Head of the Competence Center for Corporate Finance

Prof. Dr. Thomas K. Birrer is a distinguished academic and professional in the field of Corporate Finance and Corporate Treasury Management. He is the Head of the Competence Center Corporate Finance at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Hochschule Luzern). Since joining the university in 2008, he has held various roles, including assistant, research associate, project manager and lecturer, before becoming Professor of Corporate Finance and assuming his leadership position in 2023.

Dr. Birrer earned a Doctorate in Economics (Dr. rer. pol.) from the University of Basel and holds advanced degrees in Banking & Finance and Business Administration from Hoch Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

In addition to his academic career, Dr. Birrer serves as a member of the Foundation Board of Careum, a Zurich-based foundation promoting education in health and social care sectors. Furthermore, Dr. Birrer is an Advisory Board Member at Swiss Treasury Partners and a lecturer for ExpertSuisse. He has also been an expert for professional examinations in Lucerne. Previously, he was Managing Director of CFO Forum Schweiz and worked in private banking at Luzerner Kantonalbank.

Head of Financial Markets

Lawrence Osilaja Boampong is a seasoned financial markets professional with nearly 14 years of experience spanning Fixed Income, Foreign Exchange, Debt Portfolio Management, and Custody Services. He currently serves as the President of ACI Ghana, having been re-elected for a second term in December 2024. Under his leadership, ACI Ghana has expanded its market influence, spearheading pioneering initiatives such as organizing the first-ever Financial Markets Conference in the Sub-region, strengthening market engagement, and elevating Ghana’s presence on the global financial stage. He also serves on the Ghana Fixed Income Market (GFIM) Governing Committee and is a member of the Strategy Committee of ACI FMA International, where he contributes to financial market development discussions.
In his professional capacity, Lawrence is the Head of Financial Markets at CalBank Plc, where he leads the bank’s sales, trading, and investment strategy across Fixed Income, FX, and Structured Products. Prior to this, he was Head of Fixed Income Sales & Distribution at GCB Bank Plc, responsible for executing the bank’s fixed income distribution strategy. He also spent nearly a decade at Fidelity Bank Ghana, where he played a key role in establishing and leading the Fixed Income Sales Desk, working across FX, Money Markets, and Custody, and helping to set up the bank’s Custody Business.
Beyond his professional role, Lawrence is deeply committed to market development and education, actively working with stakeholders to enhance market efficiency, investor participation, and regulatory collaboration. He strongly believes in continuous learning in financial markets and is dedicated to capacity-building initiatives that strengthen industry expertise.
Academically, he holds a First-Class Bachelor’s degree from the University of Ghana Business School (UGBS), a Master’s degree, and an ACI Dealing Certificate. He is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG).

Co-Founder and CEO

Chirine is the co-founder and CEO of TwoWay, building next-gen solutions for FX/FXO traders. TwoWay optimizes market-making workflows, making traders' lives easier, while bringing unique real-time market insights to front-office and risk teams.
Prior to TwoWay, Chirine was the Global Head of Innovation at Finastra and spent more than 15 years in the financial software space.

Global Head of Multi-Asset

Laurent has been leading AXA IM’s Multi-Asset & Quant Solution since 2022, a team managing ca. 35bn€ of assets. Laurent joined AXA IM in 2015 as International Economist and then became Head of Macroeconomic Research in 2016, then Head of Research early 2019. In October 2019, Laurent was appointed AXA IM’s Head of Quant Lab, a team set up to foster innovation, focusing on quantitative research, portfolio engineering, product engineering and data science. Prior to AXA IM, Laurent worked for ten years for the French Ministry of Finance, focusing on macro forecasting and economic policy advising. Laurent graduated from Ecole Polytechnique and holds an MSc. in Economics from the Paris School of Economics, Statistics and Finance.

ACI FMA Chief Executive Officer

Rui Correia is currently Chief Executive Officer for ACI FMA, having the global responsibility to manage the Association from January 2025 onwards.
He is also Chair of the Board of Education for ACI FMA since August 2018.
Rui spent the first 25 years of his career working in dealing rooms, having had roles in trading, structuring and sales in internationally recognised financial institutions, in London, Madrid and Lisbon. From 2014 onwards, Rui became a Certified Trainer in financial markets, working primarily on the delivery of MiFID II related training to several market participants in Iberia.
With a Master in Finance, Rui believes that education is absolutely key for the development of all professionals working in the industry, both to develop their skills and knowledge on the markets and its products, but also to enhance the good practices which are essential for the sound functioning of financial markets.

Chief Growth Officer

Lisa joined CLS in 2018 and is Chief Growth Officer, overseeing a team in Hong Kong, London, New York and Tokyo.
Based in London, she is responsible for growing CLS’s client base globally, as well as the adoption of CLS’s broader portfolio of products focusing on three business lines – settlement, processing, and data.
Prior to joining CLS, Lisa led the EMEA sales for Broadway Technology – an FX and financial institutions FinTech provider. She has over 25 years of experience in financial services and has built and led successful sales teams across several leading financial organizations including HSBC, BNPParibas and Bank of America. In addition to her sales roles, Lisa has experience in a number of other areas including FX operations, FX trading (FX options), FX options structuring and custody, and the FinTech space (Broadway Technology and FXall).

Head of Business Development EMEA

Ivan is a dynamic financial services executive with over 20 years of international experience across global markets & fintech and a proven track record of driving growth and innovation. Currently serving as Head of Business Development EMEA at Axyon AI, Ivan helps asset managers, banks and official institutions harness the power of artificial intelligence to unlock alpha and streamline operations.

Prior to joining Axyon AI, Ivan was Managing Director and Head of FX and Commodities at TD Securities in Dublin, where he launched and scaled the firm’s EU Sales & Trading hub. He also held senior roles at Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, where he built and led client franchises across Europe and the Middle East, driving consistent growth through strategic client acquisition, novel solutions, digital innovation and market expertise.

Ivan holds a Master’s in Management from ESCP Business School, a Professional Diploma in Strategic Management in Financial Services from University College Dublin and additional certifications in investment management, entrepreneurship and digital banking. Multilingual and culturally agile, he is known for his visionary leadership, commercial acumen and ability to lead high-performing teams through transformation and growth.

Business Psychologist and Leadership Coach

Martina is a business psychologist and accredited leadership coach who works with leaders and organisations to create better workplaces. She has extensive experience in delivering coaching, training and consulting programmes in Financial Markets to create high-performing teams and organisations. Prior to this Martina had a 20+ year career in PR and communications working in organisations such as Dresdner, FXall, State Street and Digital Vega.
Martina joined the executive board member of the ACI UK in early 2024 with the goal of driving positive change in the workplace across the FX industry. She is also a member of the ACI FMA Woman in Global Markets Committee.
Martina writes a regular ‘Human FX’ column for The Full FX covering topics such as leadership, workplace wellbeing and intergenerational diversity.

Founder and Managing Partner

Guillaume Fonkenell is the founder and Managing Partner of Pharo Management, a macro hedge fund with a strong focus on emerging markets. Pharo Management was established in 2000 and has offices in Hong Kong, London and New York. Prior to founding Pharo Management, Guillaume was a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch, New York, and prior to that a Vice-President at Bankers Trust, New York. He is also the founder and Chair of the Board of Trustees of Pharo Foundation, a dynamic self-funded non-profit organisation committed to fostering economic development in Africa. Guillaume holds Masters’ Degrees in both Civil Engineering and International Business from Ecole Nationale des Ponts-et-Chaussées and is an alumnus of Ecole Polytechnique in Paris.

Founder and CEO

Dmitri Galinov is a proven financial technology entrepreneur and senior executive who has launched and built several successful FinTech platforms and companies over the past two decades. He is a passionate advocate for innovative information technologies that enhance financial industry transparency and accessibility.

Dmitri is the founder and CEO of 24 Exchange, the world’s first 24/7 trading platform that since 2019 has been providing institutional customers with access to reliable, cost-efficient trading of a growing set of asset classes.

Prior to his founding of 24 Exchange, Dmitri served as founder and CEO of FastMatch, the fastest-growing electronic communication network for spot foreign exchange trading. Over the course of his six-year tenure, he grew FastMatch into a company valued at $160 million at the time of its acquisition by Euronext in 2017. FastMatch was named the best foreign exchange trading platform by Financial News and the best E-FX trading venue by FX Week.

As head of the Crossfinder dark pool at Credit Suisse, Dmitri grew Crossfinder into the largest dark pool in the U.S., double the size of the next largest competitor. He also served as Director of Strategy of Direct Edge and as the Global Head of Buy Side DMA for Lava Trading.

Dmitri served on the board of FICC Markets Standards as it worked to develop industry standards for FICC markets. In 2018, he was invited to serve on the board of the Federal Reserve Foreign Exchange Committee’s working group on Global Code of Conduct. He has served as a member of both the NYSE’s Electronic Trading Advisory Committee and the Securities Traders Association of New York.

Dmitri received an MBA in Finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University and a B.B.A. in Finance from Baruch College. He also has an M.S. degree in Information Technology from New York University.

Head of Legal, Financial Markets

John Ho is the Global Head of Legal, Financial Markets for Standard Chartered Bank (“SCB”), overseeing and providing legal advisory, transactional and documentation support for Financial Markets (FM) business globally for Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), its branches and affiliates.

Mr Ho has been on the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB’s) Taskforce on the Legal, Regulatory and Supervisory Framework. He is currently on the GFMA Digital Steerco, AFME Scaling Working Group, GFMA Artificial Intelligence (AI) Steering Group, and the FIA Asia Pacific Advisory Board. Mr. Ho is also the co-chair of (1) the ISDA South East Asia Legal and Regulatory Committee and (2) the ISDA Asia Pacific ESG Working group. Mr. Ho is a member of the panel of experts of P.R.I.M.E. Finance, the financial markets dispute resolution service based in The Hague.

Mr. Ho plays an active role in implementing changes within SCB to conform to applicable OTC regulatory reforms impacting FM business. He has been involved in fostering closer working relationship and rapport with industry groups and regulators on key global and regional regulatory reform changes, including Interbank Offered Rate (IBOR) reforms, MIFID II/MIFIR, Dodd Frank, EMIR, CRDIV, FATCA, CCPs and Margin Reforms for Uncleared Derivatives.

In addition, Mr. Ho has supported digitisation in SCB and adoption of new or innovative technology initiatives such as blockchain, distributed ledger technology and smart contracts. He is an active participant in the industry’s Fintech events and has shared insights on the legal and regulatory framework relating to the development of Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, Digital Assets, Stablecoins, Web3 and Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). He has acted as a mentor for the UK FCA Sustainability TechSprint, FCA Digital Sandbox, R3 and LongHash, both global incubator networks which provide a full range of support for start-ups working on blockchain or distributed ledger related projects. He co-authored a publication issued by the World Economic Forum (WEF) called The Digital Currency Governance Consortium Whitepaper in 2021 and is on the WEF CBDC Principles working group.

Prior to joining SCB, Mr. Ho was the Managing Director Principal in the legal department of Bear Stearns (Japan), Ltd (“Bear Stearns”) where he supported the Asia franchise (including Tokyo, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Korea, India and South-east Asia) covering various structured products and derivatives including equity derivatives, credit derivatives, fixed income and commodities.

Prior to joining Bear Stearns, Mr. Ho worked as Asia equity counsel for Lehman Brothers in Tokyo with experience dealing in convertibles, options, warrants, delta one products and other types of equity derivatives transactions, equity finance and equity capital markets.

He is qualified as an advocate and solicitor in Singapore and he received his law degree from the National University of Singapore.

Founder and CEO

Mark Kepeneghian is the founder and CEO of Kriptown, a European neo-exchange dedicated to SMEs, offering a unified market infrastructure with instant settlement. He serves as Vice President and Board Member of ADAN, where he also chairs the Tokenization Committee, promoting Web3 and tokenization adoption in France and Europe. Mark is also a Board Member of France FinTech, contributing his expertise on regulation, Web3, and capital markets. As an investor, he supports startups in media, MedTech, and fintech sectors.

Quantitative Researcher, Digital Markets

Hamzah is a quantitative researcher for the digital markets team at Commerzbank London. Following his graduation from University of Southampton in Aeronautics and Astronautics he has worked in algorithmic trading with a focus on various topics surrounding hedging, PnL calculation and price optimisation.
Hamzah became a member of the ACI UK junior professional committee in March 2025. The Committee aims to encourage and support young people entering the FX industry and in their early careers

Co-Founder and CEO

Pierre Khemdoudi is the co-founder and CEO of Gentek.ai, an innovative agentic workflow automation platform.
With over 20 years of experience in capital markets and technology across North America, Europe, and Asia, Pierre has a deep expertise in building industry-leading solutions. Previously, he led the creation of the global regulatory reporting suite at S&P Global, including the industry-standard SFTR product, and oversaw key acquisitions like Catena and Cappitech. Before S&P, Pierre drove product innovation in equity and regulatory businesses at IHS Markit, delivering tailored solutions to the investment management community. His journey began in aerospace engineering in North America, followed by senior roles at BNP Paribas across major financial hubs.
Pierre's career is marked by a passion for building impactful products and transforming industries through technology.

Head of Product Innovation and AI

Niamh Kingsley is a technology leader, and AI & innovation specialist at Delta Capita, where she leads strategy and product development at the intersection of emerging technology and financial services. With a background in computational neuroscience and market policy, she brings a unique interdisciplinary lens to designing AI-driven solutions that enhance operational efficiency, decision-making, and regulatory alignment across banking and capital markets. A recognised thought leader in the industry, Niamh regularly delivers talks at a diverse array of events, including both Houses of Parliament, where she has addressed critical topics such as policy, innovation, and the future of technology. Her insights are regularly featured in leading industry publications, and she co-hosts a podcast focused on the evolution of technology in capital markets.

Fixed Income and FX Strategy, Research Department

Kirstine Kundby-Nielsen works with Fixed Income and FX strategy in the Research department at Danske Bank in Copenhagen. She is experienced in helping large corporate and institutional clients navigating financial markets while acting as a sparring partner for internal Sales and Trading. Her responsibilities include broad coverage of FX markets and delivering on European rates strategy including the ECB call. She holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Copenhagen.

ACI FMA Chairman

Stéphane Malrait is ACI FMA Chairman since June 2021 and ACI FMA Working Groups and Committees Representative at the Management Board since November 2020. Stéphane has been effectively engaged with ACI FMA for more than 15 years, contributing to different projects. Since the creation of the ACI FMA FXC in 2010, Stephane has chaired this Committee, and he is a member of the ACI FMA Crypto Working Group. Stéphane has also been a member of the ECB FX Contact Group working on the FX Global Code and has co-chaired the GFXC Algo and TCA sub-group looking at the 3-years review of the Code.
In addition, Stéphane Malrait has a strong background in financial markets. After fulfilling different leading positions such as FX e-Commerce Business Manager and MD Global Head of FIC e-Commerce in major banks, Stéphane is currently Managing Director and Global Head of market structure and innovation for Financial Markets at ING Bank NV.
Stéphane works with advocacy groups, policymakers, and regulators to follow the market structure and industry challenges impacting the financial market industry. He is also leading innovation activities in the capital market space within ING and develops external partnerships with Fintech companies. Stéphane actively contributes to industry working groups to represent ING Bank NV.

Global Head of Trading & Sales

Simon joined the bank in 2013 working for the FX trading business and has held several leadership roles since.
Simon is the Head of Trading and Sales reporting to Jon Peberdy, NWM CEO.
Trading provides access to markets and competitive risk transfer services to NatWest’s customers. It is responsible for pricing, distributing and managing risk. Simon also manages our FX digital channels which provide international payments services across NatWest Group.
Working in close partnership with our Trading teams, Sales encompasses our Foreign Exchange, Rates and Credit sales teams globally, together with our Desk Strategy and Client Analytics teams. Sales aims to develop long lasting partnerships with our customers by providing excellent and efficient service, high quality market colour, trade ideas and Desk Strategy content.
Simon is Vice Chair of the Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC) and is a Board member of the Global Foreign Exchange Division (GFXD) and TFS-ICAP. He also sits on the London Foreign Exchange Joint Standing Committee (FXJSC) chaired by the Bank of England. Previously, Simon was the former Chair of the Global FX division for the Association of Financial Markets Europe.
Simon previously ran our FX Option trading business and was responsible for overseeing an extensive conduct remediation programme across the whole FX business.
Simon began his career in 1994 as an FX Option trader at Chemical Bank which would become JPMorgan later that decade.
Simon holds a bachelor’s degree in Money, Banking & Finance from Birmingham University, and master’s degree in International Banking & Financial Services from Reading University.
Simon brings more than 25 years of industry experience to his role with in-depth knowledge of FX trading and risk management, derivatives trading and the building of FX and international payments businesses.
Prior to joining RBS, Simon held several leadership roles of increasing responsibility at several large banks including JPMorgan, Bank of America and HSBC where he ran the global FX Options business.
Email: Simon.Manwaring@natwestmarkets.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7085 5208
Mobile: +44 (0)7920 560 999

Executive Director Membership and Business Development

Kevin Moore is the Executive Director for Membership & Business Development at the CISI and responsible for business development and strategy development globally. He works closely with major CISI clients, members and stakeholders including regulators, training partners and other professional organisations. Kevin enjoys delivering the Institute’s keynote Integrity at Work seminar, and is a regular speaker at international conferences on subjects including integrity, capacity building, the changing world of wealth management and continuing professional development.

A career banker, Kevin joined the Institute in 2007 after 21 years with the Lloyds Banking Group. This included a wide variety of senior management roles in branch banking, corporate and business banking, and private banking. His wealth management roles included heading up the Lloyds Ultra High Net Worth business which included a full banking offer, as well as being responsible for the private banking network in London and the South East of England. Kevin is a Chartered Fellow (Chartered FCSI) of the CISI, is a qualified banker and a graduate of the University of Liverpool.

FX Sales-Trader

Laure Perret joined UBS in 2020 and currently serves as an FX Sales-Trader in Zurich, covering Swiss financial Institutions such as banks, asset managers and insurers. In this role, she provides pricing and execution for a wide range of FX products, helping her clients reach their financial goals. Laure also leads Education projects for her division and supports DE&I initiatives within the bank.

In addition to her role at UBS, she is a member of the ACI Next Generation committee for ACI Suisse .
Laure holds a Bachelor in Economics and a Master in Finance from HEC Lausanne.

Deputy Director General DG – Market Operations

Torsti “Toto” Silvonen is the Deputy Director General of the Market Operations area at the European Central Bank. His responsibilities include the ECB’s activities in the areas of FX markets, foreign reserve management as well as IT-systems and financial services, including also climate change related work covering all market operations activities. He has been leading the ECB’s climate change work both for investment and monetary policy related portfolios since the ECB’s Strategy Review.
He has been at the ECB from its outset and spent also two years acting as an Advisor to the Central Bank of Bahrain. He started his central banking career at the Central Bank of Finland in 1990.

Product Director for Digital Assets

Nithya Sridharan is the Product Director for Digital Assets at TP ICAP, a leading inter-dealer broker. She leverages over 15 years of experience in traditional financial markets and technology, to bridge financial practices with the rapidly evolving digital asset markets. Previously, Nithya worked at Credit Suisse for a nearly a decade, where she was part of a Executive Board sponsored Leadership Acceleration Program.
Nithya is a passionate advocate for financial education and engagement. She has chaired and participated in several prominent digital asset events and contributes to various regulatory consultations on digital assets and tokenisation. Currently, she serves as the Chair of the ACI UK's Digital Asset Sub-Committee, where she continues to drive engagement and innovation in the digital assets space.
She holds an MSc in Financial Engineering from Imperial College London and is a GARP certified Financial Risk Manager.

Director of Sales Enablement and Marketing

John Stead Director of Sales Enablement & Marketing at smartTrade Technologies
John Stead leads the Sales Enablement and Marketing team at smartTrade Technologies, bringing a wealth of experience from over 15 years in the electronic foreign exchange (eFX) industry. His career has been marked by a deep engagement with a diverse set of clients, including major sell-side firms and hedge funds.
Recently, John has delved deeper into the realm of advanced technologies, particularly being captivated by the potential of Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models (LLMs). His keen interest in these areas is driven by a desire to revolutionize how businesses approach marketing and client relations. John's expertise in leveraging these innovative technologies sets a new standard in the industry, ensuring smartTrade Technologies remains at the cutting edge of market trends and client needs.
In his role, John emphasizes the importance of data-driven decision-making. He is adept at identifying valuable insights from complex data sets, and transforming them into strategic actions that add tangible value.

Co-Founder and Programme Director

Huy Nguyen Trieu is the Co-Founder of CFTE. He is also the CEO of The Disruptive Group, a business builder and advisory firm in innovation and finance, and a Venture Partner at Mundi Ventures, an early-stage VC fund in Fintech and Insurtech. He believes that in a world led by technology, we shouldn’t forget the importance of people, which is why he co-founded CFTE to help people improve their skills and find opportunities.
Prior to setting up CFTE, Huy was a Managing Director at Citi, and previously at the Royal Bank of Scotland and Société Générale. Before banking, he was the CEO of Ukibi, a VC-funded startup in the US. He is a frequent keynote speaker in Europe and Asia, likes to teach and share with students and entrepreneurs, and is regularly quoted in articles on innovation and finance.
He writes the blog Disruptive Finance, is an Entrepreneurship Expert at Oxford Said Entrepreneurship Centre and a Fintech Fellow at the Centre for Global Finance and Technology at Imperial College. He was also a member of ESMA’s Consultative Working Group for financial innovation and a founding member of the Asian SuperCharger, one of the largest Fintech accelerators in Asia.

Founder and CEO

Valeria Vahorovska is a serial entrepreneur in FinTech, recognized for scaling her first company from a single market to six across Eastern Europe and Central Asia—culminating in a successful exit in 2024.
Her current venture is reshaping the payments landscape with AI-driven technology, delivering real-time multi-currency transactions and intelligent financial insights to empower small and medium-sized businesses to sell globally.
With over 10 years of startup experience, Valeria’s journey reflects her resilience and deep passion for innovation and inclusivity in finance. She is a proud Ambassador and mentor at the European Women Payments Network (EWPN), a Winning Women Entrepreneur, and has been named one of the Top 50 FinTech Women in the UK.
A mother of three, Valeria actively champions diversity in tech and works to create more opportunities for women in small business and financial leadership.

Head of Liquidity Management & Data Strategy

Hugh Whelan is a experienced financial services executive with a strong track record in building Electronic FX Execution businesses.

In his current role as Head of Liquidity Management & Data Strategy, he is responsible for driving the strategic direction and growth of the liquidity provider client segment and data products within the SGX FX business.

Leveraging his extensive banking background, Hugh is known for his strong commitment to client success, revenue growth, and strategic alignment. He brings a wealth of experience from his tenure at SGX Group ,CME Group, ICAP PLC, Commerzbank, MUFG, Mizuho, Bayern LB and Tokai, making him a highly respected leader in the financial services industry. Hugh Whelan's career reflects his ability to drive business transformation and achieve demonstrable results.

Chair

Hugh Whelan is a experienced financial services executive with a strong track record in building Electronic FX Execution businesses.

In his current role as Head of Liquidity Management & Data Strategy, he is responsible for driving the strategic direction and growth of the liquidity provider client segment and data products within the SGX FX business.

Leveraging his extensive banking background, Hugh is known for his strong commitment to client success, revenue growth, and strategic alignment. He brings a wealth of experience from his tenure at SGX Group ,CME Group, ICAP PLC, Commerzbank, MUFG, Mizuho, Bayern LB and Tokai, making him a highly respected leader in the financial services industry. Hugh Whelan's career reflects his ability to drive business transformation and achieve demonstrable results.