland
Paul leads and oversees the investment team on a day-to-day basis and actively engages with our portfolio companies as a board member (e.g., Alchemy, Pintu, Valr) and advisor.
PAUL
VERADITTAKIT
Managing Partner
Pantera Capital
USA
Lalit Keshre is the Co-founder and CEO of Groww.
LALIT
KESHRE
Co-founder & CEO
Groww
India
Sharif El-Badawi is the CEO of the newly established Dubai Future District Fund, an evergreen venture fund of funds and direct investment vehicle of the emirate of Dubai.
SHARIF
EL-BADAWI
Chief Executive Officer
Dubai Future District Fund
UAE
Adam leads our FS Partnerships in EMEA, responsible for driving our overall relationships with large FIs in the region. He's also responsible for Google's FS industry relations.
ADAM
KHALIFA
Head of EMEA FS, Strategic Partnerships
Google
United Kingdom
Nasir has led change in Financial Services and Fintech for 26 years. He is currently CEO of the LHoFT Foundation, Luxembourg's national initiative to digitalise the financial services sector.
NASIR
ZUBAIRI
CEO
The LHoFT Foundation
Luxembourg
Dr. Ugur Koyluoglu is the Global Head of Digital Assets at Oliver Wyman, leading the firm’s offerings to traditional finance players, crypto-native firms, investors, and public policy makers.
UGUR
KOYLUOGLU
Vice Chairman for Financial Services and the Global Head of Digital Assets
Oliver Wyman
USA
Anthony has 25 years of experience across Fintech businesses in Emerging Markets and Citi's global consumer bank.
ANTHONY
THOMAS
Managing Director, FinTech, Delivery hero
Singapore
Shahebaz Khan is SVP, Head of New Flows for Visa CEMEA. He is responsible for driving our Visa Business Solutions, Visa Government Solutions and Visa Direct helping our clients and government partners.
Shahebaz
Khan
SVP New Payment Flows - CEMEA
VISA
UAE
Dr Jaffar’s leadership and expertise of 20 years have enabled her to expertly deliver pragmatic and practical solutions to strategic issues, drive bottom-line impact, and achieve rapid results. Over her professional career, Dr Jaffar has worked in the Middle East, Europe, and the U.S. on a wide range of strategic, M&A and performance-related issues.
Saeeda
Jaffar
Senior Vice President & Group Country Manager – GCC
VISA
UAE
Melike has nineteen of experience in payment and fintech sector, including six years as the founding CEO of Paycell, the leading fintech company in Turkey in terms of users and profitability. She has vast experience in payments, digital banking, e-wallets, remittance, microfinance, eco-systems, covering technology, customer propositions, and analytics.
Melike Kara
Tanrikulu
CEO, e& money
e&
UAE
Khalifa’s extensive expertise in telecom and digital services, coupled with a strong commercial and technical background, has played a key role in the success of Etisalat UAE, rebranded as etisalat by e&. Backed by 29 years of experience in the telecom, media, and ICT industries, he spearheaded the Group’s first move into the technology space with the successful deployment of mobile services, fibre-based broadband and advanced data services.
Khalifa Al
Shamsi
CEO
e& life
UAE
Jinesh Patel is a Managing Partner at Integra Partners. He is an experienced investment professional with over 20 years experience in the Asia Pacific.
JINESH
PATEL
Managing Partner
Integra Partners
Singapore
Bryan co-founded the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance and co-authored more than 40 some of the most impactful industry and regulatory reports on financial and regulatory innovation globally.
BRYAN
ZHENG ZHANG
Co-Founder and Executive Director Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at the University of Cambridge
Judge Business School
UK
Udayan is a keen proponent of technology driven reformation in banking and financial services and has exceptional investment and domain expertise in this space.
UDAYAN
GOYAL
Managing Partner
Apis Partners LLP
UK
Dan Murphy is CNBC’s Anchor and Correspondent based in the United Arab Emirates, reporting on business, markets, economics and geopolitics from across the Middle East region.
DAN
MURPHY
Anchor and Correspondent
CNBC
UAE
Yousef Gamal El-Din is a Dubai-based anchor for Bloomberg TV. His coverage bridges the gap between Asia and Europe’s trading days providing profound insights to an influential audience.
Yousef Gamal
El-Din
Anchor
Bloomberg TV
UAE
Fintech pioneer with 17+ years of experience across the Fintech& Banking Industries in MEA. Founder/CEO of Ishtar Gate (Blue), building reliable&easy-to-use digital financial solutions for Iraq & beyond.
ALI
AL-SAEED
Chief Executive Officer
BluePay
Iraq
Mohammad Raafi is currently the Founder and CEO of Fasset, an emerging markets digital assets exchange. He is an aspiring polymath with a diverse track record of formulating and executing strategies for governments, multilaterals and corporates.
Mohammad Raafi
Hossain
Co-founder and CEO
Fasset
UAE
Ahmad is a key member of the Tap team since the early days, He has played an instrumental role in driving the company's growth and success. Alwazzan brings a diverse range of skills and expertise.
AHMAD
ALWAZZAN
EVP & Managing Director - UAE
Tap Payments
UAE
Jason Barsema is the Co-Founder and President of Halo Investing where he leads the team and product vision. Jason previously was a Partner on a large Private Banking team at Credit Suisse.
JASON
BARSEMA
Co-Founder & President
Halo Investing
USA
A former head of Financial Services on The London Mayors International Business Programme, I now support Fintech ecosystems, startups and Scale-ups globally as an owner of The Fintech Times.
MARK
WALKER
Editorial Director
The Fintech Times
United Kingdom
Amnah Ajmal is the Executive Vice President, Market Development, EEMEA for Mastercard. In this role, she is responsible for acceptance, acquiring, merchants, digital partnerships, fintech’s, strategy and M&A for the region. She also holds the honor of being in America’s top 10 women in Fintech by the Fintech Magazine for 2020.
Amnah
Ajmal
Executive Vice President, Market Development - EEMEA
Mastercard
UAE
Ben Worley is the co-founder and CEO of Spiro Carbon, a US-based startup focused on democratizing the benefits of the carbon market for all stakeholders.
BENJAMIN
WORLEY
Chief Executive Officer
Spiro Carbon Group
USA
Nameer Khan is the Chairman of the MENA Fintech Association (MFTA) and the Founder and CEO of Fils, the region's leading Sustainability focused Fintech. Nameer Khan has been recognized as MENA's Future Fintech Leader by the UAE Central Bank for his outstanding contributions to industry-wide growth and collaboration.
Nameer
Khan
Founder of FILS and Chairman
MENA FINTECH ASSOCIATION
UAE
Joseph Dallago is the Co-Founder and CEO of Rain, the largest region-born and first licensed cryptocurrency exchange in the Middle East and North Africa.
Joseph
Dallago
Co-founder and CEO
Rain
UAE
Manus Cranny is the co-anchor of Bloomberg Daybreak - the Middle East and Daybreak Europe. He brings insight and experience spanning 20 years to global markets, finance and media.
MANUS
CRANNY
ANCHOR
BLOOMBERG
UAE
H.E. Khaled is the Director responsible for Financial Sector Development at Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) where he leads the market facing change agenda for the central bank and regulatory authority.
H.E. Khaled
AlBasias
Director, Financial Sector Development
Saudi Central Bank (SAMA)
Saudi Arabia
With over 25 years of financial markets experience at large financial institutions, Omar brings a unique perspective on financial start-ups and market analysis.
Omar
Diab
Founder
@Pay
Australia
Abdullah Zahran Al Hinai is the Chief Executive Officer of National Bank of Oman. Having held a number of senior management positions in the banking sector, he is an industry veteran with over two decades of experience.
Abdullah
Al Hinai
Chief Executive Officer
National Bank of Oman
Oman
Event host, moderator, and broadcast journalist, Laura Buckwell is an industry event EMCEE, moderator, and former TV news anchor. Throughout her time, Laura has interviewed many high-profile CEOs, personalities, entrepreneurs, and government bodies.
Laura
Buckwell
EMCEE
Laura Buckwell
UAE
Ahmed Galal Ismail is Chief Executive Officer at Majid Al Futtaim - Holding, the leading shopping mall, retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
