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What to expect at this year’s Global Annual Meeting
We invite professionals in compliance, risk, and other business line units to join this afternoon workshop. Attendees registered for the Tuesday-only Financial Crime Compliance Workshop have access to the Financial Crime Compliance workshop on Tuesday afternoon, the graduation and anniversary celebration on Tuesday night, and Wednesday’s plenary sessions—all at a discounted conference rate.
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All times are in Eastern Time (ET). Program times are subject to change.
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
9:00 AM - 5:30 PM
5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Sponsored by
7:00 AM - 8:00 AM
Sponsored by
8:00 AM - 8:30 AM
Speaker
Tod Burwell
President & CEO
BAFT
8:30 AM - 8:50 AM
Speakers
Suresh Subramanian
Board Chair
BAFT
Tod Burwell
President & CEO
BAFT
8:50 AM - 9:00 AM
Speaker
Tod Burwell
President & CEO
BAFT
9:00 AM - 9:40 AM
Speaker
Ather Williams
Senior Executive Vice President, Head of Strategy, Digital, and Innovation
Wells Fargo Bank
9:40 AM - 10:20 AM
Speaker
Shawn Golhar
Global Head Policy Advisory Banking
Barclays
10:20 AM - 10:40 AM
Sponsored by
10:40 AM - 10:55 AM
10:55 AM - 11:35 AM
Panelists
Ben Ellis
SVP, Global Head of Visa B2B Connect
Visa
11:35 AM - 11:50 AM
11:50 AM - 12:30 PM
What does DEI mean to you? Why is DEI important in the transaction banking industry, and how does it impact the broader business? How do we reframe the conversation around DEI to engage broader audiences, rather than making it feel like a compliance exercise? This session will discuss these questions and others that may arise as we review the ever-changing landscape around DEI. Noted speakers from inside and outside Transaction Banking will shed light on this timely topic.
Moderator
Shannon Manders
Editorial Director
GTR
Panelists
Jamie Crosbie
Global Keynote Speaker, Jamie Crosbie LLC
Chair, ProActivate
Priya Raghavan
Managing Director and Head, US & Canada Financial Institutions
BBVA
James Rausch
Managing Director, Head, Global Transaction Banking
Royal Bank of Canada
Nick Smit
Head, Financial Institutions Americas
ING
12:30 PM - Evening
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Sponsored by
7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
8:30 AM - 8:40 AM
8:40 AM - 9:20 AM
Speaker
Manuela Veloso
Head of AI Research
J.P. Morgan
with
Mike Katergaris
Head of North America Financial Institution Sales
J.P. Morgan
9:20 AM - 10:00 AM
De-dollarization and currency diversification trends are increasing as certain segments of the financial industry are challenged in accessing dollars. What is the impact to financial inclusion amid growing trade obstacles? Will RMB or other BRICs currencies become more prevalent in the global economic order?
Moderator
Patricia Sullivan
Global Head, Institutional Cash
Deutsche Bank
Panelists
Dhiraj Bajaj
Global Head of FI Sales
Standard Chartered
Martin Barrios Cuellar
Managing Director and Regional Head in Latin America for Financial Institutions, NBFI’s and Public Sector, Global Payments Solutions
Bank of America
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM
10:45 AM - 11:05 AM
11:05 AM - 11:45 AM
Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/Anti-money Laundering (AML) has become an increasingly important topic in transaction banking, correspondent banking and trade finance & payments. Institutions are expected to develop and maintain effective internal controls to mitigate money-laundering risks in daily business. This session will focus on the current trends in AML on a global level, key AML regulations, challenges institutions face when complying with regional AML regulations and following global standards, and what should institutions expect in the AML space in the upcoming years.
Speaker
Miriam Ratkovicova
Partner
Deloitte
11:45 AM - 12:25 PM
Fraud, Cybersecurity and AI are individual topics that have received increasing attention in transaction banking, correspondent banking, trade finance and payments. This session will focus on current fraud trends, how AI is changing the cybersecurity landscape and how it can help cyber defenders detect and prevent fraud.
Panelists
Charles L. Banks
Vice President, Manager of Information Security
U.S. Bank
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM
Sponsored by
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
This workshop is part of the Global Annual Conference registration. However, those interested to only attend this workshop can register for the special workshop only pricing.
Topics include:
Held in partnership with
2:00 PM - 6:30 PM
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
7:00 AM - 8:30 AM
8:30 AM - 8:45 AM
8:45 AM - 9:25 AM
Trade experts and podcasters Scott Miller and William Reinsch break down the buzz around trade, how it affects policy, and impact on your day-to-day business
Podcasters
Scott Miller
Senior Mentor (Non-resident), Executive Education
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
William A. Reinsch
Senior Adivsor, Economics Program and Scholl Chair in International Business
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
9:25 AM - 10:05 AM
Digital assets are becoming integral to the financial world, and they take many forms. This session will potentially explore the following topics: What is your organization's strategy to serve clients who wish to utilize digital assets? What are the main operational and technological challenges digital assets present today? What is your digital asset strategy? How will you undertake client due diligence, data privacy, transaction monitoring, and value underlying assets? How can digital asset providers differentiate themselves from their competitors? How scalable are digital assets to emerging markets? Where do you see digital assets in the near future? This session will discuss these questions and others that may arise as you review the ever-changing digital asset landscape. Experts from a variety of organizations will shed light on this exciting topic.
Panelists
Rich Clow
MD, Head of Innovation and Strategy, Global Payments
Bank of America
10:05 AM - 10:25 AM
10:25 AM - 11:05 AM
Banks have been laser focused on the compliance of ISO 20022 standards, but what’s it all for? With costly investments on the enhancements of core legacy infrastructures, many participants within the financial network are starting to question the value of ISO. How can we define the true benefits to our end customers? What opportunities are available to banks that carve the way for new product opportunities? This session will take a deep dive into the end-to-end value chain of transactions, unlocking the utopia of payments.
Speaker
Mathew Parker-Jones
Senior Vice President, Global Head of Products & Operations
Scotiabank
11:05 AM - 11:45 AM
12:00 PM
Speaker
Tod Burwell
President & CEO
BAFT
For this year’s Annual Meeting, you have two program options to choose from – Full Conference or Tuesday Workshop only. See details below.
| Early Bird Rate | Regular Rate | Last Minute Rate | |
| Full Conference ¹ | Until March 21 | March 21 – April 18 | After April 18 |
| Member | $2,000 USD | $2,150 USD | $2,300 USD |
| Non-Member | $2,850 USD | $3,000 USD | $3,000 USD |
| Member Team Rate ² | $150 USD Discount | ||
| Early Bird Rate | Regular Rate | Last Minute Rate | |
| Tuesday Workshop³ Only | Until March 21 | March 21 – April 18 | After April 18 |
| Member | $500 USD | $600 USD | $700 USD |
| Non-Member | $650 USD | $750 USD | $900 USD |
¹Full conference registration grants access to all four days of conference sessions and activities. These include all plenary sessions, the Women in Transaction Banking pre-conference forum, Monday and Tuesday afternoon workshops (including the Financial Crime Compliance workshop), four days of bilateral meetings, access to the networking lounge, and all planned conference meals and networking events.
²The Member Team rate applies to BAFT member institutions that send six (6) or more attendees at the full-priced registration rate. Complimentary and discounted rates do not count toward the group minimum. To register your team, please contact [email protected].
³Tuesday workshop registration includes access to the Financial Crime Compliance (FCC) workshop on Tuesday afternoon, the graduation celebration on Tuesday night, and the plenary sessions on Wednesday.
Please Note: You will be asked to log in to your BAFT web account to complete registration. Your username is the email address you used during registration. If you forgot your password, please click the password reset link. If you do not have a BAFT web account, please create one first. Once you have created an account or reset your password, please return to this registration page to complete your registration.
To register for this event, please login or register for an account.
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.
Ben Ellis leads Visa B2B Connect globally. Visa B2B Connect is a multilateral network that builds on Visa’s expertise, delivering B2B cross-border payments that are predictable, secure, and cost-effective, for financial institutions and their corporate clients. Before assuming this role, Ben led strategy for Visa Business Solutions globally, drove growth initiatives within the Global Solutions team at Visa, and lead Visa's enterprise risk management team. Before joining Visa, Ben was a partner in the San Francisco office of McKinsey & Company with 10+ years experience serving financial institutions in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America on a range of topics including strategy, risk management, operational improvements, and organizational design.
Shannon Manders is the Editorial Director of GTR, the world's leading international trade finance publication. She is also a freelance financial journalist, editor and editorial consultant with 12 years of experience reporting on and producing print and online publications for the global trade and trade finance sector. Shannon has extensive experience in moderating discussions, both at GTR’s own conferences and at a range of other top industry events hosted by the likes of the ICC Banking Commission, the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, SWIFT (Sibos) and the Commonwealth Business Forum. She regularly covers stories from international locations, and has hosted numerous roundtable discussions and webinars.
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.
Suresh Subramanian leads the Transaction Banking Americas business in BNP Paribas' Corporate and Institutional Banking division. The business provides global working capital, cash management and liquidity solutions to all corporate and institutional clients of the bank. Based in New York, Suresh is responsible for business strategy, product management and sales for the activity across North and South America. As a seasoned professional with over 30 years in the industry, Suresh’s expertise and leadership working within BNP Paribas across Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas played a pivotal role in driving growth and innovation for the transaction banking business. His wealth of experience and ability to provide insight and guidance has afforded invitations to represent BNP Paribas on a variety of advisory boards, including serving as the current Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT) and a recent appointment to the Board of BNP Paribas Asset Management North America.
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 20 years of experience advising US, Canadian, European and Asian large financial institutions on various Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/AML, Sanctions, Anti-Bribery & Corruption 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 AML/Sanctions engagements in numerous countries throughout Europe, including Germany, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Portugal, UK, Cyprus and Slovakia. Currently, Miriam is serving several large financial institutions based in China, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.
Patricia Sullivan is Managing Director and Global Head of Institutional Cash Management (ICM) at Deutsche Bank since January 2024. In this role Patricia oversees the business and teams within the Corporate Bank delivering a wide range of payment, transactional FX, risk management, and liquidity solutions to financial institutions (banks & central banks) and Deutsche Bank affiliates. Patricia has more than 20 years of experience in covering ICM, Criminal Prosecution, Litigation, Financial Crime Compliance and Core Compliance.
Peter Zotos is Managing Director and Client Executive for the North American Banks & Broker Dealers segment in Wholesale Payments at J.P. Morgan. In this role he is responsible for overseeing the growth of the client base and the delivery of cash management, clearing, trade finance, and liquidity management solutions for clients. Mr. Zotos has served in a number of leadership roles internationally during his career, including Global Head of Network Management and Head of Correspondent Banking for the Americas with Standard Chartered Bank and has experience across the full range of transaction banking products including Cash Management, Clearing, Trade Finance and Custody.
Scott Miller is a senior mentor (non-resident) with the Executive Education, focusing on leadership development programs for public- and private-sector executives. From 2012 until 2017, he held the William M. Scholl Chair in International Business at CSIS. The Scholl Chair focuses on key issues in the global economy, such as international trade, investment, competitiveness, and innovation. From 1997 to 2012, Mr. Miller was director for global trade policy at Procter & Gamble, a leading consumer products company. In that position, he was responsible for the full range of international trade, investment, and business facilitation issues for the company. He led many campaigns supporting U.S. free trade agreements and has been a contributor to U.S. trade and investment policy over many years. Mr. Miller was a member of the State Department’s Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy. Earlier in his career, he was a manufacturing, marketing, and government relations executive for Procter & Gamble in the United States and Canada.
Matthew Parker-Jones joined Scotiabank in February 2023. Matthew provides strategic direction for GTB’s product strategy, developing a profitable growth plan for products across all customer segments including Small Business, Commercial, Corporate and Financial Institutions as well as strategic leadership and executive sponsorship for all Enterprise Payments business initiatives. Matthew joined Scotiabank from JPMorgan Chase (JPMC), where he was, most recently, Managing Director, Global Head of Pay by Bank and Business-to-Consumer Payments. In this role, he was responsible for global initiatives related to open banking and emerging payments, working closely with some of the world’s leading companies and FinTechs. Matthew also served as Country Head of Treasury Services for Canada. Previously, Matthew held senior roles including Head of Strategy for Global Payments as well as Head of North America Payments Transformation.
William Reinsch is senior adviser with the Economics Program and Scholl Chair in International Business at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Previously, he was a senior advisor at the law firm of Kelley, Drye & Warren and served for 15 years as president of the National Foreign Trade Council, which represents multinational companies on international trade and tax policy issues. From 2001 to 2016, he concurrently served as a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He is also an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, teaching a course in trade policy and politics. Reinsch also served as the under secretary of commerce for export administration during the Clinton administration. Prior to that, he spent 20 years on Capitol Hill, most of them as senior legislative assistant to the late senator John Heinz (R-PA) and subsequently to Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV). He holds a BA and an MA in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies respectively.
Join the leaders in the transaction banking community, along with others involved in cross-border payments and trade, as they gather to discuss key issues and best practices at the 2025 BAFT Global Annual Meeting.
The 2025 BAFT Global Annual Meeting is your opportunity to position your organization as a thought leader and connect with your clients. Plus, network with your colleagues or have uninterrupted meetings with prospective and future clients during dedicated bilateral meeting times included in the program schedule.
For more information, please contact:
Matthew Kaitz
Director, Business Development
[email protected]
+1 (703) 200-9071
The BAFT Global Annual Meeting is occurring at the JW Marriott Washington D.C.
JW Marriott Washington DC
1331 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20004
United States
BAFT has reserved a block of rooms at the JW Marriott Washington DC for conference attendees only at a special rate of USD $349 + 15.95% tax / night.
This conference attendee rate is good until April 4, 2025, or until the block is sold out. Reserve your room early using one of the following options:
Cancellation Policy: Please cancel more than 72 hours before arrival to avoid a cancellation fee. Make sure to check and review the full cancellation policy before booking your room. Contact the hotel directly for changes or cancellation to your room reservation.
We look forward to seeing you in Washington DC!
Interested in sponsoring the 2025 BAFT Global Annual Meeting? We can tailor your sponsorship package to meet your goals.
To discuss your sponsorship options, please contact:
Matthew Kaitz
Director, Business Development
[email protected]
+1 (703) 200-9071
© 2025 BAFT (Bankers Association for Finance and Trade)
