Our Panellists

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Our Panellists

Elisa de Anda Madrazo

Elisa de Anda Madrazo of Mexico assumed her role as Vice-President of the FATF on 1 July 2020. She has been re-appointed for a second term as Vice-President of the FATF, from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2023. Ms. De Anda currently serves as Director General in Mexico’s Ministry of Finance and Public Credit.  

Previously, she served as Attaché to the Mexican Embassy in Washington DC (2015-2019). In addition, in 2016, Ms. De Anda was designated by the Mexican Government as Coordinator of the Mexican Mutual Evaluation Process by the FATF – in collaboration with the IMF. In this capacity she served as the representative and point of contact between the IMF assessment team and the Mexican authorities.

Within the FATF, Elisa De Anda has served as the head of the Mexican delegation, as Co-Chair of the Global Network and Co-ordination Group (GNCG), as member of the Steering Group and as co-chair of the Contact Group on Malaysia’s Membership. Before joining the Mexican government, Elisa practiced law as associate in law firms. She received her law degree from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City and has a Master degree in Law (LLM, 2011) from Harvard Law School and a Master in Public Administration (MPA, 2015) from Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Our Panellists

Ronald Lamola

Ronald Lamola is the current Minister of Justice and Correctional Services of South Africa. He obtained the LLB degree from the University of Venda in 2005. He did practical legal training at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in 2006. He has post-graduate certificates in corporate law and one in banking law and financial markets.

Mr. Lamola holds two master's degrees from the University of Pretoria. His first one is in Corporate Law, where he explored the regulation of property syndication schemes. His research looked at the roles of regulators in the regulation of taking deposits from the public, the conflation of the Companies Act, Banks Act and the Reserve Bank Act.

His second master’s degree is in Extractive Law in Africa where he focused on corporate social investment by the mining and energy sector. His research suggests that the Department of Minerals and Energy's enforcement unit is inadequately resourced to ensure compliance with the social labour plans by companies in the sectors.

Earlier this year Minister Lamola was recognised by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader.

Our Panellists

Alice Law Shing-Mui

Ms. Alice Law Shing-mui is the Former Deputy Chairman and Managing Director of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, and from 2012 to early 2018 she was the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director.

Qualified for over 20 years as a solicitor in Hong Kong and the UK after obtaining an LLB degree from the University of Hong Kong (LLB) and an LLM from University College London. Prior to joining the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, she worked in the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong for 14+ years Membership - Senior Fellow of the Hong Kong Securities and Investments Institute.

Her expertise and interests include financial regulation, pension, strategic market development regarding China and RMB internationalization. Private interests include Asia and international politics, golf and fine arts.

Our Panellists

Zhang Xiaoyan

Xiaoyan Zhang is the Xinyuan Chair Professor of Finance and Associate Dean at the PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University. She received her B.A. in Economics from Peking University in 1997, and Ph.D. in Finance (with honor) from Columbia Business School in 2002. After graduation, Professor Zhang first joined the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University as an Assistant Professor of Finance, and later she worked at the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University as Duke Realty Chair Full Professor of Finance.

Professor Zhang's research focuses on fintech, quantitative investment, market regulation and international finance. Her work has been published in Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Review of Financial Studies and other excellent academic journals. Her article, “The Cross-Section of Volatility and Expected Returns” (with Andrew Ang, Robert Hodrick, and Yuhang Xing), was announced one of the top 10 cited papers published in Journal of Finance since 2000. Her article, "Which Shorts Are Informed", (with Ekkehart Boehmer and Charles Jones), won the BSI Gamma Foundation Award (2005) and Best Paper Award at the 16th Mitsui Finance Symposium (2009) at the University of Michigan.

Besides her research on international finance and asset management, Professor Zhanghas received awards from the European Central Bank and the Q Group Research Fund. Due to her excellence in scientific research, Professor Zhang is appointed as associate editor at Management Science, Financial Management, Journal of Banking and Journal of Empirical Finance. In 2014, Professor Zhang was named one of the “Top 40 under 40” business school professors in the world. In 2017, She was nominated as a committee member of the CSRC 17th Issuance Examination Committee, and received major grant from China Natural Sciences Foundation.

Professor Zhang now serves as Associate Dean at PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University. She is also the Deputy Director of Tsinghua University National Institute of Financial Research and Tsinghua Fintech Research Institute. Prof. Zhang also heads the Xinyuan Fintech Research Center. She enjoys teaching in financial derivatives and risk management for undergraduate, Master of Finance, Ph.D., MBA, financial engineering and executive programs. She was nominated and awarded for various teaching prizes for many times at Cornell, Purdue and Tsinghua University.

Our Panellists

Steffen Kern

Steffen Kern is Chief Economist and Head of Risk Analysis at the EU’s financial market regulatory and supervisory authority ESMA, in Paris (France). Appointed in 2012, he leads ESMA’s analytical work on financial stability, market integrity, and investor protection in securities and derivatives markets, the institutional investor industry as well as the financial market infrastructure of the EU. He also oversees the authority’s statistical and data operations. Kern is a member of the advisory committee to the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB ATC), co-chairs the ESRB’s Expert Group on Shadow Banking, and serves on various FSB and IOSCO committees.

Before joining the EU’s public service, he had worked for Deutsche Bank, including positions as Director for International Financial Market Policy, as Senior Economist at Deutsche Bank Research, and at the Group Board offices. Kern is a Professor at the University of Mainz (Germany) teaching international financial market development, risk and regulation. He served as a Senior Fellow of the Transatlantic Academy in Washington (US), and was appointed the 2010 Helmut Schmidt Fellow of the ZEIT-Foundation and the German Marshall Fund.

He holds academic degrees in economics, politics, and philosophy from the Universities of Oxford (Great Britain) and Leuven (Belgium) and a doctorate from Erasmus University Rotterdam (The Netherlands).

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Arif Ismail

Arif Ismail is Deputy Division Chief: Payment & Infrastructure · International Monetary Fund. He was previously the Head of Fintech at the South African Reserve Bank, responsible for setting policy direction on crypto assets in SA, the implementation of hubs and sandboxes and for central bank experimentation on central bank issued digital currency.

He currently co-chairs the Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group leading the charge to revised policy stances on Fintech. He was Head of Oversight: Payment Systems from 2015 to 2017.

Arif was responsible for the South African national payment systems strategy, Vision 2025. He is a member of the BIS Working Group on Digital Innovations and member of the FSB Financial Innovation Network.

Arif holds a BSc in mathematics and physics, an MBA through GIBS, and a DBA on strategic leadership and transformation. His area of interest spans through the change domain, and includes a focus on complex adaptive systems, social cognition and leadership theory.

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Akash Singh

Akash Singh was appointed as the Group Chief Compliance Officer in November 2019. Prior to this role, he was the Chief Compliance Officer of Retail and Business Bank SA. Akash was the Head of Operational Risk: Africa for Barclays Africa Group with oversight across 14 countries.

He has also held various Internal Audit roles within the Absa Group. Before joining Absa, Akash was with Nedcor Limited in the Finance function. He has extensive knowledge and experience in strategic and technical management of operational risk, as well as regulatory and compliance risk management.

Our Panellists

Matthew Blake

Matthew Blake is Head of Shaping the Future of Financial and Monetary Systems at the World Economic Forum.  His undergraduate studies include international affairs, Boston College, Universite Robert Schuman, Institut Etudes Politiques (IEP); Master’s in Public Administration, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government; Certified Investment Management Analyst, Wharton School of Business in partnership with the Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA).

His former roles include Business and Market Risk Analyst, Federal Reserve Bank of New York; Investment Consultant, Oppenheimer & Co., with responsibilities for institutional and private client portfolios; Head, Banking and Capital Markets, World Economic Forum, tasked with formulating and implementing the Forum’s value proposition for the sector.

Matthew is currently Head of Financial and Monetary System Initiatives, World Economic Forum; responsible for the strategic direction, execution, and impact of flagship Forum initiative on the global financial and monetary system. Deputy Mayor, Incorporated Village of Ocean Beach, Suffolk County, NY. Volunteer firefighter, Suffolk County, NY. 

Our Panellists

Dr. Marwan Al Zarouni

Dr. Marwan Alzarouni is an internationally recognized blockchain technology advocate, keynote speaker and strategic advisor. Dr. Alzarouni is the CEO of Dubai Blockchain Center (DBCC), an impact business and a strategic partner to Dubai Future Foundation. The center was inaugurated by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum under the Area 2071 initiative in May 2018. It aims to create a fertile ground and a holistic ecosystem for blockchain companies and projects to thrive. DBCC regularly hosts a number of blockchain startups within Area 2071 and also conducts educational classes and seminars around blockchain use cases in government and private sector.

Dr. Marwan is currently heading the Digital Asset Task Force (DATF), a research and advisory team that reports to the Dubai Future Council for Blockchain. The purpose of the task force is to conduct a comprehensive study to provide clear guidance on how digital assets can be encouraged and regulated. The council establishes Dubai as a global blockchain capital, offering a prominent platform for decision-makers from various local and international governments and private sector entities to explore futuristic, blockchain-based solutions.