2024 Conference Speaker Bios
Arianne Adams
Chief Strategy Officer
Webull USA
Ms. Arianne Adams has served as the chief strategy officer of Webull US since January 2024. Prior to joining Webull, Ms. Adams was most recently Senior Vice President, Head of Derivatives and Global Client Services at Cboe Global Markets, Inc. where she was responsible for the management, revenue and operations of the options and futures businesses. She also led the sales, coverage and market structure teams to identify, support, and expand the use of derivatives products globally. Prior to that, Adams worked for Goldman Sachs from 2010 to 2018 where she was Head of Electronic Options Sales. Prior to joining Goldman Sach, Adams joined a start-up broker-dealer at Capstone Global Markets, where she was part of team that established the framework, onboarded accounts and traded for institutional asset managers. Adams started her career at Merrill Lynch, where spent nine years from 2000 to 2009 in several disciplines, including Equity Derivatives Sales Trading, Debt Capital Markets & Syndicate and Middle Markets Mergers & Acquisitions. M.s Adams attended Pennsylvania State University, where she earned a B.S. in Finance and Minor in Economics in 1999.
Rizwan Awan
President Equity Trading and Head of Markets, Products & Services
TMX Markets
Rizwan Awan leads the trading businesses of Canada’s premier equity exchanges, Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, and TSX Alpha Exchange. He also oversees Products and Services across TMX Markets, responsible for innovating, designing, and building market solutions across all asset classes and charting the path for Canadian markets.
Rizwan joined TMX in 2020, following nearly two decades in client facing capital markets roles at leading financial institutions. Prior to TMX, he served as Managing Director of Quantitative Execution Services at BMO Capital Markets, heading up Program and Electronic trading as well as Index and Market Structure research.
As an active contributor to market structure and policy issues in Canada, Rizwan represents TMX on OSC’s Market Structure Advisory Committee and IIROC’s Market Rules Advisory Committee. Mr. Awan is also the former Chair of the Canadian Securities Traders Association and Board of Governors of the US Securities Traders Association. He holds a BMath degree in Computer Science from University of Waterloo and is a CFA charterholder.
Matt Billings
Vice President, Brokerage & President
Robinhood Financial & Robinhood Securities
Matt Billings is VP Brokerage and President of Robinhood Financial & Robinhood Securities. Matt has responsibilities over the broker/dealer operations of these entities. Prior to Robinhood, Matt held roles at Two Sigma Securities as well as TD Ameritrade focusing on market data and market structure. Matt also previously worked at Scottrade focusing on equity/option execution services. He holds FINRA Series 63, 55, 7, 4, and 24.
Michael Blaugrund
Chief Executive Officer
DriveWealth
Michael Blaugrund is the Chief Executive Officer of DriveWealth, a leading fintech whose “Brokerage as a Service” powers U.S. securities trading for over 100 global partners representing tens of millions of retail accounts. DriveWealth’s API-first platform enables both digital-native and more established companies to deliver a range of financial services to their end customers, supporting traditional investment workflows as well as more modern techniques like rounding up purchases into fractional share ownership.
Before joining DriveWealth, Blaugrund served as the Chief Operating Officer of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), overseeing strategy and operations of the NYSE Group’s five equity exchanges and two options exchanges. Prior to NYSE, he was the Director of Business Development at Tower Research Capital, where he was responsible for expanding the firm’s global market access and developing strategic assets. He also previously led U.S. equity product strategy at NASDAQ and held product management roles at Thomson Reuters. He previously served on the boards of SIAC, the Options Clearing Corporation, and tZERO.
Blaugrund holds an A.B. in Government from Harvard University. He currently serves as a director of NYSE National, Inc. and is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Joesph Bracco
Senior Vice President, Head of Sales
MIAX
Joseph Bracco is Senior Vice President and Head of Sales for the MIAX® Exchange Group where he manages the sales strategy and member relations for the MIAX options exchanges and MIAX® Pearl Equities exchange. With over 35 years of experience in sales and trading in the derivatives, cash equity and fixed income markets, Joseph brings a deep knowledge of financial markets across multiple asset classes to his role at MIAX. Before to joining MIAX in 2015, Joseph spent nearly eight years at BATS Global Markets, Inc. where he was Senior Vice President and held several prominent senior sales and strategic relations roles. Prior to joining BATS, Mr. Bracco spent over 20 years in trading and electronic trading sales at Cantor Fitzgerald LLP/ eSpeed / BGC Partners Inc. in New York where he was Senior Vice President and Partner.
Vlad Brodsky
CISO and CIO
OTC Markets Group
Vlad Brodsky is the Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Information Officer at OTC Markets Group, operator of the world’s largest OTC equity electronic marketplace. Vlad leads the firm’s information security strategy, program, and processes, and oversees the firm’s IT operations and infrastructure. Prior to OTC Markets Group, he worked as a Chief Security Officer at Innovest Systems, a SaaS provider in the Trust Accounting and Wealth Management space. Vlad has a B.A. in Computer Science and Economics from Brandeis University, and an M.B.A. in Finance, Entrepreneurship and Innovation from New York University’s Stern School of Business. He holds the CRISC, CDPSE, CCISO, CISSP, DDN Boardroom QTE, and PMP certifications, as well as the FINRA Series 7, 24, 99 and SIE licenses.
Shelly Brown
Executive Vice President, Strategic Planning and Business Development
MIAX
Shelly Brown has served as Executive Vice President, Strategic Planning and Business Development since April 2011. Prior to joining MIH, he served as the Director of Business Management for PEAK 6 Investments, a Chicago-based trading firm, where he was head of options execution. Prior to joining PEAK 6, Shelly held a number of positions in the financial markets including as Associate Vice President at NASDAQ OMX and Vice President, Derivatives Trading Strategy at PHLX, and Manager of Options Trading Systems and co-head of Options Business Development at Susquehanna International Group, LLC. While at Susquehanna, he was a member of the PHLX Electronic Trading Committee and the Cboe Screen-Based Trading Committee. Prior to joining Susquehanna, he was a founder and Managing Director of Risk Information Systems and Consulting.
Joshua Burch
Senior Director, Head of Equity Product Development
NYSE
Josh Burch is Senior Director, Head of Equity Product Development at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) where he oversees the life cycle of new products coming to market and is responsible for enhancing and optimizing feature functionality on the NYSE Group’ five US equity exchanges.
Prior to joining NYSE, Josh was an Associate Director on the Business Management team at Tower Research Capital focused on Market Structure and strategic initiatives for Tower in US and Canadian Equity marketplaces. Before joining Tower, Josh worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch where he oversaw the Market Access Group on the NY desk. There he worked closely with DMA clients in US and Canadian markets. Josh began his career as a trader on the US equity Market Making desk at Sun Trading LLC.
Josh holds a BA in International Business from DePauw University with degrees in Economics and Russian. He also holds FINRA Series 7, 24, and 63 licenses.
Ari Burstein
General Counsel and Chief Policy Officer
Imperative Execution
Ari Burstein is General Counsel and Chief Policy Officer of Imperative Execution, which he joined in July 2021, and where he is responsible for legal, regulatory and policy issues impacting Imperative Execution and the IntelligentCross ATS.
Mr. Burstein also is Founder of Trading Evolved, which conducts a series of annual conferences around the globe to spur discussions among thought leaders on the evolution of trading and best execution and the key issues impacting the capital markets.
Prior to starting Capital Markets Strategies, Mr. Burstein was Head of US Regulatory Affairs for Kreab, a leading global consulting firm. He also was Senior Counsel for capital markets issues for the Investment Company Institute (ICI) and ICI Global, the global trade associations for the regulated fund industry. Prior to joining ICI, Mr. Burstein was an attorney in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management from 1997 to 1998 and the Division of Market Regulation from 1992 to 1997.
Richard Carleton
Chief Executive Officer
Canadian Securities Exchange
Richard Carleton was appointed CEO of the Canadian Securities Exchange in July 2011. Since then, Richard and the CSE team have positioned the exchange to take a leading role in the provision of public capital to entrepreneurial companies, and in the process, set a series of records for new listings, capital raised by issuers and trading turnover. An advocate for the public markets, Richard has been recognized for his contributions by a number of industry associations, and is a regular commentator on capital formation and market structure issues in Canada and around the world.
In addition to his responsibilities with the CSE, Richard is a director of Safe Harbor Financial, a Nasdaq-listed financial services company, Blue Ocean ATS, a US-registered ATS offering trading in US NMS stocks between 8 pm and 4 am EST, and Tetra Trust Company, Canada’s first recognized custodian for digital assets. Association. He is a past member of the Ontario Securities Commission’s “Market Structure Advisory Committee”.
A member of the Law Society of Ontario since 1987, Richard is a graduate of the University of Ottawa (B.A. ’81) and the University of Toronto (LL.B. ’85). He has also completed the executive development programme at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Chris Clark
Institutional Strategy
Jane Street
Chris Clark is an ETF Strategist within Jane Street’s Institutional team. In this role, Chris analyzes market structure and ETF trading developments, as well as produces market studies and commentary for institutional clients including global asset managers, pension funds, insurance companies, and wealth platforms. Prior to joining Jane Street in 2019, Chris spent 7 years at OppenheimerFunds and Invesco, where he held multiple roles across the organization including ETF strategy and product management. Chris holds a BBA in Finance from George Washington University.
Connor Coughlin
Chief Commercial Officer
Apex Fintech Solutions
Connor Coughlin has been an integral part of Apex Fintech Solutions for seven years, having previously served at AFS’ parent company, PEAK6 Investments. During his tenure at Apex, Connor has assumed various roles spanning analytics, strategy, business development, and corporate development.
Currently, Connor spearheads business development across Apex’s three business lines: Fintech, Advisory, and SaaS where he focuses on go-to-market strategy across sales, marketing, product marketing, partnerships, and revenue operations. His strategic vision and leadership have been instrumental in driving the company's growth and success in these areas.
Connor earned his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University, where he majored in political science and computer science. Outside of his professional endeavors, Connor is an aspiring amateur pizza chef. With his dedication, expertise, and innovative mindset, Connor continues to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of fintech at Apex Fintech Solutions.
Mark Davies
Cofounder and CEO
S3
Mark Davies is Co-Founder and CEO of S3, a full–service compliance and trade analytics software. He is responsible for the organization’s business strategy, the executive team and has oversight of the company’s day-to-day operations, including client relations, sales, and business development.
A financial services executive with over 15 years experience in fintech and regtech, Mr. Davies has deep industry knowledge in trading technology, particularly trade surveillance, best execution analysis, and regulatory reporting. Currently, Mark is leading the industry on market structure and regulatory reporting requirements for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Rule 606 under Reg NMS and is sought after for his subject matter expertise.
Mr. Davies co-founded S3 in 2001. In 2004, S3 launched its first trading analytics product, redefining S3’s core business. Since then, under Mr. Davies guidance, S3 has improved trust in the industry through appropriate and intelligent disclosure via regulatory reporting and analytics.
Mr. Davies holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and three children.
Armando Diaz
CEO
PureStream
Armando Diaz is CEO of PureStream, an innovative trading venue focused on increasing direct institutional to institutional liquidity discovery by enabling broker algorithmic orders to search,
find, and yield more liquidity without self-inflicted price impact.
Armando began his career as a Trader for Goldman Sachs and was ultimately promoted to Partner and Co-Head of US Equity Trading. In addition, he served on Goldman Sachs’s Firmwide Diversity Committee and was a Board Member of Goldman Sachs’s leadership development initiative, Pine Street.
In 2008, Armando joined Citigroup as the Head of Trading. He played a key role in the creation and implementation of TotalTouch, the industry’s first fully electronic high touch product which
integrates the best elements of electronic (low touch) and high touch trading.
Armando left Citi to become the Global Head of Execution Services at Millennium Partners, a multi strategy hedge fund. He served on several of the firm’s committees including the Executive Committee, Risk Committee, Best Execution Committee, and Operational Risk Committee.
Shelley Eleby
Managing Director, Head of Marketing Electronic Trading
BMO Capital Markets
Shelley Eleby is responsible for product marketing, equity market structure thought leadership/communications, and raising the overall awareness and brand equity of BMO Electronic Trading. Prior to the sale of Clearpool Group to BMO Capital Markets, Shelley was Chief Marketing Officer. A seasoned product marketing leader in finance, publishing, and advertising technology. Shelley is a data-driven professional with demonstrative experience in corporate strategic planning, brand building, product marketing, and operations. She holds a BS in Organizational Behavior and Communications from New York University.
Paul Famighetti
General Manager
Talos
Paul has over 25 years of experience in the finance industry. Prior to joining Talos, he served as Global Head of Trading Tech for DRW, Cumberland. The majority of his career has been focused on equities trading including previous roles at RGM Advisors (CIO, Director of Equities) and Schonfeld Strategic (Head of Automated Trading). Paul is a graduate of Villanova University and also is an advisor to Bridgefront Capital.
Jon Fowler
Chief Technology Officer
RQD* Clearing
As the Chief Technology Officer of RQD* Clearing, Jon Fowler leads the development and maintenance of RQD’s advanced cloud-native clearing platform. With close to 15 years of dedicated experience in designing and optimizing systems for real-time clearing, settling, and processing of equity and options trades, Jon is a seasoned expert in the technology, operational, and compliance requirements of running a modern, scalable clearing business.
Illit Geller Halevy
Partner, Business Development
AWZ X-Seed, Resilience Tech Fund
Illit is responsible for leading strategy & business development for Awz portfolio companies and supporting fundraising. She has over 25 years of experience leading fintech startups and promoting strategic global collaborations. Illit is a founding Partner of Disruptive AI Venture Capital Fund, a former senior executive at Capitolis and Founder of TradAir (acquired for $450M), and Traiana (acquired for $250M).
Ellen Greene
Managing Director, Equity & Options Market Structure
SIFMA
Ellen Greene is Managing Director, Equity and Options Market Structure of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA). As staff advisor for both the Equity Markets & Trading Committee and the Listed Options Trading Committee, Ellen is responsible for leading SIFMA’s initiatives on behalf of members. Ellen also leads SIFMA’s advocacy work on the Consolidated Audit Trail.
Ellen joined SIFMA in August 2012 from Nasdaq, where she was a Vice President in Transaction Services. At Nasdaq, Ellen was the head of broker dealer sales, with responsibilities for its equity and options exchanges. Ellen was part of a small team responsible for the launches of two successful new exchanges, PSX and Nasdaq Options Market.
Prior to joining NASDAQ, Ellen worked in Corporate Relations at the American Stock Exchange. Ellen began her career on the equity syndicate desk in the capital markets division at Merrill Lynch.
Ellen earned her MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and her BA from Colby College.
Jesse Greif
Chief Operating Officer
OneChronos Markets
Jesse Greif is the Chief Operating Officer of OneChronos, based in New York.
Before joining OneChronos, Jesse was Head of Product for Goldman Sachs Principal Liquidity Solutions, providing traders & asset managers electronic tools to access Goldman’s internal capital through algorithm & routing offerings for intraday and benchmark liquidity.
Before Principal Liquidity Solutions, Jesse was global COO of Goldman’s Equities Systematic Market Making business.
Jesse holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor’s degree in Behavioral Psychology from Northeastern University. He also holds FINRA Series 24, 57, 63, and 7 licenses.
Adrian Griffiths
Head of Market Structure
MEMX
Adrian Griffiths joined MEMX as Head of Market Structure in May 2021. In this leadership role, he serves as a dedicated resource to help develop MEMX’s viewpoints on market structure and industry-wide developments. Adrian amplifies the exchange’s voice on issues important to the MEMX membership by participating in engagement efforts with policy makers, regulators, and industry participants. Adrian also represents MEMX and its members by developing relevant thought leadership pieces and speaking at industry events.
Adrian has deep experience in the exchange space and was previously Assistant General Counsel at Cboe Global Markets, where he served as primary counsel to the U.S. equities and market data businesses. In this role, he provided strategic advice to business leaders and worked with the SEC to secure regulatory approval for major equities market structure proposals. He was a Senior Associate General Counsel at Nasdaq prior, advising on legal and policy issues impacting Nasdaq’s options and equities businesses.
Adrian received his J.D. from New York University School of Law. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Amherst College.
Jon Herrick
Chief Product Officer
NYSE
Jon Herrick is the Chief Product Officer for the New York Stock Exchange, a part of Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), responsible for product development and innovation across all areas of the exchange’s business. In his role, Jon oversees the NYSE’s transactions and market data businesses, driving competitive strategy and distribution.
Previously, Jon served as the NYSE’s Head of Markets, leading the NYSE’s equities and options businesses across its seven exchanges and three trading floors. Earlier, Jon was the exchange’s Head of Equities.
For more than a decade, Jon held senior roles at several prominent proprietary trading firms. In 2006 he joined GETCO, which acquired Knight Capital to become KCG Holdings. Jon later became Managing Director at Sun Trading, which was acquired by Hudson River Trading. Most recently, he served as Managing Director, Americas for Quantlab.
Jon holds a B.A. from the State University of New York, College at Oswego.
Jeanine Hightower Sellitto
Chief Commercial & Strategy Officer
EDX Markets
Jeanine Hightower-Sellitto is the Chief Commercial & Strategy Officer of EDX Markets, a fast-growing digital asset marketplace designed to meet the needs of both crypto native firms and the world's largest financial institutions. From 2020-2022, Jeanine was the CEO of Atomyze LLC, which was a tokenization platform and marketplace for physical commodities. From 2018-2020 Jeanine served as the Managing Director of Operations at Gemini Trust Company, LLC, which operates a digital asset exchange and offers custodial services. From 2004-2017, Jeanine held several leadership roles, including Chief Operating Officer, at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), a NASDAQ subsidiary that operates three securities exchanges. Jeanine started her career in 1998 as a Financial Analyst in the Technology Investment Banking group of Wachovia Securities. Jeanine serves on the Board of Digital Prime Technologies and serves on the Advisory Board of the Global Digital Asset & Cryptocurrency Association (GDCA). Jeanine was named to the TABB Forum Top 40 Financial Market Innovators List in 2022 and Entrepreneur Magazine’s 100 Powerful Women list of 2020. She is a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with degrees in Economics and Biology.
David A. Hoag
Chief Information Officer
OCC
David A. Hoag is Chief Information Officer at OCC, the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization.
In this role, he leads the entire OCC Information Technology team, ensuring that OCC has the technology infrastructure to provide clearing members with cost-effective risk management solutions while also meeting the heightened expectations of global regulators.
Mr. Hoag is a technology executive with nearly 25 years of information systems and development experience. He previously served as Chief Technology Officer at Halo Investing, Inc., which offers a pre-defined market return trading platform for investors. Before joining Halo, Mr. Hoag was Chief Technology Officer for NextTier Education, a web and mobile-based post-secondary readiness platform that delivers critical information on every two and four-year college in the U.S. Prior to NextTier, he spent 11 years with CME Group, most recently serving as the Managing Director of Post Trade Technology leading the exchange's information technology development teams responsible for all of its clearing and settlement activities.
Regina Huber
CEO
Transform Your Performance
As the CEO of TRANSFORM YOUR PERFORMANCE, Regina Huber drives bold, value-driven, and heart-centered leadership. She helps her clients reach their next career goal, accelerate their careers and become thriving leaders by upgrading their leadership of self & others. Her eclectic experience on five continents started in Germany and includes leadership positions at BCG as well as ownership of businesses in Argentina, Brazil, and the U.S. This experience shaped her into a multicultural Transformational Leadership Coach, International Inspirational Speaker, and Author of Speak up, Stand out and Shine. She also co-authored three other books and wrote numerous articles for magazines in the U.S. and Africa, where she has been featured
by multiple media outlets.
Over the years, she has held many volunteer roles in organizations and at events in the U.S., Africa, Latin America, and Australia. She was a TV Show Host at WIN WIN Women TV/Roku TV, a Member of the Leadership Team of the Financial Women’s Association (FWA), where she co-chaired two committees, and has collaborated with Centre for Organization Leadership & Development (COLD) Zimbabwe/UAE. Regina is a Conversational Intelligence (C-IQ)® Enhanced Skills Practitioner. She created four signature coaching frameworks: Powerful Leadership Transformation (PLT)TM, New-Paradigm Leadership (NPL)TM, The T.h.r.i.v.i.n.g. Leader FormulaTM, and Get Your Dream SalaryTM. She has a passion for travel and dance, and she loves inspiring others to express their unique brilliance and live a freakin' amazing life!
Website: https://transformyourperformance.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reginahuber
LinkedIn Career Growth Strategies newsletter:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/6920728165837369344
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@reginahuber
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReginaHuber369
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reginahubernyclyon
Book Speak up, Stand out and Shine: https://www.amazon.com/Speak-Stand-out-Shine-
Powerfully-ebook/dp/B01M0N0558
James Hyde
Head of Business Development
New York Stock Exchange
James Hyde is a Senior Director of NYSE an ICE Exchange – Head of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships for NYSE Markets. He is a two term Past-President of STANY Board and is currently serving at the National level of the Security Traders Association as Chair of the Board, Executive Committee member, and STA representative on the Listed Option Market Structure Working Group (LOMSWAG). James previously held the position as the Chairman of the STA Listed Options Committee (LOC).
Mr. Hyde is the former Vice Chairman of the American Stock Exchange Board and served as the Senior Supervisory Officer on the Trading Floor. As a Floor Governor, He chaired numerous Exchange operating committees and was appointed as Chairman of the Amex Technology Committee. Prior to the closing of the NYSE Euronext/Amex transaction, he was asked to serve as liaison among NYSE Euronext senior staff and the Amex constituencies. Concurrently, he was also a Registered Options Trader for AGS Specialists LLC (Aka Integral Derivatives LLC). Prior to trading for AGS/ID Specialists, he was a Senior Managing Director and head of Option trading for Kellogg Capital Group, L.L.C. He was instrumental in launching Kellogg into the Option, ETF and floor broker business, through acquisitions of Knight Securities, Spear Leads and Kellogg (Goldman Sachs) Index products, the Fogel Group, and the Van Der Moolen Company. Additionally, he is co-founder of TAHOE Trading LLC and TAHOE Technologies, a proprietary analytical software platform utilized in the market today. Also, in 2005 he negotiated and closed the transaction transferring control of the American Stock Exchange back to the members from NASDAQ. He received his B.A. from St. John’s.
Adam Inzirillo
Executive Vice President, Global Head of Data and Access Solutions
Cboe Global Markets
Adam Inzirillo is Executive Vice President, Global Head of Data and Access Solutions at Cboe Global Markets. In this role, Inzirillo is responsible for providing clients with global access to Cboe's complete suite of data services and trading resources, which includes market data and access services, market and risk analytics, global indices, and order and trade management offerings.
Previously, Inzirillo held the position of Senior Vice President, Head of North American Equities, where he was responsible for overseeing the product development and strategic growth of Cboe's U.S. equities business, as well as Cboe's Canadian equities trading venues. Inzirillo joined Cboe in 2019 as Senior Vice President and Head of U.S. Equities.
During his nearly 20 years in equities trading, Inzirillo has held a number of senior leadership positions in the industry. Prior to joining Cboe, he was Managing Director, Head of Order Routing and Execution Products at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML), where he worked for nearly a decade. During his tenure, he expanded the firm's liquidity offerings via business development and product management of its smart order router, direct market access, order management applications and non-displayed crossing functionality. Previously, Inzirillo was Executive Director, Head of Broker Dealer Business Development at UBS Securities LLC, where he managed the business development of broker dealers trading on the firm's ATS and electronic trading platforms.
Inzirillo holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Bucknell University and an MBA from Dowling College.
Raj Iyer
Chief Product Officer
Templum
Raj Iyer is the Chief Product Officer at Templum, the leading platform simplifying and connecting Private Markets, where he is responsible for strategy and product development. He is a financial services sector expert, speaking frequently on the subjects of innovation in markets and emerging technologies.
Previously, he held senior positions in capital markets and financial services, including at BNY Mellon, Bloomberg, Lava Trading, EBS and Citigroup. He has led the development of new platforms, trading and data products across businesses including foreign exchange, precious metals, derivatives, and trade finance. He was a member of the Operations Managers Working Group of the FX Committee at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
He holds a B.S. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.S. from New York University, where he is also currently an Adjunct Instructor.
Tom Jordan
CEO and President
Jordan & Jordan
Tom founded Jordan & Jordan in 1990 and co-founded the Financial Information Forum (FIF) in 1996. From 1985-1990, he was the Managing Director of Knight-Ridder Financial/Americas. Previously, Tom was the Chairman of Monchik-Weber, a Wall Street consulting and product development firm. He also held development and marketing positions at IBM. Prior to his business career, Tom served as an officer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1st Cavalry Division and the 1st Infantry Division.
Tom actively participates in many industry initiatives. He is the Advisory Chair of the Financial Information Forum, Advisory Committee Member of RIXML, and Co-Founder of Veterans in Financial Markets(VFM). He contributes to the industry as Advisory Member of the Securities Traders Association (STA), Consultant to the Securities Traders Association of New York (STANY), and a member of the advisory committee of the Consolidated Tape Association (CTA) and the Unlisted Trading Privileges (UTP) plan. He was inducted into the Incisive Media Market Data Hall of Fame and was recognized by FISD with a Lifetime Achievement award. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Knights of St. Patrick.
Tom holds a BS degree in Mathematics from Saint Peter's College and a MS in Industrial Administration from Union College in Schenectady, NY.
Alex Kane
CEO and Founder
Sporttrade
Alex is the CEO and Founder of Sporttrade. Sporttrade is a licensed OSB operator in New Jersey, Colorado, and Iowa. Alex has a singular vision to create a fair and efficient sports betting market for all players. Sporttrade is a vehicle for that vision, offering players an incredibly innovative betting experience with stellar prices, a next-gen experience, and concierge care. Alex is getting increasingly involved in helping to shape OSB legislation and regulation in a new direction; one that puts the player first.
Patricia Koetzner
Managing Director, Equity Sales and Trading
Siebert Williams Shank & Co, LLC
Patricia E. Koetzner is Managing Director, Equity Sales and Trading, for Siebert, Williams, Shank & Co. LLC, a leading minority owned broker dealer. Patricia’s two primary functions include; driving new revenue growth by expanding revenue generating relationships and facilitating equity trading for the firm. Her equity trading functions include: traditional long/short sales trading coverage, implementation of algorithmic strategies, share repurchases, trading and program trading. Ms. Koetzner has served in various capacities in the securities industry for now over 22 years, most recently including her role as Managing Director/Head of Equity Sales & Trading at CastleOak Securities, L.P. Prior to that, Ms. Koetzner served as vice president of Barclays Capital for seven years where she covered cash accounts and repurchased shares for corporations, before becoming a member of its electronic trading group. For the first decade of her career, she was a NASDAQ market maker for firms including Neuberger Berman, LLC, Gruntal & Co. and Dominick & Dominick, Inc. Patricia earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maine and holds FINRA series three, seven, 24, 55 and 63.
Abhishek Kundu
Global Head of Electronic Product
BMO Capital Markets
Abhishek (Abhi) is responsible for BMO’s global electronic product strategy and quant research. Prior to joining BMO Capital Markets, he served as Senior MD, Head of Quantitative Analysis at Clearpool Group where he managed quantitative analysis and collaborated on product development. Before Clearpool, he was VP at KCG Holdings (formerly Knight Capital Group), where he worked in algorithmic trading and quantitative analysis for Knight Direct, the firm’s agency algorithmic business.
Rob Laible
Head of Americas
BMLL Technologies
Rob joined BMLL, the leading independent historical data provider, from Liquidnet, where he was Global Head of Equities with responsibility for Liquidnet’s global institutional equities business, an electronic trading network that includes more than 900 global Member firms that collectively manage $16+ trillion in equity assets. Based in New York, his focus was on providing asset managers with institutional-sized liquidity, value-added execution services and advanced analytics to help traders compete in data-driven investing and automation.
Rob joined Liquidnet in 2014 as Global Head of Execution & Quantitative Services (EQS) to oversee the development of Liquidnet’s award-winning suite of algos specifically designed for institutions and their unique workflows. In 2019, he became Chief Operating Officer at Liquidnet, overseeing global technology, operations, legal, compliance, marketing, corporate efficiencies and vendor relations.
Jill Laverty
Managing Director, Head of Equity International ETF Creation & Redemption
Bank of America
Jill Laverty is the Head of the Equity International ETF Creation and Redemption Business at BofA. As a business owner, Jill comprehensively manages the ETF product line, engaging global business and support partners both internally and externally. Jill’s clients are ETF Market Markets, ETF Issuers, ETF End Clients, and UIT Issuers. Jill is active in recruiting and talent management of junior professionals as well as numerous internal culture committees, and is a current co-chair of the BofA Women’s Leadership Council.
Jill has been with BofA for 9 years; in addition Jill achieved her MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS from Lehigh University.
JF Legault
Deputy CISO, Global Head of Cybersecurity Operations
JPMorgan Chase
JF Legault is JPMorgan Chase’s Deputy CISO and serves as Global Head of Cybersecurity & Technology Controls Operations and Business Information Security Officer for Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB). In this capacity, he has accountability for the firm’s cyber defenses as well being responsible for managing cybersecurity and technology risks across all CIB businesses.
JF graduated from HEC Montreal with a Bachelor of Business Administration and went on to obtain a Master of Science degree in Management Information Systems.
Rob Louka
Head of Trading, Quantitative Equity Group
Vanguard
Rob Louka is head of trading in Vanguard's Quantitative Equity Group. He joined Vanguard in 2021 and has spent most of his career in investment management primarily focusing on trading and transaction cost research. Prior to joining Vanguard in 2021, Rob was a partner and co-head of the trading desk at AJO, another quantitative equity portfolio manager. Prior to that, he was a trader and portfolio manager for a subsidiary of BNP Paribas in the equity derivatives division. Rob earned a B.B.A. in accounting from Loyola University in Maryland, an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and an Masters in Information and Data Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Rob holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA) designation.
Mahlet Makonnen
Principal
Williams & Jensen
Mahlet Makonnen is an attorney with public and private sector experience in financial services, privacy, and cybersecurity issues. As a Principal at Williams & Jensen, Mahlet assists a diverse group of clients ranging from financial services to technology firms. In addition, Mahlet manages the Campaign Finance Practice at Williams & Jensen and advises corporations, trade associations, and individuals on complying with federal and state election laws, ethics and gift restrictions, and the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
Prior to joining Williams & Jensen, Mahlet worked as Regulatory Affairs Counsel for the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU) where she advised financial institutions on a variety of regulatory and compliance issues. In the public sector, Mahlet served as an Attorney Advisor with the Department of Veterans Affairs. She is a member of the District of Columbia and Virginia state bar.
Hon. Carolyn B. Maloney
Former Congresswoman
U.S. Congress
The Hon. Carolyn B. Maloney served for over three decades as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1993-2023). During that time, she rose to become a nationally recognized leader in many fields including financial services, economics, and women’s rights. Congresswoman Maloney was the first woman to Chair the powerful House Committee on Oversight and Reform and previously was the first woman to chair the Joint Economic Committee. She authored and passed more than 81 measures, either as stand-alone bills or as measures incorporated into larger legislation packages, 14 of which were signed into law at formal Presidential Signing Ceremonies that are generally reserved for the most significant bills. Her many achievements include landmark legislation such as the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, the Postal Service Reform Act and the Credit CARD Act.
Throughout it all, Ms. Maloney has been a steadfast champion for women’s rights. As the Eleanor Roosevelt Distinguished Chair in Residence at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, she focuses heavily on the practical elements of legislative governance, protecting women’s rights, and the advancement of the Equal Rights Amendment into the United States’ Constitution. Ms. Maloney is also the Chair of the ERA Coalition, the President of the New York Chapter of the National Organization for Women, a Managing Director of the Metropolitan Opera and a member of the Board of Directors of several non-profit organizations. She is also a member of Women’s Forum Inc., the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Financial Women’s Association.
Frederic Mason
Executive Director, US Equity Trading
JP Morgan Asset Management
Fred Mason has over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. For the past 13 years he has served as an Executive Director in U.S. Equity Trading at J.P. Morgan Asset Management in New York a $2.5 trillion global investment manager with over $450 billion in US Equities. In his current position, he is responsible for large cap equity trading in the Financial, Energy, Utility, TMT and Industrial sectors. He is a graduate of the University of New Hampshire class of 1991 where he received a BS in Business Administration, minoring in Economics and Political Science.
Previously Mr. Mason was the Head of Trading a Highland Capital Management, L.P. in Dallas, Texas a $40 billion multi-asset hedge fund. Additionally, he has held senior trading positions at Babson Capital Management, Franklin Portfolio Associate and Batterymarch Financial Management all based in Boston, MA.
Mr. Mason is a member of the Security Traders Association of New York. Additionally he was a Governor of the Security Traders Association, past President of the Boston Securities Traders Association, founder of the Boston Security Traders Foundation, past member of the National Organization of Investment Professionals and a previous member of the Dallas Securities Traders Association.
David Mechner
CEO and Co-founder
Pragma Securities
David Mechner is CEO and co-founder of Pragma, a MarketAxess company based in New York and specializes in innovative algorithmic trading solutions developed and customized for both buy- and sell-side clients. Pragma’s unique combination of broker independence and quantitative expertise in market microstructure distinguish the firm as an ideal partner for a range of clients, including exchanges, brokers, institutions, and hedge funds. Before founding Pragma, Mr. Mechner developed and implemented short-term trading strategies as Director of Research at Pragma Hedge Fund, and prior to entering the field of finance, he was a doctoral fellow at New York University's Center for Neural Science. His interest in intelligent systems originated during his computer-science undergraduate years, during which he spearheaded a research effort in developing a sophisticated program for the game of Go. Mr. Mechner participated in the Japanese professional promotion system for Go and still ranks among the strongest non-Asian Go players in the world.
Tommy Martin
Co-head of Options Business
DASH Financial
Tommy is responsible for leading DASH’s options business, including the market structure team, overseeing the firm’s business-facing options product growth and is the business owner of DASH’s options and equity OEMS, DASH OMS. Prior to joining DASH in 2015, Tommy was a Business Development Relationship Manager for the International Securities Exchange where he was responsible for growing the exchange’s membership community and market share through the education of matching engine microstructure behavior across industry business models and the growth of the firm’s EMS, PrecISE. He began his career as a Global Market Intelligence Analyst at IPREO. Tommy holds a B.A. in Finance and Marketing from Fordham University.
Joseph Mecane
Head of Execution Services
Citadel Securities
Joseph Mecane is Head of Execution Services at Citadel Securities. In this role, he is responsible for the firm’s client-facing equity, options, FX, and ETF businesses. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Mecane was Global Head of Electronic Equities at Barclays. Previously, he worked for the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for six years, most recently serving as the Head of U.S. Equities. His earlier career included roles at UBS Securities, Schwab Capital Markets, Knight Capital Group and Price Waterhouse. Mr. Mecane is involved with numerous industry organizations, currently serving as Chairman of the Nasdaq Quality of Markets Committee and on the Board of Trustees for the Museum of American Finance. He is also a member of the National Organization of Investment Professionals and the SIFMA Advisory Council. He was previously a member of the SEC’s Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee and served on the FINRA Board of Governors, the Nasdaq Exchange Board and the BATS Exchange Board. Mr. Mecane received an MBA, with honors, from the Wharton school of the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree from Pace University.
Kevin McCarthy
Chief Administrative Officer and Head of Clearing
Clear Street
Kevin McCarthy is the Chief Administrative Officer and Head of Clearing at Clear Street. Kevin spent more than 30 years at Bank of America Merill Lynch launching and managing professional clearing and prime brokerage financing services for sophisticated professional traders, hedge funds, asset managers, and major financial institutions. Kevin oversees Clear Street’s clearing services for Market Makers, while increasing operational efficiencies across the business.
Ovidio Montemayor
Managing Director, Trading Operations & Order Routing Strategy
Charles Schwab
Ovidio Montemayor has 25 years of corporate experience in retail brokerage, trading operations and equity marker structure. Ovidio manages the firm’s trading operations and order routing functions, which serve as liaisons to the markets and also manages market center relationships to satisfy the company’s order routing obligations and practices.
Montemayor is an active member of multiple financial service industry trade organizations, including serving as Vice-Chair of the SIFMA Listed Options Trading Committee. He completed the Securities Industry Institute Program at The Wharton School and the Professional Leadership Develop Program at Cornell University. He holds a Bachelor of Business Management degree from Northwood University.
Andrew Oppenheimer
Head of Business Development
Nasdaq
Andrew is Head of Business Development and Strategy for US Equities at Nasdaq. His responsibilities range from account coverage, product, policy and strategic initiatives. Prior to his current role, Andrew headed up product at Nasdaq for US Equities. Before joining Nasdaq in 2017, Andrew worked at KCG as product manager for the ATS and lead its migration to new infrastructure and updating its execution logic. As a client facing product manager, he spoke to clients regarding execution quality and performance while continually sourcing new business. He focused on keeping the ATS running smoothly (and compliant) growing trading volume and revenues through involvement in business strategy, product development, sales and overall advocacy for the ATS. Prior to joining KCG, Andrew worked at Cantor Fitzgerald to launch and manage the trading strategies of a 6 billion dollar quantitatively enhanced index fund.
Joel Oswald
Principal
Williams & Jensen, PLLC
Joel Oswald is a principal at the law and lobbying firm, Williams & Jensen. He specializes in a legislative and regulatory practice focused on financial services policy. With over 20 years of public and private sector experience, Mr. Oswald works with clients on a range of legislative and regulatory issues, including equity trading, asset management, securities, banking, consumer finance, fintech, and insurance policy.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Oswald served on the professional staff of the Subcommittee on International Trade and Finance and later the Subcommittee on Securities and Investment, both of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. He is a graduate of Evangel University and received an MBA from Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School.
Nick Otte
Head of Client Strategy
GTS Securities
Nick Otte is head of client strategy for the wholesale market making group at GTS Securities. In this role, he oversees the unit’s execution protocols to deliver customized, precise solutions that cater to clients’ diverse liquidity and execution requirements. Prior to joining GTS in 2018, Nick worked at Scottrade for 20 years where he held various positions across trading and markets. He possesses extensive experience in equities and derivatives that encompasses proprietary trading, development of best execution protocols, order routing, and market structure analysis.
Nick has been a part of the financial services industry for more than 25 years and has been involved with several industry organizations, including OCC, SIFMA, and the Security Traders Association. He co-founded the STA Retail Advisory Committee and currently serves as Chairman of the STA Listed Options Committee. Nick earned his BS in economics from Bradley University and holds FINRA series 4, 7, 24, 55 and 63 licenses.
Darlene Pasquill
Managing Director, Head of Equity Division
Mizuho Americas
Darlene Pasquill joined Mizuho in November 2018 as Managing Director, Head of the Equity Division for Mizuho Americas, responsible for the Americas Equity Division strategy, risk, and PNL. In this role, she is expanding the firm’s capabilities in Americas Equity Research, Corporate and Exotic Equity derivatives trading, Structured Equity Finance, Americas and Japan/NJA Cash and Convertibles Trading, and Futures. Darlene is also responsible for strategically partnering the Equity Division with Banking to grow their Equity Capital Markets business. She is a member of Mizuho Americas’ Management and Risk Committees, the FCM Governing Body, and she serves as a Director on the Mizuho Americas Charitable Foundation.
Prior to joining Mizuho, Darlene spent 17 years at Credit Suisse, most recently as Managing Director, Head of the Credit Suisse Americas Equity Division, where she was a member of the Americas Equity Operating Committee and the Global Equity Operating Committee. She joined Credit Suisse in November 2000, when the firm merged with Donaldson, Lufkin, and Jenrette (DLJ).
Prior to joining DLJ, Darlene worked in the Healthcare Industry for the Stryker Corporation in San Jose, CA as an orthopedic marketing and manufacturing manager. Before joining Stryker, she worked in the Industrials Industry at Owens Corning Fiberglas as a technical sales specialist in Chicago and the Southeast.
Given her dedication to clients and leadership development, Darlene won the “Excellence in Leadership” award at the Markets Media Group’s 2021 Women in Finance Awards. She received her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and her Bachelor of Science degree with honors, from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth. Darlene is married, has a 17-year-old son, and resides in New York City and Mattapoisett, Massachusetts.
Phil Pearson
Head of Electronic Product for the Americas
Barclays
Phil Pearson joined Barclays in 2023 as Head of Electronic Product for the Americas. Based in New York, he oversees all equity trading initiatives in the region including algorithmic trading, order routing, and liquidity. He is also responsible for the execution consulting practice, advising clients on trading strategies. Until recently, Mr. Pearson was an Executive Director at J.P. Morgan where he was the Head of Algorithmic Product Management for the Americas. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan, Mr. Pearson spent 11 years at ITG. At ITG, he held various roles within algorithmic trading, including trading coverage, execution consulting, market structure, and ultimately Head of Product for Algorithmic Trading and Routing products. Mr. Pearson began his career at E*TRADE Capital Markets.
Mr. Pearson graduated from Colgate University with degrees in Economics and History, and is a CFA Charterholder.
John Ramsay
Chief Market Policy Officer
IEX
John is responsible for developing and communicating IEX's positions on market policy issues, engaging with governmental and regulatory authorities and liaising with pension owners and other asset owners. He also oversees IEX's membership in the national market system plans, including those concerning consolidated market data, the consolidated audit trail, and the Limit Up/Limit Down plans.
John joined IEX in 2014 from the SEC, where he led the Division of Trading and Markets, the group responsible for regulating broker-dealers and self-regulatory organizations. Previously, he led SEC efforts to implement significant elements of the Dodd-Frank Act. Prior to the SEC, he held senior positions at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the National Association of Securities Dealers (now FINRA), the law firm of Morgan Lewis & Bockius, and Citigroup Global Markets.
An expert in the regulation of securities professionals and securities markets, John serves as adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law School, is a member of the Markets Advisory Council of the Council of Institutional Investors and is a recipient of the Law and Policy Award at the SEC.
John earned his J.D. from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin.
Kathryn Rooney Vera
Chief Market Strategist
StoneX
Kathryn is Chief Market Strategist at StoneX where she is responsible for formulating investment strategies across asset classes for institutional clients globally, based off her macroeconomic analyses and forecasting. Kathryn is a high-frequency contributor to television networks Bloomberg Television, CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN en Español, and Fox Business. She is a frequent keynote speaker at major conferences in both the English and Spanish-speaking world.
Formerly she served as Head of Global Macro Research and Chief Investment Strategist at Bulltick where she was responsible for overall capital market investment strategy for the firm. Before this, Kathryn served as an Emerging Markets Latin America economist and strategist at Bear Stearns in Emerging Markets Fixed Income Research. She has worked on the buy-side as sovereign analyst at MetLife Investments where she conducted in-depth economic analyses on emerging markets, working closely with the portfolio manager on asset selection and portfolio allocations.
Kathryn holds her Master’s in Business degree, specializing in Economics and Finance for New York University’s Stern School of Business. She earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and Spanish literature from Rutgers University in New Jersey where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. She also studied at the University of Valencia in Spain.
Kathryn serves on the Advisory Board of the University of Miami’s Department of Economics and has taught Global Economics as an adjunct professor at the University of Miami.
Fernando Ruiz
Director of Security
S3
Since 2021, Fernando Ruiz had been the Cyber Security Engineer for S3. He has over 15 years experience working in IT, spending the last 5 years in Security and Compliance roles. Fernando graduated from Seminole State College in Florida, and has completed the University of Oregon's Cyber Security certification program. Fernando has assisted businesses in achieving and maintaining compliance standards such as SOC, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, and FedRAMP. At S3, Fernando works closely with the CTO to monitor the cyber security landscape of the financial sector to ensure business operations are protected and constantly improving.
Jeffrey Sardinha
Managing Director-Head of ETF Solutions Americas
State Street
Jeffrey Sardinha is Head of State Street ETF Solutions for the Americas, a consultative ETF specialist who works with participants throughout the ETF ecosystem to design and implement the necessary operating models to manage and launch an ETF. Jeffrey has oversight responsibility for the ETF Solution Product in the Americas. He continues to support our ETF clients post launch as an extension of their ETF teams internally at State Street. He is an ETF “lifer” and has been focused solely on ETFs at State Street for 18 years. Jeffrey is situated in the greater Boston area.
He is well-versed in ETF operations and ecosystem, having managed both the Global Basket operations team, the ETF Bridge team, as well as the North American ETF Settlements team.
Michael Scaplen
Head of National Sales
Axos
Michael has supported the financial services industry for over two decades, leading sales and marketing at multiple leading institutions. As the Head of National Sales at Axos, Michael applies a relationship-based client-centric approach to his team’s services and support of the industry, Axos clients and partners.
A current board member of the Security Traders Association of New York (STANY), Michael is an industry anchor, frequently sharing his insights and expertise as an invited speaker and thought leader.
Justin Schack
Partner and Head of Market Structure
Rosenblatt Securities
Justin Schack is a Partner and Head of Market Structure at Rosenblatt Securities, overseeing an award-winning team that provides asset managers, exchange groups, proprietary trading firms, regulators and other clients with in-depth intelligence on market structure and the exchange industry. Schack is a frequent public speaker and widely quoted as an expert by major media outlets. He also has served on various industry bodies providing strategic and public-policy advice to market participants and regulatory authorities. In 2014 The Trade magazine named him to its list of the decade’s 100 most influential people in buy-side trading. Under his leadership, Rosenblatt’s market-structure team has been recognized multiple times as best-in-class, winning its category in Markets Media’s Markets Choice Awards and Financial News’ Trading & Tech Awards. Prior to joining Rosenblatt in February 2008, Schack spent 14 years as a financial and public-affairs journalist, most recently as Assistant Managing Editor of Institutional Investor, where he authored more than 20 cover stories during his eight years on the magazine’s staff. His work in journalism has been recognized with awards from the National Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Society of Business Publication Editors. Schack holds a BA in history from Seton Hall University and an MA in history from the University of Connecticut.
Joe Schifano
Global Head of Regulatory Affairs
Eventus
Joe brings 25 years of experience to Eventus, where he partners with client stakeholders, champions their needs and concerns, communicates regulatory trends, offers insights to maximize effectiveness, and helps compliance and supervisory staff build best-in-class surveillance and monitoring capabilities.
He most recently served as Deputy General Counsel and Global CCO at Tower Research Capital. He successfully led the global compliance team for this proprietary trading firm with 30 trading teams and activity in over 80 electronic markets globally with staff in New York, London, Gurgaon and Singapore. At Tower, he also served as CCO for Latour Trading LLC and TRC Markets LLC from 2016 to 2018, and as Counsel from 2014 to 2015. Earlier in his career, he was a Vice President on NYSE's legal team, and held front-office, supervision, and compliance roles at Barclays Capital and UBS Securities.
Joe received his J.D. from New York Law School and holds a B.S. in Applied Social Sciences and Business from Binghamton University.
Evan A. Schnidman
Co-founder and CEO
Outrigger Group
Dean Sisun
Cofounder and CEO
Prophet Exchange
Cofounder and CEO of Prophet Exchange, the first fully regulated, high frequency sports betting exchange in the United States. Prior to the US, Prophet operated as an exchange in the United Kingdom. After studying the betting exchange market overseas, including their regulatory and compliance processes, consumer behavior, different exchange business models and technology stacks, Prophet came to the US with the vision of launching a familiar betting exchange to the ones overseas while cleaning up their mistakes. Dean and his team launched the first exchange in the US in August 2022, and since then are approaching 200M traded in volume. They are planning on several additional state launches in 2024.
Nick Sonnenberg
Founder and CEO
Leverage
Nick Sonnenberg is an entrepreneur, Inc. columnist, guest lecturer at Columbia University, and the WSJ bestselling author of Come Up for Air: How Teams Can Leverage Systems and Tools to Stop Drowning in Work. He is the Founder and CEO of Leverage, a leading operational efficiency consultancy that helps companies implement his CPR® Business Efficiency Framework. This is the culmination of Nick’s unique perspective on the value of time, efficiency, and automation which stems in part from the eight years he spent working as a high-frequency trader on Wall Street. The CPR (Communication, Planning, and Resources) Framework consistently results in greater output, less stress, happier employees, and the potential to gain an extra full day per week in productivity per person—just by using the right tools in the right way, at the right time. Nick and his team have worked with organizations of all sizes and across all industries, from high-growth startups to the Fortune 10.
Oliver Sung
VP, Head of Equities
Cboe Global Markets
Oliver Sung is Vice President, Head of Equities at Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe). Based in New York, Sung is responsible for is responsible for overseeing the product development and strategic growth of Cboe’s U.S. and Canadian equities businesses. In this role, Sung leads his team in realizing Cboe’s purpose of building trusted markets, delivering solutions to market participants throughout North America. Previously, Sung was Senior Director, Head of North American Equities Execution Consulting, leading the analysis of Cboe’s North American Equities business to help drive growth and the development of new products. Additionally, Sung oversees the creation of unique content for distribution to Cboe clients, providing comprehensive insight into Cboe’s products and services, as well as the North American equities markets in general. Sung has more than 20 years of industry experience and has held several leadership positions in the electronic trading space. Prior to joining Cboe, he was Managing Director, Electronic Trading, Project Management at Cowen, where he where he helped manage various projects for the company’s electronic trading platform and service. Previously, Sung also held roles as Managing Director, Head of Electronic Execution at Convergex and Head of Americas Execution Consulting/Next Generation Algo Product Management at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Sung holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Carnegie Mellon University and Series 7, 24 and 63 licenses.
Gary Wiedman
Managing Director & Head of Clearing
Velocity Clearing
Gary Wiedman is Managing Director & Head of Clearing at Velocity Clearing, a global financial services technology firm. He has 35 years of diverse financial services operations experience in retail, fintech, advisory and clearing. Throughout his career Gary has been a creator of solutions and champion of automation in operations. At Velocity, he creates scale that enables Broker Dealers and customers to participate in U.S. securities markets. He has previously held senior roles at APEX Clearing, UBS Securities LLC, Sixteen Securities, Inc., DriveWealth and Axos Clearing.
Dave Weisberger
Chairman of the Board and Co-founder
CoinRoutes
David Weisberger, Chairman of the Board & Co-Founder of CoinRoutes, has over 35 years of experience in market structure, quantitative finance, and trading automation.
Dave started his career at Morgan Stanley where he built their first program and electronic trading systems. Subsequently, he started the non-dollar program trading desk for Salomon Brothers and became the global architect of the firm’s equity trading platform.
While at Salomon, Dave designed their first trading algorithm using Volume Weighted Average Price as the benchmark, and he contributed to the creation of Stock Facts Pro Impact Cost Model using volume and volatility as a proxy for cost, which was later adopted by Robert Almgren and Neil Christo to develop their model. Next, Dave ran statistical arbitrage trading and electronic market making while developing the firm's first quantitatively managed central risk book. Later on, the firm (now Citigroup through merger) asked Dave to run Lava Trading, the smart routing company, Citi had purchased back in 2004, but which had seen its margins erode while expenses, increased. Dave re-positioned Lava by leveraging their ATS to become profitable, by growing volumes and taking advantage of economies of scale.
In 2009 Dave joined Two Sigma, where he started the wholesale market-making business running Two Sigma Securities. During his tenure, he oversaw the transition of all high frequency trading businesses from the fund to the broker dealer he was responsible for. In late 2014 Dave joined Reg One Technologies and in 2015 IHS Markit acquired RegOne Technologies, naming Dave their Global Head of Equity Market Structure and Quantitative Equity Products.
In 2017, he was introduced to the crypto assets pace by his co- founder, Ian Weisberger, and decided to join him in founding CoinRoutes to provide clients one solution to trading algorithmically across the entire market. CoinRoutes is built for the idiosyncrasies of the crypto market structure, helping clients minimize slippage and achieve operational efficiencies.
CoinRoutes is Dave’s passion. The company’s growth during these past five years and innovation path through its history is a result of the knowledge built throughout his career. Together with other industry leading companies, CoinRoutes is helping to shape the crypto world. The experiences Dave has collected in management, market-making, quant, algos and the large traditional finance space is fundamental to CoinRoutes’ success. His weekly YouTube videos, reviewing of the market, and frequent speech engagements on conferences and podcasts are a reflection of his influence.
Social network platforms:
● Twitter: @DaveWeisberger1
● LinkedIn: @Dave-Weisberger-7b0b9ab
● CoinRoutes:
○ Website: www.coinroutes.com
○ Twitter: @CoinRoutes
○ YouTube: @CoinRoutes
Charlie Whitlock
Head of Americas Distribution
XTX Markets
Charlie has over 25 years of experience in financial services and is currently the Head of Americas Distribution at leading algorithmic trading company, XTX Markets. Prior to XTX, he was Head of AES Sales at Credit Suisse and previously held senior roles at ITG and J.P. Morgan.
Mandy Xu
Vice President Head of Derivative Market Intelligence
Cboe Global Markets
Mandy Xu is Vice President and Head of Derivatives Market Intelligence at Cboe Global Markets. She produces actionable insights and analysis on derivatives market themes and flows, with a focus on Cboe’s leading suite of volatility products. Prior to her current role, she was Managing Director and Head of Equity Derivatives Strategy at Credit Suisse. Mandy is frequently cited in the financial media, including the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Financial Times, and Bloomberg News. Mandy graduated with honors from Harvard University with a B.A. in Economics and is a CFA charter holder.
