Sereen Ahmed is an accomplished professional with a wealth of experience in the finance industry. As the Americas Head of Trade and Working Capital , Sereen has demonstrated exceptional expertise and leadership. Sereen’s educational journey began at Amman Alahliye University, where she completed her studies in banking and finance. Eager to expand her knowledge and skills, she pursued an MBA in internal Finance from Ashland University solidifying her foundation in the field. With a career spanning over two decades, Sereen has made significant contribution to renowned financial institutions. She started her journey at HSBC in 2002, where she gained a valuable experience and developed a strong understanding of the banking industry. In 2012, Sereen took on a new challenge by joining Barclays Dubai to oversee the Middle East business, and moved to New York in 2023 to take a new role as Americas Head of Trade and Working Capital.

Over 30 years of trade experience across business management, product development, client sales & operations & risk control in banking. Experience includes In-depth banking industry and working knowledge, including product development, relationship management, business understanding, strong product knowledge, and impact of key market trends on business strategy. Current responsibilities Heading team of Product and Technology team building a software solution (SaaS) automating trade finance processing.

Kandice Alter is Vice President in Federal Reserve Financial Services’ Payments System Improvement group. She and her team lead efforts to promote integrity, efficiency, and accessibility of the U.S. payments system with focus on payments standards, and addressing frictions related to cross-border, and business-to-business payments. Kandice also serves on the Bank of International Settlement’s Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) Central Bank Community of Practice on Payment Systems.

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.

With over 20 years of experience leading transformative global initiatives for Fortune 500 companies such as IBM, Cisco Capital, and TIAA, Nancy Amert is a distinguished expert in organizational change management and sustainable business practices. As the Founder and Principal Change Consultant at Think Green Advisors, she helps organizations navigate complex changes while aligning their strategies with sustainability, corporate responsibility, and operational efficiency.

Brian Anderson is Vice President, International Banking Development at Finzly. Brian has spent his career introducing innovative fintech solutions to International Bankers in Global Payments, Foreign Exchange and Trade Finance. With over 30 years’ experience in business development and product management at financial technology companies like Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg, and Finzly, Brian brings deep domain expertise in foreign exchange, international and domestic payments, treasury management, trade finance and other markets.

With over 20 years of banking experience Jean-Paul leads a transactional services product team across Latin America responsible for the structuring and provision of working capital, trade & supply chain finance solutions to financial institutions, corporations and public sector entities. Jean-Paul manages a material asset portfolio through E2E product investment, development and market commercialization of trade/SCF products, including loans, payables finance, receivables finance, core trade, and export agency finance in Latin America.

Kwabena Ayirebi, is Managing Director, Banking Operations at the African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank). Afreximbank is the foremost pan-African multilateral financial institution devoted to financing and promoting intra- and extra-African trade. Kwabena, joined Afreximbank in September 2017 after 13 years with HSBC as an International Manager, serving in various leadership roles in India, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and UK. At Afreximbank he has led the development of payments and trade services capabilities which has positively impacted the availability of trade finance for the Bank’s member countries and clients. He loves travelling and in August 2023 undertook a 10,000km “Drive for Digitisalisation” from Accra to London raising funds for a charity that is delivering technology interventions in rural Ghana.

Mike leads International Trade at Synovus Bank and has 20+years of experience in international banking, trade sales, trade operations, and risk management. Prior to Synovus he worked at Bank of America and Zions Bancorporation. He is a trusted advisor and transaction structuring specialist for trade products and is the International “Go-To-Guy” for Synovus bankers and their clients. He is on the BAFT Americas Council and Co-Chairs initiatives for Regional Banks. Mike holds an MBA in Supply Chain and Operations from Purdue University, a BA in Finance from Brigham Young University, and is fluent in Spanish.

Alethia Baggett joined the American Bankers Association (ABA) in 2016 as its first Chief Human Resources Officer. She reports to the Chief Executive Officer and serves as a member of ABA’s Executive Team. She is responsible for the development and execution of the human resources strategy that enables ABA to meet its strategic goals. She also oversees the organization’s HR function and leads a team who deliver best-in-class practices in talent acquisition and retention, total rewards, HR consultation, employee relations, learning and development, workforce planning and HR technology. Over the course of her 25-year career in human resources, spanning public relations, media, healthcare and non-profit industries, Alethia has become well versed in transforming companies and their cultures by enhancing every aspect of HR. She seeks out opportunities to make good workplaces better by focusing on leadership development, cultural transformation and operational improvements. As part of that effort, ABA has been certified as a Great Place to Work for the last four years under Alethia’s leadership.

Venkat B.V. is Head of StoneX Technology Services, a dedicated technology unit within the StoneX group that serves both external and internal customers. Venkat previously co-founded Akshay Software Technologies Ltd,, whose US subsidiary provided SWIFT services to the Global Payments Business unit of StoneX before it was acquired by StoneX in September 2018.

Ayush Bhandari is Vice President of Strategy & Coverage for Global Banks and NBFIs at Crown Agents Bank, where he drives global business development, geographic expansion, and strategic partnerships across wholesale FX, cross-border payments, and the bank's working capital solutions. Prior to joining CAB, Ayush began his career as a graduate at Citibank in the Financial Institutions Group, supporting deal origination, credit analysis, and regulatory initiatives for fintechs, banks, and asset managers. As a 2025 BAFT Future Leader, Ayush is passionate about fostering financial inclusion and solutions on how banks can facilitate real-time cross-border payments.

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.

Carrick is responsible for adapting international bank surety applications to the US and Canadian surety markets and for aiding the domestic surety team in various commercial surety applications on an as-needed basis. He is the leader of Marsh’s domestic Bank Fronted Surety initiative.

As CGI’s Global Payment Solutions lead, Karen’s visionary leadership and strategic acumen help to drive the company’s payment solutions forward. With more than 30 years of experience in the payments industry, Karen develops strategic payment solution frameworks and compelling marketing plans, helping CGI clients navigate the complexities of the global payments landscape with precision. Her deep understanding of both the technical and market dynamics of payment solutions reinforces CGI’s leadership in the financial services sector, positioning the company at the cutting edge of payments innovation and customer satisfaction. Karen’s career began in the UK banking sector, where she gained invaluable expertise in payment solution implementation.

Cary Burch grew up in the Silicon Valley during the technology and software transformation. He is an accomplished global business leader and Founder and CEO of Bryce Catalyst, an operator for operator investment firm focused on AI, RegTech, FinTech, LegalTech and Cyber. As a former Chief Innovation office and a divisional CEO of Thomson Reuters he has played a pivotal role in driving digital transformation and strategic growth in various industries. His leadership experience spans executive roles in technology, enablement, product development, regulatory compliance and corporate strategy where he has consistently championed innovation to create impactful business solutions. Cary is a member of the FBI InfraGuard and the US Secret Service Cyber Task Force that has a mission to prevent, detect, and mitigate complex cyber-enabled financial crimes, with the ultimate-goal of arresting and convicting the most harmful perpetrators throughout the globe. Cary has an MBA from Pepperdine University and has studied at Harvard Business School and Oxford University. Cary is married to an ethical hacker and plays polo on horses.

Brigit is Policy Lead, Americas at Wise (formerly TransferWise), a global technology company building the best way to move money across borders: instant, convenient, transparent and affordable. Wise processes over $10bn in cross-border volume each month, serving around 9 million active customers, and is licensed across 16 major global markets. Brigit's work focuses on cross-border payments issues, including real-time payments, price transparency, access to market infrastructure, open banking/finance and digital identity. Her role comprises building and maintaining relationships with government stakeholders; briefing and staffing Wise C-suite executives on relevant policy issues; serving as a Wise spokesperson in the media; and acting as Wise’s representative within a number of industry and advisory groups, including as Board member of the Financial Technology Association, the leading voice of fintechs in Washington.

Ned Carroll is Executive Vice President and Head of Data and Automation for The PNC Financial Services Group. He is responsible for overseeing all aspects of PNC’s data strategy as well as leading Technology’s efforts to promote intelligent automation (IA) and artificial intelligence (AI) throughout the organization. He brings more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry with a focus on data, analytics and risk management. While his areas of expertise surround data governance, Carroll also has held several roles in cyber technology.

Kaushik is responsible for the coverage of Canadian Banks and Foreign Headquartered Banks in North America from a Transaction Banking perspective as part of the Global Financial Institutions team at Bank of America. Kaushik has extensive experience across transaction banking roles covering Corporate, NBFI and Financial Institution in Trade & Supply Chain Finance, and Financial Institutions Sales. Specializing in Transaction Banking product and sales roles focussed on Payments, FX, Structured Trade and working capital solutions, he has extensive experience in diverse capacities with assignments across APAC including Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Singapore. As a subject matter expert on International Trade, Kaushik has been an active speaker in leading industry bodies and conferences including ‘Exporta’. He was also on BAFT’s expert panel in North America developing course content for one of their Certificate Courses for industry professionals.

Dan DeLuca is an SVP at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Dan heads up and is responsible for the Fedwire Funds and National Services Product team which includes but is not limited to the support of expansion of hours, ISO 20022 implementation, pricing and the improvement of endpoint security measures across our product lines. Prior to joining the Fed, Dan worked at Goldman Sachs within their Operations division serving in a number or roles including heading up and leading their Trade Support, Regulatory Operations and Global Payment Operations teams supporting a number of different product lines. Dan currently chairs the Wholesale Payments Advisory Group (WPAG) on behalf of the Fed and is also a member of the central bank’s RTGS Operators Group

Patrick DeVilbiss is a subject matter expert in trade finance and oversees product management of CGI Trade360, a SaaS-based end-to-end trade finance platform utilized by global financial institutions to deliver trade services. He has supported the development of large-scale platforms delivered to top 10 global financial institutions in the trade finance space. Previously he worked for the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade, where he helped to position the transaction banking industry for long-term growth and success by developing best practices and delivering education and training to member institutions.

Richard Dzina is responsible for the on-going development and execution of product strategy for CHIPS and SVPCO, and also contributes broadly to the evolution of our payment systems. Most recently Richard served as Executive Vice President and Wholesale Product Director for the Financial Services Group of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. In this role he had responsibility for the Fedwire Funds, Fedwire Securities, and National Settlement Services and the Bank’s Cash and Custody Function. Prior to this responsibility he led the Market Operations Monitoring and Analysis Function of the Markets Group during the financial crisis. Over the course of his 28-year career at the Fed Richard also ran the Bank’s Central Bank Services Function, led the International Cash Staff, and performed numerous other roles canvassing the Bank’s monetary policy, supervisory, and financial services responsibilities.

Rachel serves as a Client Advisor in Marsh’s Credit Specialties practice in New York. In this role, she is responsible for understanding her clients’ priorities and risk strategies to help provide knowledge and advice. Working predominantly with global financial institutions, she identifies needs for credit insurance products which facilitate the flow and financial feasibility of trade finance transactions among FI’s and their corporate clients. The use of such products enables her clients to obtain improved returns as well as capital treatment under the relevant banking regulations.

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.

Allan Garcia is a seasoned trade finance professional with a strong track record in sales, operations, and client origination across leading global financial institutions, including BBVA, The Bank of Nova Scotia, and MUFG. Based in New York City, Allan currently serves as a Senior Associate at BBVA. He has played a pivotal role in driving consistent growth within the Trade Finance group for Financial Institutions, while spearheading the development and expansion of BBVA's Bank Fronted Surety portfolio. With expertise in structuring competitive financing solutions, Allan has established a reputation for delivering innovative and client-focused results. Leveraging deep knowledge of international trade finance products, including SBLCs, Payables & Receivables Finance, and Working Capital solutions, Allan is dedicated to fostering growth while building and managing strong client relationships.

Camille Garcia is the Head of Core Trade Manufacturing within Citi’s Trade and Working Capital Solutions division. In his role, Camille Garcia has end-to-end responsibility product delivery and leads global teams across US, EMEA and Asia, focused on optimizing P&L, managing capital, mitigating risks and controls, executing the Technology Book of Work, and driving product innovation and digital transformation. Camille Garcia brings 25+ of experience in the banking and TMT sectors. During his tenure at Citi, Camille Garcia focused on deal origination, import/export product management and strategic product development. He also implemented large comprehensive trade insourcing deals in the FI segment. More recently, Camille Garcia was responsible for overseeing Citi’s trade investment spend and execution of the book of work against technology deliverables. He has also coordinated business strategic priorities across the payables, receivables, loans and documentary business pillars.

Robert is currently focused on originating and providing global trade, supply chain and payment solutions to multinational / large corporates, Financial Institutions / Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFI) & EMDO's (Embassy's, Multilaterals, Development Organizations, NGOs & Foundations). Robert is a finance professional and trusted advisor with over 35 years of marketing & structuring traditional / structured trade finance, receivable/payable and working capital solutions.

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.

Doug is the Chief Executive Officer at NGDATA and brings more than 30 years of international experience. Before joining NGDATA, Doug was Executive Director of Corporate Banking Solutions at financial services technology specialist, FIS Global. Prior to this, Doug was CEO of payments technology firm, Clear2Pay America, which was bought by FIS Global in 2014. He also held senior positions with S1, Unisys and HSBC. Doug is the Chief Executive Officer at NGDATA and brings more than 30 years of international experience. Before joining NGDATA, Doug was Executive Director of Corporate Banking Solutions at financial services technology specialist, FIS Global. Prior to this, Doug was CEO of payments technology firm, Clear2Pay America, which was bought by FIS Global in 2014. He also held senior positions with S1, Unisys and HSBC.

Rob Handfield is the Bank of America University Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management at North Carolina State University, and Executive Director of the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative (http://scm.ncsu.edu/). Handfield is considered a thought leader in the field of supply chain management and has extensive knowledge in the fields of sourcing, supply market intelligence, and supply chain resilience. Handfield has published more than 150 peer reviewed journal articles and is regularly quoted in global news media such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Bloomberg, NPR, Washington Post, the Financial Times, Fox Business News, and CNN. He served on the Joint Acquisition Task Force during COVID which led to published articles on the shortages of PPE in the Harvard Business Review and the Milbank Quarterly Journal and led a NIIMBL research team studying distribution of test kits during the pandemic. He was also invited to serve on the Biden White House Counsel of Economic Advisors in January 2022 and has worked with many companies through the Supply Chain Resource Cooperative for several years.

Peter Hazou is Director of Business Development at Microsoft in the Financial Services Industry team and is responsible for client Corporate Banking and Trade Finance solutions and modernization worldwide. Prior to Microsoft, Peter was a Transaction Banking industry banker for 30+ years in the EMEA region. He was the Regional Head for GTB at HSBC for EMEA as well as the Regional Head for GTS at Citigroup for CEEMEA. He also headed Market Management for Treasury Services at BNY Mellon in London and was Head of Strategy for GTB at UniCredit in Milan. His background is in Product Management for Payments at Chase Manhattan Bank. He began his career in New York as a credit officer in correspondent banking at Manufacturers Hanover Trust.

Abdi leads Wealthsimple's open banking and instant payments initiatives, driving the company's strategy in this rapidly evolving landscape. As part of Wealthsimple's Payments Team, he focuses on regulatory strategy for payments modernization and open banking, representing the company in consultations with industry, government regulators, and consumer stakeholders. He also represents Wealthsimple on the FDX Canada working group and serves on the global advisory board for Open Banking Expo. Abdi is a board member of Open Finance Canada as well. With experience spanning government, banking, and tech, he is passionate about advancing financial inclusion.

Jenni is the Head of Financial Institutions, FinTech and Broker Dealers for Barclays Europe. Based in Frankfurt, she leads a pan European team of dedicated coverage bankers who provide cash management, FX risk management, debt and partnership opportunities to a wide range of established and fast growth clients in these sectors.

Andrew Holmes joined Demica in 2018 to open the U.S. office and heads up Origination in North America. He previously worked for Barclays where he led the Trade and Working Capital team in the Americas, after having spent seven years in London in a variety of Trade Finance roles. Mr. Holmes holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Siva is the global head of engineering for the Payments Enablement Platform, Treasury Services Channels, and Treasury Services Data & Analytics at BNY. Since joining BNY in 2019, Siva has led engineering teams and functions across Clearance & Collateral, Portfolio Management, and Credit Services. His responsibilities have included application development, data & analytics, Google Cloud adoption, AI/ML, and user experience and design systems.

Jagoda has been a part of Citi’s North America Trade Sales team for 8 years, focusing on trade origination across Consumer, Healthcare, and Nonprofit. She collaborates with clients to gain insight into their business models, optimize working capital, and align with strategic objectives through both structured and documentary trade solutions. She is based in New York, NY.

Nathan Hummel is the Relationship Manager covering Financial Institutions at Allianz Trade in the Americas. He has served as Head of Trade Finance at Capital One and WSFS Bank.

Kyle Jackson is the Managing Director, Credit Underwriting for the Office of Strategic Capital’s Credit Program. In this role, Kyle overseas a team on Investment Officers charged with determining the eligibility and creditworthiness of perspective Borrowers applying for OSC support. Prior to joining OSC, Kyle spent over two decades with the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Over the course of his career at EXIM Bank, Kyle held several crucial positions including Business Development Officer for Technology and Service Firms, Business Development Officer for the Mid-Atlantic Region, Senior Credit Officer for Sovereign and Financial Institutional Risk and Managing Director for Technology and Digital Infrastructure. In these roles Kyle had the opportunity to work across a multitude of credit classes, such as sovereign, corporate, highly structured, and limited recourse project financing. He underwrote or led a team of analyst in the evaluation of a variety of asset classes, including civil infrastructure, financial services, oil and gas, renewable and conventional power generation, aviation, terrestrial telecom, mining, manufacturing and satellites.

Asad is a member of the Enterprise Payments team for TD Bank. He leads a team of talented and motivated payments and data enthusiasts transforming TD's payments vision into reality. Asad is a trusted, global leader with decades of experience in leading strategic and transformational initiatives in a diverse set of industries including banking, telecom, hospitality and auto finance. Asad has structured and executed critical and complex transformations in numerous contexts including post-catastrophe business continuity management, business mergers and divestitures and digital transformations in large organizations.

Jenny Lee is a Managing Director and Head of US Wire Product for Global Payments Solutions at Bank of America based in New York City. She is responsible for end-to-end management and development of USD wire payments capabilities, including execution of large-scale industry initiatives such as ISO 20022 migration. Her experience in the global treasury services space includes strategy, risk, business and product management for Cash Management, Liquidity, and Payment products at J.P. Morgan and currently at Bank of America. Jenny is enthusiastic about building a payments platform with the stability, capacity and resiliency required for the largest global payment clearers, driving fast-paced, cross-functional and cross-regional efforts within the strict risk and compliance framework. She also creates strategy and positioning points for key payments industry groups including the Federal Reserve Financial Services Wholesale Payments Advisory Group.

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.

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.

Jennifer loves payments and has been immersed in the space, building new products, solving unique challenges and inspiring new generations of payments professionals for over 30 years. Jennifer is a Parter with EY and leads the Payments Consulting business. She and the Global Payments team at EY work every day to help clients Grow, Protect and Modernize in the Payments space.

Erik Lundh is Senior Global Economist for The Conference Board Economy, Strategy & Finance Center, where he focuses on monitoring global economic developments and overseeing the organization’s global forecasts and the Economy Watch webcast. His research focuses on the structural drivers of global growth. He also manages several key datasets, including the Total Economy Database™ and the forward-looking Global Economic Outlook. Lundh joined The Conference Board in 2016 as a China economist and, from 2019 to 2024, led much of the organization’s work on the US economy. Prior to that, he spent five years at Evercore ISI as Director of China Research, working closely with institutional investors. Earlier in his career, he served as an economic analyst at the US International Development Finance Corporation, the US-China Economic & Security Review Commission, and the US-Taiwan Business Council.

As the Chief Operating Officer of TradeSun Inc., Iain MacLennan oversees Customer Success, Partnership Development, Sales Leadership, Marketing, and Operational Excellence. He joined in February 2025, following his tenure as Chair of the Operational Advisory Board. Before joining TradeSun Inc., Iain served as Vice-President for the Trade Line of Business at Finastra, where he was responsible for the Product and Engineering groups. Prior to that, he spent six years at Lloyds Banking Group in various leadership roles within Technology and Group Transformation, supporting the Commercial Bank.

Rania is a Director of Consulting in the Washington, D.C. area, collaborating with business and technology leaders to drive optimal outcomes across government and industry. Her prior 9 years in Singapore included strategic growth roles at Forrester, managing consulting and advisory services in India, Southeast Asia, China, and Australia, and founding the regional D&I committee to promote an authentic and inclusive workplace. Previous to Forrester, she worked in international economic and trade development for the Republic of Cyprus, focusing on foreign direct investment at the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency. As a strategic sourcing consultant at Procurian (now part of Accenture), she spearheaded business process outsourcing projects, reducing costs and negotiating favorable terms. Early in her career, she worked in retail fuel operations for Sunoco. Rania holds an MBA from the Saïd Business School, Oxford University, and a dual concentration undergraduate degree in supply chain management and marketing from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Ambar Mardikar is a Director with Scotiabank, Toronto, currently working as the Head of the Trade & Working Capital Solutions Product Management Team. In this role, Ambar’s primary responsibilities are to lead and oversee the Trade & Working Capital Finance products globally, ensuring business strategies, plans and initiatives are executed & delivered in compliance with governing regulations, internal policies, and procedures. He looks after product innovation and commercialization, developing cross-selling initiatives and internal and external stakeholder management.

Bel Martijena has always been passionate about building technology solutions with over 30 years of software development experience. His current focus is on artificial intelligent solutions. For the last 15 years he has held CEO/CIO level positions at successful software startups as well as technology director level roles at Citigroup and Bear Stearns.

Bethany is VP of real-time payments commercialization at J.P. Morgan. Bethany has extensive expertise in global payment methods and trends, with a focus on global and U.S. faster payments systems, Open Banking, payments facilitation (PayFac), QR code payments, and fraud in real-time payments. Before J.P. Morgan, Bethany worked as an Engagement Manager at Glenbrook Partners, a payments industry strategy consulting firm that provides strategy consulting, research, and education programs. There, she served a broad array of clients across the payments value chain, including central banks, networks, financial institutions, merchants, ISVs, and fintechs, among others.

Susan Meyer is Director of RTP® Product Development at TCH. She has 20+ years banking and payment system experience, ranging from banking operations to product management of payment applications. She is currently responsible for product development of TCH RTP Network with a focus on the product direction of the RTP platform. Before joining TCH, Susan worked for FIS driving strategy and product for the US Real Time Payments under FIS’ Corporate Banking Solutions. Prior to FIS, she held a position with Fiserv with responsibility for product management of Fiserv’s Payment Outsourcing solutions. Susan also previously managed various payment operations at M&T Bank and First Niagara Bank, both located in Western New York.

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.

Alan Ng is Accenture’s Managing Director of Payments Technology Consulting for North America. Alan and his team leverage Accenture firmwide capabilities and strategic partnerships to help our clients leapfrog competition. With more than 20 years of experience consulting global banks, Alan has built relationships with some of the world’s largest financial services companies. His work has spanned multiple industry leading payments and cash management modernization programs which he led these programs from strategy to execution.

Matt O’Neill is the former Managing Director of U.S. Secret Service Global Cyber Investigative Operations, a position from which he directed and participated in the Service’s worldwide cyber investigations. In his role, Matt led high-stakes missions against mobile threats, employing many means – including individual combat and ingenious disguises – to bring notorious global hackers to justice in the United States. Matt is a 25-year veteran of the Service. His career includes service on the U.S. Vice President’s Detail from 2003-2007. His exceptional achievements have earned him prestigious accolades such as the U.S. Secret Service Special Agent of the Year and the Department of Homeland Security’s Gold and Silver Medals.

Clark Packard is a research fellow in the Cato Institute’s Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies. Prior to joining the Cato Institute, Packard was a resident fellow at the R Street Institute, focusing on international trade policy. He previously worked at the National Taxpayers Union doing the same. Prior to those roles, he served as an attorney and policy adviser to two South Carolina governors. Earlier in his career, he spent three years in private legal practice. Packard is a contributor to Foreign Policy and has written for The Wall Street Journal, National Review, Lawfare, The Bulwark, Business Insider, The National Interest and other publications. He has appeared on a number of television and radio programs to discuss international trade policy.

Susan Peng has over 20 years of experience in product management and strategy across the financial and technology sectors. Currently serving as Product Director at BNY Treasury Services, Susan leads B2C Disbursement, delivering innovative payment solutions to meet evolving needs. Prior to joining BNY, Susan was a Product Director at JPMorgan Chase, where she managed digital channels products and spearheaded transformative projects, including user interfaces (UI) redesigns, data & analytics, and ISO20022 migration.

Daniel Pinho was appointed the Vice President of Operations and Business Management at BAFT on July 31, 2023. Daniel previously was the SVP & AGM at PNC's Trade Finance group.  He has over 20 years of experience in structured trade financing programs.  Prior to joining PNC, Daniel was a Manager at UPS Capital Business Credit where he supervised the Export Credit Agency Operations group.  He also served as the Director of Trade Finance at a consulting firm in Brazil. Pinho also previously served on BAFT's North American Council and co-chaired the Structured Trade and Export Finance Committee. He is a member of the Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting and is chair of the board of Ten Thousand Villages in Pittsburgh, a fair trade nonprofit organization.

Andy currently serves as the Vice President International Policy for the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade where he engages in advocacy on behalf of international transaction bankers across the industry before the various international standard setting bodies such as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, Financial Stability Board, the Financial Action Task Force, and others. Andy combines years of diverse experience in the financial services having served as the Sr. VP of Advocacy/General Counsel for the World Council of Credit Unions working on international regulations and consulting with various countries on regulatory frameworks. He served as General Counsel for First Commerce Credit Union, engaged in advocacy and lobbying at the state and federal level at the Credit Union National Association and the League of Southeastern Credit Unions, and worked for the prudential bank, credit union, and finance regulator in the State of Florida (Office of Financial Regulation) where he also served as a Cabinet Aide to Comptroller General Robert F. Milligan.

Shanker Ramamurthy is the Global Managing Partner Banking & Financial Markets in IBM Consulting. He leads a consulting practice with over 30,000 consultants serving banking clients globally, responsible for revenues in excess of $4.0 billion and with a particular focus on bank transformation, core banking & payments. Over the last 25 years as a consultant and business executive he has worked in all the six continents across forty plus countries in the intersection of strategy, information technology, and financial services. He is a well-known thought leader with five patents relating to addressing complexity, has authored several white papers, and been ranked as one of the 50 most influential financial services consultants worldwide by Euromoney magazine. Shanker also serves on the Board of Directors of BIAN.org (Banking Industry Architecture Network), a global standards organization developing industry standards for banking services.

T.J. Raguso has served as Group Executive Vice President and Director of International Banking at Zions Bancorporation since 2015, having previously served as Manager of International Banking, at its Texas subsidiary, Amegy Bank, since 2005. Zions Bancorporation is one of the nation's premier financial services companies, with total assets of approximately $87 billion. T.J. joined Amegy Bank in 1998 and has 33 years of experience in trade finance, letters of credit, EXIM lending, commercial lending, foreign exchange and correspondent banking. His international banking activities focus on the unique banking needs of importers, exporters and companies involved in global trade. Within his correspondent banking responsibilities, T.J. leads a global financial institutions team and manages a nationwide downstream correspondent business focused on community banks.

Andrea has over 30 years' experience in Trade Finance, structuring risk management and working capital solutions for importers and exporters of all sizes.  She is passionate about international trade as a strategy for US companies to manage costs, diversify their sales, and showcase US-made goods in the global marketplace. Andrea has taught Business and International Trade courses in the SUNY system and at New York University.  She holds the Certified International Credit Professional (CICP) designation from FCIB and the ICC Academy's Certificate in Digital Trade Strategy.  She is a longstanding member of the NY District Export Council, and served on the 2020-22 USDOC Trade Finance Advisory Council cohort.  Prior to banking, Andrea worked on the Reagan-Bush re-election campaign and at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Rodman Reef is a consultant specializing in the global payment business. Recent assignments addressed: payments strategy including cross border and real-time payments, reducing card processing expenses, identifying chip (EMV) card benefits, reviewing retail POS systems, and implementing prepaid card programs. Rod is the former Chairman and CEO of Citishare Corporation. During his long tenure, Citishare expanded to 50+ countries, volume increased from $125 million/year to $36 billion/year, unit costs were substantially reduced, and many innovative products were introduced including mobile phone money transfers and cross border real-time payments. Prior to his role at Citishare, Rod held several positions at Citigroup including managing one of its Fedwire operations. Rod served on the Fed’s Faster Payments Task Force and several other industry groups. Rod is or has been a board member or advisor to NYCE, The Clearing House, Visa, the EFTA, Mastercard, the Faster Payments Council and several young payment companies.

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 the General Manager for Banco Internacional de Costa Rica .S.A. (BICSA), Miami Representative Office, responsible for the bank’s regional trade finance strategy to drive commercial sales, building its loan portfolio, and expanding the client base.  John has expertise in   commercial lending, trade finance, supply chain finance, risk participations, factoring, structured trade finance and credit risk insurance mitigation. John developed market opportunities in financial services with a focus in the Americas in FIG and Corporate Banking having worked with top tier banks and fintech throughout his three-decade career; always applying sound Risk and International Portfolio Management best practices.  He has served on the BAFT Board and is a past-Chair of the Florida International Bankers Associations (FIBA).  He is a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking (ABA) and holds an undergraduate bachelor’s degree in business administration from Rutgers University.

Gayle Roenbaugh is the Export Finance Director for the West Region with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Working closely with the network of SBA field offices and SBA’s Office of International Trade (OIT), she provides international trade and export finance expertise to small business exporters and lending communities to deliver them effective export results. Gayle works with SBA-staffed U.S. Export Assistance Centers (USEAC) to educate small business exporters, their lenders and trade related organizations on trade finance products through market knowledge, financing options and trade connections. She also provides insights into SBA’s trade policy and market developments in collaboration with key stakeholders. Prior to joining SBA, Gayle was Senior Regional Manager for Export Development Canada (EDC) where she provided market knowledge, trade connections and financing origination to support the development of Canada’s direct or indirect export trade. She was also Senior Trade Sales Manager at HSBC Bank’s Global Trade & Receivables Finance group and led the sales, execution and management of the bank’s SBA and Export Import Bank of the U.S. Of The United States (EXIM) lending programs as well as Supply Chain, Receivables Finance and traditional trade solutions and has held similar roles at RBS Group, PNC and JPMorgan Chase.

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.

Emy Ruiz currently oversees the bank’s Global Trade and Supply Chain Finance team responsible for managing liquidity solutions for the banks clients. Ms. Ruiz has over 30 years of banking experience with 20 years in Global Trade Finance management responsible for Open account solutions, trade finance, traditional trade, portfolio management, risk mitigation and product development. She has held various leadership positions in Credit, commercial, corporate and international sales with various financial institutions with vast domestic and international capabilities, including Southeast Bank, First Union and Regions Bank. She is very active in various international Chambers and United Way.

Amy Sahm joined Fulton Financial’s International Group in 2002 following a long-term career in the Japanese banking and trade industry. She works as department manager, overseeing product development, operations, sales and risk management. The International Group at Fulton is responsible for foreign exchange risk management and all international transactional products and services including Trade Finance for Fulton’s customer base. The International Group primarily serves import / export SME clients within Fulton’s five state footprint. She serves as a Board Member and Treasurer of both the World Trade Center of Harrisburg and the Mid-Atlantic District Export Council supporting the US Commercial Service Export Assistance Center. Amy is a member of the International Business Advisory Board of Elizabethtown College where she mentors students and presents guest lectures on international finance. Amy also holds a Board seat at BAFT as well as a Co-Chair position on the North American Council. In addition to BAFT, Amy is active throughout the North American regional bank network in several international banking industry groups.

Mr. Michael Salerno is the Vice President of Global Banking at First National Bank of Omaha where he manages a diverse portfolio of corporate and correspondent bank customers. He consults with trade and treasury management professionals to help define, create, and implement effective trade finance, global payments and international risk management solutions. Mr. Salerno specializes in providing foreign exchange and international payment solutions for financial institutions. He is the Treasurer for both the Nebraska District Export Council and the National Association of District Export Councils.

Tom joined HSBC in September 2024, and leads product strategy and execution globally for HSBC’s currency clearing products, as well as North America’s cross border payments proposition. He is based in New York. Prior to joining HSBC, Tom led a firm-wide transformation initiative at Morgan Stanley and spent over 10 years at Citibank in a variety of product management and sales roles, covering domestic and cross border payments, CLS settlement services and liquidity management. He has over 14 years’ experience in providing tailored treasury solutions to clients, with a specialization in product management, product development and the client experience for Financial Institutions and Corporates. Tom has also represented various institutions on payments infrastructure risk committees and payments market practice and industry.

Christian Stolcke is a Capital Markets and Transaction Banking veteran who has spent his career growing financial service businesses and executing global, large scale performance improvement programs across Shared Services, Operations and Technology. At Bank of America, Christian is Managing Director and head of Global Financial Institutions, Non-Bank Financial Institutions and Governments within Global Payments Solutions (GPS). In this role, Christian leads a worldwide team of sales and product professionals responsible for maintaining and strengthening relationships with clients across several industries, including banks, governments, investment managers, securities firms, insurance, paytech, private capital and specialty finance firms.

Joanne Strobel-Cort is a managing director and head of CIB Segment Solutions & Advisory in Wells Fargo’s Global Treasury Management group. Joanne leads a team of Global Treasury Management professionals who focus on CIB market segments, and segment specific solutions and advisory to position Wells Fargo as the strategic Global Treasury Management partner to CIB clients. Prior to her current position, Joanne led the Technical Solutions and Network Management teams within Wells Fargo’s Global Payment Services group. Joanne has 30+ years of experience in Global and Domestic Treasury Management across various roles, including operations, account relationship management, sales, product, and project management at Citibank, ABN Amro, Deutsche Bank, and Royal Bank of Scotland/Citizens Bank. Joanne participates in various industry groups, including SWIFT U.S. Cash & Trade, SWIFT gpi, SWIFT Platform, and SWIFTGO User Groups, CHIPS Business Committee, BAFT Payments Committee, and Euro Bankers Association (EBA).

Laura is a senior product manager at Form3 with primary responsibility for US payment schemes such as FedNow, RTP, Fedwire and ACH. She has 20+ years of payment processing experience at commercial banks, the Federal Reserve and FinTech companies. Prior to joining Form3, Laura was a senior director at FIS with responsibility for payments products in the Americas – Canada AFT, Canada RTR, US ACH, US FedNow, US Fedwire and US RTP – on a number of different payment platforms. Laura began her career in operations at a large commercial bank and has held roles in operations, project management and product management primarily in the treasury payment space.

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.

Kalpana Sundar is a seasoned product management leader with over 18 years of experience in the payments industry. As Senior Director at PayPal, she oversees global payment processing, driving innovations that empower millions of customers. Her team processes over a trillion transactions annually, leveraging machine learning and AI to enhance customer experiences. Kalpana is passionate about making radical changes through impactful product development and believes in “being herself and being the change she wants to see around her.” She is a board member in multiple non profits and mentors women in technology, students and entrepreneurs. She lives with her family in the Bay Area, California.

David Tannenbaum started his career in sanctions compliance while serving at the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC), the U.S. agency in charge of administering economic sanctions. In his capacity at OFAC, he oversaw the analysis of blocked and rejected transactions, and provided sanctions advice to some of the world’s largest financial institutions, Fortune 500 companies, and law firms. David created Blackstone Compliance Services, a company specializing in sanctions compliance, after joining the private sector in 2013. As the director of Blackstone, he served as the FRB-appointed independent consultant of a global financial institution and has led sanctions testing for three major monitorships on behalf of the US Department of Justice, Federal Reserve Board, New York Department of Financial Services, and foreign regulators such as the United Kingdom’s FCA and France’s APCR.

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.

Karen A. Tramontano is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Blue Star Strategies, LLC where she provides corporate, institutional, and public sector clients with results oriented strategies. From 1997 to 2001, Ms. Tramontano served in the White House as deputy chief of staff to President William Jefferson Clinton and counselor to Erskine Bowles and John Podesta. Her portfolio encompassed a wide range of issues, including international trade and transatlantic relations as well as economic and financial issues concerning the World Trade Organization, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund. In 2002, Ms. Tramontano founded the Global Fairness Initiative, an international non-governmental organization focused on implementing systematic change to reduce global poverty and to increase livelihood opportunities for the world’s working poor.

Michael Walker is a subject matter expert in all areas of Corporate Banking and has worked in various roles across North America, Asia, and Europe, since joining Finastra 8 years ago. He is currently Strategic Sales and Partnerships Director for Corporate Banking in North America, and prior to this was Head of Working Capital Finance, Asia Pacific, based in Singapore. Michael spent five years at Barclays in various Corporate Banking technology and operations roles at Barclays before joining Finastra in 2016, and is an alumni of the 2020 BAFT Future Leaders Class.

Dr. Ruth Wandhöfer has been instrumental in shaping the future of finance and money during her impressive career over more than 22 years. She operates at the nexus of technology, cyber security, identity, finance and regulation and advises and speaks to international audiences on the evolution of the digital economy. As a sought-after keynote speaker, author and recognized global authority on banking, technology, ccyber and regulation she is a very influential female leader in the Fintech space, promoting the understanding, development and deployment of new business models and technologies for our digital future across payments, financial markets and processes.

Karen Webster is one of the world’s leading experts on emerging payments and a strategic advisor to CEOs and Boards of multinational players in the payments and commerce space. As the CEO of Market Platform Dynamics, she works extensively with the most innovative players in the payments, financial services, mobile, B2B, digital media and technology sectors to identify, ignite and monetize innovation. Karen also serves on the boards of a number of emerging companies, helping innovators develop and implement business strategies that drive market adoption for their products and services. Karen is also an entrepreneur herself, who has successfully founded and launched several new ventures in the loyalty, on-line media, and social networking sectors, including PYMNTS.com.

Ken Wong is Head of Product Innovation and Partnerships for the Global Transaction Bank at TD Bank. Ken has been in the financial Industry for over 35 years in different business divisions from Consumer Banking to Wholesale Banking with roles from Front Office and Relationship Management to Back Office Operations and Technology. He is a seasoned Treasury, Cash Management, Payments practitioner as well as an innovator with Patents accredited to him. He has extensive international exposure having lived and worked in Asia, Europe, Middle East and North America. Prior to re-joining TD Securities, Ken was Global Head of Payments and Clearing for Standard Chartered Bank; and prior to that he worked for Citibank in the eBusiness group. In 1999, Ken was a pioneer in a payments infrastructure start-up, in partnership with VISA International and Allianz Group, where he designed and built an alternate cross-border / cross-currency clearing system that guaranteed delivery to which he is accredited as inventor in two patents.

Rina Wulfing leads Policy & Campaigns in North America for Wise. Based in New York City, she advocates for policies that further the mission of money without borders: instant, convenient, transparent and low cost. Prior to Wise, she worked on financial services policy for two Members of Congress, most recently for Congressman Denny Heck of Washington state as his Chief of Staff.