Former Group Executive Board Member, UBS and Ex-Chairman of Credit Suisse

Axel P. Lehmann is a senior leader with more than 25 years of experience at Group Executive Board and Board of Director levels in globally leading bank and insurance companies. Axel has a proven ability to work collaboratively within a diverse, multicultural, and multidisciplinary organization. He has strong strategic, operational, risk leadership, crisis management, executive management and oversight capabilities.

He is IMD Executive in Residence and Affiliate Professor at University of St. Gallen (HSG), a Board member and Senior Advisor. He is former Chairman of Credit Suisse Group and former member of Board of Directors at UBS. He was also a member of Group Executive Board at UBS , where he served as Chief Operating Officer, joint President of Personal and Corporate Banking, and President Switzerland. He previously enjoyed a nearly 20-year career at Zurich Insurance Group, where he spent 14 years on its Group Executive Committee in various roles. These include responsibility for the insurers European and North American business, Group Chief Risk Officer with additional responsibilities for Group IT, Regional Chairman for Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Chairman of Farmers Group Inc. (LA).

He holds a master´s degree in business administration and economics, obtained his doctorate with an award-winning dissertation, and received habilitation in business administration and service management from the University of St. Gallen. He is also a graduate of the Wharton Advanced Management Program (AMP), University of Pennsylvania.

Chief Audit Executive, OP Financial Group

Sakari Lehtinen works as chief Audit executive of the OP Financial Group in Finland. Sakari's special areas of interest are risk-based and agile auditing, the use of data analytics and AI on internal auditing, and the management of competence and development. He has 25 years of experience in internal auditing and has served as the chairman of the Board of the Institute of Internal Auditors in Finland.

Head of Enterprise and Non-Financial Risk, London Stock Exchange Group

Robert is the Head of Enterprise and Non-Financial Risk at London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). Robert was previously the Group Head of Capital Risk Management at Revolut. Before this, Robert was the UK Head of Enterprise and Non-Financial Risk at Credit Suisse. He holds a Mathematics degree from University of Leeds and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

Group Information Risk Officer, KBC Group

Peter Debasse works for KBC's Group Risk team as the Group Information Risk Officer. His team is driving the methodology with regards to Information Security and IT-related risks, is challenging processes and controls via deep dives and is responsible to report to the group committees. He is also co-founder and active member of the Belgian Cyber Security Coalition, a cross-sector community with players from academia, public agencies and the private sector.

Peter is an engineer, holder of ISACA certificates CISA, CISM, CRISC, CDPSE and holds a degree in big data & analytics.

Chief Risk Officer, SCB DataX

Manish is a seasoned risk and compliance leader with retail / private / investment banking experience across multiple financial and non-financial risk disciplines and extensive experience in managing regulatory engagements, internal/external audit, remediation and compliance projects (e.g. MAS, HKMA, BAFIN, FINMA, BOT, RBI, etc). Currently, he is CRO of data & AI accelerator, SCB DataX, of SCBX Group which is regulated by Bank of Thailand. Additionally, he designs, implements and oversees group-wide program for data governance, data privacy and AI governance. In these roles, he also actively champions GRC adoption.

He is based in Singapore/Bangkok. He is very passionate about innovation, large scale transformation that reshapes an organization and people advocacy to build high performing teams.

Managing Executive: Corporate Risk and Security, Vodacom Group (Pty) Ltd

Wilna Meiring is a risk leader with over 20 years of experience in the risk management industry where she has served in various key leadership roles. She is the Managing Executive of Corporate Risk and Security for the Vodacom Group responsible for risk management within the group. She is a qualified Chartered Accountant (CA (SA)), Certified Risk Manager Professional (CRM Prof - IRMSA) and a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA – IIA). She holds a Master of Commerce degree in Applied Risk Management and a Master’s degree in Management Coaching. She has served the Institute of Risk Management SA (IRMSA) in various capacities where she is a member of the IRMSA Board. She is also a professional coach and mentor.

Global Head OTCR Framework and Stress Testing, Standard Chartered Bank

Margaret Norden is a lawyer and spent ten years specialising in dispute resolution in 2 global law firms working in London and Hong Kong. Margaret joined Standard Chartered Bank in London and worked in a number of roles in Legal, Corporate Secretariat and Shared Investigative Services including building and leading a global team in Legal COO, covering operational risk, policy, governance and project management. Margaret led the implementation of a wide range of risk management programmes including cyber security, data management, third party risk, anti-bribery and corruption and conduct. Margaret also developed a competition compliance framework as well as manging major disputes and investigations. Margaret was appointed Global Head of Operational Risk in 2022. In 2024, with the merger of Operational Risk and Cyber teams, Margaret took on an expanded role as Global Head of Frameworks and Stress Testing, and now manages the Operational Risk and Cyber Risk Frameworks including oversight of governance and reporting, risk appetite and operational risk stress testing; Operational Risk, Change Governance, Transaction Processing and Product Governance Policies, and a dedicated Third Party Risk Management team.

Head of Compliance Risk Management - Group Compliance, Eurobank SA

Argyro has more than 15 years experience in the financial services sector. She currently holds the position of Head of Compliance Risk Management and Governance within the Group Compliance Function of Eurobank SA.

Executive Director, Intesa Sanpaolo

Responsible at group level for Internal Validation, Model Risk Management and Second Level controls (credit files review, Data Quality, Data Lineage, Reporting Governance), direct report to the Group CRO. Previous experience was 15 years in the Risk Management Function as Head of development function for market and counterparty risk regulatory internal models, responsible for Market Risk Technology and head of group FRTB program from 2016 till February 2020.

Head of Enterprise and Operational Risk, Nationwide Building Society

Ben is a Chartered Accountant who has worked in risk and control disciplines within large Financial Services businesses for almost 25 years. Roles have spanned the three lines of defence, as well as several years as an external reviewer. His current role is at Nationwide, where he has spent the last 9 years – with responsibilities centred around setting the risk framework; overseeing its application; and reporting on risk insights.

Head of Policy, Compliance Monitoring and Governance, Vodafone

Lauren is an recognised legal and compliance leader, with a broad experience in regulatory law, M&A, financial crime and corporate governance. She started her career at Slaughter and May as a Competition and Regulatory Solicitor in both London and Brussels (until 5PQE) before moving to Vodafone to broaden her practice as a commercial solicitor. At Vodafone, she now leads policy, compliance monitoring (FCA, GDPR, Financial Crime and CNI) and governance, and earlier this year she won "Head of Governance of the Year" at the Women in GRC Awards.

Global Head, Operations, Systems, Reporting & Analytics - Operation, Technology & Cyber, Standard Chartered Bank

Libby has over 20 years’ experience in a variety of senior global banking and markets businesses, in both the first and second lines of defense. These roles have provided a unique insight and understanding of the interplay between multiple risk disciplines, including financial crime, operational, reputational, regulatory, information and cyber security, and conduct risk management.

In her current role, as the Global Head of Operations, Systems, Reporting & Analytics for the Operations, Technology & Cyber Risk second line team at Standard Chartered Bank, she is responsible for the management of all financial performance and non-financial risk management for the function and delivery of the strategic change agenda, which includes overseeing the systems that support the achievement of risk and regulatory compliance.

Previously at SCB she has been responsible for implementing the front office supervision framework and Senior Managers’ Regime for the global financial markets business, leading the Bank’s global conduct risk programme, managing the all the non-financial risks for the European global banking business, and leading the European operations division for financial markets. Before joining SCB she held several senior executive roles in RBS (including COO of the Global Restructuring Group), Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, and BNP Paribas.

Co-Head Operational Risk Management, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

Philipp Herrmann is the Co-Head of Operational Risk Management at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), where he leads the organization’s Operational Risk Management practice. Since joining ADIA in January 2016, Philipp has played a pivotal role in shaping ADIA’s risk governance framework, focusing on defining clear roles and responsibilities, enforcing policy adherence, setting risk appetite, and fostering a culture of accountability and integrity. His work ensures that ADIA’s risk management structure promotes compliance and supports effective decision-making through risk quantification, monitoring, and continuous reporting to stakeholders.

In addition to his second-line oversight, Philipp leads the first-line Operational Risk Management function, ensuring the efficient implementation of the risk management process.

Prior to ADIA, Philipp held senior roles at Deutsche Bank and UBS for over a decade, where he managed global risk and compliance teams, drove successful regulatory initiatives, and centralized key risk functions.

Head of Assurance, Risk and Controls, ABB

20+ years of experience as leader in the governance and compliance field in multinational listed companies

Global Head of Resilience Risk, Standard Chartered Bank

Ana Chavez Alanis is the Global Head of Resilience Risk at Standard Chartered Bank in the UK. Ana’s professional experience expands across cybersecurity, operational resilience, and risk management. Throughout her career, Ana has successfully led strategies that enhance resilience and safeguard critical assets against emerging threats. Her diverse background includes leading cross-functional teams in the development of risk frameworks and resilience programs that align with business objectives. Prior to Standard Chartered, Ana held leadership positions in risk management and consulting firms in the UK, USA and Mexico, successfully leading the development and implementation of comprehensive risk management strategies and achieving compliance with regulatory requirements. In her free time, Ana enjoys exploring new cultures, and travelling.

Executive Director, JP Morgan Chase

A passionate and accomplished technology risk practitioner with almost two decades of experience in GRC roles within Financial Services.

Head of Operational Risk, Euroclear UK & International

Omer has been involved in the financial services industry for over 20 years across risk management, risk consulting and audit in the UK and Middle East. His areas of expertise include Operational Resilience, Cyber Risk, Transformation Risk and Third-Party Risk Management, and the regulatory challenges in these areas. He has a keen interest in Scenario Analysis and Horizon Scanning. Omer has been with Euroclear UK & International for 5 years where he has led the firm’s 2nd line Risk Management oversight activities. He is a member of the UK Finance Heads of Operational Risk network and holds the CRISC and CISA certifications.

Head of Risk & Compliance - Operational Risk, Canada Life

Dave has worked in financial services for over 30 years, starting his career at Nationwide Building Society, where he held a number of senior roles in internal audit and compliance. Dave joined the Lending Standards Board (LSB) as Compliance Director in July 2013, and became CEO in 2016. Dave worked closely with the industry and the regulators in developing self-regulation and voluntary standards as a key complement to statutory regulation, enabling firms to deliver good customer outcomes in SME lending, APP scams and branch closures. Dave joined Virgin Money’s Risk function in 2019 and held various roles covering operational and conduct risks, including implementation of Consumer Duty. He is currently overseeing operational and resilience risk at Canada Life.

Head of Operational Risk, Santander

Ben joined Santander UK in 2023 as Head of Operational Risk - Governance, Reporting & Standards. As part of this role, Ben oversees the non-financial risk framework, policies, structures and underlying programmes and infrastructure including Risk Appetite, RCSA, Issue/Action Management, Taxonomies and Systems. Ben has approximately 20 years experience in Financial Services in the US and UK including at Citi where he operated in a number of leadership roles across the first and second lines of defence, including compliance, operational and enterprise risk. Ben has broad subject matter expertise in Governance, Risk & Compliance, risk identification and assessment, control design and testing, and risk monitoring and reporting.

Head of Internal Control, Siemens Energy

Dorothea has more than 15 year of experience in Risk and Internal Control. She is currently the Head of Internal Control Governance at Siemens Energy being appointed to this role in 2020. She was previously the Head of Risk and Internal Control for Siemens Global Services. Dorothea has spent nearly a decade in various roles in Accounting and Mergers & Acquisitions.

Head of GRC, Lazada (Alibaba Group)

Suman is a Security Governance, Technology Risk, and Privacy Programme specialist with over 18 years of extensive experience. As the Head of Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) at Lazada Group, part of the Alibaba Group, Suman excels in driving technology risk management, regulatory compliance, application security, and data protection. Passionate about tracking and assessing technology and privacy regulatory requirements, Suman is dedicated to advancing technological and privacy risk mitigation initiatives. Suman's expertise support organisation Cybersecurity mission to deliver robust security and compliance across various geographical regions.

Senior GRC Manager, CRH

With 14 years of experience as a Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) professional, I have developed expertise in managing risk, ensuring regulatory compliance, and implementing robust governance frameworks. My deep knowledge in aligning business strategies with regulatory requirements has contributed to effective risk management, process improvement, and organizational resilience across various industries.

Product Manager Enterprise GRCA, Shell

Gurjeev is a Product Manager for 6 MetricStream applications used by 3 business areas (SOx, Internal Audit and Trading Compliance) in Shell. As such he is responsible for strategy, project implementation and IT operations management of the MetricStream implementation and associated reporting. He has 20+ years of experience within the Energy industry with BG Group and Shell in a variety of roles in Finance and IT. Gurjeev is a Chartered Accountant based in UK.

Team Lead - Cyber Resilience, ICT, Crypto & Operational Risk, European Central Bank

Experienced Lead with a demonstrated history of working in various banking industry positions. Strong professional, focusing on technology and cyber and (gen)AI risks, cloud services, digital and crypto assets (incl. stablecoins and CBDC), fintech implications in the banking sector, as well as EU policy developments on digital finance, artificial intelligence and data management. Technology-oriented studies linked with an MBA and vast experience on risk-based supervision/audit, policy analysis & making, innovation, fintech, regtech, suptech, payments, regulatory compliance, combining the best of both worlds. Thomas is a passionate advocate for cyber risk awareness and resilience, and he is excited to share his knowledge and insights.

Senior Director Risk Management, Hitachi Rail

Bilal Mahmood is an accomplished Risk & Assurance Leader with over two decades of experience in leading global risk management functions, internal audit departments, and compliance programs across various industries. Bilal is known for his strategic vision, ability to create robust risk frameworks, and fostering a risk-aware culture that empowers organisations to achieve long-term resilience. He has consistently demonstrated his ability to drive innovation, lead transformational change, and align risk management functions with strategic business goals. Throughout his career, Bilal has held key leadership roles, where he has successfully developed and implemented enterprise-wide risk management strategies. His experience spans across leading multi-dimensional risk and assurance programs, optimizing risk governance, and embedding integrated risk assurance capabilities within complex global operations.

Group Head of Internal Audit & Risk, British Standards Institution (BSI)

Sahil leads the Internal Audit & Risk function at the British Standards Institution (BSI), the UK’s National Standards Body. He holds a Non-Executive Director (NED) appointment as a Board Trustee of the Chartered Accountants Benevolent Association (CABA). A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) he is also a two-time winner of the Institute of Internal Auditors’ audit and risk award for ‘Outstanding Team – Private Sector’ (2019 and 2024). Sahil has proven experience in creating and developing value adding risk and assurance functions in both a listed and non-listed environment. He has extensive international experience working across cultures and has held leadership roles in London and Singapore working closely alongside Board members and Audit Committees.

Analyst & Pundit, GRC 20/20 Research & GRC Report

Michael Rasmussen is an internationally recognized pundit on governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) – with specific expertise on enterprise GRC strategy and processes supported by robust information and technology architectures. With 30+ years of experience, Michael helps organizations improve GRC strategy and processes supported by the correct GRC technology architecture. This enables organizations to align GRC with the business and deliver effective, efficient, resilient, and agile capabilities to the organization. He is a sought-after keynote speaker, author, and advisor and is noted as the “Father of GRC” — the first to define and model the GRC market in February 2002 while at Forrester.

Chief Researcher, Chartis Research

Sid is a research director at Chartis Research with more than 20 years of experience in the financial, energy, and commodities markets in various functions across the trade and software development lifecycles. He has held various roles in product development, trading, risk management, software development, and consulting in banks, hedge funds, and risk advisory and software firms, including Standard Chartered Bank, TCG Group, HCL, and Cognizant.

Sid’s specific areas of interest and research include risk data, model risk management, quantitative models in illiquid markets, high-performance analytics, energy and commodity trading risk, market structure design, new computational models, and the use of innovative mathematical methods in various emerging areas of risk management. He has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management and is a qualified Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst CAIA, Financial Risk Manager (FRM), Energy Risk Professional (ERP), Member of GARP and CIPM from the CFA Institute.

Director and Founder, The Op Risk Company Ltd

Elena Pykhova is award-winning risk expert, author, international trainer and educator. She is the founder of a boutique risk management consultancy, The OpRisk company, specializing in risk transformation, board and executive level advice on effective operational and enterprise risk management strategy, design and implementation. Elena is an author of a best-selling book, Operational Risk Management in Financial Services: A Practical Guide to Establishing Effective Solutions. She is a renowned educator, running public and in-house training courses in the UK and internationally for world-leading organizations including Euronext, Risk.net, the Moller Center Cambridge University, and the Institute of Internal Auditors. She is a former Director for Education at the Institute of Operational Risk and chair of the Expert Panel for the Association of Foreign Banks.

Executive Chairman, MetricStream

Gunjan Sinha is a visionary, entrepreneur, and business leader. He currently serves as the founder and executive chairman of MetricStream. He is probably still best known as the founder of WhoWhere?- an internet search engine which he sold to Lycos in 1998. He is also the co-founder and board member of the customer engagement software company, eGain (NASDAQ: EGAN). Throughout his career, he has been an active investor and board member in numerous successful Silicon Valley start-ups and venture funds.

Gunjan is a strong believer in social entrepreneurship, having helped create Child Family Health International, a United Nations recognized public non-profit, to transform global health education. From 2010 to 2017, Gunjan became the founding board member of the US India Endowment Board - started by the US State Department along with the Office of Science and Technology at the White House – an endowment fund that supports innovation and commercialisation of science and technology for social good in the US and India.

Gunjan is passionate about social innovation, diversity, inclusiveness, and global risk management. He envisions a world that brings the power of socially conscious innovations to better disrupt its risks, and create opportunities for all.

CEO and Co-Founder, MetricStream

Gaurav Kapoor serves as the CEO and Co-Founder, MetricStream Solutions & Services. Gaurav has been involved with the company since its inception and is responsible for strategy, marketing, solutions, and customer engagement. He also served as the CFO of MetricStream until 2010.

Previously, Gaurav held executive positions at OpenGrowth and ArcadiaOne. Prior, he spent several years in business, marketing and operations roles at Citibank in Asia and in the US.

He also serves on the board of Regalix, a digital innovation and marketing company. Gaurav has a bachelor's degree in Technology (with Honors) from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), a degree in Business from FMS, Delhi, and an MBA from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated as a Palmer Scholar.

Membership Director, ORX

Roland Kennett is an experienced Operational and Non-Financial Risk manager with extensive knowledge of the financial services industry. He has been a leading figure in operational risk management for over two decades, dedicated to enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of risk management decisions. As a co-founder of ORX in 2002, he now serves as the ORX Membership Director, ensuring that members are central to the organization’s mission. He is also a frequent speaker at global risk management conferences.

Professor and Director of Research, Institute of Finance & Technology, University College London

Peyman is a Research Director and Industrial Professor at Institute of Finance & Technology at University College London. With over 25 years of experience in finance, risk, and technology, Peyman specializes in FinTech, GRC and AI. He currently serves as Head of Corporate Development and Strategy at Quantexa, a data and analytics startup that achieved unicorn status in 2023. Previously he has held senior leadership roles at Chartis Research, EY, and SAS Institute, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Risk Management. 

Peyman has a BEng in Computer Engineering and MSc in Human Computer Interaction from University of London, and an MBA from London Business School. His research and views on GRC and technology have been published by leading publications such as the Economist and the Financial Times.

Neil Currie

Head of Channel and Strategic Integration Initiatives - EMEA, CUBE Content Governance Global Limited

Responsible for Channel and Strategic Integrations initiatives in EMEA, Neil in his role looks at how the connected regulatory ecosystem has emerged and continues to develop. Identifying downstream processes and partners on behalf of prospects and customers, his team looks at how they will benefit from CUBE’s Automated Regulatory Intelligence, and CUBE’s initiatives that will support the next generation of Regulatory Change.

CEO, Vivid Edge Corp

Bhaskar is a transformational technology thought leader with 30 plus years of experience in leading successful software businesses. He is passionate about helping clients in their digital transformation journey. Bhaskar is a strong proponent of embracing packaged solutions on cloud or on-prem promising standardization, simplification and streamlining of business processes leveraging multitude of technologies like GRC, ERP, Integration, EDM, IoT, ML & AI to arrive at predictive intelligence that helps make accelerated, accurate risk aware decisions possible at all levels of the organization. He has directed Vivid Edge with singular focus to provide its 360 degree consulting expertise to enable GRC essentials - IT & OT GRC, Cyber, ERM and Third Party Risk management solutions. With a deep understanding of the digital transformation needs across industries he has positioned Vivid Edge to deliver solutions that span Supply Chain SaaS, technology agnostic “Enterprise Integration”, applications “Migration to Cloud”, “Enterprise Data Analytics”, "Digital Adoption" and "Testing Automation". Prior to starting Vivid Edge Corporation in 2006, Bhaskar led large technology teams, conducted Health Checks, Solution Value Assessment efforts at Oracle as a Senior Director. He has championed the design of custom end to end ERP solutions and contributed as a member of the Oracle Development team releasing the Oracle Project Manufacturing Suite. Additionally, he led oversight to large multi-year Oracle ERP programs spanning Manufacturing, Financials, CRM, HRMS, PLM & MDM. Bhaskar has Masters in Economics and Business Administration certification for executives from XLRI, Jamshedpur.