Eric Menges was born on April 6, 1967 in Frankfurt am Main. He studied Business Administration at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and graduated with distinction. Eric Menges has worked for Banque Transatlantique in Paris, France and Transfield Construction in Sydney and Perth, Australia. In 1996 he joined the Government of Victoria, Australia as a Trade Development Manager. He was subsequently promoted to implement and run Victorias investment promotion strategy across Europe as Executive Director of the Frankfurt, Germany based business office of the State of Victoria. In 2009 he joined FrankfurtRheinMain GmbH, International Marketing of the Region (FRM GmbH) -the official Investment Promotion Agency of the Greater Frankfurt area- as Executive Vice President. In 2015 and after having conducted a shareholder induced major strategic reorientation of FRM GmbH, he was promoted to the CEO role. FRM GmbH has since substantially grown its regional shareholder base (now operating across three federal German States) and has been one of the major contributors to facilitating the substantial growth of the Frankfurt Financial services cluster after the UKs Brexit decision. FRM GmbH maintains operations in China, USA, Japan, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, Australia, Singapore and the UK. Eric Menges is married and has two children. His main interests are sports (Surfing, Skiing) and playing the drums in a rock band.

Alexandre Prot is the co-founder and CEO of Qonto –  the leading European business finance solution. After graduating from HEC and INSEAD, Alexandre started his career with Goldman Sachs and McKinsey & Company. In 2013, he founded Smok.io with Steve Anavi, the first connected electronic cigarette, and experienced the frustrations of business banking. His banking experience was time-consuming and complex. Therefore they decided to found Qonto, the business finance solution energizing SMEs and freelancers, simplifying everything from everyday banking and financing to bookkeeping, invoicing and spend management. Qonto has raised €622 million from the world's largest investors. The company now serves 500,000 clients in 8 countries (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal) and has over 1,600 employees.

Hans’ expertise is built on his first multiyear working experience with McKinsey (Direct Banking, Post merger Integration, IT-Strategy…). Followed by holding several senior and executive roles within Deutsche Bank (DB) in following positions within the IT & Transaction banking division (Global Head of Strategy), within DB’s Private & Commercial Client division (Lead Banking Products, Lead Personal Banking, Lead Service Units, launch CEO of norisbank after its acquisition by DB and with DB Asset & Wealth Management (COO Wealth Management). As a top management advisor, over a decade now, serving range of TierI/II predominantly financial institutions in Germany, UK, Nordics, Italy, Switzerland, India, … helping the top management to shape and successfully execute major transformation in business, functions and IT.

Lena Hackelöer is the Founder and CEO of Brite Payments, a Stockholm-headquartered fintech that utilises the open banking framework to offer instant payments and payouts across 27 European markets. Brite's proprietary instant payments network connects more than 3,800 banks and allows consumers to quickly and securely pay directly from their bank account with only top-of-mind information. Lena is a distinguished fintech leader, having received numerous accolades including 'Director of the Year' at the Europe Fintech Awards, 'Founder of the Year' at Startup Magazine's Hustle Awards, the ‘Inspiration Award’ at the Women in Payments EMEA Awards, and has been recognised by Forbes Magazine as one of the top ten women in European fintech. Lena is passionate about building the next generation of instant bank payments with Brite Payments.

Jürgen von der Lehr ist Head of Strategy and Sustainability Business Development der ING. In dieser Funktion ist er für die Strategie-, M&A-, Innovations- und Nachhaltigkeitsaktivitäten von ING verantwortlich. Jürgen verfügt über 20 Jahre Erfahrung in der Finanzdienstleistungsbranche und verfügt über umfangreiche digitale Kompetenzen sowie strategische und operative Expertise im Retail- und Corporate Experience Banking. Vor seiner Tätigkeit bei ING war Jürgen Head of Digital Innovation und Head of Online Brokerage bei der Deutschen Bank sowie Partner bei Oliver Wyman. Er hat einen Abschluss als Diplom-Kaufmann der Universität Mannheim.

Fabian Platzen is General Manager Germany at the German-British SME financier iwoca. He has over 20 years of experience in banking and fintech. Before joining iwoca, Fabian Platzen was Managing Director of the digital receivables management and collection company PAIR Finance. For the Berlin-based fintech, he was responsible for finance and operations as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer since 2018 and accompanied the company's development into profitability until its exit at the end of 2022. For the Dutch NIBC Bank, he built up the Fintechs and Financial Services team and successfully established the bank in this segment as a provider of financing solutions for companies. Fabian Platzen started his career at Commerzbank AG and advised medium-sized companies on refinancing solutions as Local Head Financial Engineering.

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Sarah Schmidtke is the managing director at Bankenverband Mitte. It represents the interests of more than 100 private banks in Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, which employ around 40,000 employees. Prior to this, Sarah was responsible for managing the Frankfurt office of the European Banking Federation (EBF), focussing on banking regulation & supervision. Before, she worked as Financial Attaché at the British Embassy in Berlin. Prior to joining the diplomatic service, Sarah spent 13 years working for capital markets departments of Commerzbank and Natixis in Frankfurt, London and Paris. Sarah studied at the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University. She chairs the advisory board of the European Banking Institute (EBI) and is an advisory board member at the Center for Financial Studies (CFS).

Dr. Mekala Krishnan is a partner at the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), McKinsey & Company’s business and economics research arm, based in Boston, MA. Her research focuses on various topics related to sustainable and inclusive growth, including the economics of climate change, globalization, productivity growth, and gender economics. Her most recent research focuses on the net-zero transition, adaptation and physical climate risk across sectors and geographies, including its implications for companies and countries. Her latest McKinsey Global Institute publications include: The hard stuff: Navigating the physical realities of the energy transition; An affordable, reliable, competitive path to net-zero; The net-zero transition: What it would cost, what it would bring, From poverty to empowerment: Raising the bar for sustainable and inclusive growth, and Climate risk and response: Physical hazards and socioeconomic impacts. Mekala is a frequent speaker on these topics at global conferences as well as with executives at Fortune 500 companies. She has authored numerous articles and her work has been cited in leading business publications, including The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and Harvard Business Review. Mekala serves on a Bretton Woods Committee working group on climate finance and on advisory boards for the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and the Sibley School of Mechanical Engineering at Cornell University. She is also on the board of the Global Fund for Women, a leading public foundation dedicated to improving global gender equality. She was previously a member of a task force at the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at Brookings focused on improving productivity measurement. Mekala received her Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University in 2011. Prior to Cornell, she received a Bachelor of Technology degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2006 from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.

Jörg is the Chief Sustainability Officer of Deutsche Bank. In this capacity, he is the Vice-Chair of the Sustainability Committee chaired by the CEO and Chairman of the Sustainability Strategy Steering Committee. He joined Deutsche Bank in 2016 as Global Head of Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility, which included the responsibility for sustainability. Since then, he has been instrumental in shaping the bank's environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy. In September 2022, he handed over his function as Global Head of Communications to solely focus on ESG as first Chief Sustainability Officer in the history of the bank, reporting into the CEO. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Jörg was member of the Editorial Board and Chief Investigative Reporter of the media group WELT since 2010. Before, and held several senior positions as Economic and Financial Editor of the Welt group in Frankfurt and Berlin. In the 1990s, Jörg reported from Moscow as a business correspondent for the German weekly DIE ZEIT for six years. Jörg attended the Cologne School of Journalism and subsequently attained a Master of Economics at the University of Cologne. He has received several renowned journalism awards and was elected "Business Journalist of the Year" in Germany in 2012.

Rama Variankaval is the global head of Corporate Advisory which encompasses Corporate Finance Advisory ("CFA"), M&A Structuring, Center for Carbon Transition (“CCT”), Sustainable Solutions, and Infrastructure Finance Advisory (“IFA”) teams at J.P. Morgan. CFA advises clients across industries on capital allocation, shareholder value creation strategies, capital structure optimization, and other corporate and structured finance issues. M&A Structuring team helps clients structure transactions to achieve optimal economic outcomes. CCT is leading the firm’s efforts in developing and implementing its climate strategy pertaining to its client facing businesses. CCT and Sustainable Solutions teams also advise clients on transitioning to a low-carbon future and navigating the various Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) considerations faced by companies today. IFA helps structure and execute on infrastructure projects globally. Rama sits on the Investment Bank’s management committee. In addition to these responsibilities, Rama leads the Corporate and Investment Bank’s ESG forum, and serves on the Firmwide Environmental Committee. Rama holds a BS in Civil Engineering from the National Institute of Technology in India, an MS in Structural Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign and an MS in Statistics and Operations Research from New York University. Rama started his career at J.P. Morgan in 2003.

Dr. Sabine Mauderer is the First Deputy Governor of the Deutsche Bundesbank and respon-sible for Markets, Sustainability, as well as Controlling, Accounting and Organisation. Sabine Mauderer is the alternate to the President of the Bundesbank on the ECB’s Governing Coun-cil and the Bundesbank’s deputy in the G20 and G7 and at the IMF. In addition, she is Chair of the “Central banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS)” and a member of the Exchange Experts Commission. Prior to becoming First Deputy Governor in September 2024, she had already been a mem-ber of Deutsche Bundesbank’s Executive Board since September 2018. Previously, she also held several senior positions at the KfW Banking group, and worked as a senior adviser at the Federal Ministry of Finance and at the German Embassy in Washington. Sabine Mauderer was born in Schleswig in 1970. She studied law in Germany and Spain, holds a PhD from Osnabrück University and an Executive MBA from ESSEC & Mannheim Business School.

Dr. Detlef Fechtner, long-serving editor-in-chief of the Börsen-Zeitung, will take over the position of chief political correspondent for Börsen-Zeitung at the start of 2024. This role includes the reporting for Börsen-Zeitung as correspondent from Brussels as well as co-ordinating and moderating events in Frankfurt, Brussels and Berlin. Detlef studied political science, economics, history and European studies in Frankfurt and Brussels. He began his career at the news agency vwd. He then worked for various regional newspapers.

Dr. Sabine Mauderer is the First Deputy Governor of the Deutsche Bundesbank and respon-sible for Markets, Sustainability, as well as Controlling, Accounting and Organisation. Sabine Mauderer is the alternate to the President of the Bundesbank on the ECB’s Governing Coun-cil and the Bundesbank’s deputy in the G20 and G7 and at the IMF. In addition, she is Chair of the “Central banks and Supervisors Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS)” and a member of the Exchange Experts Commission. Prior to becoming First Deputy Governor in September 2024, she had already been a mem-ber of Deutsche Bundesbank’s Executive Board since September 2018. Previously, she also held several senior positions at the KfW Banking group, and worked as a senior adviser at the Federal Ministry of Finance and at the German Embassy in Washington. Sabine Mauderer was born in Schleswig in 1970. She studied law in Germany and Spain, holds a PhD from Osnabrück University and an Executive MBA from ESSEC & Mannheim Business School.

Ingrid Hengster is the CEO for Barclays Germany and co-leads the Global Chairman Group within the Corporate & Investment Bank. As the CEO of Barclays Germany, she is the franchise leader with responsibility over key decision making and accountability for business strategy and results. She is also responsible for enhancing Barclays’ profile locally with priority clients, regulators, governments and the business community.

Philippe Oddo is Managing Partner of ODDO BHF SCA and Chairman of the Management Board of ODDO BHF SE. Born on 26 September 1959 in Paris, Philippe Oddo is a graduate of the Paris business school HEC. He also studied at the Paris IX-Dauphine University, New York University and the University of Cologne. Philippe Oddo joined the family business, the fifth generation of his family to do so, in 1984 and became a partner in 1987. In addition to his executive role at ODDO BHF, he has been a member of the board of directors of several organizations on the Paris financial center: “Conseil des marchés à terme”, Euronext, ANSA (Association Nationale des Sociétés par Actions) and METI (Mouvement pour les Entreprises de taille Intermediaire). He is treasurer of the Bettencourt-Schueller Foundation and is involved in medical research foundations. In 2020 the German Chamber of Commerce awarded Philippe Oddo for the first time the prize for Franco-German personality of the year.

Augustin de Romanet, born on 2 April 1961, is a graduate of the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris and of the Ecole Nationale d’Administration. Augustin de Romanet, appointed Chairman and CEO of Aéroports de Paris by decree dated 29 November 2012, had his mandate renewed by the decrees date 24 July 2014 and 29 May 2019. Previously Chief Executive OffiCer of Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations between March 2007 and March 2012, Augustin de Romanet also chaired the Strategic Investment Fund between 2009 and 2012. Priori to this, he was Deputy Chief Financial Officer of Crédit Agricole SA and a member of the Executive Committee. From June 2005 to October 2006, he was Deputy Secretary General to the Presidency of the Republic and held senior positions in various ministries. Augustin de Romanet is an Officer of the Légion of Honour, and has been awarded the French National Defence Medal.

Dr. Markus Ampenberger is a Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Munich. With 15 years of experience in consulting, he leads BCG’s Payments & FinTech team in the DACH-region. Markus advises banks, payment providers and FinTechs across Europe. Focus of his project work is on strategy, (digital) transformation, and M&A-related topics. Markus is frequently engaged as an expert, author and speaker on innovative topics in the payments industry. Before joining BCG, Markus gained practical experience in banking and academia. He holds a degree in Business Administration from LMU Munich, an MBA from Colorado State University, and a doctorate in economics from TU Munich. In addition, he has been a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University.

Martina Weimert is the CEO of EPI Company, since the early days of the initiative established in December 2020. Martina has been supporting and guiding European banks and acquirers to build the foundation of the EPI Company, aiming to build an independent European solution and connecting Europe’s payment industry. With 20 years of experience in international consulting, she has in-depth experience in payments and payment solution set-up, fintech, blockchain and retail banking in Europe, the Americas and the Middle East. Prior to joining EPI, she was a partner in the Financial Services Practice of the consultancy Oliver Wyman in Paris, leading the European payments practice, previously holding the positions of Senior VP at Capgemini Consulting, and Marketing & Sales Director for Deutsche Bank in France. Martina graduated from the Institute of Political Science Paris in European business development and holds a Master degree in International Administration (DESS) from Sorbonne University, and studied before Political Science at the University of Bonn.

Robert Bueninck is Chief Executive Officer of Unzer, a company providing payment and commerce solutions to more than 85,000 European merchants. Before joining Unzer, Robert worked for Klarna as Managing Director for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, leading this region into becoming Klarna’s largest market and key revenue driver. In this role he also functioned as Branch manager of Klarna Bank’s German branch and as Managing Director of Billpay and Sofort. He is a renowned speaker with profound knowledge of the payment sector and strategic business development.

Olivier Martinon is the Vice President of Sales for North and Central Europe at Thales Payment Services, where he leads business development and client relations across the region. With a strong background in sales and marketing, Olivier began his career at Gemplus, where he held various roles in the telecom sector across Europe and Africa. Over the years, he has become a trusted advisor to major banks and financial issuers, helping them implement cutting-edge payment strategies. Olivier’s expertise spans both innovative physical card solutions and digital services, enabling organizations to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving payment industry.

European Central Bank | Advisor to the Digital € November 2021 — November 2023 Bizum | Business Development Director January 2017 - Present Identification of new business models, development of business plans towards new sources of income Participation in payments initiatives as an industry expert: European Payments Council and European Payments Initiative Coordination with shareholders, decision making proposals, successful business goals achievements year by year (users, trx.) Research of trendsetter ideas, industry and related events, papers and announcements Analysis of market strategies, coordination of marketing initiatives, enhancement of brand image Lecturer, speaker and panelist in industry conferences Accenture Strategy | Business Consultant February 2011 — December 2016 - Advised clients in their Operations & Digital Strategy journeys (operating model transformation, data & analytics strategy, workplace strategy…) for Retail, Energy and Financial Services

Dr Caroline Herkströter is an investment and banking regulatory lawyer based in Frankfurt. Her main focus is on securities, banking regulation as well as the regulation of investment funds. Having a particular focus on ESG related issues, Caroline is recognised as one of the leading experts in Germany with regard to ESG. Caroline advises credit institutions and financial services providers, including investment and universal banks, AIF and UCITS management companies and securities trading companies on all aspects of German, European and international investment, banking, and capital markets law. In particular, she focuses on the cross-border distribution of financial products, and issues related to clearing, settlement and global custody and depositary services. Caroline advises on the establishment and distribution of open- and closed-ended investment funds, particularly securities and real estate funds within Germany. Her experience also includes prime brokerage, securities lending, international securities custody, collateral management, and investment advisor liability. Additionally, Caroline advises on the establishment and acquisition of German credit institutions, joint ventures, the extension of banking licences and global outsourcing projects as well as on the listing of funds on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Caroline also advises on FinTech regulatory matters and she has developed particular knowledge of blockchain and cryptocurrencies including crypto-custody, and advises start-ups, payments providers and financial institutions on the regulatory issues related to the deployment of these technologies. She heads the European practice as Head of Financial Services Regulatory. PRESENTATIONS AND SEMINARS • MiCAR und FinmadiG – kein Nischenthema! Die neue Regulierung im Fokus, 14 December 2023 • Unlocking Opportunities: Navigating the Versatility of ELTIF, 06 December 2023 PRIOR EXPERIENCE • Before joining DLA Piper in 2023, Dr Caroline Herkströter worked for leading international law firms in Frankfurt.

Andrea joined tradias, a leading cryptocurrency trading house and specialist in digital assets, in November 2024 as General Counsel with responsibility for Legal, Compliance, AML/CFT and Data Protection. Her focus is to develop robust solutions that will enable tradias to grow in a dynamic market environment and develop innovative products, in line with an ever-evolving regulatory landscape. Prior to joining tradias, Andrea spent over 9 years with Fidelity International, leading the German Legal team and serving as a member of the German Management Committee. She started her career at AXA Investment Managers where she has been Head of Legal Germany from 2006 to 2015. Andrea has been a member of the Legal Committee of the BVI Bundesverband Investment und Asset Management e.V. and member of the Donor’s Committee of the Institute for Law & Finance, Frankfurt Goethe University. Andrea is a German qualified lawyer with an admission as an attorney-at-law (Rechtsanwältin).

Dr. Rainer Knippschild is the Head of GRC Insurance at Sopra Financial Technology GmbH in Frankfurt am Main. Previously, he worked as an IT Governance Manager/Director at various companies in the financial sector on an international level. In these roles, he served as a Global IT Risk Manager and Head of IT Compliance. Additionally, he has extensive and deep experience and knowledge as a Lead Auditor for IT Services. Dr. Knippschild has a technical background and is well-versed in operational and procedural topics. He also served as an officer in the German Air Force, where he was active in various NATO countries. Dr. Knippschild brings comprehensive experience in IT governance, risk and compliance management, and IT security strategies. He is known for his ability to lead complex IT projects.

Arnaud Misset joined CACEIS in 2011 as the Group’s Head of Products. In March 2018, he was appointed Chief Digital Officer. Before joining CACEIS, Arnaud was a director at PwC and Eurogroup Consulting. Specialising in the banking sector, he worked on numerous projects ranging from IT projects to strategic development issues for both securities and retail banks. Arnaud holds a Master’s degree in Risk Management from the HEC Business School in Paris as well as a Master’s degree in International Business Law from Paris V University

Nino Landerer is Deputy Director General Strategy & Innovation at the Deutsche Bundesbank. Prior to joining Bundesbank in 2023, Landerer worked for the Swiss Ministry of Finance and the Swiss National Bank, where he led regulatory and innovation projects in the area of capital markets, stock exchange and financial market infrastructure. Landerer holds a PhD from the University of Geneva (2014) and an MSc from the London School of Economics (2010).

Duc has over 16 years of working experience in banking and finance. Besides, he is Lecturer at the FOM University of Applied Sciences for Economics and Management. His professional focus lies on the exploration of blockchain applications in TradFi. As Head of Innovation Lab at WM Datenservice, Duc and his team is currently exploring the opportunites of Offchain-Data for the Onchain-World with regards to tokenization of RWA.

Dorette Daume started her career at KPMG Financial Services in Frankfurt and spent ten years at KPMG, working for global Banking clients in Frankfurt and Zurich. Afterwards Dorette joined the Zurich based FinTech start-up neon as first employee in the role of CFO and Compliance Officer - promoting an easy to use Banking app and credit card in Switzerland. She then moved to Standard Chartered Bank in Frankfurt in the Finance function, before joining Cashlink as COO CFO in 2020. The FinTech and now financial institution Cashlink, based in Frankfurt, offers Europe's leading infrastructure for the tokenization of assets. As the German market leader, Cashlink enables the issuance of digital securities according to the eWpG in the form of bearer bonds, funds, bonds, shares or certificates. In June 2024, the company received the full BaFin license to operate a crypto-securities register. Cashlink thus covers the entire value chain for the tokenization of electronic securities. Renowned financial institutions, experienced issuers and innovative FinTechs benefit from the new possibilities of tokenization and at the same time realize efficiency gains in securities settlement. Dorette also is a member of the Digital Finance Forum of the German Federal Ministry of Finance.

Stefan Schütze studied law at Martin Luther University in Halle Wittenberg. He was admitted to the bar in 2001 and completed his Master of Laws in "Mergers & Acquisitions" at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster from 2003 to 2004. Stefan Schütze started his professional career in the legal department of the listed investment company bmp AG from 2000 to 2004. Afterwards, he was General Counsel at Altira Group AG, a listed asset manager, from 2004 to 2013. Subsequently, he was a member of the Executive Board of FinLab AG, a listed company builder and investor in financial services technology (FinTech), from May 2013 to April 2021, and responsible for investments, strategy, compliance, legal matters and human resources. In addition, he held management positions as part of his work, including at the listed investment company Heliad Equity Partners GmbH & Co. KGaA, where he also worked until April 2021. He has more than 15 years of experience as board member in publicly listed companies.

Thilo has been with the German Stock Exchange group since 24 years, the last 18 years at the post-trade infrastructure Clearstream, primarily in commercialisation and product roles. In his current role, Thilo is responsible for Business Strategy, Business Development und Commerecialisation for the digitale products at Clearstream.

Philippe Noeltner is a capital markets lawyer with a distinctive expertise in debt securities issuance, fintech and market infrastructure topics. He notably advises financial institutions and fintechs on (i) the structuring and issuance of debt and digital securities and (ii) the regulatory impacts when entering into derivatives contracts. Philippe was the lead associate on award-winning and innovative multi-dealer digital bond issuances in Europe registered on Blockchain networks. Philippe plays an active role in the Luxembourg capital markets legal community by (i) taking part in several working groups at the ABBL and the LuxCMA associations and (ii) regularly publishing articles and speaking at conferences focused on his practice areas. Philippe also teaches courses on capital markets and fintech at the Sciences Po Law School and the University of Luxembourg. Philippe holds law degrees from the Sciences Po Law School, Sorbonne University and Columbia Law School and a business degree from the John Molson School of Business in Montreal. He is admitted to practice in Luxembourg.

Stefan Grasmann is a blockchain visionary with more than 30 years experience in the tech sector. He is adept at identifying and exploiting business opportunities in the decentralized technology field. Stefan boasts years of experience in fostering tech innovation, developing businesses in challenging new markets and leading intercultural teams.

Eric Viohl is an accomplished professional with an educational background in banking and finance. With over a decade of experience in financial markets, he has honed his expertise at Deutsche Börse Group, a global leader in financial market infrastructure. Eric's areas of expertise include market microstructure, digital business models, trading models and exchange operations, with a keen interest and knowledge of digital assets. He has held key roles at Deutsche Börse Group, including Vice President of Business Development and Head of Crypto Strategy for Deutsche Börse’s Cash Market. Currently, as Managing Director of Crypto Finance Germany, part of Deutsche Börse Group, Eric is focused on building the MiCa hub for Crypto Finance, obtaining BaFin licences and pioneering initiatives to integrate traditional markets with digital assets. He is committed to navigating the intersection of established financial systems and digital innovation, facilitating seamless integration and growth opportunities.

Christoph Hock, Head of Multi-Asset Trading, Union Investment Christoph Hock is a managing director and Head of Multi-Asset Trading at Union Investment. He joined Union in 2014 and, with his team, is responsible for all trading activities associated with portfolio management of cash equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, listed and OTC derivatives, fund and ETF business and securities lending. Recently, Christoph has established an organizational structure with high touch trading, electronic solutions & technology and trading- & regulatory services as the groups within his team. Christoph graduated with a bachelor’s degree in banking and obtained an MBA degree from St Galler Business School in 2022. He has more than 25 years of international investment banking, trading and management experience, having worked for companies on the sell- and buy-side. Christoph was head of Execution Sales at Barclays Bank. He was founder, partner and co-CEO/Head of Portfolio Management and Trading at Tungsten Capital Management, a hedge fund company. Prior to this, Christoph was Head of Proprietary Equity Derivatives Desk at J.P. Morgan.

Thomas is working in the financial service industry since 1998, starting at companies like IBM moving over to Credit Suisse and thereafter serving the industry from the vendor side. Digital Banking and Blockchain always have been in the center of activities, as with companies like synpulse, Crealogix, Metaco and Ripple. Now Thomas is working at Bitpanda Technology Solutions as Senior Manager Strategic Partnerships.

Moritz Karge Managing Director, Co-Head Brokerage flatexDEGIRO AG Since January 2024, Moritz Karge has been responsible for the Brokerage division at flatexDEGIRO, including Trading, Lending, and Exchange Infrastructure. Before joining flatexDEGIRO as Managing Director in August 2023, Moritz gained extensive capital markets and securities expertise during his more than 15 years at Morgan Stanley Europe SE, where he last served as Group Head Legal.

Sina is CDO and Head Financial Services at Unique AG – a European startup providing an AI-driven conversational platform to better understand customers and build more meaningful client relationships. Unique has already implemented several use cases based on GPT-technology for their Financial Services Clients as one of the first European startups (powered by Microsoft Azure). Sina is a proven data specialist for financial applications with over 15 years of experience. Prior to joining Unique, Sina led various projects in the area of data strategy and applications in a major international bank in Switzerland (Credit Suisse AG). Previously, she worked as a consultant for a large management consulting firm in Germany and the USA (Accenture AG). In addition, Sina appears as a regular speaker and lecturer for Conversational AI, Ecosystem Technology and Data Protection. She serves as an advisor and mentor to emerging Gen AI startups (HEC Paris) and functions as a subject matter expert for the Swiss Financial Innovation Desk within the Secretariat for International Finance. Sina holds a PhD in Financial Modeling from the University of St. Gallen (HSG, Switzerland) and a Diploma in Economics from the University of Mannheim (Germany).

Stephan A. Paxmann is Head of Digitalisation and Innovation at Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW). He has been responsible for the bank's strategic digitalisation and innovation activities and projects since 2022. Together with his team, he steers innovation and trend management, analyses and tests new business ideas with digital solutions using the LBBW incubator, develops the digital roadmap for the relevant digitalisation initiatives and supports the banking group in the transfer of new innovative business models with digital solutions into everyday corporate life. Before joining LBBW, he held management positions at Deutsche Bank AG in Frankfurt am Main and New York and at IMG in St. Gallen as head of the German-speaking consulting business. From 2007 to 2010, he was Director International Banking at Allianz SE in Munich and Paris and Group Strategist at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt am Main. In 2010, he founded TME AG, a consulting boutique for the digital transformation of banks and insurance companies in Frankfurt am Main, where he was CEO until 2022.

Sebastian is a partner at the early stage investor Redalpine, where he is in charge of the Berlin office. He began his investing career at Project A Ventures in Berlin, and previously worked at startup incubator Rocket Internet in global venture development. Sebastian has a background in business, having studied at both St. Gallen and Stanford University. He is passionate about technology and startups, and believes in their potential to solve some of the world's most pressing problems.

I am an expert in the field of digitalization at financial institutions, currently focusing on wealth management, and I am employed as the Head of Digital Office at ABN AMRO Germany/Bethmann Bank. In this role, I concentrate on enhancing the digital customer experience, including the use of AI solutions. Previously, I worked as an in-house consultant and management trainee at ABN AMRO/Bethmann Bank. I hold a Master's degree in Finance from the University of Mainz and am a certified banker.

Manuel is a Partner at EY with over 24 years of experience in consultancy services. He is the EY Global and EMEIA FSO Financial Crime solution leader and provides more than 15 years of experience in the prevention of Financial Crime including Sanctions & PEP Screening, Know Your Customer, Transaction Monitoring, and Regulatory Reporting for several countries including Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, UK, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Malta, US, Brazil, Mexico and APAC, among others. He leads multidisciplinary international teams by building trusted relationships with senior client stakeholders. Manuel holds a degree in Computer Sciences and Engineering and is passionate about applying technology and innovation to solve present and future clients’ and social needs. He actively contributes to building a better working world and promoting social value. By working closely with EY clients, he assists them in fulfilling their crucial role in combatting financial crime across various types. Leveraging innovative technologies and global solutions that adhere to regulatory requirements and industry best practices, he strives to stay at the forefront of this ongoing challenge.

During his 12-year tenure at Deutsche Bank, Hubertus Väth held the positions of Analyst, Head of Communications and Chief Economist for Asia and Global Head of Marketing for Wealth Management at offices in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Singapore. He is the Founder of the NewMark Group and CEO of NewMark Finanzkommunikation GmbH, established in 1997 and specialized in market research, business consulting and financial communication. In 2008, Väth was appointed Managing Director of Frankfurt Main Finance, the Financial Centre initiative for Frankfurt and the leading Financial Centre in Germany and the Euro Zone. In 2018, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of the World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC), which was created to facilitate cooperation and exchange of best practices among international financial centres and to foster greater exchange with international public authorities. In 2025, he became the Vice Chair of WAIFC. Väth regularly speaks at international financial conferences on Brexit, FinTechs and Financial Centre Development; Euro Clearing and Green Finance. Väth is a Special Fellow of the Financial Think Tank of AFCA and publishes regularly in this capacity. He is a member of Rotary Club and has a Diploma in Economics from the University Mainz, Germany. Väth is an occasional lecturer at Universities and Business Schools.

Helge is the leading Partner for Risk/Anti Financial Crime and Compliance/ Accounting & reporting for EY Germany with over 20 years auditing and advising Banks/ Financial Services organization on regulatory requirements with focus on Anti financial crime/ Compliance. She led global regulatory advisory projects as well as audit/ quality assurance for global banks and other FS clients. Helge joined EY in January 2020 (prior PwC) and she is a German Certified Public Accountant [Wirtschaftsprüferin]. Special focus on AFC and Compliance as well as Accounting, Risk and Regulatory requirements... Regulatory Compliance and Prevention of Financial Crime focusing 1) Anti-Money Laundering 2) Sanctions and PEP Screening; Payments Screening 3) Know Your Customers / Customer Due Diligence 4) Transaction Monitoring 5) Regulatory Reporting Compliance program/framework including MiFiD implementation/ market abuse including: 1) Process Analysis 2) Compliance Management and extensive knowledge in the areas of consolidated accounting, IFRS and German GAAP.

Passionate and expert professional with a strong background in Anti-Financial Crime (AFC) matters, recognized for a targeted hard skills, positive mindset and exceptional soft skills. Throughout my career, I have focused on consulting for international Clients in the banking and insurance sectors, significantly enhancing their compliance and risk management frameworks. Since January 2023, I have been leading the Processes & Operations Unit at Generali Group, where I guide the harmonized application of AML, CTF, and IS regulatory requirements across the organization. In this capacity, I design and implement innovative IT solutions to streamline and improve AML/CTF processes and controls. Additionally, I oversee a dedicated team responsible for applying Advanced Technology to AFC controls, including the design of underlying models and the development of the related logic.

Charmian Simmons is a Financial Crime and Compliance Expert covering Financial Services at SymphonyAI. She has over 20 years of experience in the financial sector across risk management, financial crime, internal controls and IT advisory. She is a technology evangelist specialising in AI innovations and transformation. Charmian is responsible for providing practitioner expertise, thought leadership and analysing key policy, regulatory and technology drivers transforming the compliance market. Charmian is CAMS, CDPSE, CRMA and CISA certified.

Dr. Osman Sacarcelik is Global Head of Global Standards & Advisory AML at Commerzbank AG. Prior to his current role, he was Head of Supervisory Law at DekaBank and worked as Banking and Regulatory Lawyer at international law firms.

Passionate about the legal and Compliance world in banking professional with over 35 years of industry experience seeking advanced leadership and management roles. Since 1990 my professional experience has always alternated between the legal and compliance world: Legal Counsel in Gesmadrid, S.A, Corporación Financiera Caja de Madrid, S.A and Citigroup Spain. In 2002 I began my career in the world of Compliance, first at Citibank Spain and later at Citibank International. In 2011 joined the current entity Caixabank, first in Corporate Legal Department to 2015. Currently as Global Chief Compliance Officer at CaixaBank (From September 2020 to december 2021 Chief Compliance Officer at BANCO BPI)

As the Managing Director leading the Banking practice for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland at Accenture, I am privileged to work at the forefront of a rapidly evolving financial services landscape. I have dedicated my career to guiding banks through digital transformation, regulatory shifts, and increasing customer demands. The Financial Services Sector in Europe must seize this moment to advance at the right speed and make the necessary investments to thrive.

Jan Marco Leimeister is Chair Professor for Information Systems and Managing Director of the Institute of Information Systems and Digital Business (IWI HSG) at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. He is furthermore a Director at the Research Center for IS Design at the University of Kassel, Germany. In addition to his academic roles, Jan Marco is an entrepreneur, senior advisor, board member, and keynote speaker for national and international organizations.

Dr. Christian Brauckmann Member of the Board of Managing Directors of DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral-Genossenschaftsbank, Frankfurt Personal data Date of Birth 13 January 1968 Place of birth Münster/Westphalia Career As per 1 August 2016 DZ BANK, Member of the Board of Managing Directors 2010 – 2016 WGZ BANK, Member of the Board of Managing Directors 2003 – 2010 WGZ BANK, Düsseldorf, Head of Division Board Staff, General Manager (2009-2010) 2000 – 2003 WGZ BANK, Personal Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer 2000 WGZ BANK, Project Head in Organisational Consulting 1996 – 2000 Research Assistant at the Department of Business Administration with focus on Organisation and Human Resources at the University of Passau 1990 – 1995 Completion of Degree Course in Business Administration at the University of Passau 1988 – 1990 Vocational training in banking at WGZ-Bank, Muenster Responsibilities Divisions: IT; Organization Region: Responsible for the local cooperative banks in North Rhine-Westphalia and Weser-Ems and for Sparda Banken Appointments - Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Deutsche WertpapierService Bank AG, Frankfurt am Main - Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board, DZ PRIVATBANK S.A., Strassen, Luxemburg - Member of the Supervisory Board, Atruvia AG, Frankfurt am Main - Member of the Supervisory Board, VR-NetWorld GmbH, Bon

Jonathan Larsen is now Chief Innovation Officer of Ping An Group and Chairman and CEO of the Ping An Global Voyager Fund. Jonathan spent 18 years at Citigroup where he was most recently Global Head of the firm’s Retail Banking and Mortgage businesses, generating ~$12Bn in Revenues and spanning 19 countries. He has been at the leading edge of the financial services industry for the last 34 years across the Asia Pacific region and globally. He brings a unique blend of strategic vision, operational depth, and understanding of the new technology landscape. He has led multiple large-scale, successful businesses across a wide range of markets and has extensive experience in negotiating and managing partnerships and M&A transactions. Prior to Citi, Jonathan was a Principal in the Financial Services Practice of global management consulting firm, Booz Allen & Hamilton where he spent eight years advising large banks and other financial institutions across Asia, Australia and New Zealand and in the United States and Europe. Jonathan is a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Banking and Finance, Singapore and was named Retail Banker of the Year in 2011 by Asian Banker magazine. He has been widely quoted in major business publications including the Financial Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Economist as well as local media throughout Asia Pacific. Jonathan holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Melbourne.

Christiana joined Santander in 2023 as Regional Head of North America, with responsibility for all Santander businesses in Mexico and the United States. She is a member of the Santander Holdings USA, Inc (SHUSA), Santander Bank, N.A. (SBNA) and Corporate and Investment Banking New York Boards. In addition, Christiana is a member of the SHUSA and SBNA Compensation and Talent Management Committees. Christiana is also a member of the PagoNxt Board, a leading payment solution provider for merchants, international corporates, SMEs, and consumers, fully owned by Santander. Prior to joining Santander, Christiana spent 17 years at Deutsche Bank, where she was a member of the Management Board and held several leadership positions in both Europe and the Americas, including CFO and COO of the Corporate and Investment Bank, and CEO of the Americas. She also chaired the Audit Committee at Deutsche Post, enabling its integration into Deutsche Bank AG in 2019. Christiana is an active member of the wider civic and business community and has held various active Trustee positions including The Clearing House, the Institute of International Bankers, London Business School, the Partnership for New York City and the Arthur F. Burns Fellowship. Christiana graduated cum laude from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts in Romance Languages, Literatures and Linguistics and holds an MBA from the London Business School.

Christian is Linklaters’ Global Co-Head of Innovation and Global Head of Capital Markets. In this function, in addition to his own internal innovation projects, he focusses on digitisation projects for clients. As an experienced partner in our capital markets practice he has working knowledge in the field of digitisation of financial products and Fintech solutions. In Germany, he is leading the Digital Economy Group, with the intend of uniformly overseeing digitisation projects and combining the expertise across different practice groups. Christian is involved in the global artificial intelligence activities of Linklaters and their use of in our projects. His expertise in crypto assets, crypto currency, blockchain, electronic securities and smart contracts provides him with a competitive advantage as well.

Nicola Beer Vice-President European Investment Bank Nicola Beer is Vice President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Luxembourg. From 2019 to 2023 she was Vice President and Member of the European Parliament with a focus on the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, the Industry and Research Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee. She was Member of the German Federal Parliament, Bundestag from 2017 to 2019. Previously, Mrs. Beer was 1999 to 2009 and 2014 to 2017 Member of the Hessian state parliament, serving 2012 to 2014 as Hessian Minister for Education and 2009 to 2012 Hessian State Secretary for European Affairs. Her political career started as city councilor in her hometown Frankfurt am Main, where she also worked as a self-employed lawyer, except during the time as a member of the Hessian state government. Before studying law at the University of Frankfurt, she completed training as a bank clerk after graduating from high school with a bilingual German-French diploma. Mrs. Beer was Secretary General of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) from 2013 to 2019, and was deputy federal chairwoman 2019 to 2023.

Michael Hock joined Motive Partners in 2023 as a Partner and Head of Portfolio Management for the Ventures team, based out of the Berlin office. Michael’s responsibility includes new venture investments, tracking of performance across portfolio companies, as well as value creation and exit strategies for the active portfolio. Prior to joining Motive, Michael co-founded embedded/capital, a Berlin based early-stage financial technology investment firm, which was acquired by Motive Partners in February 2023, to form the early-stage arm of the Motive Partners platform. Since 2017, Michael was Managing Director at finleap and incharge of steering portfolio growth and professionalizing group operations. Michael led the exits of finleap portfolio companies including the majority acquisition of PAIR Finance by PollenStreet Capital and the sale of Penta to the European market leader Qonto. Prior to this, Michael was Managing Director at Holtzbrinck Digital and Digital Science. He started his career at Siemens in 2000 gaining investment and M&A expertise on a global scale incl. Siemens Venture Capital, Siemens Mobile and Corporate Finance.

Sascha Steffen is a Professor and the DWS Senior Chair in Finance at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. He is an expert in banks, debt capital markets, corporate finance, and the use of artificial intelligence in finance. His work has been published in major academic journals and received numerous prizes and awards. His research has also been featured in a variety of public media, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Sascha is the founder and academic director of the Centre for European Transformation to foster a robust financial framework that anticipates, adapts, and innovatively responds to the Europe’s dynamic transformation. He brings together academic researchers and practitioners to advance and promote research and teaching on private capital markets as well as the role of AI in shaping the future financial landscape. He teaches corporate finance and debt capital markets at the master's, PhD and the executive level. Sascha is involved in educating business leaders on raising capital, debt markets, private debt and equity, AI in finance and financing transformation. He frequently leads executive workshops and gives keynote speeches on these topics. He also has been consulting global companies and investors. He also serves as an expert witness in litigation matters.

Uwe Becker, born 31.07.1969, Roman Catholic, is married and a father of twins. He graduated from the “Ziehenschule” in Frankfurt in 1989. After completing his basic military service, he trained as a banker at Frankfurter Sparkasse, where he worked as a human ressources specialist until 2004. In 1995 he successfully ran for the city parliament in Frankfurt’s City hall Römer. From 2001 until 2006 he was chairman of the parliamentary group CDU and from 2004 also managing director until July 2006. In the CDU Uwe Becker is on the Board of CDU Frankfurt and honorary chairman of the municipal association (KPV) Hesse. He has been a member of the City Government of Frankfurt am Main (Magistrat) from 2006 until 2021, initially until July 2007 as Head of Social Affairs, Youth and Sports. In April 2007 he was appointed city treasurer and re-elected in 2012. From July 2016 until September 2021, he has been Mayor. At the same time, as city treasurer, he continued to be responsible for the city’s finances, municipal holdings and church affairs until September 2021. Since 2011, Uwe Becker also serves as District Councilor at the Regional Authority FrankfurtRheinMain until today. In April 2019, in addition Uwe Becker was appointed Commissioner of the Hesse State Government for Jewish Life and the Fight against Antisemitism, a position, that he still holds today. Uwe Becker was appointed as State Secretary of Hesse for European Affairs in February 2022 and in January 2024 he became State Secretary of Hesse for Finance. Uwe Becker is President of the Friends of Tel Aviv University (TAU) in Germany and Governor on the Board of Governors of the TAU. In addition, he is Honorary President of the German-French Society in Frankfurt, a Member of the Executive Board of the German-American Steuben-Schurz Society, a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Praunheimer Werkstätten Foundation and the Lebenshilfe Frankfurt Foundation, as well as a member of numerous other social, sporting and social associations, foundations and institutions.

Dr. Tamaz Georgadze is CEO and co-founder of Raisin. He has led the start-up since its foundation and is therefore largely responsible for its success. Today, Raisin operates its platform in the EU, the UK and the US. As a marketplace, the Berlin-based company connects banks with savers and has become one of the most relevant European fintechs in just a few years. At the beginning of 2024, the fintech also announced an important milestone with its profitability. Georgadze previously worked at McKinsey & Company for almost 10 years - most recently as a Partner. There he advised leading banks and was responsible for the areas of deposit and investment products in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Tamaz Georgadze holds a doctorate in economics. He studied economics and law at the Universities of Tbilisi (Georgia) and Giessen (Germany). He advises the German Federal Ministry of Finance in the Digital Finance Forum (DFF) and is involved in the fintech and start-up scene, particularly in the areas of open banking, digitalization and regulation.