Eric Demuth is the CEO and co-founder of Bitpanda, one of Europe’s most successful fintechs and Austria’s first unicorn company with a $4.1 billion valuation. After initially embarking on a nautical career as a ship mechanic (with further ambitions of becoming captain), Eric quickly found this life wasn’t for him. Returning to dry land, he completed economics studies at WU Wien and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Delving into the world of crypto, he became frustrated with how hard it was to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. With this in mind, Eric co-founded Bitpanda in 2014 to break down investment barriers and make it simple, accessible and available to everyone to build financial freedom for their future. Today, Eric actively shapes the worldwide fintech community as an entrepreneur, investor and opinion leader in several fields.

Sven Meyer is a Partner in the Capital Markets Accounting & Advisory Service practice at PwC in Frankfurt. He has been advising clients on accounting projects in the financial services industry for many years. His focus is on the digitalisation of the accounting function (finance transformation), e.g. through process automation using robotic process automation, data analytic tools or BI tools. He is also Fintech Lead at PwC Germany and responsible for the Fintech industry at PwC. He coordinates the PwC service offering, market initiatives and cooperations with Fintechs. In his role he as a deep understanding of the issues and topics of Fintechs and the Fintech market in Germany and Europe.

Wiebke Merbeth is a partner in the strategy consultancy Monitor Deloitte. As an expert in sustainable finance, she helps to optimize sustainable transformation. She focuses on the integration of sustainability in strategy, products and processes. Wiebke is a member of the Sustainable Finance Advisory Board of the German Federal Government.

Jenny Bofinger-Schuster was appointed as a full-time member of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) in August 2022, effective 1 December 2022. Prior to joining the ISSB, Ms Bofinger-Schuster served as Senior Vice President for sustainability and operational excellence at Siemens. In this role she was responsible for developing the company’s sustainability strategy and for implementing new disclosure requirements. Prior to this she held senior positions at Siemens Management Consulting and Horváth & Partners Management Consultants. Ms Bofinger-Schuster holds a Diploma in Business Administration from the University of Augsburg and an MBA from the University of Dayton, Ohio.

As Chief Sustainability Officer of Deutsche Bank, Jörg Eigendorf is responsible for Deutsche Bank's overall sustainability strategy and its implementation. As such he is the deputy head of the Group Sustainability Committee chaired by the CEO and Co-Chair of the Sustainability Council. He joined Deutsche Bank in 2016 as Global Head of Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility, which included responsibility for sustainability. Since then, he has been instrumental in shaping the bank's environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy. Before joining Deutsche Bank, he worked for more than two decades as a journalist in Moscow (Die Zeit), Frankfurt and Berlin (Welt). Jörg attended the Cologne School of Journalism and subsequently studied economics at the University of Cologne.

Matthias Berninger was born in Kassel, Germany, where he studied chemistry and political science from 1990 to 1994. Between 1994 and 2007, Matthias was elected four times as a Member of the German Federal Parliament representing the Green Party of his home state Hessen focusing on agricultural reform in Germany and Europe including trade policy, food safety and renewable energy. Matthias was appointed Vice‐Minister for the Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Nutrition and Agriculture 2001 – 2005 and led the Green Party in Hessen, Germany from 2004 to 2007, running political campaigns on elections at federal and state levels. Retiring from his Federal Parliament seat in 2007, Matthias joined Mars in Europe to build a public affairs team and globally facilitate the development of Mars Health and Nutrition Strategy. In 2008, as Global Head of Public Policy for Mars Incorporated, Matthias led a global team to develop a cocoa sustainability strategy for the corporation. By 2011, Matthias led the global public affairs organization and was instrumental in developing Mars sustainability strategy including leadership on climate change and establishing sustainability KPIs for Mars leadership circle. Matthias joined Bayer in January 2019 as Senior Vice President for Public Affairs, Science & Sustainability. In his role, he has strengthened Bayer's global public affairs practice and leads the development of a coherent global sustainability strategy published in December 2019. Since 2020, an independent external Sustainability Council is in force and advises the Bayer Board of Management on the consistent implementation of the company's sustainability goals. He lives with his wife and children in Washington, D.C, holding dual U.S. and German citizenships.

Academcis: MBA, Henley Management College/Brunel University MSc Civil Engineering, Technical University Munich Professional: Bilfinger SE (since 1989) 07/2022 - current Group CFO 2014 - 06/2022 Division/Region CFO Industrial Services 2011 - 2013 CFO Industrial Services 2008 - 2010 CFO Civil Construction 2007 CFO Building Construction 2000 - 2006 CFO Region USA 1989 - 2000 various financial management positions

Dr. Mark Jehle is CFO of the Merz Group based in Frankfurt am Main. After completing his doctorate at the University of Dortmund, he started his career at the US FMCG company Procter & Gamble. There he held numerous leadership roles in financial management at various locations, Among others he acted as Western European Finance Leader for Procter & Gamble's detergent portfolio with brands such as Ariel, Dash, Mr. Proper and Lenor located in Geneva. After several years in the role of Global Head of Controlling for the Merz Group, Dr. Jehle is currently Head of Finance in the Merz Asset Management Holding, overlooking the full portfolio of brands and investments of the Merz Group. Following a recent reorganization of the company, Dr. Jehle and his colleagues are driving the transformation and digitalization of Merz Finance as well as coordinate the ESG Transformation across the company.

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.

Burkhard Balz has served on the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank since September 2018. He is responsible for the Directorate General Payments and Settlement Systems and the Directorate General Economic Education, University and International Central Bank Dialogue. From 2009 up until joining the Bundesbank, Mr Balz, who is a law graduate and trained bank clerk, was a Member of the European Parliament, where he sat on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and served as the financial policy spokesman of the European People’s Party (EPP) between 2014 and 2018. In his role as European Parliament rapporteur, Mr Balz presented reports on, inter alia, Latvia’s accession to the euro area, the Solvency II Directive, and regulations pertaining to the European Supervisory Authorities. From 2014 to 2018, he was a member of the EPP Group Bureau. Prior to his membership of the European Parliament, Mr Balz held various positions at Commerzbank AG in Hanover, where he most recently headed the department for institutional clients.

Atze Faas is payments adviser at EuroCommerce and independent payments speaker and consultant. Atze has a degree in Business Economics, has worked 30+ years for bp, is Dutch, plays golf and speaks several languages.

Juha Viitala, the CEO of Membrane Finance, is a visionary leader in the fintech industry, primarily focused on the development and implementation of EUROe, the pioneering MiCA-compliant e-money stablecoin. With over two decades of experience in digital solutions and a deep dive into decentralized technologies over the past seven years, Juha is dedicated to building a European digital money infrastructure. His expertise lies in seamlessly integrating traditional and decentralized finance, enhancing the user experience in digital asset interaction. Juha's leadership is marked by a commitment to innovation, regulatory compliance, and fostering financial inclusion on the blockchain, positioning Membrane Finance at the forefront of financial technology.

Alexandra Jour-Schroeder is Deputy Director General of the European Commission´s Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union since March 2021. In her function, Alexandra Jour-Schroeder supervises and monitors the policies of the Directorate General. Alexandra Jour-Schroeder is a graduate in law. Following initial assignments in the German federal government, she started working for the European Commission in 1996, holding several positions in competition, enterprise and industry policies as well as justice. From 1998 to 2007, she was Member of Cabinet for the Commissioners responsible for regional policy and justice and home affairs and for the Vice-President for enterprise and industry. Since 2017, she has been the Director for Criminal Justice in the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers, working inter alia on the establishment of a European Public Prosecutor´s Office and Anti-Money Laundering policies. From 2018 to 2021, she was also overseeing consumer policies as Acting Deputy Director General in DG Justice and Consumers

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. 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.

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.

Dr. Marc Roberts has been General Counsel since 2017 of one of the biggest German FinTechs Raisin that aims to revolutionise the savings and investment market. He is Co-President of the European FinTech Association (EFA) that gives innovative businesses in finance a voice in the European space. Prior to joining the deposits specialist Raisin he was Senior Associate at the German law firm Hengeler Mueller where he specialised in compliance and corporate law as well as Cravath Swaine & Moore (New York).

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.

Dr. Matthias Voelkel has been Chief Executive Officer of Boerse Stuttgart Group since 1 January 2022. He is also Chairperson of the Management Board of Boerse Stuttgart Digital Holding GmbH. Prior to this, Dr Matthias Voelkel joined McKinsey in 2006, was elected partner in 2013 and became leader of the global Capital Markets Infrastructure and Exchanges Practice in 2014. Before joining McKinsey, he was an advisor to the Chairwoman of the European Parliament's Committee for Budgetary Control from 2002 to 2004. Dr. Matthias Voelkel holds a doctorate in law and studied at the Universities of Freiburg, Oxford and Heidelberg. He completed his legal clerkship at the law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and the German Embassy in the US, among other locations. Since March 2023, Dr. Matthias Voelkel has been a member of the Board of the “Deutsches Aktieninstitut” (DAI) and is committed to strengthening the German and European capital markets.

Alexander Bechtel is the Head of Digital Product Strategy at DWS. He has done a PhD in finance at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, including a research stay at Stanford University. Alexander holds a position as an external lecturer for fintech, blockchain technology, and monetary theory at the University of St. Gallen and University of Neuchâtel. Before joining DWS, Alexander was the Head of Digital Assets & Currencies Strategy at Deutsche Bank (Corporate Bank). Additionally, he has worked as an external consultant for the European Central Bank. Alexander regularly publishes articles and research on monetary policy and digital currencies. Moreover, he co-hosts one of the biggest German-speaking podcasts on digital money, called “Bitcoin, Fiat & Rock’n’Roll”.

Miryusup is responsible to drive growth and development of the newly established Deutsche Börse Digital Exchange – regulated multilateral trading facility for cryptocurrencies, tailored to the needs of institutional investors. Its mission is to help every investor in Europe to perform better by extending investable universe to include crypto, while relying on the trusted market infrastructure. Further digital asset classes up and coming. Before that, he led Frankfurt Stock Exchange’s market operations to ensure orderly trading, including on volatile sessions or emergency situations

Patrick Stäuble is the founder and CEO of Teylor, the Swiss fintech behind the Teylor platform. He has more than ten years of experience in the fintech, banking and startup industry. Prior to founding Teylor in 2018, Patrick Stäuble held various roles in the fintech and financial services industry, including product management, business development and consulting. He also served as a military observer for the Swiss military abroad. Patrick has twice been selected for the Forbes 30-under-30 list in finance, both for the DACH region and Europe. Teylor is Patrick's second startup, the first was successfully sold in 2014. Patrick holds a degree in Economics from the University of Zurich. He is based in Zurich and speaks German, English and Italian.

Meet Saul Nowotny, a finance and technology expert with over 8 years of experience in the industry. Saul has held various roles in his career including Investment Manager, Senior Manager, Vice President and most recently in the Strategy of Digital Currencies and Tokenized Assets at DSGV. He has extensive experience in startups, venture capital and distributed ledger technology. Saul has worked with reputable companies such as Deutsche Börse Group and PWC. Additionally, he is a seasoned entrepreneur, having founded and led his own companies. Saul holds a Master's degree in Finance from WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management. He is excited to share his knowledge and insights on the latest developments in the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry at this conference.

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.

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.

Hagen Weiss is a counsel at the Dentons’ Frankfurt office and a member of the Corporate/M&A practice group. His focus is on digital finance—especially Blockchain-related questions regarding financial entities and complex technological-regulatory DLT issues. Before his time in the private sector, he was a Federal Director with BaFin and worked for the Federal Ministry of Finance, thereby drafting the German Electronic Securities Act (eWpG) and negotiating the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) and the EU-DLT Pilot Regime.

Peter is Co-Founder and CTO at Unstoppable Finance GmbH a Berlin based company with the mission to empower people around the world to access, interact with and unlock financial opportunities of the decentralized economy by building Ultimate.app. Before he was CTO and MD at Börse Stuttgart Digital Exchange, the first regulated digital asset exchange in Germany. Before he was CTO and co-founder at solarisBank. Peter has a technology and entrepreneurial background. In 2008 he founded a software engineering consultancy with focus on digitization projects and grew it to profitability to 30 employees. In 2014 he came to Berlin to join the company builder Hitfoxgroup and Finleap that focuses on fintech as CTO. Blockchain and decentralization fascinates him from the moment he got in touch at the end of 2016. Since then he has shaped the vision to bring decentralized finance to reality.

Jonathan Leßmann is part of SWIAT GmbH since its foundation in February 2022. He is responsible for the marketing and platform strategy of the blockchain-based SWIAT ecosystem for the financial industry. Previously, from November 2018 to February 2022, he was involved in various positions within DekaBank in building, marketing and business analysis of DLT projects such as SWIAT, Digital Collateral Protocol (DCP) and digital registered bonds. Jonathan Leßmann received his Master's degree in Corporate Performance & Restructuring from Frankfurt School and holds two Bachelor's degrees in International Management from ESB Business School in Reutlingen and University Comillas ICADE in Madrid.

Markus started his career over 15+ years ago and has extensive experience managing discretionary portfolios and funds across asset classes, both in Switzerland and in London. He worked as senior PM and was responsible for the investment management arm and deputy head of asset management at Berner Kantonalbank and currently leads the Portfolio Management at Sygnum Asset Management. He holds an MBA from the University of Rochester (USA) and an EMBA from the University of Bern (Switzerland). He is a Certified International Investment Analyst (CIIA).

Nicola is CEO and Managing Director at Qwist, the leading independent European Open Banking platform provider, with key markets in DACH, Spain, and Portugal. Prior to this, she was Chief Growth Officer and Managing Director at OptioPay, an Open Banking Fin-/AdTech company, as well as in a leading growth and innovation role at PayPal in Europe. Beyond her executive roles, Nicola not only holds board positions in for-profit social impact businesses (Vested Ltd. among others), supporting female founders, but also contributes her expertise to the solar energy company Wattz. Furthermore, she serves as an advisor to impactful accelerators and funds such as Village Capital and Planet A Ventures.

Kevin Hackl is Head of Digital Banking & Financial Services at Bitkom, Europe’s largest association for the digital economy representing more than 2,200 companies. He leads the association’s lobbying activities relating to banking, FinTechs, and payments. In his capacity, he focuses on the dialog with politicians and supervisory authorities at national and EU level to facilitate the digital transformation of the financial ecosystem and improve standards for founders. Kevin is a firm believer that strong networks are key to business success: He regularly brings together key thought leaders from FinTechs, banks, and politics to co-create the future of finance and leverage the economic potential of cooperation. Prior to heading Bitkom’s Digital Finance unit, Kevin worked at and international management consultancy, focusing on financial institutions and payments in particular.

Name: Stephen Voss Title: Co-Founder, CSO Sales & Marketing Company Name: Neodigital Versicherung AG Homepage: www.neodigital.de Short Bio: Stephen Voss started his professional career at Allianz AG in Frankfurt. After graduating in business management in 1997 he worked for the Deutsche Bank AG and for the Halifax-Bank of Scotland in Luxembourg for more than 10 years. After several other stations of his career he acted as General Management Executive Manager for AIG Group in Frankfurt for the German and Austrian market from 2010 to mid-2013. From 2013 to 2016 he held the position as Profit Center Manager Broker Personal Lines & Small Business for the Zurich Insurance Group. At the same time Stephen was also CEO and in charge of the Executive Office at Baden-Badener Versicherung AG for Sales & HR. Since Jan 2017 Stephen is co-founder, co-investor and CEO of Neodigital Versicherung AG. Stephen holds dual nationality (British & German) and is married with 3 children. Important career stations: Neodigital Versicherung AG -> Co-Founder, CSO Sales & Marketing Baden-Badener Versicherung AG -> CEO Zurich Versicherung -> Head of Broker Personal Lines & Small Business AIG (Chartis) -> Executive Manager Deutschland/Österreich Halifax Bank of Scotland -> Head of Investment Marketing & Development Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A. -> Head of Marketing Specific Expertise: • Operations, Sales & Marketing • Digital Insurance Processing • German Broker Market • High Net Worth Individuals • Institutional & corporate clients Experience with Startups: • Expert knowledge in starting up new distribution units, products and markets.

I am a software professional with 16 years of experience in the IT industry. Throughout my carrier, I always had a passion and curiosity for the future of the finance technologies. I have participated in many projects in 9 countries at various roles ranging from software development and project management to digital transformation consultancy and sales in the finance industry. Digital Banking, Customer Relations Management, Blockchain and DEFI technologies are my key areas of interest.

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).

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.

Damien Perillat is the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) at Billie, the leading provider of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) payment methods for business customers. Damien Perillat joined Billie in 2022. He previously worked for the French payment and transaction service provider Worldline. As Senior Vice President Digital Commerce, he was responsible for the strategic growth targets of the 600-strong Digital Commerce Unit. Prior to this, Perillat spent almost 12 years in various management positions at payment service provider PayPal, including Managing Director for Western and Southern Europe and Country Manager for France. As Regional Director Central & Eastern Europe, he also played a key role in the development and go-to-market strategy of PayPal services in Russia and other Central and Eastern European markets. Prior to PayPal, Perillat worked for GE Money in Europe and Asia and as a management consultant in France.

Thomas Egner is Secretary General of the Euro Banking Association, where he supports over 160 member institutions in pursuing a pan-European vision for payments. Prior to this, Thomas was responsible for defining and developing clearing and settlement strategies at Commerzbank. He represented this bank in the EPC and the German banking community in SWIFT and ISO committees as well as on the EBA CLEARING Board.

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

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).

Dr. Jochen Papenbrock Head of Financial Technology EMEA, NVIDIA Jochen is a financial data scientist with degree and doctorate from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany. He has spent the last >20 years in various roles on AI/ML, data science, risk management and IT in enterprises - especially financial services - as a researcher, data scientist, coder, business/management consultant, entrepreneur, editor, (keynote) speaker, panelist, thought leader and ecosystem shaper. Projects involved investment and insurance companies, banks, central banks, hedge funds, trade associations and the European Commission. At NVIDIA he also leads up the FSI topics Trustworthy, Explainable AI and Sustainable Finance / Environmental Risk / ESG. Jochen is a a former executive board member of the EU Horizon 2020 project ‘FIN-TECH’, specialty chief co-editor at Frontiers Journal ‘AI in Finance’, project leader in GAIA-X and member of the core team of the finance & insurance data space. He frequently publishes in leading scientific journals and in industry white papers.

Chief Sales Officer at VeriPark

2020 until now: Managing Director / COO Retail LBBW / BW-Bank 2017-2020: Head of Corporate Strategy LBBW 2006-2017 Trainee, Project Manager, Head of Regulatory Affairs LBBW

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.

Sahil has been with Google Cloud since Aug 2018 in various partner and customer facing roles. Thriving at the cusp of business and technology, Sahil Leads the Customer Engineering team at Google Cloud Germany working to ease Google Cloud adoption for the Financial Services Industry. Sahil is a thought leader on scaling cloud adoption and implementing effective cloud governance frameworks within large, highly regulated organizations across the globe. He frequently lends his expertise as a speaker, shedding light on the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence and organizations need to think beyond off the shelf Large Language Models for harnessing the true potential of AI. Sahil holds a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology and a Ph.D. in Image Processing from the Technical University of Munich.

Reinhard Höll is a partner at McKinsey & Co, Germany. He focuses on financial services supporting payments specialists, fintechs, banks and private equity players across strategy, digital and organizational issues. He is a leader of McKinsey Payments & FinTech practice and has published across a number of banking and payment topics, incl. German banking, value creation in payments and PSD 2. Reinhard is a CFA Charterholder and worked previously at Commerzbank, Lehman Brothers and Standard Bank.

Till Wirth has 8 years of experience designing and implementing payment solutions across a range of companies. Starting out at the UK Government, Till spent almost 5 years building the government’s payment platform. From there, he spent 3 years at TrueLayer, a global open banking platform, before joining Wise Platform as Head of Product. At Wise, Till leads the Product team to build a number of exciting solutions for banks and non-banks alike.

As Industry Lead for Capital Markets within Strategy & Consulting ASG, Yvonne advises exchanges, market infrastructure providers, banks as well as asset and wealth managers. Examples of her client engagements are F2B-transformation projects along the trading and post-trade value chain, the implementation of capital markets-linked regulatory initiatives as well Sustainable Finance – always taking into account the latest digital and technological trends and solutions. Yvonne started her career in the capital markets industry, first working in Investment Banking Operations and thereafter in Equity Brokerage as Equity Sales and Equity Analyst.

Madeleine Sander has been a member of the Management Board of Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe since 2022 and is responsible for Corporate Development, ESG, Digitalization and Finance / Tax. In 2017, she joined Hauck & Aufhäuser as Head of Corporate Development. In this role, in addition to the strategy development process and strategic planning, she was responsible for identifying and evaluating growth opportunities and innovations in close cooperation with the business units. She has served as CFO for the bank since 2019. Before joining Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe, she worked for more than six years at Deutsche Bank in the Group Strategy Department (AfK) as well as in Inhouse Consulting. The mathematics graduate started her career at DekaBank as Business Manager in the Corporates & Markets division.

Professor Volker Brühl is Managing Director of the Center for Financial Studies at Goethe University and Professor for Banking and Finance. He has many years of experience as a Top Manager in Investment banking and as a Partner in international consulting firms

Eva Meyer (*1985) is Chief Sustainability Officer and responsible for the sustainability activities of the BNP Paribas Group in Germany. She has built a team which serves as Center of Expertise for all business units and clients in Germany and steers the sustainability strategy in Germany. Meyer began her professional career in 2005 at Commerzbank AG, where she had various roles in the Corporate and Investment Banking division, last as a senior relationship manager. In 2014 Meyer joined BNP Paribas Corporate. Before her current position, she was responsible for Corporate Clients as Senior Relationship Manager. In addition, Meyer holds a Master’s degree in finance & accounting.

Bernhard Schiessl leads S&P Global Sustainable 1’s engagement in Germany. Before joining S&P Global he served as the Chief Operating Officer and Head of Second Opinions and Data Strategy at CICERO Shades of Green in Oslo. Prior to CICERO he was awarded the Mercator Fellowship and was seconded to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka and China and the ClimateWorks Foundation in San Francisco. He holds a Joint Master degree in Physics from the Technical University of Munich and Technical University of Denmark.

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.

I have been in the banking industry my entire career: I started at Deutsche Bank where I got to know many areas of a global universal bank (sales management, COO, strategy, ...). After ca. 6 years I decided to join McKinsey and Company in Frankfurt where I advised banks in the DACH region, mainly on the business side. After I was elected as partner and with the second child on it's way we decided to move New York where we spent almost 2 exciting years. I co-led the Commercial Banking work for North America. Last year I was thrilled to hear about the opportunity at DZ BANK - so we moved back to Frankfurt and I joined DZ BANK on Nov 1, 22 as head of strategy and corporate development.

Magnus Drewelies is the Founder and CEO of CEEZER. After graduating from TU Munich and HEC Paris, he joined Boston Consulting Group, focusing on Industrial Goods and Private Equity clients in Europe, the US, and Asia. Afterwards, he served as Chief Strategy Officer at PARK NOW, a mobility joint venture of Daimler and BMW. As CEO, Magnus leads commercial, legal, and operations for the leading enterprise platform to screen, purchase, and manage negative emissions.

Fausch works at BayWa AG since 2017, since 2019 as CIO and since 2021 as MD of FarmFacts GmbH. A major task was the reintegration and –organisation of the separate legal IT entity into BayWa group. Apart from the typical CIO tasks the digitalisation of agriculture using digital twins based on satellite image supported plant growth and water models are a main task. Prior he worked for 18 years for BSH in various management roles in IT, Controlling, internal audit as well as organization and processes departments. For two years he worked as an expat in Singapore für the Asia Pacific region. Before that he worked in IT consulting, a tech start up as well as in sales for cryogenic equipment. Fausch studied physics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and at Ludwig Maximilians Universität Munich.

Dr Tim Shakesby is the Head of the Digital Finance Unit at the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA). He is responsible for coordinating work by EIOPA and national competent authorities on digital transformation in insurance and pensions. This includes supervisory responses to the emergence of AI in the insurance value chain, work on open insurance and FIDA, work on DeFI, and periodic market monitoring on innovation. He is currently the chair of the European Forum for Innovation Facilitators. Prior to this he was responsible for driving forwards convergence in conduct supervisory practices across the EU. He previously led work on complex investment products, including chairing the joint European Supervisory Authority (ESA) work under the Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products (PRIIPs) Regulation. Prior to EIOPA he was seconded to the European Commission for five years, where he worked on asset management and consumer protection issues, including on UCITS and developing frameworks for investment funds focused on growth and sustainability goals. He started his regulatory career as a policy advisor on retail market issues at the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA), where he led work to overhaul rules on projection and cost disclosures for insurance and personal pensions products.

Rupert Schaefer, born in Würzburg in 1980, has been Chief Executive Director of Strategy, Policy and Control at the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht – BaFin) since November 2022. Before joining BaFin, Schaefer worked for the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Eidgenössische Finanzmarktaufsicht – FINMA) from 2010 until 2022, where he was Member of the Executive Board from 2015 onwards. Until 2020, he was responsible for the Strategic Services Division and following this was Head of the Recovery and Resolution Division. From 2010 until the end of 2014, he held various senior specialist and manager posts at FINMA. Prior to this, Schaefer was employed as research assistant at the Europa-Institut, Saarland University from 2008 until 2010. Schaefer studied Law at Saarland University and at the Université de Nancy in France. In addition, he holds a Master Degree in European Law (LL.M.) from Saarland University. Schaefer holds both German and Swiss citizenship.

Philipp Otto started working as a journalist, after completing his studies at the Philipps University of Marburg in 1997 with a degree in business administration. From 1998 to 2000 he worked at Fritz Knapp Verlag GmbH as an editor for bank reporting. In 2000 Philipp has moved to the banking department at Börsen-Zeitung, before he worked at Handelsblatt as a banking correspondent in Frankfurt from mid-2000. In the year 2005 Philipp Otto took on the role as managing partner at Fritz Knapp Verlag GmbH and Helmut Richardi Verlag GmbH. While this is his role until today, he also became managing partner of Verlag für Vertriebswirtschaft GmbH 2011. Since 2004 Philipp Otto is also the publisher and editor-in-chief of the magazins “Zeitschrift für das gesamte Kreditwesen”, “bank und markt”, “cards Karten cartes” and “Immobilien & Finanzierung”. In 2011 “FLF – Finanzierung Leasing Factoring” was added.

Philipp Otto started working as a journalist, after completing his studies at the Philipps University of Marburg in 1997 with a degree in business administration. From 1998 to 2000 he worked at Fritz Knapp Verlag GmbH as an editor for bank reporting. In 2000 Philipp has moved to the banking department at Börsen-Zeitung, before he worked at Handelsblatt as a banking correspondent in Frankfurt from mid-2000. In the year 2005 Philipp Otto took on the role as managing partner at Fritz Knapp Verlag GmbH and Helmut Richardi Verlag GmbH. While this is his role until today, he also became managing partner of Verlag für Vertriebswirtschaft GmbH 2011. Since 2004 Philipp Otto is also the publisher and editor-in-chief of the magazins “Zeitschrift für das gesamte Kreditwesen”, “bank und markt”, “cards Karten cartes” and “Immobilien & Finanzierung”. In 2011 “FLF – Finanzierung Leasing Factoring” was added.

Dr Thomas Gstaedtner is Head of Division in DG SIB of the European Central Bank. His division is in charge of supervising French and German globally significant banks. Before his time in the ECB, Thomas held several managerial positions in Deutsche Bank, London Branch. He started his career in a Munich-based asset management company. Thomas studied law in Munich, Saarbruecken and London.

Marcus is a seasoned senior executive, advisor, non-executive director, and investor. In the last 20+ years he held various top-management positions with market leading companies in the digital payments and fintech industry and has been involved in shaping the German and European payments landscape. Today, Marcus is an active board member in fintech companies (e.g. N26, AlphaQ VC, Geidea) and is engaged as senior advisor with companies in the financial services, tech, and data space. Beside this, he is active as speaker, author and publisher of specialist articles and books.

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.

Dr. Oliver Vins has been Managing Director of Boerse Stuttgart Digital Custody GmbH, a subsidiary of Boerse Stuttgart Group, specializing in secure and fully licensed custody solutions, since 2021. Alongside his role as a member of the Group Executive Committee of Boerse Stuttgart Group, he also serves as the COO, CFO, and CRO of the B2B and institutional brand Boerse Stuttgart Digital. Drawing on extensive experience in IT and product development within the financial sector, Dr. Vins has established himself as a true expert in regulatory matters and is a frequent keynote speaker and panelist in the fintech industry. Prior to his current roles, Oliver Vins co-founded vaamo Finanz AG in 2013, where he served as Co-CEO until its merger with Moneyfarm. As Chief Product Officer, he was responsible for product strategy and implementation. Before venturing into entrepreneurship, Dr. Vins worked as a management consultant at McKinsey. With a doctorate in economics and his financial expertise, he firmly believes in the immense potential of the crypto market for global capital and financial markets and actively supports regulatory initiatives such as MiCA.

Marcus Schroeder is an accomplished Corporate M&A Executive, VC Investor, Entrepreneur, Senior Banker, and Global Sector Head with over 20 years of experience in various leadership roles. Currently he is serving as Partner and CSO at Redstone in Berlin since January 2017. During his tenure at Redstone, Marcus together with his partners has led a team of over 20 VC professionals and initiated and launched multiple sector funds with a total volume of over €500m. Marcus has been instrumental in identifying and originating key anchor investors or Co-GPs for multiple Redstone funds. Today Redstone has built a portfolio of c. 100 startups and made more than 25 investments in the last 12 months alone. Redstone has built SOFIA, the largest VC data and analytics platform in Europe, with an extensive database of more than 3 million start-ups globally.

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.

As Co-Chief Executive Officer Lorenz runs Moonfare alongside Founder Steffen Pauls. He was formerly the firm’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, leading research and development, finance, operations, and compliance. Lorenz has extensive product development and operational experience with seed and scale-up tech companies. Before he joined Moonfare he oversaw the development of digital bank N26's product line, and advised early stage and start-up tech companies. He also spent 12 years at McKinsey, six as a partner, advising globally on energy and basic materials companies. Lorenz is a physicist by training and holds a PhD in material science. He and his wife live in Berlin.

Hescham joined Barclays in 2021 to support the Barclays Investment Banking franchise in the DACH region in a general coverage role with a special focus on TMT. Before joining Barclays, Hescham was working at Lazard where he had spent the past two and a half years as an Associate. Besides his work across various sectors, Hescham had a strong focus on the Automotive and fundraising space. Before Lazard. Hescham started his career at Credit Suisse for over two years where he was working as an Analyst in the Country Coverage Team and covered clients across various sectors Hescham holds a Bachelor and Master degree from the Goethe University in Frankfurt. He also studied at the San Diego State University for 6 months in 2016. Selected transactions include: -Sale of APCOA by Centerbridge Partners to Strategic Value Partners (2023) -Underwriting / syndication of a Term Loan B (two tranches, €500m; £250m) for the MEDIAN Group (2021 / 2022) -Publication of the "Roland Berger / Lazard Automotive Supplier Study 2020" (2020) -Lone Star acquisition of BASF's construction Chemicals business for €3.2n (exclusive financial advisor to Lone Star for the acquisition of the business) (2019) -Shareholder advisory mandate for a listed DAX 30 company (2019) -Merger between Praxair and Linde AG creating Linde ple with €90b market capitalization (exclusive financial advisor to Praxair for related divestitures and sole listing agent to Linde pla) (2018) -Sale of the Chinese Supply Chain Business of Deutsche Post DHL Group to S.F. Holding for €700m (exclusive financial advisor to Deutsche Past DHL Group) (2013) -Aston Martin Lagonda IPO of £1.2bn (2018) -LKQ Corp acquisition of STAHLGRUBER GmbH for €1. 5b (exclusive financial advisor to LKQ Corp) (2017)

Massimo Soriano joined Rothschild & Co Bank in Zurich in 2020 and served as Client Adviser before shifting to focus on the Bank's positioning at the intersection of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Venture Capital. He began his career in Venture Capital at b2venture in 2015 and has since been involved as mentor and juror at various startup organizations in Switzerland. Massimo studied International Affairs in Boston and St. Gallen.

Valentin founded N26 (formerly Number26) in 2013 alongside his longtime friend Maximilian Tayenthal, with a shared vision of building a company that would make banking more reachable for millions of people around the world. Today, N26 is one of the fastest-growing mobile banks in the world with more than 8 million customers, a team of over 1,500 passionate employees of 80 nationalities, and offices around the globe.

Reinhard Höll is a partner at McKinsey & Co, Germany. He focuses on financial services supporting payments specialists, fintechs, banks and private equity players across strategy, digital and organizational issues. He is a leader of McKinsey Payments & FinTech practice and has published across a number of banking and payment topics, incl. German banking, value creation in payments and PSD 2. Reinhard is a CFA Charterholder and worked previously at Commerzbank, Lehman Brothers and Standard Bank.