18th Annual Financial Services Conference 2020

David has a portfolio of senior management roles in the European public affairs industry, and has advised over 50 of the world’s largest financial institutions and trade associations on their public affairs strategy, stakeholder engagement, and reputation management activities across Europe, the UK and globally. He leads Kreab’s Financial Services Practice and is the Senior Partner of the Financial Policy Advisers Network. David has worked at the European Commission, the Financial Services Authority, McKinsey & Company, and Campbell Lutyens.

Partner and Managing Director of Forum Europe, James specialises in conceiving, marketing and organising conferences in Brussels that cover political and public affairs. He also leads on several client events outside of Europe.

Of note, James led on the management of the 2018 meeting of the ICDPPC (International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners) and the associated week of events in Brussels. Before Forum Europe, James worked in marketing and higher education. James graduated from Lancaster University with a degree in Communications in 2002

Valdis Dombrovskis is the European Commission’s executive vice-president for an economy that works for people. Between 2014 and 2019, he was vice-president responsible for the Euro and Social Dialogue, also in charge of Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union.
Previously, he served as Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia for three consecutive terms from 2009 to 2014, becoming the longest serving elected Head of government in Latvia’s history.
Before that, Dombrovskis was elected twice as a Member of the European Parliament as part of the Europeans People’s Party (EPP) Group. He was also Head of the Latvian Delegation in the EPP Group.
He served as a Member of the Saeima, the Latvian Parliament in 2004 and in 2014. He also served as Minister of Finance from 2002 to 2004. Previously, he worked as a senior economist and chief economist at the Bank of Latvia from 1998 to 2002.
Dombrovskis holds a BA in physics from the University of Latvia and in economics from Riga University of Technology. He also holds an MA degree in physics in from the University of Latvia.

Mauro is responsible for Accenture Strategy & Consulting in Europe, setting the vision, the industry and function agenda and bringing Accenture’s distinctive end-to-end services to clients across the region.
With over 28 years of experience in multiple roles within Accenture, he has led Banking Strategy globally and Financial Services in Europe, directed Accenture Strategy in EMEA and Latin America, and served as Managing Director of Accenture Management Consulting for Italy, Eastern Europe and Emerging Markets.

Early in his career, Mauro helped set up Accenture’s Strategy practice in Italy and led major Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Strategy and Sales & Distribution projects, primarily in the Banking industry.

Firmly committed to corporate social responsibility, as a Board Member of Accenture’s Italian Foundation, Mauro helps drive an agenda of non-profit programs that accelerate Digital Transformation in the non-profit sector in Italy.

Mauro held an MBA from the University of California Graduate School of Management. He is based in Milan.

Gabriele Galateri di Genola was appointed Chairman of Assicurazioni Generali on 8 April 2011. He was reappointed Chair by the Board of Directors on 7 May 2019 and he fully entered in charge on 23 May 2019, when the new article 29.1 of the Articles of association entered into force.

He holds a degree in Law and an MBA from Columbia University. He was appointed CEO of IFIL in 1986 and CEO and General Manager of IFI in 1993; subsequently, in 2002, he was appointed CEO of Fiat. From 2003 to June 2007 he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mediobanca. From 2003 to 2010 he was Vice-Chairman and a member of the Board of Directors of Generali. From 2007 to 2011 he was Chairman of Telecom Italia S.p.A., where he was a member of the Board of Directors until April 2014.

Kevin joined Barclays Bank Ireland PLC in May 2017 as Chief Executive Officer. Kevin previously served as Chairman of Corporate Banking and Vice Chairman, Investment Banking for Barclays based in London. He is a shareholder non-executive director of the Business Growth Fund in the U.K. 

Kevin joined Barclays as a graduate and has held client and product leadership roles in corporate and investment banking as well as in strategic planning and Human Resources. He has worked in the U.S., Australia, Asia and the U.K.

Barclays Bank Ireland had responsibility for the Barclays Groups European branches and businesses, with Dublin housing Barclays European Head Office Functions.

Kevin graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Accounting and Financial Analysis from Warwick University.

Prior to this he was Chief Executive, Americas & UK region since September 2015. In this position, he significantly deepened SWIFT’s engagement model with global transaction banks and successfully delivered business development results in high-growth markets. He was also an Executive sponsor of SWIFT’s Customer Security Programme from 2016 to 2018, helping to formulate and lead SWIFT’s response to the growing cyber challenge facing the community.

Pérez-Tasso joined SWIFT in 1995 and held a number of position including as Chief Marketing Officer, a role in which he was responsible for developing SWIFT’s current five-year strategy. The SWIFT2020 strategy he defined has led to the co-operative’s renewed focus on cross-border payments, expansion into financial crime compliance and deeper presence in the market infrastructures area, including its entry into instant payments. Earlier in his career, Pérez-Tasso held a number of technology and leadership positions in business development in regional offices in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

David has a portfolio of senior management roles in the European public affairs industry, and has advised over 50 of the world’s largest financial institutions and trade associations on their public affairs strategy, stakeholder engagement, and reputation management activities across Europe, the UK and globally. He leads Kreab’s Financial Services Practice and is the Senior Partner of the Financial Policy Advisers Network. David has worked at the European Commission, the Financial Services Authority, McKinsey & Company, and Campbell Lutyens.

Julian Skan is senior managing director for Banking & Capital Markets within Accenture Strategy. His role focuses on enabling organizations across all industries to improve their competitive advantage in markets that are being transformed by digital technologies.
During his nearly 30-year career with Accenture, Julian has worked with more than 50 financial services clients in 14 countries, including the United Kingdom’s largest banks. Julian is a prolific writer on topics related to capital markets. He also leads Accenture’s global FinTech Innovation Labs program.

Julian holds a bachelor’s degree in foreign languages and literature from University of Bristol. He is based in London, United Kingdom.

Pēteris Zilgalvis is the Head of Unit for Digital Innovation and Blockchain in the Digital Single Market Directorate in DG CONNECT and is the Co-Chair of the European Commission FinTech Task Force. He was the Visiting EU Fellow at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford for 2013-14, where was an Associate of the Political Economy of Financial Markets Programme. From 1997 to 2005, he was Deputy Head of the Bioethics Department of the Council of Europe, in its Directorate General of Legal Affairs.  In addition, he has held various positions in the Latvian civil service (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Environment). He was Senior Environmental Law Advisor to the World Bank/Russian Federation Environmental Management Project and was Regional Environmental Specialist for the Baltic Countries at the World Bank. He has been a member of the California State Bar since 1991, completed his J.D. at the University of Southern California, his B.A. in Political Science Cum Laude at UCLA, the High Potentials Leadership Program at Harvard Business School, and Computer Science for Lawyers at Harvard Law School. A recent publication of his is “The Need for an Innovation Principle in Regulatory Impact Assessment: The Case of Finance and Innovation in Europe” in Policy & Internet. An upcoming publication is “The Law and Political Economy of Decentralised Digital Ecosystems”.

With a background in Engineering and Technology, David Reed has spent the last 25 Years primarily in the Asset Management sector. In this time, he has worked for and with a number of large Asset Management firms in a variety of roles. He has been involved with a number of programmes focussed on the Distribution arena, in particular the establishment of effective Client Relationship platforms and driving innovation in engaging customers and clients. David co-founded a specialist consultancy that focussed on the emerging Platform distribution market in EMEA and worked with a large number of Financial Institutions integrate this capability within their organisations. More recently, David has been involved in driving an innovation mindset to enable Asset Management firms to leverage new and emerging technology to transform and leverage the Digital ecosystem.

Francine Lacqua is an award-winning London-based anchor for Bloomberg Television. She co-anchors the weekday 3-hour daily program “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom Keene, where she provides insight on foreign policy, global markets and the top business stories of the day. She also presents “Leaders with Lacqua,” a special series where she sits down with top CEOs, entrepreneurs and public figures.

Since joining Bloomberg in 2000, Lacqua has covered the World Economic Forum in Davos, IMF in Washington, G20 meetings, the EU Leaders Summit and OPEC. She also led Bloomberg Television’s coverage of the Italian and French elections
where she was one of the first international reporters to interview cabinet members.
While at Bloomberg, Lacqua has interviewed high-profile figures such as French President Emmanuel Macron, former UK Prime Minister David Cameron, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, Billionaire financier George Soros and ECB President Mario Draghi. She has also interviewed finance ministers from South Korea, Russia, France, Mexico, Italy and Greece, as well as moderating televised debates from the World Economic Forum in Davos and the European Economic Governance package.

In 2018, Lacqua received the Knight of the Order of the Star of Italy (Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia). The decoration, honoring Italians living abroad who promote national prestige and co-operation with the nation, was presented by the Italian Ambassador Raffaele Trombetta on behalf of the president of Italy.

In 2013 Lacqua won ‘International TV Personality of the Year’ at the AIB Media Awards. She was previously nominated in 2009 and 2010. In 2012, she was part of the Bloomberg team that won the OPEC award for ‘Public Interest Reporting’. She has an LLB in English law from King’s College in London and earned her undergraduate degree at the Sorbonne. She is fluent in French and Italian.

Mary L. Schapiro is the Vice Chair for Global Public Policy of Bloomberg, the global financial technology company that was founded in 1981. She has been at Bloomberg since October 2018, and also serves as a Special Advisor to the Founder and Chairman.

Ms. Schapiro, who has had a distinguished career as a financial services regulator under four U.S. presidents from both political parties, oversees Bloomberg’s
public policy and regulatory priorities globally. Her service as the 29th SEC Chair culminated decades of regulatory leadership. She was the first woman to serve as SEC Chair, and the only person to have served as chair of both the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. During her four years as SEC Chair, Ms. Schapiro presided over one of the busiest rulemaking agendas in the SEC’s history, during which the agency also executed a comprehensive restructuring program to improve protections for investors and pursued aggressive enforcement of the federal securities laws.

Ms. Schapiro also serves as an advisor to Bloomberg in multiple capacities, including as a leader for two groups chaired by Michael R. Bloomberg. The first group – the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures – has developed and garnered wide spread support for a voluntary framework for corporate disclosure of climate-related risk information to help investors, lenders, underwriters and others make informed financial decisions. The second group – the Working Group on U.S. RMB Trading and Clearing – supports the internationalization of China’s currency in order to improve the competitiveness and efficiency of U.S. businesses by lowering trading costs and improving access to China’s markets. The third is the Climate Finance Leadership Initiative.

Before becoming SEC Chair and working for Bloomberg, Ms. Schapiro served as chief executive officer of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the largest nongovernmental regulator of securities firms. Earlier, she was Chair of the CFTC from 1994 to 1996, a commissioner of the SEC from 1988 to 1994, and general counsel of the Futures Industry Association. She serves on the board of both Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), and CVS Health (NYSE: CVS). She previously served on the board of GE and the London Stock Exchange. She is also a member of the governing board of the Center for Audit Quality and serves on advisory boards at the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Biography to follow.

Jane Ambachtsheer oversees the firm’s ambitious approach to sustainable investment. This is empowered by the firm’s Sustainability Centre, which undertakes innovative research and policy development, guides BNPP AM’s investment stewardship and industry engagement activities, and supports investment teams in accessing, integrating and reporting on ESG factors. On the business side, Jane is responsible for BNPP AM’s Corporate Social Responsibility (‘CSR’) approach, ensuring the firm’s day-to-day activities reflect the high standards it expects from companies. Jane is a member of BNPP AM’s Global Investment Committee and Business Management Committees, and reports to the Head of Investments, Rob Gambi.

Previously, Jane spent 18 years with global investment consultancy Mercer, where she was Partner and founder of the firm’s Responsible Investment business. Jane regularly researches, writes and speaks on topics addressing the intersection of sustainability and climate with finance and investment. She is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto and a Research Affiliate at the University Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, and holds a Master of Social Science from the University of Amsterdam and a Bachelor of Economics and English Literature with honours from York University.

David has a portfolio of senior management roles in the European public affairs industry, and has advised over 50 of the world’s largest financial institutions and trade associations on their public affairs strategy, stakeholder engagement, and reputation management activities across Europe, the UK and globally. He leads Kreab’s Financial Services Practice and is the Senior Partner of the Financial Policy Advisers Network. David has worked at the European Commission, the Financial Services Authority, McKinsey & Company, and Campbell Lutyens.

Jörg Kukies serves as state secretary for financial market policy and European policy at the German Federal Ministry of Finance, a position he has held since 2018. Previously, he was co-chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs AG and managing director of the Frankfurt branch of Goldman Sachs International from 2014 to 2018. Kukies has also served as head of equity derivatives for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, for Goldman Sachs International from 2011 to 2014.

Kukies has a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Chicago, an MPA from John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and BA in Economics from Pantheon-Sorbonne University, Paris.

Natasha Cazenave is Managing Director of the French regulator, Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and Head of the Policy and International Affairs Directorate. The Directorate covers all areas of securities regulation including markets and intermediaries, OTC derivatives, CCP, asset management, corporate governance, transparency requirements for issuers as well as Fintechs and sustainable finance. Natasha is also co-Chair of the Financial Stability Board’s Non Bank Working Group since 2015.  Prior to joining the AMF, she worked 8 years for a European consultancy specialised in corporate governance and the promotion of investor rights, Deminor. She started her career at Ernst & Young, in the Valuation and Business Modelling team of Ernst & Young Corporate Finance.

Verena Ross is the Executive Director of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). She was appointed to the role in March 2011 and joined ESMA on 1 June 2011. She is the first Executive Director of the organisation and forms part of the senior management team along with the Chair of ESMA. The Executive Director has responsibility for the day-to-day running of the organisation.

Prior to this, Verena held a number of senior posts in the UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA), with her final position being Director of the International Division from October 2009 to May 2011. Verena was also a member of the FSA’s Executive Committee and the Executive Policy and Risk Committees.

Verena joined the FSA in 1998 to run the Executive Chairman’s office during the regulator’s start-up phase, and was briefly a seconded advisor to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission in 2000. She subsequently held various positions in the Markets Division and was Director of the Strategy & Risk Division before becoming Director of the International Division.

Verena is a German national. Following studies in Hamburg, Taipei and London (SOAS) she began her career at the Bank of England in 1994, where she worked as an economist and then banking supervisor.

Professor Danuta Hübner is a Polish economist, academic and policy maker. Born in 1948, she received her Masters degree from the Foreign Trade Department at the Warsaw School of Economics (1971) and a PhD in 1974. She is still teaching at the Warsaw School of Economics and was awarded honorary doctorates in economies and law by several universities including Sussex University and Economic University in Poznan.

Before becoming an advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister in Poland in 1994, she has been engaged in building the new Polish economy after communism. As a Polish Advisor, Vice-Minister or Minister, she has promoted a new approach to industrial policy as well as the development to prepare Poland’s entry in the European Union and in the OECD. Ms. Hubner became the first Polish Minister for European Affairs and the first Polish member of the European Commission (regional policy).

Since 2009, she has been a Member of the European Parliament, where she uses her experience in international institutions, for instance as Undersecretary General for the United Nations (Economic Commission for Europe in Geneva between 1998 and 2000).

Kevin joined Barclays Bank Ireland PLC in May 2017 as Chief Executive Officer. Kevin previously served as Chairman of Corporate Banking and Vice Chairman, Investment Banking for Barclays based in London. He is a shareholder non-executive director of the Business Growth Fund in the U.K. 

Kevin joined Barclays as a graduate and has held client and product leadership roles in corporate and investment banking as well as in strategic planning and Human Resources. He has worked in the U.S., Australia, Asia and the U.K.

Barclays Bank Ireland had responsibility for the Barclays Groups European branches and businesses, with Dublin housing Barclays European Head Office Functions.

Kevin graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Accounting and Financial Analysis from Warwick University.

Biography to follow shortly.