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About the event

OPTIC, now in its third year, is returning to the UK for 2024! AFME’s annual Operations, Post-Trade, Technology & Innovation conference brings together the industry’s leading voices, to discuss the role of technology in developing capital markets in Europe, with particular focus on the world of operations and post trade.

OPTIC 2024 will take place in London, with a two-day agenda packed with keynote addresses from regulatory authorities, thought-provoking panels and speeches from Europe's leading financial institutions, and ample networking opportunities for attendees. 

Delegates will hear from practitioners, technologists, and policymakers on the most important innovations happening here and now, and what the future landscape might look like. Our expert speakers will discuss the opportunities and challenges that are unique to Europe, and contemplate whether the capital markets ecosystem, and its underpinning regulatory framework, is well-positioned to support innovation.

This event is attended by senior capital market professionals working in operations, post-trade, technology, regulation, and policy. 

Regular Registration fees:
• AFME member: £819 + VAT
• Non member: £1119 + VAT

Multi-booking discount:
• 10% off when booking 3 or more delegates at the same time
• 20% off when booking 5 or more delegates at the same time

Multi booking discounts can be applied at check out for group booking.

Complimentary subject to verification:
• Regulator: promo code REGULATOR
• Press: promo code PRESS for in person attendance or VIRTUALPRESS to receive a live stream link (this link is only available to press)

Note: Promo codes are case sensitive


To discuss sponsorship opportunities, please contact Cheryl Chickowski at [email protected] or on +44 (0)7824 874 391.

Partners

Lead Partners
Partners
Associate Partners
Exhibitor
Event Endorsers
Lead Media Partner
Media Partners

Who attends?

  • Heads of post trade
  • Investors
  • COOs
  • Market structure specialists
  • Regulators
  • Policymakers
  • Clearing and settlement houses
  • Law firms
  • Consultancies
  • Trading platforms and technology providers
  • Financial associations
  • AFME members
  • Investment banks
  • European supervisory authorities
  • National competent authorities
  • Clearing and settlement houses
  • Exchanges
  • Asset managers
  • Technology providers
  • Professional services
  • Fintech start-ups

Why attend?

  • Hear keynote speeches from global industry, technology and regulatory leaders
  • 70+ leading speakers representing global banks, service providers, policymakers and regulators
  • Network with a European audience of over 350 senior registrants
  • Over ten hours of dedicated networking in the exhibition space
  • Exclusive content delivered over three half days of high-level debate and discussion. Content designed and driven by market participants

Registration enquiries

For registration enquiries, please contact Events on [email protected] for assistance.

Wednesday 2 October

08:00
Welcome registration and refreshments
09:00
Opening remarks
Speaker:
Adam Farkas,
CEO, AFME
View speakers
09:15
Opening keynote
Speaker:
Laura van Geest,
Chair, Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets
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09:45
Panel discussion: Capital Markets Policy Priorities for New UK and EU Administrations
  • Following the expected UK and EU Parliamentary elections and the formation of a new European Commission, what should policymakers be focusing on in the next five years?
  • How can the regulatory and legislative framework be improved to support innovation, growth and international competitiveness?
  • Should T+1 be a priority or are there more important things?
Moderator:
James Kemp,
Head of Technology and Operations, and CCA, AFME
Speakers:
Marcel Haag,
Director for Horizontal Policies, European Commission
Okan Pekin,
Global Head of Securities Services, Citi
Sam Riley,
CEO, Clearstream Securities Services
View details & speakers
10:30
Networking break
11:00
Panel discussion: Remaining Barriers to Integration of Post Trade Services
Stream A
  • To what extent have the Giovannini and EPTF barriers been eradicated?
  • Have new barriers to integration been identified?
  • What should the next Commission focus on to deliver meaningful progress towards CMU objectives?
Moderator:
James Cunningham,
Senior Director, Public Policy and Government Affairs, BNY
Speakers:
Anna Kulik,
Secretary General, ECSDA
Camille Papillard,
Head of Financial Intermediaries Client Line, EMEA, Securities Services, BNP Paribas
Javier Ruiz del Pozo,
Director, Secondary Markets Department, CNMV
Nick Titmus,
Vice President, Product Management, Broadridge
View details & speakers
Panel discussion: Ready for DORA?
Stream B
  • DORA will become the law of the land starting in January 2025; are you ready?
  • What are the final operational challenges to be tackled ahead of January’s deadline?
  • How can supervisors approach the enforcement of DORA in 2025 and beyond?
  • What should firms expect next as the various aspects of DORA are rolled out and come into practice?
Moderator:
Marcus Corry,
Associate Director, Technology & Operations, AFME
Speakers:
Antonio Barzachki,
Team leader, DORA oversight preparations, EBA
Maria Sorlini,
Team leader, Digital regulation guidance and coordination, Intesa Sanpaolo
Mickael De Oliveira Neves,
Market and Regulatory Intelligence Manager, Murex
View details & speakers
11:45
Panel discussion: European Equities Clearing Landscape
Stream A
  • Against the backdrop of changing CCP models, and the regulatory uncertainty surrounding current interoperability arrangements, what does the future landscape look like for clearing of cash equities in Europe?
  • What new opportunities and challenges are anticipated?
Moderator:
Peter Tomlinson,
Director, Post Trade, AFME
Speakers:
Cate Grant,
Global Head of Client & Market Solutions, Goldman Sachs
Froukelien Wendt,
Independent Member of the CCP Supervisory Committee and Director for Central Counterparties (CCPs), ESMA
Laura Bayley,
Head of Clearing Services, SIX
Marco Tenten,
Director, Business Development Manager, Cboe Clear Europe
View details & speakers
Panel discussion: Managing the New Gold: Data Management Opportunities and Challenges in Capital Markets
Stream B
  • What are the key opportunities offered by successful data management?
  • What are the key data management challenges for banks and how can these be overcome?
  • How can banks design successful data management models to ensure ongoing sound data management?
Speakers:
Archie Jones,
SVP Data & AI Ethics, BNY
Ling Ling Lo,
Global Head, Data Strategy and Transformation, and EMEA Chief Data Officer, Nomura
View details & speakers
12:30
Networking lunch
Lunch & Learn - Topic TBC
13:30
Policy briefing: CSDR in Review
Stream A
  • A review of ESMA’s 2024 consultations on the effectiveness of the cash penalties regime, the methodology for measuring settlement fails and potential future measures to reduce fails.
  • What are the key developments that market participants should be aware of?
Moderator:
Pablo Garcia,
Manager, Post Trade, AFME
Speakers:
Marcello Topa,
Director, Global Market Advocacy, Policy and Strategy, Citibank
Sylvie Bonduelle,
Senior Advisor, Societe Generale Securities Services
View details & speakers
Policy briefing: Preparing for the EU AI Act
Stream B
  • How are firms managing preparations and are there are areas of ambiguity that need to be addressed?
  • What should the priorities be for financial regulators to help the industry implement?
Speakers:
Kai Zenner,
Head of Office and Digital Policy Adviser, European Parliament
Miguel Alvarez,
Manager Public Policy, Santander
View details & speakers
14:00
Panel Discussion: US T+1 – what have we learned?
Stream A
  • How have securities lending and FX markets adapted to support the change?
  • What has been the impact on matching and settlement rates?
  • How have firms managed the misalignment challenge, and has this changed views on the timing of a potential European move to T+1?
Moderator:
Britta Woernle,
Director, Head of Market Advocacy Europe Securities Services, Deutsche Bank
Speakers:
Charifa El Otmani,
Director, Capital Markets, Strategy, SWIFT
Mack Gill,
Head of Securities Processing, FIS Capital Markets
Sachin Mohindra,
Executive Director, Client & Market Solutions, Goldman Sachs
Silvia Sancin,
Senior Custody Solutions Manager, Securities Services, BNP Paribas
View details & speakers
Panel discussion: GenAI – risk and governance
Stream B
  • GenAI has been the technology attracting attention, including in capital markets. However, how can banks actually apply it?
  • What are the use cases that are most realistic in the short/med term?
  • How does it fit in the governance systems, risk appetite and management?
  • What is needed from the regulatory side to enable adoption?
Moderator:
Aman Luther,
Artificial Intelligence Lead, AFME
Speakers:
Carsten Maple,
Professor, University of Warwick
Marina Reason,
Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills
Niamh Kingsley,
Head of Product Innovation & Artificial Intelligence, Delta Capita
Sandip Wadje,
Managing Director, Global Head of Emerging Technology Risk, BNP Paribas
View details & speakers
14:45
Networking coffee break
15:15
Panel discussion: The Future of Operations in Wholesale Banking
  • How can banks ensure that investments in process transformation and technology lead to tangible improvements in operational efficiency rather than just adding complexity?
  • How should banks approach the challenge of upskilling and reskilling their workforce to prepare for the operational demands posed by advancements like Generative AI?
  • Organisations measure productivity differently, what steps can banks take to enhance their data maturity and fully leverage their data assets to drive operational efficiency and strategic decision-making?
  • What are the most effective strategies for banks to manage the compliance risks associated with their extensive network of partners and third-party relationships?
  • Is there an optimal operating model, where operations teams today can be centralised and dispersed?
Moderator:
Darren Homer,
Partner, PwC
Speakers:
Jaime Healy-Waters,
Managing Director, Citi
James Maxfield,
Chief Product Officer, Duco
Stephen Bell,
Managing Director IB and Cross Product Operations, Deutsche Bank
View details & speakers
16:15
Panel discussion: Using Technology to Deliver T+1
  • How can new technologies like AI help overcome inefficiencies and fails in post-trade?
  • How can the technology be leveraged collaboratively to help solve the settlement efficiency challenge?
  • Do we have the right data?
Moderator:
Emma Johnson,
Executive Director, Global Custody Industry Development, EMEA, J.P. Morgan
Speakers:
Daniel Carpenter,
CEO, Meritsoft a Cognizant company
Gary O'Brien,
Head of Bank and Broker Segment Strategy, BNP Paribas
Karan Kapoor,
Global Head of Regulatory and Risk Consulting, Delta Capita
Matt Johnson,
Director, ITP Product Management and Industry Relations, DTCC
View details & speakers
17:00
Closing remarks
Speakers:
Martyn Nott,
Managing Director, Global Head of Network Management, Bank of America
Philip Saunders,
Managing Director, Goldman Sachs
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17:10
Drinks reception

Thursday 3 October

08:15
Welcome Registration and refreshments
Roundtable In Conversation with the Women of OPTIC
09:00
Opening remarks
Speaker:
Rick Watson,
Managing Director, Head of Capital Markets, Membership & Events, AFME
View speakers
09:15
Keynote address
View
09:45
Panel discussion: Roadmap to Scaling DLT Based Capital Markets
  • How has experimentation with DLT progressed in the last 12 months? What is the likely time horizon for adoption at scale?
  • Which asset classes or use cases are the most compelling?
  • How to balance innovation and interoperability, and can DLT-based systems achieve the same levels of safety, control and resilience?
  • Looking to the future, if tokenisation is successful, what could a future market structure look like?
Moderator:
Sabih Behzad,
Managing Director, Head of Digital Assets & Currencies Transformation, Deutsche Bank
Speakers:
Benjamin Duve,
Senior Lead Market Infrastructure Expert, European Central Bank
Christoph Hock,
Head Tokenisation & Digital Assets, Union Investment
Georgina K. Lok,
Head of Market Development, Hong Kong Monetary Authority
John O'Neill,
Managing Director Global Head of Digital Assets Strategy, HSBC
Philippe Laurensy,
Head of Group Strategy, Product Management and Innovation, Euroclear
View details & speakers
10:30
Networking coffee break
11:00
Panel discussion: Atomic Settlement: a Game Changing Benefit of DLT?
Stream A
  • Instantaneous settlement is often cited as a key feature of securities tokenisation. This panel will explore the potential benefits and challenges of this approach, and discuss recent experimentation with potential solutions.
  • What are the possible upstream impacts in a world of atomic settlement?
  • Are there other regulatory or market considerations which need to be considered?
  • What have we learned from experiments with DLT-based DvP settlement so far?
Moderator:
Coco Chen,
Associate Director, Technology & Operations, AFME
Speakers:
Angus Fletcher,
CEO, Fnality UK
David Durouchoux,
Deputy CEO Business Development, Societe Generale - FORGE
Keith Bear,
Fellow, Centre for Alternative Finance, University of Cambridge
Paolo Bramini,
Payment Systems Directorate, Banca D'Italia
View details & speakers
Panel discussion: The Impact of Ramsomware
Stream B
  • Cyber criminals are becoming ever more brazen in their attacks on financial services, with several high-profile outages in recent months
  • The latest trends which cybercrime agencies are seeing, especially those ramping up in scale and ambition
  • How financial entities can best protect themselves and what to do when a hacker gets through
  • How banks should work with third party providers who are increasingly being targeted as the gateway to financial data?
Moderator:
Marcus Corry,
Associate Director, Technology & Operations, AFME
Speakers:
Alex M2,
Ragna Sveinsdottir,
SVP, Bank of America
Valérie Hoess,
Head of European Affairs, Commerzbank AG
View details & speakers
11:45
Panel discussion: EU and UK Sandbox Regimes and Digital Asset Taxonomy – Which is more globally oriented?
Stream A
  • The EU and UK have launched their respective sandbox regimes for digital securities and continue to finalise their regulatory frameworks for digital assets…
  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of each framework?
  • How do the frameworks facilitate the scaling of security token and digital asset markets?
  • How can Europe facilitate global market access and foster greater international consistency
Moderator:
Christopher Wallace,
Associate General Counsel, Bank of America
Speakers:
Anna Matson,
Head of Digital Assets and Innovation, EMEA, Northern Trust
Emma Butterworth,
Head of FMI Innovation and Payments Policy, Bank of England
Juan Jiménez Zaballos,
Global Head of Retail & Digital Public Policy, Santander
Randy Priem,
Coordinator of the Markets and Post-trading Unit, FSMA
View details & speakers
Panel discussion: The FMI of the Future
Stream B
  • What are the main challenges and opportunities facing market infrastructures?
  • How are FMI business models evolving? Is there sufficient competition in the FMI space?
  • Which new technologies are most promising – what could a target-state ecosystem look like?
  • How does the role of an FMI change in a potential decentralised environment?
Moderator: