Adam Rahim, Equity Derivative Sales, Corporate and Investment Bank, J.P. Morgan

Asha Patel, Executive Director, Instinet, Board Director, Sustainable Trading

Asha Patel is an Executive Director of Global Portfolio Trading and Index Sales at Instinet., a role she has been working in since she graduated. Asha has recently been appointed to the board of Sustainable Trading.

Beyond Asha’s work on the trading desk, she leads several internal initiatives for the firm, including ‘Career Pathways’ which is designed to facilitate engagement between junior and senior team members and the expansion of networks and knowledge. In 2023, Asha was recognised at the “Nomura Gender Equity Champion Awards”, a global initiative of our parent company that celebrates employees who champion gender equity across the organisation.

Asha is an ambassador for Little Lives UK, a charity focusing on providing funding to various child focus causes across the UK. She is the Secretary for The Women’s Council, who help fund education courses in Asia and the Middle East to empower individuals to help disabled children in their home countries and communities.

Natasha Benson, COO, CFO, Ownera

Natasha Benson is a recognized leader in the financial services industry with over 25 years of experience, particularly in the emerging fields of Tokenization and Digital Markets. She is currently COO/CFO of Ownera, a company at the forefront of building interconnected infrastructure for tokenized solutions.

Before Ownera, Natasha founded and led several successful ventures. She was the CEO of Fintech for International Development UK, an impact fintech focused on last-mile payments using digital rails and backed by Barclays and SCB. She also founded Autumn Life, a Singapore-based Wealth Tech platform which was backed by SC Ventures.

Earlier in her career, Natasha held leadership roles at Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered Bank. She is known for her expertise in strategic leadership, product development, and risk management. Natasha is a frequent speaker and commentator on topics related to the future of finance and the transformative potential of blockchain technology.

Beth Nichols, UK Partnership Lead, Talent Beyond Boundaries

Beth is the UK Partnerships Lead at Talent Beyond Boundaries, having previously worked at the Refugee Council. With a background in the refugee sector, social enterprise and corporate partnership building, Beth now leads the growth of the UK employer network hiring through the Displaced Talent Mobility programme.

Khalaf Abd, Software Engineer, Iress

Khalaf Abd, a software engineer from Syria, brings over four years of experience to his role at IRESS. Khalaf has worked in multiple sectors but especially in mortgages, sourcing, and trading. Matched with IRESS through the support of Talent Beyond Boundaries, he relocated from Lebanon to the UK four years ago where he has been thriving ever since.

Greg Konczak, Manager, Fixed Trading Venues, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

Greg Konczak manages the Fixed Trading Venue supervision team, in the Infrastructure & Exchanges division at the FCA.  The team is responsible for the  supervision of the London Stock Exchange, ICE Futures Europe and London Metal Exchange. The team is also responsible for the supervision of the Commodity Position Limit regime.

Greg has been at the FCA since 2004 where before managing the current team, he worked in risk management and wholesale policy.

Mark Davies, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, S3

Mark Davies is co-founder and CEO of S3, a full-service compliance and trade analytics software company that serves many of the world’s largest financial institutions and exchanges.  Mark is responsible for the company’s overall business strategy, as well as daily operations required to deliver an exceptional experience to S3’s valued clients.

S3 was founded in 2001 and discovered a niche after launching its first trading analytics product in 2004.  Mark has since shaped S3 to become the trusted industry standard for regulatory reporting, trade surveillance, CAT, TCA, and best execution analytics across multiple asset classes.  S3’s partnerships with several premier global banks have led to opportunities in Europe, enabling S3 to apply industry knowledge gained in the US to other regions around the world.

Mark is an industry thought leader on market structure and regulatory requirements, particularly the SEC’s Rule 606.  He is Co-Chair of the FIF Rule 606 Committee, serves on the board of the Security Traders Association of New York, and is a member of several other industry groups, including the STA Listed Options Committee, the Dallas Security Traders Association, and SIFMA.  He lives in Austin, TX with his wife and three children.

Emma Johnson, Executive Director Securities Services, Global Custody Industry Development, J.P.Morgan

Emma Johnson is an Executive Director and custody product manager within J.P. Morgan’s Corporate and Investment Bank in London. Sitting in the Securities Services division her core remit is European post trade securities market and regulatory advocacy, market infrastructure and industry developments.

Active in the securities post trade industry, Emma represents the firm through multiple industry committees including co-chairing: the ECB Securities Group (SEG), the AFME Transaction Clearing & Settlement Committee and the AFME Market Settlement Efficiency Taskforce. In addition, Emma is a member of the UK HMT T+1Taskforce, the AGC European Focus Committee, the EBF Post Trade Expert Group and various ISSA working-groups including co-chair of the Custody Risks working group.

Emma joined J.P. Morgan in January 2022 from Deutsche Bank, where she was the EMEA Head of Securities Services Market Advocacy. She previously held various positions within product and operational teams over her 20+ year career in securities post-trade.

Jeffrey Mooney is an Associate Director in the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets.  He heads the Office of Clearance and Settlement where his responsibilities include developing regulatory standards for central counterparties, central securities depositories and other entities that provide clearance and settlement services.  He also represents the SEC in domestic and international policy initiatives. 

During his tenure, Jeffrey Mooney has served as counsel to former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt, and co-chaired a working group of securities regulators and central bankers that developed the international standards for financial market infrastructures.  He has also received several SEC awards, and has been a presenter at SEC Speaks, the SEC’s International Institute, and various securities industry conferences and events.  Jeffrey Mooney received a JD from Georgetown University Law Center and BA in Economics from Fisk University.

Tom Ungi, Chief Executive Officer, True Partnership

Tom is an executive coach and CEO of True Partnership, with 20 years of leadership experience in the financial services industry. Since co-founding True Partnership in 2022, he has specialised in executive and performance coaching for clients within financial institutions, operating from Bond Street to Liverpool Street to Bank Street.

Before establishing True Partnership, Tom was with Millennium for over 16 years, culminating in his role as Managing Director, Head of Execution Services for EMEA. His responsibilities included managing Millennium’s trading business, leading the firm’s regional expansion, strategic planning, and operational enhancements. Tom was integral in adapting to regulatory changes, launching new offices across Europe and the Middle East, and contributing to several strategic committees.

He holds a BA in Economics and an MSc in Executive Coaching from Ashridge, with additional accreditations in coaching and specialised training in addiction from Harvard and conflict resolution from the Institute for Conflict, Cooperation, and Security. Currently, he is studying for his doctorate at Oxford, furthering his commitment to lifelong learning and professional development.