Events

Ruby Aggarwal recently joined Deutsche Bank as the North America Product Lead within Institutional Cash Management. She brings over a decade of experience in the Transaction Banking industry, having driven impactful initiatives and managed diverse products and programs across Payments, Liquidity, and Corporate Finance at firms including JPMorgan and Citi.

Marisela Alvarenga is a global financial leader with over two decades of experience spanning private banking, capital markets, and multilateral development institutions. Recognized for her strategic vision and execution, she has built a distinguished career driving sustainable finance, financial innovation, and growth across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Currently serving as Managing Director and Chief of the Financial Sector Division at IDB Invest—the private sector arm of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group—Marisela shapes the institution’s strategic engagement with banks, fintechs, insurers, cooperatives and other financial actors across LAC. She plays a key role in positioning the financial sector as a catalyst for development, championing innovative financing structures and market-building initiatives that mobilize private capital at scale. Her leadership has helped mainstream green, social, and sustainable finance across the region, with a strong emphasis on deepening financial health, supporting women-led businesses, and advancing climate-resilient investments.

Leigh Amaro is the Head of North America for Swift and has established herself as a visionary leader in the rapidly evolving payments landscape. In her current role, Leigh continues to push the boundaries of what's possible in the realm of payment innovation. She brings expertise that extends across a myriad of domains, from mobile payments and e-commerce to blockchain and cryptocurrency, innovating the way businesses and consumers interact with financial services. She has over 20 years of experience in payments, including strategy, marketing, sales, and product executive management roles at Visa, Mastercard, and now Swift.

Ben is the CEO of Complidata, the European FinTech pioneering digitisation and automation in trade finance operations using generative artificial intelligence. Having spent most of his career in trade finance, including 24 years at HSBC, Ben advises financial institutions on effective extraction of data from documents for improved commercial and financial crime risk mitigation using AI to enhance human decision-making. As co-chair of the Financial Crime Compliance Initiative (FCCi) within the International Forfaiting and Trade Association (ITFA) Ben helps drive pioneering work beneficial to trade finance banks as well as raising awareness of the potential for technology to drive improvements in detection and prevention of financial crime. At HSBC Ben was head of various trade finance, commercial banking and payments businesses in the Middle East and Asia before becoming head of trade finance in Canada in 2011 winning best bank for trade finance as voted by clients in 2015. Since moving to New York, Ben was regional head of trade services and then head of compliance for the commercial bank, gaining significant experience remediating issues, managing relationships with regulators Ben has also founded multiple start-ups and held several roles focused on trade finance and financial crime prevention at FinTech start-ups working with many founders in compliance, trade finance, payments and correspondent banking.

Andy joined Huntington Bank in 2009. He has responsibility for Huntington’s Global Advisory segment; consisting of the Structured Working Capital Finance and Global Trade & Treasury lines of business. He is a member of the board of directors at Huntington International Inc. He has extensive corporate banking, structured finance, financial institution risk, country risk and cross-border business experience dating back to 2001, primarily at GE Corporate Finance and ABN AMRO prior to Huntington. He earned an MBA from the Carey School of Business at John’s Hopkins University and is a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking. He earned post-graduate certificates in Executive Leadership from the Wharton School of Business and Fintech from Harvard University. Andy holds several industry certifications including Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) as well as the Certifications in Supply Chain Finance (CSCF) and Payments (CertPay), both issued by the London Institute of Banking and Finance.

Michael Evan Avidon is Senior Counsel at Moses & Singer LLP, after 36+ years as a Partner, and as a former Co-Chair of its Banking & Finance Practice Group. He is widely recognized for his knowledge of letters of credit (LCs), lending, and secured transactions. Mike handles secured and unsecured lending; agented and bilateral deals; trade finance and supply chain finance, including discounting, receivables purchases, and payables agreements; loan agreements, LC reimbursement agreements, security agreements, guarantees, LCs, and participation agreements; electronic contracting, outsourcing, and white label agreements; and LC disputes and litigation. His work involves standby, direct pay, and commercial LCs, and demand guarantees. His clients include money center banks, smaller banks, and other financial institutions.

Ronn Baker joined Baton Systems in March 2022 as Senior Director of North American Sales. Ronn brings over 15 years of capital markets experience. He joined from Wells Fargo where he was most recently Director of FX Sales and Innovation and Digital Strategy, spearheading the implementation of distributed ledger technologies (DLT), cryptocurrencies and digital assets for the FX trading and Capital Markets division. Prior to this, Ronn spent seven years as Director of FX Sales with responsibility for trading and cross-border payment solutions and services, increasing FX portfolio revenue by 260%. In his previous role in eCommerce Sales, Ronn was responsible for the migration of 325 clients to Wells Fargo’s eCommerce platform over a period of 18 months. During this period he added $7 million to the bank’s annual revenue and oversaw growth of 163% in correspondent banking acquisitions. Prior to joining Well Fargo in 2007, Ronn held a number of consulting roles, where, among other projects, he delivered savings of $6 million for a major network communications organisation and $3 million for a large electronics company. During this time he oversaw and managed a client base of over 75 companies and 11,000 users. Ronn began his career in Sales and Marketing in Latin America, covering 7 different countries across the region and increasing company revenue by $5 million across 2.5 years. Ronn speaks fluent Spanish and is active within his local Hispanic community. Ronn holds a degree in Mathematical Statistics and Probability from North Carolina State University. An avid sports person who enjoys running, hiking and kettlebells, his hobbies also include reading and beekeeping

Sabih Behzad serves as the Head of Digital Assets & Currencies Transformation for the Corporate and Investment Bank. In this role, he oversees strategy and execution and seeks to develop and accelerate use cases within the bank. Key areas of focus include tokenisation of assets and money, DeFi and Metaverse. He represents the bank in various industry bodies and forums. He is a member of the board of Taurus AG, a leading Swiss based digital assets company. Sabih has been with Deutsche Bank for 14 years, working across the Technology and Operations, Investment Bank and Corporate Bank divisions. He has held a variety of roles including leading strategy, managing large change programmes and developing new businesses. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Sabih worked within the M&A Corporate Finance division of Lehman Brothers in London and started his career in technology consulting with Lucent Technologies before moving on to Accenture. He has implemented large scale technology projects and run development teams. He has a passion for technology and in particular, all things blockchain and DLT. Sabih holds a BEng. in Computer Systems Engineering from the University of Manchester and a MBA with a concentration in Finance from London Business School. He is a Chartered Engineer and a member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology.

Kalyani Bhatia is the Global Head of Payments Go To Market in Business Development at Swift. Her team of payment experts execute the Swift Strategy through data driven prioritization, standardized programmes and global expertise. She is responsible for supporting global business product programmes including Swift gpi, ISO 20022, transaction management, prevalidation, Swift Go and Instant payments. Kalyani is on the US Advisory Board for Women In Payments and is the Co-Sponsor of the Multicultural Inclusion ERG at Swift. Prior to joining Swift in 2020, Kalyani spent 18 years at Deutsche Bank, holding senior positions in technology, product and client implementations & service. Her expertise lies in running large global change initiatives supporting global transaction banking. She also has experience in the oil & gas, automotive and retail industries delivering systems as a technical consultant with Price Waterhouse LLP. Kalyani holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from Rice University.

Corey Booth is a Partner in PwC’s Financial Services practice, with a focus on operations and technology. He co-leads the Operational Resilience practice in Financial Services for the US. Corey has extensive experience helping banks build resilience capabilities and manage effective responses to related regulatory matters, including structuring and leading root cause analysis, operational model review and detailed action planning. He also leads PwC US’s alliance with Fusion Risk Management, a leading software platform in the space. He is also a former Chief Information Officer for the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Chris is the Head of Financial Institution Sales for the Americas based in New York. He has been with the bank since 2011 when he joined the Financial Institutions team in Singapore. Prior to Standard Chartered, Chris worked for several start-ups in Toronto and Hong Kong in the fields of asset management and television media.  Chris has an M.A. from McGill University in Economics and a B.A. from Tufts University in International Relations. 

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.

Kaushik Chakravorty oversees coverage of Canadian and Foreign Headquartered Banks in North America from a Transaction Banking perspective. With deep expertise in Payments, FX, Structured Trade, and Working Capital solutions, his career spans roles across APAC and North America. A recognized subject matter expert in International Trade, Kaushik has spoken at leading industry forums and contributed to BAFT’s certification programs. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and holds FRM and CTP designations.

Chris is responsible for driving transaction banking product initiatives to deliver best-in-class capabilities for TD Bank Group’s (TDBG) corporate, commercial, and institutional clients across the Canadian Commercial Bank, U.S. Commercial Bank, and TD Securities. He is accountable for product management, development and strategy, P&L management, and go-to-market efforts for transaction banking products across TDBG, including payments and receivables, deposits and liquidity, global trade finance, commercial card issuance, merchant services, data and analytics, and digital channels and client reporting. Previously, Chris served as Senior Vice President, Head of Treasury and Trade Products and Services, U.S. Commercial Banking, for TD Bank, leading product management, technical sales, market management, and customer onboarding and servicing. Prior to TD, Chris held leadership roles in product management and market management in Citi’s Services division. He launched and managed innovative solutions across payments and receivables, commercial credit cards, eCommerce merchant acquiring, and embedded finance. Chris also served as Citi’s representative on industry bodies including The Clearing House’s Real Time Payments Business Committee, Early Warning Systems advisory panels, and the U.S. Faster Payments Council.

Nahaz Choudhury is an Executive Director in Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation’s (SMBC) Global Trade Finance business, where he leads their North America sales for the Diversified Industrials, Power & Utilities, and Energy sectors. With 20+ years of global banking experience, Nahaz has held senior roles across corporate strategy, client coverage, and structured trade finance in London and New York. Nahaz works with some of the world’s largest companies to structure trade and working-capital solutions that enhance balance-sheet efficiency, release cash, and reduce risk in their global supply chains. Prior to banking, Nahaz was a management consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton in Dubai, where he worked on client engagements across the Middle East and North Africa, advising on corporate strategy, technology, and entering new markets. This early experience together with his current role at SMBC continues to inform his perspective on financing international trade and the impact of geopolitics on trade corridors. Nahaz holds an MBA from Cornell University, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a BSc from King’s College London.

David S. David is a founder of DSDavid Global Trade Advisory Group which delivers strategic consulting backed by 24 years of worldwide logistics experience guiding organizations in import, export, manufacturing, distribution, and sourcing. Expertise spans air, ocean, and land transport, customs compliance, cargo risk management, and trade terms optimization across diverse commodities, supported by a global network of trusted trade professionals. He has proven coordination experience in mature manufacturing markets and emerging countries with basic infrastructure and remote developing regions. David is a BS Economics graduate from the University of the Philippines.

Alisa DiCaprio is a Director in the Corporate Office of Swift based in Washington DC. She has over 20 years of experience in economic development and financial stability and holds a PhD from MIT. She was recognized as one of the Top 20 Influencers in Fintech by American Banker and is a trusted advisor on trade, digital assets, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), monetary policy and payments. In addition to her role at Swift, Alisa provides economic advice and analysis to the public and private sectors and has chaired committees at BAFT, the ICC, the US Department of Commerce, and the World Trade Board, among others. She is passionate about driving innovation and digitization in the global economy and has published peer-reviewed papers on topics such as technology, trade, economic growth, and financial stability. Alisa is also regularly quoted in publications from the Financial Times to Euromoney. She has worked in countries including Cambodia, Chile, Finland, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, and the US.

Merlin is a senior product manager within CGI’s strategic trade solutions group where he is primarily responsible for the design and delivery of forward-looking and client-centric trade solutions. He leads digital strategy initiatives and develops product value propositions using emerging technologies such as AI, APIs, and blockchain. He also manages third-party fintech vendor engagements and industry developments. Previously, Merlin spent 15 years at J.P. Morgan in various global product management roles. He led digital strategy for traditional trade products, launching innovations such as electronic bill of exchange and an omni-channel connector whilst collaborating with numerous fintechs. He also managed the design and delivery of a multi-year project focused on trade asset risk distribution and contributed to expanding J.P. Morgan’s global trade footprint. He continues to actively contribute to industry-wide initiatives through his role as a Vice-Chair on the ICC Banking Commission, leading efforts to digitalize trade finance in close coordination with the ICC’s Digital Standards Initiative.

Mihail Duta is responsible for all pre-sales and other payments consulting activities in the US regional space. Prior to this role Mihail was responsible for management of Finastra’s payments products in the Americas, including its payments services hub, and U.S real-time payments initiatives. He has been actively supporting Finastra’s U.S. payments solutions in various capacities since 2000, when he joined Fundtech (which ultimately became Finastra in 2017). Throughout his tenure working with Finastra’s U.S. payments solutions, Mihail served various business functions in developing strong and enduring client relationships. Today, he is also the liaison between Finastra and Federal Reserve Bank and he interacts directly with customers as the main contact to Finastra’s U.S. payment user board and user group.

Claudia Romo Edelman is a social entrepreneur, global activist, and inspirational speaker. She is the Founder and Executive Chair of We Are All Human and Hispanic Star. A former UN and UNICEF executive, she played a key role in launching the Sustainable Development Goals, SDG Lions, and (Product) RED. She hosts A LA LATINA podcast, has authored multiple books, and speaks at Google, Amazon, and top institutions. Named one of TIME’s 17 Top Latino Leaders of 2024 and one of People Magazine’s “25 Poderosas” in 2025, she serves on several nonprofit boards and is launching a family Sotol business. Claudia speaks six languages and enjoys sports with her husband and time with her two children.

Rebecca Fruchtman is counsel in Mayer Brown’s Chicago office and a member of the Firm’s Global Trade Finance practice group. Her practice focuses on the global trade finance space, including supply chain finance, Receivables financing, letters of credit, structured letters of credit and risk-distributed trade transactions, and asset-based financing transactions—both domestic and cross-border. With respect to supply chain finance matters at Mayer Brown, Rebecca has worked extensively with FI, hedge fund and private equity clients financing trade assets on various Fintech platforms, has spear-headed numerous global SCF roll-out initiatives on behalf of FI clients and structured, negotiated and executed a wide range of complex and bespoke revolving letters of credit facilities. Prior to joining Mayer Brown, Rebecca served as general counsel to Bank of America’s Business Capital line of business (US Central Region) on asset-based lending matters (2017 to 2019) and supported Bank of America’s Global Transaction Services Global Trade and Supply Chain Line of Business (2012 to 2017). Rebecca is active in BAFT, currently co-chairs the BAFT supply chain finance committee and is involved in various trade digitization initiatives in the industry.

Padhraic Garvey is the Regional Head of Research, Americas. He's based in New York. His brief spans both developed and emerging markets and he specialises in global rates and macro relative value. He worked for Cambridge Econometrics and ABN Amro before joining ING. He holds a Masters degree in Economics from University College Dublin and is a CFA charterholder.

Mariya George is the Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors of cleareye.ai. Before starting cleareye.ai, Mariya was the Head of Banking and Insurance at UST Global. She was responsible for the industry group’s overall vision, strategy and investment priorities, developing the network of alliance partners and an aggressive revenue growth goal of 70%. She was also responsible for the global P&L, sales, business development, consulting, client relationship management and technology execution. Prior to this, Mariya was the Business Head for East and Midwest market in North America. She led the global sales organization across North America and primary markets in Asia (India, China), and built a team to lead and manage new Fortune 500 customer acquisitions and doubled her portfolio.

Avanee joined Swift in April, 2023 as the Global Head, Trade Strategy based at Singapore. Avanee has over 20 years of banking experience across Singapore, North America, Hong Kong and India. At Swift she is responsible to help formulate and drive the core strategic trade agenda as well as help swift redefine its role in the exciting and evolving global payments and trade eco system. She also helps drive partnerships with banks, corporates, fintechs, governments and industry bodies on various initiatives to ensure frictionless trade for the community. Before Swift, Avanee was responsible for global product management for trade and supply chain finance at ANZ. In her 20 years of banking, she has worked in a variety of roles including sales for trade, payments & cash management, relationship management covering the shipping and logistics sector, credit, strategy, and technology. Avanee has a master’s degree in computer engineering from State University of New York and an MBA from INSEAD.

Damien is a seasoned payment expert, having spent over 19 years in the domain working as a consultant, program manager and payments expert in several international banks and SWIFT. Currently Damien is the Head of Payments Industry Engagement for the Cash Management arm of BNP Paribas. Next to accompanying the Bank’s Product and IT divisions as a senior strategist, he is representing BNP Paribas in various working groups across the industry, pursuing his passion to achieve instant and frictionless international payments. Damien holds an MSc in Economics and is a regular speaker at corporate and industry conferences.

Christian Hausherr is the Product Head for structured Trade Finance solutions at Deutsche Bank, bringing to the role over 20 years of experience in Banking, In-house Consulting and Product Management for Cash Management and Supply Chain Finance. Christian spent his career within Deutsche Bank in various divisions and regions, mostly spanning across Europe and the Transaction Banking business. He holds a diploma in business administration from the University of Bayreuth and has worked in Germany, The Netherlands, Great Britain, Spain, the US, as well as in India and Uganda on Corporate Social Responsibility assignments in the financial and educational sector. Christian contributed to the Standard Definitions for techniques of Supply Chain Finance and authored the open account section of the Wolfsberg Trade Finance Principles. He also acts as the chair of the Global Supply Chain Finance Forum and as a technical advisor for the Supply Chain Finance section of the ICC Trade Register.

Arjun Jayaram is the Founder and CEO of Baton Systems, a technology company he built to help financial institutions optimise how liquidity, collateral and payments are managed in an increasingly 24/7 financial system. For the past decade, Arjun has worked at the intersection of finance and technology, working closely with leading banks as they navigate operational, risk and funding challenges, new settlement rails and evolving regulatory demands. He is a recognised industry leader in intraday liquidity and real-time settlement, focused on enabling institutions to achieve real-time visibility, control, and increased capital efficiency without the need to replace existing infrastructure. Under his leadership, Baton’s platform is trusted for critical post-trade cash and securities operations, processing nearly $30 billion in value each day for customers that include seven of the world’s nine largest banks. Arjun is the author of multiple white papers on intraday liquidity management and an active contributor to Federal Reserve task forces and ISDA working groups. Prior to founding Baton, he held senior leadership roles at Dwolla and Twitter and co-founded Compass Labs, a machine learning driven ad technology company, which he later sold to Yahoo.

Sonam Kapoor is a Senior Product Manager and has over 8 years of experience in the transaction banking industry and over 10 years of experience in Product Management. Sonam has managed a variety of payment products and holds a BA and MBA from Adelphi University. She joined Barclays in 2023 and is responsible for managing U.S. payment products such as HV payments and Faster Payments.

Leslie Lee serves as Lead Project Manager for Payments Product Management at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, bringing more than 15 years of expertise in Fedwire® Funds Service product management. Leslie successfully directed the global ISO 20022 message format migration for the Fedwire Funds Service in July 2025, ensuring industry readiness and seamless customer adoption. Currently, Leslie oversees strategic planning and execution of future enhancements to the Fedwire Funds Service, collaborating with financial institutions, technology partners, and internal stakeholders to advance payment system modernization. Before joining the New York Fed, Leslie served in marketing and communications roles at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. She now calls Brooklyn home, where she lives with her husband, John, and their daughter, Ella, a high school sophomore. In her free time, Leslie loves tending her garden and discovering new restaurants—pairing her green thumb with a passion for great food and new experiences.

Matt Loos is a seasoned payments industry executive with over 20 years of deep expertise driving innovation, modernization, and operational excellence across leading global financial institutions. Currently, Matt leads the strategic planning, delivery roadmap, and overall governance for Scotiabank’s wire platform modernization initiative—transforming the legacy systems into the cutting-edge payment ecosystem along with Global wire product ownership. His visionary leadership is instrumental in building a best-in-class, next-generation payments platform designed to accelerate Global Transaction Banking’s (GTB) growth priorities and enhance client experience in an increasingly digital and interconnected financial ecosystem. Matt also runs the product management team globally for all wire products and the Network Management team responsible for all Cash Management and Securities and Custody solutions. Prior to his current role, Matt held senior leadership positions at J.P. Morgan, SWIFT, and Wells Fargo. At Wells Fargo, he served as Head of Wires and Clearing Product, where he successfully managed a wire transfer P&L and spearheaded enterprise-wide payment modernization programs. His tenure at SWIFT further enriched his expertise in cross-border payments and global financial messaging standards, positioning him as a thought leader in payments innovation and regulatory compliance. Matt’s career is distinguished by his ability to blend strategic vision with hands-on execution, delivering scalable payment solutions that meet evolving market demands and regulatory frameworks. His collaborative approach fosters strong partnerships across technology, operations, and business units to ensure seamless delivery and measurable business outcomes. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) from Georgetown University, grounding his technical expertise with a solid foundation in business strategy and leadership.

Kaylee Karumanchi Lord is a senior product manager for Global Trade at Bank of America based in Chicago, IL. She heads North America Trade Product, which includes responsibility for supply chain finance, receivables finance, traditional trade and new product development initiatives. Prior to joining BofA, Kaylee served in a variety of roles within corporate treasury at a Fortune 100 manufacturing company, including managing their multi-billion dollar global Supply Chain Finance program. Kaylee has her MBA from Northwestern University.

Business Development & Projects Manager with 18 years of International Banking experience. Melissa is passionate about turning ideas into action, building strategic partnerships, and driving meaningful results. She brings calm, thoughtful approach to complex challenges and thrive in roles where collaboration, communication, and clarity matter. Global banking taught her how to navigate diverse markets — now Melissa uses that insight to deliver smarter strategies and stronger outcomes. Always open to connecting with leaders who value growth, impact, and genuine partnership.

As Senior Vice President of Faster Payments at Alacriti, Mark leads the overall corporate faster payments strategy and product development of the Orbipay Payments Hub. Mark also currently serves in the Faster Payments Council Board Advisory Group, and chairs their Cross-Border Payments Work Group. Previously, Mark led product development for the RTP® network, the FedNow® Service, and Zelle® at FIS. In addition, Mark was part of the team that designed, developed, and launched the RTP network at The Clearing House. He also worked in digital payments product development at JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citibank, SunTrust Banks (now Truist Financial Corporation), and TD Bank.

Alexander R. Malaket, CITP, is the President of OPUS Advisory Services International Inc., in Canada, and Founder and Managing Director of Trade Finance Associates Pte in Singapore. Mr. Malaket is recognized internationally as a specialist and senior consultant in international trade and trade finance, having advised top-tier financial services, corporate, government and international institution clients across the globe, and having developed and delivered a variety of training seminars on an international basis. Mr. Malaket serves as a member of the Executive Committee and Technical Advisor to the ICC Banking Commission in Paris, as Secretary/Treasurer of the World Trade Centre in Winnipeg and is a long-time member of the Toronto Regional Board of Trade/World Trade Centre, as well as a member of the SWIFT/ICC Industry Education Group on the Bank Payment Obligation. Alexander is a member of the Board of Directors of the Forum for International Trade Training, Ottawa, Canada. Alexander is the author of “Financing Trade and International Supply Chains”, published by Gower/Ashgate UK.

Mr. Kim Manchester brings his extensive background in international banking to the global financial services industry. While based in both Hong Kong and Singapore, Mr. Manchester held senior regional and global positions in corporate banking, institutional banking and capital markets for one of the world’s largest emerging markets financial institutions. Mr. Manchester returned to Canada in 2003 and founded ManchesterCF. Based in Toronto, the practice provides financial crime risk management training programs and advisory services to financial institutions and public-sector agencies. The most successful training programs from ManchesterCF include the Financial Crime Training series for international banking and the FINTEL series for financial intelligence units.

Tony McLaughlin is responsible for Emerging Payments and Business Development in Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) business. Tony is responsible for the TTS Ecommerce proposition and is deeply involved in new methods of payment, Distributed Ledger and Fintech engagements. He joined Citi in 2004 and has been Core Cash Head for Asia Pacific based in Hong Kong and the Global Transaction Services Head for the United Kingdom, spearheading Citi’s engagement with large public sector clients and payment aggregators. Tony was responsible for the design and development of ABN AMRO’s Third Party Continuous Linked Settlement (CLS) offering, core electronic banking platform and transactional FX solution. At HSBC Holdings, he fulfilled a global strategy role for the Payments and Cash Management business. Before that he was a Senior Product Manager for Barclays Bank with responsibility for electronic collections products including International Direct Debits.

Carlos Kazuo Missao is the Global Head of Innovation Solutions at GFT, where he guides some of the world’s leading banking, finance, and insurance companies through large-scale digital transformation journeys. Missao's work spans the complete overhaul of legacy architectures and full cloud migrations to the adoption of advanced technologies and the introduction of open banking frameworks.

Kevin Miyamoto is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Identifee, responsible for all operational and administrative procedures. Prior to working at Identifee, Kevin worked at Corporate Executive Board, now part of Gartner, and spent a number of years working in multiple roles in Wells Fargo’s Payments, Virtual Solutions, and Innovations Team. Most recently, Kevin was the Business Manager in Wells Fargo’s Sponsorship Team, managing over $850B of payment volume.

Erin Moore is a Swift Payments Product Expert supporting the execution of Swift’s strategy of fast and frictionless cross-border payments. She is responsible for promoting ISO20022 migration, gpi, Swift Go, Pre-validation and Case Management. She works closely with financial institutions to transform the end user’s payment experience, harmonizing systems and schemes and refining efficiency of operations. She is a member of Women in Payments and a Swift Diversity and Inclusion global ambassador. Prior to joining Swift in 2020, Erin worked for The Clearing House and Citibank, holding various roles in product management and sales support and operations and technology as both an individual contributor and manager.

Kaushik Mukherjee is Senior Vice President and Head of Global Receivable & Trade for Asia Pacific, at Wells Fargo, based in Singapore. Kaushik joined Wells Fargo, Hong Kong in 2011, from Axis Bank, where he spent 14 years working in various leadership roles in Trade Operations, International Banking, Corporate Trade & Cash Management, Credit and Treasury functions as well as Trade Asset Distribution, both at Head Office in Mumbai and its Hong Kong branch. He moved to Singapore in 2014 with Wells Fargo, to manage the trade business for Asia South region involving India sub-continent, South-East Asia and Australia, both for the Corporate and FI clients. He took over the role of heading the GRT business for the entire APAC region in Oct 2020, with team members based in Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Japan, covering the Corporate and FI clients in the region.

Caryn Pace is a Managing Director in Global Payments Solutions at Bank of America. She heads Global Portfolio Management & Product Risk in Global Trade & Supply Chain. In this role, she has responsibility for the trade portfolio including monitoring, development of risk mitigation strategies, forecast impacts, and balance sheet management. Her team has oversight of risk mitigation on a portfolio and transaction level, including routines involving high risk transactions, asset quality, and business control. To drive and influence the global trade business strategy, she engages with clients and potential third party partnership opportunities to understand market perspective and evolving product needs. Caryn is a part of Bank of America’s Hispanic-Latino Executive Council. Previously, she held positions within global trade at J.P. Morgan where she worked for 12 years. She currently serves as a Vice-Chair on the International Chamber of Commerce Banking Commission. Caryn received her bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and is based in New York.

Miriam Ratkovicova is a Managing Director in the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Sanctions practice of Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics LLP. She has more than 25 years of experience advising US, Canadian, European and Asian large financial institutions on various Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/AML, Sanctions, Anti-Bribery & Corruption (ABC) and other Financial Crime compliance matters. Specifically, Miriam has led multiple large and complex projects involving historical transaction investigations, Know Your Customer (KYC) remediations, AML and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) risk assessments, and customer risk ratings. Miriam has delivered anti-financial crime engagements in numerous countries throughout Europe, Americas and Asia Pacific.

Miriam is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT) and the BAFT Executive Committee. She was recently elected as the BAFT’s Secretary/Treasurer and appointed as the BAFT’s Audit & Risk Committee Chair. Miriam is also serving as the Chair for the United for Wildlife North American Chapter.

Marc is responsible for the strategic development and positioning of cash clearing products for Deutsche Bank globally. The Clearing Product function is an integral component of the bank’s franchise in terms of strategic direction, product & service development, positioning, thought leadership as well as identifying and executing growth opportunities. Marc has been engaged in the financial services industry since 1998, re-joining Deutsche Bank in 2014 after having worked for JPMorgan and ING in various positions in both product management and operations. He is Deutsche Bank’s representative in various industry forums/working groups and holds a bachelor in foreign trade from the Liege Management School.

Sarah Reppchen is a Partner at Deloitte leading the Financial Risk Advisory and Transformation practice in Canada. She has over 16 years of experience working with global Financial Institutions in the Banking and Capital Markets sector and Regulators on Financial Risk and Regulatory Compliance matters. She specializes advising global banks, investment managers, payments providers, their Risk, Compliance, Finance and Business Operations Functions regarding Capital Adequacy, Liquidity, Treasury, Credit and Market Risk and the respective Governance, Regulations, Processes and Controls. Sarah represents Deloitte Canada at the global “Deloitte Basel III Steering Committee” that discusses global Basel III regulatory and industry trends and potential implications resulting from regulatory divergence on global financial institutions.

John Rodriguez is a trade, global payments, banking, and fintech executive with over 20 years of experience helping regulated financial institutions modernize real-time and cross-border payment capabilities to retain, defend, grow, and compete in the digital real time payments space. He brings deep expertise in real-time payments (RTP), correspondent banking, cross-border interoperability, ISO 20022, and bank–fintech partnership models, with a strong focus on governance, risk, and scalable execution. Known for bridging the gap between traditional banks and innovative fintech platforms, John advises institutions on how to responsibly deploy real-time and cross-border payment solutions, including wallet interoperability, account-to-account connectivity, and network-based models leveraging the TerraPay and SWIFT alliance to keep the global transaction banking industry strong and resilient. John has held senior roles at VISA, Barclays, and Wells Fargo, where he led strategic partnerships, payment infrastructure initiatives, and market expansion efforts across in North America, Latin America, and Europe. Using innovative SWIFT capabilities, including the recent launch of ISO 20022, and alliance with TerraPay, John helps banks connect new emerging payment rails into viable, compliant, and revenue-generating use cases. John previously served as Chair (President) of the Florida International Banking Association (FIBA) and as a Board Member of the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT) in Washington, DC. He is a graduate of the American Bankers Association (ABA) Stonier Graduate School of Banking focused on executive bank management.

Ryan is currently the Head of Digital Assets for Citibank's TTS business. The TTS team helps enable their global clients by simplifying the management of treasuries, payments and commerce on a day-to-day basis. Recently, Ryan and the team announced Citi Token Services, which is a pilot that enables clients to transfer liquidity between Citi branches on a 24/7 basis. The service uses blockchain and smart contract technologies to deliver digital asset solutions for institutional clients. Citi Token Services will integrate tokenized deposits and smart contracts into Citi’s global network, upgrading core cash management and trade finance capabilities.

Rob has been with Diageo for >25years. He has held many positions in Finance and is currently the Director of Financial Services for North America. Prior to Diageo, Rob worked in Finance at Elizabeth Arden (when it was part of Unilever) and Xerox Corporation. Rob is a graduate of Norwich University Military College of Vermont. In his current role at Diageo, Rob is responsible for Diageo North America businesses including Spirits, Beer, Supply, Non-alcoholic for the U.S and Canada. Rob’s teams are located in the U.S., Budapest, Hungary and Bangalore, India. Some of Rob’s and his team’s responsibilities include Treasury, Order to Cash (OTC), Source to Pay (STP), and Compliance. A key focus area for Rob is to identify Working Capital Opportunities, process gaps and resolve them through automation or reengineering. He looks from the outside in to find and create innovative processes to deliver results. Rob has been a board member of the Distillers Importers and Vintners Credit Management Association for many years. Throughout most of Rob’s career he had similar areas of responsibility within Finance, Treasury and oversite for Share Services.

Laura Sims is FI Coverage Banker in the International Corporate Bank (ICB) of Barclays Investment Banking division. Laura has enjoyed a 20+ year career in Barclays across both London and New York. With Corporate Banking being a continuous thread throughout her extensive tenor, Laura has had the opportunity to experience multiple pillars across the franchise, including Trade Finance, Cash Management & FX, Liquidity, and other corporate strategic solutions.

Deepa Sinha is the Senior Vice President of Payments and Financial Crime at BAFT, and will work to advance the goals of the payments and cash management industry through standardization, defining best practices and developing usable industry data. She will also be responsible for formulating policy recommendations and educating industry stakeholders including practitioners, regulators, policymakers and the broader business community. Prior to joining BAFT, Sinha accumulated more than 25 years of treasury and cash management experience at both corporations and banks. She formerly served as Treasurer at Caliburn International, now Acuity International, where she oversaw cash forecasting, working capital and debt management, and implemented policies and banking technology to support all core treasury functions. As the Associate Vice President of Banking Operations and Relationships at the Carlyle Group, she developed the cash management, FX and banking platforms, and built and managed the infrastructure for multicurrency cash management across 5,000+ bank accounts at more than 100 global banks. She also served on both the JPMorgan Chase Treasury and Wells Fargo Treasury Advisory Councils.

Nick Smit is a Managing Director, Head of Financial Institutions North America, with responsibility for originating and executing transactions for financial institution clients in North America, including asset managers, insurance companies, and banks. Nick has 18 years experience in the financial industry, primarily in corporate and global client relationship management. After he joined ING in 1995 as an Account Manager in Global Clients based in Amsterdam, he held various management roles within ING’s global banking network, including Head of Corporate Banking in Geneva, Head of Global Clients and Head of Corporate Clients for the Nordic Region based in Brussels, and Chief of Staff for ING’s global corporate and institutional business based in Amsterdam. Prior to joining ING, he worked in international trade and export finance at Standard Merchant Bank in Johannesburg.

Nick Sopkin is a Managing Director and founding member of Procura, where he develops innovative inventory finance and trade solutions that help corporates and financial institutions unlock working capital and optimize balance sheet outcomes. With over 25 years of banking experience, Nick bridges traditional and alternative finance, advising corporate treasuries and lenders on transaction structuring, risk mitigation, and bespoke funding programs. He has a strong track record partnering with leading global banks and investors to deliver flexible, off-balance sheet inventory financing solutions. Nick previously held senior roles at Bankers Trust/Deutsche Bank, Zurich Capital Markets, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, and MUFG.

Elizabeth is the Head of Client Innovation & Advisory for Transaction Banking at TD Securities, leading a newly established function focused on connection long-term industry trends with actionable insights and collaborating with clients, partners, and industry peers to build innovative solutions. Elizabeth is a key member of the Digital Assets Strategy Team and has played a critical role in transforming TD’s Transaction Banking business, bringing deep knowledge of client needs and industry best practices. She first joined TD as Head of Product Management for GTB, driving strategy and product delivery across all client segments and geographies. With over 20 years experience in corporate banking, transaction banking and payments, Elizabeth has held leadership positions at Citibank, Oliver Wyman, Treasury Strategies, and Selkirk Financial Technologies. Her expertise spans the full business delivery lifecycle, including sales, product management, client service, operations, and technology. Elizabeth also serves on the Advisory Board for Women in Payments USA and is a frequent public speaker and published author on innovation culture, and diversity in financial services.

Peter Swartz is co-founder and chief science officer at Altana, the trusted network connecting businesses and governments on an AI-powered platform for global trade. Altana’s tools drive corporate efficiency and cost savings, power Product Passports for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), ensure resiliency and economic security in a fragmenting global economy, and accelerate customs clearance for trusted traders. Peter’s work focuses on AI tools for empowering a new era of global commerce.

Barry is the Principal at TransactionBanker.com, a payments consultancy, and is a recognized expert in wholesale banking and the payments industry. He has been involved in payment operations, systems transformations, and modernization related projects for global banks and hardware and software firms for decades. Barry has managed day to day operations, as well as planned, organized, directed, and managed, major banking initiatives for banks around the world. Barry is a current member of the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT) Payments Committee and Co- Chairs their Payments Roadmap Workgroup. He is a past member of their Board of Directors. He was recognized in 2021 and 2022 as one of two BAFT Ambassadors of the Year. Barry is a former member of the US Faster Payments Council where he served as the Chair of their Cross Border Payments Workgroup and as member of their Operational Considerations Workgroup.

As a member of the Chief Leadership TEAM at PrimeRevenue, Caleb spearheads building systems and processes that enable TEAMs to be successful as the leader of Customer Success. He works with multinational and mid-market organizations across all industries, to achieve their strategic supply chain initiatives with the support of PrimeRevenue’s line of B2B payments solutions and services.

Renata Vilanova Lobo is the Head of Global Clearing at J.P. Morgan, being responsible for Clearing infrastructure, product, solutions and services related to cross border payments provided globally. Renata leads the product development, innovation and maintenance, go-to-market strategy, and client messaging of Cross Border Payments solutions globally offered to Financial Institutions and Corporate clients. In this role Renata has responsibility for providing strategic direction, leadership and oversight for the global correspondent banking business, working with J.P. Morgan stakeholders to deliver safe, efficient and innovative cross-border payments solutions. Renata joined J.P. Morgan in 2011 and for almost a decade she focused on building core cash management capabilities and growing the Payments business in Latam (Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Colombia). Renata has 25+ years of experience in the financial market, holding various positions leading local and international cash management and liquidity services, from a Product, Risk Management and Sales perspective.

With over 20 years of experience in the commodity industry, Sebastián Vivanco brings end-to-end perspective spanning both commodity trading houses and international banking. He began his career on the trading and operational side with leading firms such as Glencore, Trafigura, COFCO, where he worked closely with physical trading, risk management, trade finance, and logistics teams in energy, metals and agricultural markets. He later transitioned to the banking sector, holding senior roles at HSBC, Valley National Bank, and currently Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, where he leads commodity trade finance across energy, metals, and soft commodities. His experience bridges the commercial realities of trading desks with sophisticated balance-sheet, risk, and financing solutions, making him a trusted voice at the intersection of commodities, capital, and risk management.

Paul Warfield’s current role is to expand and grow product offerings within global trade products and global treasury services. He joined Huntington National Bank in June of 2021 and has more than 30 years of international banking experience working with trade services, trade finance, foreign exchange, and correspondent banking. Throughout his career he has been focused on looking for innovative solutions and technology enhancements that provide regional banks with competitive solutions. He is an active member with BAFT working on various committees and is past co-chair of the Regional Bank Council and past Board Member.

Craig Weeks is the Senior Vice President – Trade for the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT). Craig is also a Transaction Banking subject matter expert for Fitch Learning and an Executive Practicum Adviser of the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative of North Carolina State University. Craig served as SVP and Manager of the International Banking Group of US Bank as well as serving at Citibank and JPMorgan as Global Trade Sales Head for both institutions. Craig worked for Continental Grain Company, in New York, as Assistant Treasurer for Bank Relations, and in Geneva, Switzerland as Trade Finance Risk Manager. Craig has a Masters of International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management (Glendale, AZ) and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dickinson College, (Carlisle, PA) where he is an Emeritus Trustee. Craig also studied at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (Medellin, Colombia). Craig was a board member and former Chair of the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT). Craig is a Disaster Services volunteer for the American Red Cross Serving Western North Carolina and an avid hiker and golfer. He and his wife Lorraine reside in Weaverville, NC USA.

Geoffrey Wynne is Head of Sullivan & Worcester’s London office and its Trade and Export Finance Group. A leading trade finance lawyer, he specialises in trade, structured trade and commodity finance, advising major banks, non-bank financial institutions and multilaterals on transactions in emerging markets. Geoff’s expertise includes digitalisation of trade, warehouse and inventory financing, collateral management, ownership structures and receivables financing. He works with industry bodies including BAFT, ITFA, and the ICC, advising them on documentation and rules promulgated by them in trade finance. Geoff co-chaired the ICC Drafting Committee for the Uniform Rules for Digital Trade Transactions (URDTT) and was involved in the Electronic Trade Documents Act (2023). Recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award by RFIx in 2024, he is top ranked by Chambers UK (for which he is singled out as a ‘Star Individual’), the UK Legal 500 and IFLR1000. The team he leads has won numerous awards, including ‘Legal Innovation in Trade’ (TFG, 2023) and Best Export Finance Law Firm (GTR, 2023). Geoff is the editor of ‘The Practitioner’s Guide to Trade and Commodity Finance’ and General Editor of ‘A Guide to Receivables Finance’.

Michelle Zhao is Senior Vice President, Co-Founder and Global Product Head of Mastercard Move Cross-border Services. Mastercard Move Cross-border Services supports customers – Banks, Non-bank Financial Institutions, and SMEs in moving money to the world through one connection, ensuring accessibility, predictability, certainty, speed, and security. Prior to joining MasterCard, Michelle was the US Head of Cross-border Cross-currency Payments at HSBC, where she was accountable for USD Clearing and Cross-border Cross-currency Payment product portfolio, as well as managing cross-border Financial Institution Group inbound sales. She was also a member of The Clearing House CHIPS Business Committee and the BAFT Global Payments Industry Council. Additionally, Michelle held multiple roles at JPMorgan in its Global Payments Solutions organization, at Wells Fargo in its Wholesale Payments organization, and was the Head of Consumer FX eProducts in the Global Markets organization at Bank of America.

Aaron Zynczak is the Head of FX and International Sales at M&T Bank, where he oversees the Foreign Exchange business, Trade Finance Sales, and Supply Chain Finance. Prior to joining M&T Bank, he served as Senior Director of International Banking at First Citizens Bank and as Director of FX Sales at TD Securities. With three decades of experience in International Banking, Aaron has led teams and initiatives across managerial, sales, technology, and operational functions at organizations including The South Financial Group, Commerce Bank, and Bank of America. Aaron currently serves on the BAFT Americas Council. He is also a former member of the BAFT Board of Directors and a past Co Chair of the Americas Council.