Events

Tod Burwell is the President and Chief Executive Officer of BAFT. Prior to being promoted to CEO, he served as the Senior Vice President of Trade Products with oversight of all trade-related initiatives including the Global Trade Industry Council, Trade Committees, and other strategic initiatives of the organization. Mr. Burwell has over 25 years of trade, supply chain and cash management experience as a banking practitioner, as well as serving as a consultant to global corporations and suppliers of strategically integrated trade solutions. Prior to joining BAFT, Mr. Burwell was a Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase and held senior global management roles responsible for trade operations, launching the logistics business and managing global product sales for trade finance and logistics management.

Winnie Chen is head of Asia Pacific Global Payments Solutions (GPS) at Bank of America. In this role, she drives the Global Payments strategy and execution for the region, responsible for deepening client relationships and working closely with partners across Global Corporate and Investment Banking. She is based in Singapore and a member of the Asia Pacific Executive Committee. In her previous role at the bank, she was head of Sales for Financial Institutions and the Public Sector for Hong Kong and Macau. Most recently, she was head of Treasury Services for Asia Pacific, and Singapore country chief executive for Bank of New York Mellon. Winnie has held various roles in the United States, Greater China, and Singapore, with years of financial services experience across credit administration, sales, relationship management, and transaction banking. She holds a Masters of Business Administration from Baruch College in New York.

Maisie Chong is the Head of Trade and Working Capital, ASEAN and South Asia, at Standard Chartered. She leads the strategic innovation and development of the end-toend trade finance proposition across the ASEAN and South Asia regions for corporates and financial institutions. She is a member of the Global Trade Management Team and the Transaction Banking Asia Management Team. A seasoned transaction banker, Maisie has managed cross-functional teams across regions in international financial institutions. Since joining Standard Chartered in 2020, Maisie has led key innovative digital and sustainable trade finance initiatives in ASEAN, including the Bank’s partnership in the Singapore Trade Data Exchange (SGTraDex), Trade Finance Registry (TFR) and Point Carbon Zero Program. She co-chairs the ABS Digitalisation Standing Committee (DSC) Trade Pillar. Maisie held several roles within Standard Chartered previously, including Global Head of Receivables Purchase and Singapore Transaction Banking Head. Maisie graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Professional and Technical Communication from the Rochester Institute of Technology and a Master’s degree in Computer and Information Technology from the University of Pennsylvania. She completed the Asian Financial Leaders Programme in 2023 in Singapore and was conferred the Institute of Banking and Finance Singapore (IBF) Fellow for Corporate Banking in 2024. Maisie also sits on the executive board of Glyph Community, a children’s non-profit organisation.

Lauren D’Arcy is the Head of the Financial Institutions team for APAC and Middle East, based in Singapore. The teams’ focus is to support the banking requirements of large financial institutions through the provision of cash, trade and FX, as well as localized support. In addition, Lauren is the Global Head of Partnership Bank Relationships. In this role Lauren is primarily responsible for overseeing the growth and co-ordination of a segment of Financial Institution clients that we engage with across Corporate and Investment Banking. Lauren joined Barclays in 2011. Before joining Barclays, Lauren held various roles in the Cash Management team at Deutsche Bank in both Dublin and London

Dr. Elms is Head of Trade Policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore. Prior to joining the Foundation, she was the Executive Director and Founder of the Asian Trade Centre (ATC). She was also President of the Asia Business Trade Association (ABTA) and the Board Director of the Asian Trade Centre Foundation (ATCF). Dr. Elms serves on the board of the Trade and Investment Negotiation Adviser (TINA) at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific (UNESCAP). She was on the International Advisory Council for APCO (2021-2023) and was a member of the International Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Trade Professionals Alliance and Chair of the Working Group on Trade Policy and Law. She was also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Trade and Investment Council for 2018-2020. Prior to founding ATC/ATCF and the ABTA, she was head of the Temasek Foundation Centre for Trade & Negotiations (TFCTN) and Senior fellow of International Political Economy at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Dr. Elms received a PhD in political science from the University of Washington, an MA in International Relations from the University of Southern California, and bachelor’s degrees from Boston University. She is the author of numerous articles, editor of several books, and regularly published the Talking Trade Blog. Dr. Elms also routinely appears on television and in major newspapers and magazines around the world to comment on trade and economic issues. Dr. Elms also makes frequent appearances at a range of global trade and economic workshops, conferences, capacity building sessions, and negotiations.

Raphael Jansa is the Visa Direct Stablecoin lead for Asia Pacific, based in Singapore, where he leads strategic initiatives at the intersection of digital assets and cross-border payments. With over 20 years of experience across payments, fintech, and banking, Raphael has held regional roles spanning sales, product, and market management across North America and Asia Pacific, including advising Fortune 500 treasurers on treasury and transaction banking solutions. Prior to joining Visa in 2025, he served as General Manager of the FinTech Association of Hong Kong, where he was actively orchestrating the Fintech industry’s policy advocacy in support of Hong Kong’s development as a leading digital assets hub. At Visa, Raphael focuses on advancing the adoption of stablecoin-enabled payment solutions, working with financial institutions and fintechs to enable more efficient, transparent, and scalable cross-border money movement. He is particularly interested in how stablecoins and tokenized deposits can complement existing financial infrastructure to support the next phase of institutional adoption in Asia Pacific.

Ashutosh Kumar is the Managing Director and Head of Transaction Banking for Asia Pacific at Mizuho Bank. A visionary leader with over 25 years of international experience, he is instrumental in shaping and executing the bank’s regional strategy. A dynamic business leader, Ashutosh combines deep expertise in Asia Pacific with a strong track record in Global Transaction Banking. His commitment to digital innovation has been key in transforming the numerous businesses he has led. In 2024, Ashutosh was honored with the prestigious Transaction Finance Leader of the Year award by The Asian Banker, acknowledging his transformative leadership and pivotal role in establishing Mizuho Bank as a leading institution in Transaction Banking across Asia Pacific. Prior to Mizuho, Ashutosh held senior leadership positions at Standard Chartered Bank and ABN AMRO. Ashutosh holds notable industry roles, including the Co-Chair of Asia Council at BAFT and serves on the Board of Directors of BAFT.

Sriram joined DBS in 2018 as Managing Director, Global Transaction Services. His current remit as Group Head of Product Management covers cash and liquidity management, enterprise-wide payments, trade finance and supply chain finance solutions offered by the Bank. With more than 20 years of banking experience spanning across several key international financial hubs, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and India, Sriram spearheads DBS’ digital product initiatives across the region. Since joining DBS, Sriram has led the transformation of its cash management, payments, and trade and supply chain finance businesses into ones that are fast growing, digital, innovative and market leading. He has also led the launch of several innovative payments solutions including DBS Globesend. Sriram is passionate about driving diversity and inclusion in the workplace, besides developing innovative solutions to serve corporates, large and small.

Sharon Toh is Head of ASEAN region for Swift in Asia Pacific, based in Singapore. She leads the relationship management team in ASEAN region, supporting existing customers and expanding businesses in this fast-growing region. With 28 years’ experience in financial services industry, Sharon has developed deep client relationships across the ASEAN region, with strong connections with banks, corporates, regulators, and market infrastructures. Prior to joining Swift, Sharon was Sales Director, Indochina at Thomson Reuters, overseeing Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. Previously, she was Regional Head of ASEAN for the Client Specialist team, responsible for the region’s sales and client training. In addition to her successful sales career, Sharon has worked in various roles across content acquisition, marketing, and client support at leading financial information providers. Sharon is on to the executive board of EU-ASEAN Business Council and serve as its vice chairwoman and treasurer. She is also deeply committed to DEI and her commitment extends to nurturing the next generation of leaders. She is one of the founding members of Swift’s gender equality network and was previously a council member of Women in Payment’s global mentorship council.