Adam Farkas is the Chief Executive Officer of AFME. Joining in February 2020 he is responsible for providing vision and shaping the strategy for the Association going forward and reporting to the Board. Before joining AFME, Adam was the Executive Director of the European Banking Authority (EBA) from April 2011 until the end of January 2020 where he managed the organisation’s daily operations and led the implementation of its regulatory work programme.

Prior to joining the EBA, he acted as the Executive Chairman of the Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority from 2009 to 2010 where he spearheaded the Authority’s response to the financial crisis and helped implement policy such as a new code of conduct for banks. His other previous positions include CEO for Allianz Bank from 2006 until 2009 and acting as the co-CEO of CIB Bank between 2002 and 2005. Between 1997 and 2001, he was Managing Director and Member of the Board at the National Bank of Hungary. Adam started his career as an Assistant Professor at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences (subsequently renamed Corvinus University of Budapest). He was also a Consultant to various financial institutions in Budapest and London, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) between 1991-1997. Adam holds a doctorate in Finance from the Budapest University of Economic Sciences, and a Master’s in computer-based simulation and modelling from Sunderland University in the UK.

Ashlin began her career at LIFFE where she was responsible for the management of the bond futures contracts including refining of the specifications and new products. Around the time of the automated trading evolution, Ashlin moved to work for an electronic trading operator, MTS, and again was responsible for product management, becoming increasingly involved in market structure issues.

She then moved to Citi in 2007 where she is currently heading up EMEA Rates eCommerce and Market Structure, leading electronic innovations on behalf of both sales and trading to ensure Citi’s offering to its client base remains competitive.

In recent years, Ashlin has become increasingly involved in impacts to the industry arising from regulatory changes; assisting in internal and external advocacy; and providing thought leadership to Citi’s clients.
She then moved to at Citi in 2007 where she is currently heading up EMEA Fixed Income Market Structure and was until recently responsible for EMEA G10 rates and credit e-commerce, leading electronic innovations on behalf of both sales and trading to ensure Citi’s offering to its client base remained competitive.

In recent years, Ashlin has become increasingly involved in impacts to the industry arising from regulatory changes; assisting in internal and external advocacy; and providing thought leadership to Citi’s clients.

Claudia is Head of Capital Markets policy at HM Treasury. Her team leads on important reforms to the capital markets framework, including through the Wholesale Markets Review and the government’s implementation of the UK Listings Review.

Prior to this, Claudia led on prudential policy for investment firms: representing the UK in the EU negotiations of the Investment Firms Review and legislating for the Investment Firms Prudential Regime in the Financial Services Act 2021.

Before joining HM Treasury, Claudia worked at the Financial Conduct Authority.

Elisa works on European and UK securities regulatory policy issues, as well as broader European and UK government affairs for Credit Suisse. She develops Credit Suisse positions on these issues in coordination with colleagues from across the different parts of the firm and represents Credit Suisse views to officials, regulators, clients and other key stakeholders in the European Union and in the UK.

Elisa chairs the MiFIDII Steering Committee for the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) and represents Credit Suisse in other European and UK trade associations. Prior to joining the Public Policy team, Elisa ran the regulatory change advisory function at Credit Suisse and before that, she held similar positions at other investment banks. Earlier in her career Elisa worked in the General Counsel’s Division of the UK Financial Services Authority, in the protection of consumers of financial services at the European Commission and as a solicitor in the Financial Institutions Group at Herbert Smith Freehills.

Elisa holds a degree in economics and management of public and international organisations from Bocconi University (Milan) and postgraduate professional qualifications from the College of Law (Guildford). She qualified as solicitor of the senior courts of England and Wales in 2003.

Fabio Braga, CFA, manages the Trading and Wholesale Conduct Policy team, in the Markets and Wholesale Policy division at the FCA.

Fabio’s team is responsible for the UK policy on Exchanges, MTFs and OTFs and for the investment firms’ conduct obligations such as trade reporting, best execution and conflicts of interest. Before joining the FCA, Fabio worked for Borsa Italiana.

Harry practises all aspects of financial markets regulatory advice for banks, broker-dealers, investment managers and other financial services institutions.

Harry provides guidance on all regulatory issues facing the financial services industry and he has helped steer clients through all recent regulatory implementation projects, including Brexit, MiFID II, AIFMD and, more recently, CSDR. He also advises on all aspects of day-to-day compliance with regulatory issues, including perimeter guidance, authorisation requirements, SMCR, market abuse and other market conduct requirements, CASS and client money requirements. Harry also has particular expertise in market infrastructure and is a market-leading expert on clearing platforms.

Harry is one of the Co-Heads of Fintech at Linklaters and is a FinTech expert, advising on the regulatory implications that apply to existing and new entrants to the market. He has been advising entities in this sector for many years, going back to the establishment of BrokerTec and SwapsWire in 2000. He is currently advising a number of firms in the payment and clearing sectors, including in the use of blockchain.

Jacqueline is Head of Advocacy, responsible for the formulation and delivery of AFME’s advocacy across the association’s external stakeholders in the EU27 and UK. Jacqueline joined AFME in the Prudential Regulation Division in 2014 and was in charge of coordinating AFME’s policy work on the CRD5/CRR2. In 2017, Jacqueline relocated from London to Frankfurt to establish the Association’s Frankfurt Office. She was also responsible for developing AFME’s relationships with key supervisory authorities, with a particular focus on the ECB SSM and running AFME’s SSM Supervisory Committee. Prior to joining AFME, Jacqueline was Head of Asset Finance Policy and Research at Leaseurope, the European Leasing Federation in Brussels. Jacqueline has also worked for Deloitte and Eurofinas in Brussels and was an assistant lecturer in Finance at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Jacqueline has a Masters in Finance and Accounting and holds a DEA (1st year PhD) from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management.

Matthew Coupe is Director, for the Markets business at Barclays, based in London. He advises the Markets division on future market structure, forms the advocacy position of the markets division on areas of market structure, and engages with politicians, trade associations, regulatory bodies and clients to make sure this is articulated effectively, assists in building Barclay’s commercial response to these changes. Further to this he develops explanatory and thought leadership pieces around Market Structure.

He co-chairs the Fix Trading Community for the EMEA region. A regulatory specialist, he is an expert in high-frequency trading and market surveillance in the post-MiFID landscape and their implications for trading desks and compliance departments.

Matthew graduated from De Montfort University with a BA(Hons) in Business Studies, majoring in Financial Statistics.

Peter has developed close working relationships with the firm’s banking and investment management clients. His practice includes all aspects of financial markets regulatory advice for broker-dealers and investment banks.

Peter advises investment managers, private banks, hedge funds and private equity funds on regulatory issues affecting them. He also advises clients on regulatory investigations into areas such as market conduct, client money compliance and transaction reporting failures.

Richard is Head of EMEA Equity Trading at Janus Henderson Investors, (JHI), a position he has held since 2017. Prior to joining JHI, he spent over ten years on the sell side, first at Enskilda and then with Redburn. He has over twenty years of industry experience, having begun his career on the buyside.

Richard is a Plato Partnership board member and the Chairman of the Investment Association’s Buyside Trading Committee.

Stephen won a scholarship to study at University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, then graduated from Edinburgh University with a joint honours LLb (Law and Accounting). Staying in Edinburgh, he entered finance in 1990 as an analyst in NatWest’s Equity Quants team, working on indices then derivative and portfolio risk.

Stephen spent 1992-99 as a derivatives broker, developing and selling the team’s technology platform, transferring with the team to Deutsche Bank. He moved to eCommerce in 1999, then into equity market connectivity, before taking on responsibility for European market structure in 2006. This role led to involvement in several equity market structure initiatives, consultative groups, setting-up and being long term Board member on the Turquoise MTF, chairing AFME’s Securities Trading Committee then their Equity Board.

In April this year Stephen was moved to BNP Paribas and has recently been appointed as chair of UK Finance’s MiFID Strategic Committee. Stephen’s motivation is to improve (or, increasingly, to try to avoid a decline in) market efficiency.