Speaker Bios Annual Conference 2025
Arianne Adams
Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Derivatives
Webull
Arianne Adams has been the Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Derivates at Webull US since January2024.Before joining Webull, she served as Senior Vice President, Head of Derivatives and Global Client Services at Cboe Global Markets, Inc., overseeing the management, revenue, and operations of the options and futures businesses. She also led teams in sales, coverage, and market structure to enhance the global use of derivatives products. After graduating from Pennsylvania State, Arianne began her career at Merrill Lynch, spending nine years in various roles, including Equity Derivatives Sales Trading, Debt Capital Markets & Syndicate, and Middle Markets Mergers & Acquisitions.
Chen Arad
Co-Founder and CXO
Solidus Labs
Chen Arad is the Co-founder and Chief External Affairs Officer (CXO) of Solidus Labs, an AI-powered trade surveillance and compliance solutions provider. Named a category-definer for market surveillance by Citigroup, Solidus Labs equips financial institutions, digital asset firms, and regulators with cross-asset risk monitoring solutions to detect and prevent market manipulation and financial crime in today’s most complex trading environments. The firm monitors more than 250 million trading events daily, analyzing $16 trillion in value, and protecting approximately 25 million retail and institutional entities.
As CXO, Chen leads Solidus Labs’ external affairs, including regulatory strategy, industry partnerships, and strategic communications, working closely with global policymakers and financial institutions to enhance market integrity standards across digital and traditional finance. He is an appointed member of the U.S. CFTC’s Global Markets Advisory Committee, a Founding Advisory Council Member and Market Integrity Chair of Global Digital Finance (GDF)—where he spearheaded the development of industry-wide integrity and surveillance frameworks. He is also a winner of the New York Department of Financial Services’ Virtual Asset Supervision Tech Sprint and a founder of the Digital Asset Compliance and Market Integrity Summit.
Chen also led the launch of the Crypto Market Integrity Coalition (CMIC)—a non-profit initiative co-founded with leading financial firms such as Coinbase and Circle. CMIC brings together financial market participants to strengthen market integrity standards, with over 50 members, including 30 trading platforms committed to its integrity pledge. A recognized industry commentator, Chen regularly appears on CNBC, Bloomberg Businessweek, CoinDesk TV, and other major media outlets, providing insights on market integrity, financial regulation, and risk monitoring.
Ryan Bader
Head of Capital Markets
Tidal Investments
Ryan Bader is the Head of Capital Markets at Tidal, bringing 15 years of experience in the ETF ecosystem. Before joining Tidal in 2023, he spent 13 years on the sell side, including seven years at Deutsche Bank, where he held roles in ETF and Program Trading Operations, International Program Trading, and ETF Market Making. During this time, he focused on enhancing infrastructure and firm-wide capabilities for international creation and redemptions. Ryan also spent two years at Société Générale as a principal in ETF Sales and Trading, where he expanded the firm’s presence in the ETF ecosystem. Additionally, he played a key role in helping Huatai Securities launch its U.S. broker-dealer and was the Senior Portfolio Manager for a suite of Thematic ETFs.
Shishu Bedi
President and CEO
Option Circle
A serial entrepreneur with a proven track record of execution, Shishu Bedi is a visionary leader with over 25 years of expertise in trading, business formation, operations, finance, and management. Renowned for driving innovation and seamlessly aligning technology with business objectives, Shishu leverages technical, analytical, and digital strategies to deliver transformative results.
As the founder of Option Circle, he introduced the AI-powered future of both retail and institutional trading. This groundbreaking platform unites options traders of all experience levels, fostering collaboration, learning, and competition. With its unparalleled tools and capabilities, Option Circle is set to revolutionize the trading industry.
Ric Best
Head of Event Contracts and Prediction Markets
Susquehanna
Ric Best joined Susquehanna in 2014, where he has spent his entire career. In 2023, Susquehanna became the first major financial institution to launch a dedicated trading desk for Event Contracts and Prediction Markets, which Mr. Best has led since its inception. Under his leadership, Susquehanna has become the industry leader in providing institutional liquidity across multiple venues and now trades Event Contracts on a diverse range of topics, including crypto, elections, and financial indices.
Before leading the Event Contracts desk, Mr. Best traded fixed income derivatives at Susquehanna. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Yale University.
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).
Sharon Bowen
Chair of the Board of Directors
NYSE
Sharon Bowen joined the Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE) Board of Directors in December 2017. She serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the New York Stock Exchange, ICE’s subsidiary, and serves on the boards of certain NYSE U.S. regulated exchanges. In addition, she co-chairs the NYSE Board Advisory Council.
Ms. Bowen brings more than 35 years of regulatory, securities, and public policy expertise. She served as a Commissioner of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) from 2014 to 2017. During that time, she was a sponsor of the CFTC Market Risk Advisory Committee.
Ms. Bowen was previously confirmed by the U.S. Senate and appointed by President Obama on February 12, 2010 to serve as Vice Chair of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). She assumed the role of Acting Chair in March 2012. Prior to her appointment to the CFTC, she was a partner in the New York office of Latham & Watkins LLP. Ms. Bowen’s broad and diverse corporate and transactional practice of almost 32 years began in 1982 when she started her career as an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell. She joined Latham as a senior corporate associate in the summer of 1988 and became a partner January 1991 and continued at Latham & Watkins LLP until 2014.
Ms. Bowen also serves on the board of directors of Neuberger Berman Group LLC and Akamai Technologies, Inc.
Ms. Bowen earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Virginia, a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management and a Juris Doctor from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. She also holds an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Northwestern University.
Robert Bowles
Distribution and Liquidity Management
XTX Markets
Rob is part of the XTX distribution team, responsible for the acquisition and liquidity management of their FX, European equities and US equities franchise. Prior to this, he spent 4.5 years at EBS, firstly as a relationship manager and then moving into product, focused on the central limit order book and API customers.
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.
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.
Diwa Cody
Institutional Strategy
Jane Street
Diwa Cody is a Market Structure and Policy Strategist within Jane Street's Institutional Sales & Trading team. In this role, Diwa analyzes market structure and trading developments across asset classes, and produces market studies for institutional clients. Diwa also uses these insights to make regular contributions to industry market structure and policy discussions.
Prior to joining Jane Street, Diwa led US Equities Market Structure and Strategic Partnerships in Global Banking & Markets at Goldman Sachs. She previously worked in Fixed Income Market Structure and Fixed Income Sales at Goldman Sachs.
Diwa has a Masters in Business Administration from Columbia Business School, and Bachelor's Degrees in Economics and Asian Studies from Amherst College.
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.
JD Del Raso
Execution Services, US
Virtu Financial
Based in New York City, JD Del Raso is on the US Virtu Execution Services team and helps oversee the firm’s electronic agency trading. Virtu uses advanced technology and transparency to deliver liquidity to global capital markets and helps clients pursue best execution via a suite of deterministic, intention-based algorithms driven by real-time data.
JD has been with Virtu for 16 years and was previously an FX and energy trader.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgetown University.
David Doorman
Head of ATS & Retail Coordination
Dash Financial
David Dooman is responsible for leading DASH’s business development initiatives around its options ATS and retail order flow consolidation platform. Dave joined DASH in 2017 as part of the merger with Convergex’s Liquidpoint division. Prior to joining DASH, he spent over 12 years with LiquidPoint in a variety of sales, business development, and product roles. He began his career as a clerk and later as a trader at several option trading firms.
Daniel J. Duffy
Head of Portfolio Solution Sales, Americas
State Street Global Markets
Dan Duffy is Head of Portfolio Solutions Sales for the Americas at State Street Global Markets. Dan oversees sales for the Currency Management, Transition Management, Equity Trading and Partnered Trading products. Dan also sits on the Board of State Street Global Markets, LLC. Prior to his current role he was Head of Equities Sales & Trading for the Americas at State Street Global Markets. Dan has over 25 years’ experience in Capital Markets and joined State Street in 2019 to help launch State Street’s Algorithmic Equity offering which included overseeing all aspects of the firms electronic trading offering as well as the firms high-touch sales trading franchise. Prior to joining State Street, he helped launch Clearpool Group and was Head of Execution Services.
Heidi Fischer
President
TMX AlphaX US
Heidi Fischer is Managing Director and President, TSX Alpha U.S., Inc. Heidi is responsible for leading TMX Markets’ strategic expansion into the US. She provides direction and oversight for TMX’s US trading initiatives, aligning with the firm’s corporate strategy and its purpose of making markets better and empowering bold ideas. On January 22, 2025, TSX Alpha U.S., Inc. launched AlphaX US, a new ATS venue, for which Heidi is responsible for managing all aspects of the platform’s operations.
Prior to joining TMX, Heidi was the Co-Head of Execution for the Americas at Instinet, LLC where she jointly led trading, sales trading, sales, and supervision for Instinet’s Execution products. Prior to Instinet, Heidi spent over 15 years at Deutsche Bank, where she held various roles across the program trading and electronic trading businesses. Before transitioning to trading, she worked in litigation consulting at Tucker Alan, Inc. for four years.
Heidi holds a Master of Business Administration degree in Finance and Management from the Stern School of Business at New York University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. She maintains Series 3, 7, 24, 55, 63 registrations with FINRA.
In addition to her professional roles, Heidi sits on the Board of the National Organization of Investment Professionals (NOIP) and is a Founding Board Member of the NOIP Foundation. She previously served on the IEX Quality Markets Committee, the MEMX Nominating Committee, and was the Fair Representative on the Board of the NYSE Chicago Exchange.
Dmitri Galinov
Founder and CEO
24 Exchange
Dmitri Galinov is a proven financial technology entrepreneur and senior executive who has launched and built several successful FinTech platforms and companies over the past two decades. He is a passionate advocate for innovative information technologies that enhance financial industry transparency and accessibility.
Dmitri is the founder and CEO of 24 Exchange, the world’s first 24/7 trading platform that since 2019 has been providing institutional customers with access to reliable, cost-efficient trading of a growing set of asset classes.
Prior to his founding of 24 Exchange, Dmitri served as founder and CEO of FastMatch, the fastest-growing electronic communication network for spot foreign exchange trading. Over the course of his six-year tenure, he grew FastMatch into a company valued at $160 million at the time of its acquisition by Euronext in 2017. FastMatch was named the best foreign exchange trading platform by Financial News and the best E-FX trading venue by FX Week.
As head of the Crossfinder dark pool at Credit Suisse, Dmitri grew Crossfinder into the largest dark pool in the U.S., double the size of the next largest competitor. He also served as Director of Strategy of Direct Edge and as the Global Head of Buy Side DMA for Lava Trading.
Dmitri served on the board of FICC Markets Standards as it worked to develop industry standards for FICC markets. In 2018, he was invited to serve on the board of the Federal Reserve Foreign Exchange Committee’s working group on Global Code of Conduct. He has served as a member of both the NYSE’s Electronic Trading Advisory Committee and the Securities Traders Association of New York.
Dmitri received an MBA in Finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University and a B.B.A. in Finance from Baruch College. He also has an M.S. degree in Information Technology from New York University.
Swaad Golam
Low Latency Trading SME
Beeks
With a diverse and unique background in capital markets, low latency trading, and quantitative research, Swaad is a low latency expert with experience in product, trading architecture, and execution. Over spending a decade in various roles serving counterparties all across the industry, Swaad is pioneering the product strategy in connecting trading performance with machine learning and artificial intelligence.
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.
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.
Rolland Hooey
Head of Client Execution Quality and Order Routing
BNY Mellon Global Markets Trading
Ron is the Head of Client Execution Quality and Order Routing at BNY Pershing Global Markets Trading (GMT). He has over 20 years’ experience in the securities industry, with a primary focus on Electronic Trading, Market Making and Market Structure. He has a strong history of proven leadership having served as Global Head of Equities Sales at BNY Mellon Capital Markets, and running the Equities Market making businesses at Cowen and Wells Fargo.
Additionally, Ron serves on the SIFMA Equity Market and Trading Committee, SIFMA Options Committee, STA Market Advisory Committee and STA Retail Advisory Committee. As Head of Client Execution Quality and Order Routing, Ron works closely with wholesalers, market makers and exchanges to ensure clients are optimizing their price improvement and receiving best execution. He works closely with clients and vendors to provide insights on market structure and regulatory reporting related to Equities, Options and Fixed Income.
Ron is a graduate of Holy Cross with an MBA from Columbia and holds his Series 4, 7, 24, 57 and 63 licenses.
Sean Hoover
Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer
Purestream Trading Technologies, Inc.
Sean Hoover is Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of PureStream Trading Technologies, Inc., an innovative institutional trading venue focused on increasing institutional liquidity “bandwidth.” Sean began his career on the trading desk at RCM Capital Management in San Francisco where he was responsible for executing equities transactions for their institutional portfolios. In 1995 Sean joined Goldman Sachs in their San Francisco office as a sales-trader covering West Coast institutional clients. In 2001 Sean was named Managing Director and had responsibility for all Equities and Fixed Income businesses on the West Coast. In 2005 Sean relocated to New York to run Goldman’s International Execution teams. He was later promoted to Partner and named Global Co-Head of Equities Execution Services, a collection of business units comprised of more than 600 people spanning offices around the world. Sean’s 30 years of commercial and leadership success have earned him the trust and confidence of buy-side trading teams around the world. Sean Hoover graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. He holds numerous regulatory securities licenses and serves on the board of “Part of the Solution” in Bronx, NY. He is happily married and currently resides in Rye, New York with his wife and three children.
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.
Aaron Kehoe
Head of QwickRoute
MCAP Platform Solutions
Aaron Kehoe leads QwickRoute, the Platform Solutions Division of MCAP, where he drives the development of custom algorithmic trading solutions for sell-side broker-dealers. Under his leadership, QwickRoute focuses on enhancing trading performance by optimizing workflows, improving execution quality, sourcing liquidity, and crafting best execution strategies by listening to client needs. With over 20 years of experience, Mr. Kehoe has been a pioneer in developing technology and operations that support ETF trading systems. His deep understanding of how various asset classes trade has allowed him to continuously improve ETF trading and execution practices, consistently solving complex workflow issues and driving industry-wide innovation.
Mr. Kehoe’s career began on the trading floor of the AMEX as an ETF trader, where he quickly distinguished himself before becoming an ETF specialist on the NYSE. His extensive career includes senior roles at Bear Stearns, NewEdge, Virtu (formerly Knight), Cantor Fitzgerald, and Brownstone Investment Group.
Patricia Koetzner
Co-head of Equity Trading
Siebert Williams Shank & Co, LLC
Patricia E. Koetzner is Co-head of Equity 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.
Nancy R. Lazar
Chief Global Economist
Piper Sandler
Nancy R. Lazar is the Chief Global Economist at Piper Sandler and leads the economics research team. Nancy’s work is known for its unbiased, comprehensive, highly-detailed approach. Before joining Piper Sandler, she co-founded Cornerstone Macro, Wall Street's premier macro boutique. Prior to Cornerstone, she was Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of ISI Group for more than 20 years. Nancy has been an Institutional Investor-ranked economist since 2001, placing in the top two the past 10 years, ranking #1 in 2015. Nancy was named to Barron’s 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024, and was featured on the Forbes 50 over 50 Investment List in 2024. Prior to co-founding ISI in 1991, Nancy was a Senior Vice President at C.J. Lawrence. She is a 1979 graduate of Kalamazoo College in Michigan. Nancy is a member of The Economic Club of New York, New York Forecasters, Money Marketeers, NYABE, NABE, and Women in Finance & Housing.
Ben Londergan
Managing Director, Strategic Business Development
Simplex Trading
As Managing Director of Strategic Business Development, Ben is responsible for growing Simplex’s Joint Back Office (JBO) structure and core business model by expanding trading into new products and geographies. Ben’s extensive experience in building, developing and implementing market strategies allows him to identify areas for growth and scale within Simplex to achieve profitable outcomes. Ben’s previous experience includes CEO roles in market making and options brokerage firms, as well as multiple senior management roles in start-up organizations.
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.
Tarek Mansour
CEO
Kalshi
Tarek Mansour is CEO of Kalshi, the first federally regulated financial exchange for trading directly on events.
Kalshi’s historical regulatory approval from the CFTC enables it to offer a new asset class called “event contracts,” which allow traders to take positions on whether a future event will happen or not. Kalshi aims to enable investors to trade on almost anything with economic relevance from Covid numbers to whether a bill will pass in Congress, broadening the historical definition of what a commodity derivative is and paving the way for the futures market to catch up to the novel risks facing the economy today. Since launch, Kalshi has offered over two thousand event contracts to retail traders and institutions. Kalshi is one of only sixteen financial exchanges approved by the CFTC in the U.S, some of which have existed since the 1840s.
Mansour previously worked as a quantitative trader at Goldman Sachs and Citadel. He received a bachelor degree in Computer Science and Mathematics, and a Masters in Engineering from MIT. He is from Lebanon and was a professional skier for some time
Manus McGuire
Manager FIS Sales
KX Systems
Over the last 10 years, Manus McGuire has discovered, built and managed KX’s most significant clients in capital markets. Now a manager of the financial services vertical, he continues to support many customers as they leverage KX technology to implement mission critical trading systems in the A.I. generation. A native of Ireland and now a proud New Yorker, Manus is an active board member of local charities that give back to his adopted city.
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.
Jeff Mendl
VP, Head of Broker Dealer Sales
OTC Markets Group / MOON ATS
Jeff Mendl is responsible for broker-dealer sales and new business development related to Trading Services, OTC Link ATS, OTC Link ECN as well as the launch of firms OTC Overnight and Moon ATS trading in NMS securities. Jeff has extensive experience in the equities markets and trading applications, leveraging his prior role at Delaware Board of Trade (DBOT) where he oversaw strategy and business development including new account sales & client on-boarding. Prior to DBOT, Jeff held numerous positions within the financial services industry, including key client management roles at the National Stock Exchange and Clearpool Execution Services. Elected in 2018, Jeff currently serves on the Executive Board for the Securities Trader Association of New York (STANY) and the STA National Board of Governors.
Jeff earned his B.S. in Economics from Syracuse University and holds the following Series 7, 24, 63 licenses
Stephen R. Miele, Jr.
Chief Executive Officer
Kezar Markets
Steve Miele is the Chief Executive Officer of Kezar Markets, operator of alternative trading systems, LeveL ATS and Luminex. With over 25 years of experience in financial services, trading, and fintech products, Mr. Miele served as Chief Strategy Officer, where he oversaw strategy, sales, and product development at LeveL ATS and Kezar Markets for 17 years. Prior to joining LeveL ATS, he was an Equity Trader for Fidelity Capital Markets on the Boston Stock Exchange. Mr. Miele has an MBA from The Franklin W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College and an MS from Babson College. He is a member of leading industry organizations such as the Boston Securities Traders Association (BSTA) and the National Organization of Investment Professionals (NOIP). Mr. Miele holds the series 7, 24, 55, 63, and 99 licenses.
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.
David Pennella
GTS
With nearly two decades of experience in the securities industry, Mr. Pennella is a recognized expert in exchange traded funds (ETFs), specializing in business strategy, relationship management, and training. As the founding execution trader for GTS's ETF Issuer Services and Index Arbitrage PT services, he leads all aspects of ETF and Unit Investment Trust (UIT) issuer services, quantitative portfolio trading, and index tracking.
Throughout his career, Mr. Pennella has focused on educating clients about the intricacies of ETFs, guiding them through conversions and launches, and helping them maximize the efficiency of ETFs as an investment vehicle.
Josh Peschko
Talos
Josh Peschko is the Global Head of Compliance & Regulatory Strategy at Talos, overseeing the firm’s suite of digital asset trading and technology solutions. With nearly two decades of experience in compliance, risk management, and regulatory oversight, he has a proven track record of leading institutional compliance teams and implementing rigorous governance frameworks at global investment firms. Josh frequently engages with both domestic and international regulators, collaborating with industry groups, and navigating evolving regulatory landscapes to ensure Talos remains at the forefront of industry standards and ethical conduct.
Prior to joining Talos, Josh held multiple supervisory and leadership roles at AQR Capital Management LLC, where he contributed to firm-wide governance as a member of several high-level oversight committees including Best Execution, Valuation, Intermediary Oversight, and Conflicts & Compliance while also serving on the Risk and Investment Committees. He began his career in risk management at JPMorgan Asset Management and earned the CFA designation in 2010.
A forward-thinking leader, Josh has consistently leveraged technology to enhance compliance and risk oversight, spearheading the development of automated monitoring systems and adapting operational frameworks to meet evolving regulatory requirements.
Nate Pomeroy
Wolverine Trading Technologies LLC
Nathaniel Pomeroy is a Principal and Senior Analyst at Wolverine Trading Technologies, LLC, where he has worked since 2011. Nate oversees business development, business logic and client strategy for Wolverine Execution Services’ retail option wholesaling execution business. He also serves as Wolverine’s exchange liaison and works closely with representatives at the options exchange groups to provide feedback on exchange functionality, pricing and market microstructure trends. Nate serves as Member Representative Director on the board of MIAX Pearl LLC, Director on BOX Market and BOX Holdings LLC, and on the CBOE Advisory Committee.
Nate graduated from the University of Chicago with BS/BA degrees in Mathematics, Economics and Philosophy in 2012. He also received his MBA from the University of Chicago in 2017 with concentrations in Analytic Finance, Econometrics and Statistics. Nate holds Series 24 and 57 licenses. He has lived in Chicago since 2009.
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.
Brett Redfearn
Founder
Panorama Financial Markets Advisory
Brett Redfearn is the Founder of Panorama Financial Markets Advisory (PFMA), an advisory firm focused on helping innovators navigate strategic, regulatory and operational challenges in the evolving market structures of digital assets and traditional securities. Brett is working with stock exchanges, broker-dealers, fintech and digital asset companies, asset managers and private equity firms.
Prior to PFMA, Brett headed Capital Markets for Coinbase, where he focused on building the emergent ecosystem for digital asset securities and overseeing the Coinbase exchange.
Between October 2017 and December 2020, Brett led the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Trading and Markets where he oversaw several groundbreaking rulemakings and market initiatives.
Mr. Redfearn joined the SEC after a 14-year career at J.P. Morgan, where he was Global Head of Market Structure for the Corporate and Investment Bank across asset classes. He has served on several Boards of Directors including BATS Global Markets, Chicago Stock Exchange, BIDS Trading and the National Organization of Investment Professionals.
George Rosenberger
Managing Director NYFIX
Broadridge Trading and Connectivity Solutions
George is responsible for the overall NYFIX business which includes the Order Routing Network, Partnerships and the Post-Trade Matching service. George joined Broadridge through the Itiviti acquisition in 2020 and has been with the Firm since 2015. During his tenure, George has held various roles including Head of Strategy for the Client Connectivity Services business segment.
Prior to joining Itiviti, George worked at ConvergEx, an Agency Broker Dealer where he was responsible for the Trading Services business, which included all Exchange relationships, Broker relationships, EMS/OMS/Network vendor relationships, Global Connectivity, Global Trade Support. Prior to ConvergEx, George worked as an Engagement Manager at Morgan Stanley in their Strategic Services division.
Andrew Schultz
Head of Strategic Options Business
Susquehanna
Andrew Schultz has been employed by the Susquehanna International Group of Companies (“Susquehanna”) since 1997. From 1997-2001, Andrew was an equity options market maker on the American Stock Exchange. In 2002, Andrew moved to Susquehanna’s internal education department and was Head of Education from 2004-2007, where he taught all new hires Susquehanna’s core trading and decision-making philosophy. Since 2007, Andrew has been the Head of Strategic Options Business within Susquehanna’s option trading group. In this role, he works directly with Susquehanna’s trading and technology groups to coordinate efforts in the options space. Andrew has also been active in exchange and micro-structure issues and served as a member of the MIAX Options board and is currently serving on the NASDAQ Exchange Board.
Andrew graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Economics. He lives in Bryn Mawr, PA with his wife and three daughters.
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.
Larry Tabb
Director of Market Structure Research
Bloomberg LLP
Larry Tabb is the Director of Market Structure Research at Bloomberg, LLP. Currently Larry is writing as well as managing a team developing research and insight on financial markets infrastructure, technology, regulation, trading practices and industry issues.
Prior to joining Bloomberg in June 2020, Larry was the Research Chairman of TABB Group, the financial markets’ strategic advisory and research firm where he managed research and consulting for TABB Group. Mr. Tabb published on many aspects of the capital markets industry and has analyzed both US and European market structure; central clearing, credit default swaps, fixed income, equity and foreign exchange trading; financial markets trading and processing systems; analytical trading tools; cloud computing, and financial markets infrastructure.
Before founding TABB Group, Larry was vice president and founder of TowerGroup’s Securities & Investments practice. Prior to joining TowerGroup, he managed business analysis for Lehman Brothers’ Trading Services Division and he began his career managing various operations for the North American Investment Bank of Citibank.
Larry has testified in front of the US Senate Banking Committee, was on the SEC Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Committee (FIMSAC), the CFTC Technology Advisory Committee (TAC) and has keynoted, spoken and moderated countless industry events. In 2022, Mr. Tabb received the Security Traders’ Association Dictum Meum Pactum (My Word Is My Bond) award for “those individuals who have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the betterment of the financial services industry and have exhibited acts of integrity at the highest level.”
Mark Uyeda
Acting Chairman
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Mark T. Uyeda was sworn into office as a Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 30, 2022, after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He was sworn in for a second term as Commissioner on December 28, 2023, after being confirmed by the U.S. Senate for a five-year term expiring in 2028.
Prior to becoming Commissioner, he served as an SEC detailee to both the legislative and executive branches, most recently as securities counsel to Ranking Member Pat Toomey on the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. Commissioner Uyeda also served on detail as a policy advisor to senior leadership at the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 2017-2018 and the U.S. Department of Labor in 2020. Commissioner Uyeda has been with the SEC since 2006, serving as Senior Advisor to Chairman Jay Clayton, Counsel to Commissioners Michael S. Piwowar and Paul S. Atkins, and Assistant Director and Senior Special Counsel in the Division of Investment Management.
Before joining the SEC, Commissioner Uyeda served as Chief Advisor to the California Corporations Commissioner, the state’s securities regulator, having been appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004. Earlier in his career, he worked as a corporate and securities attorney at Kirkpatrick & Lockhart (now K&L Gates) in Washington, D.C. and O’Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles.
Commissioner Uyeda earned his bachelor's degree in business administration from Georgetown University in 1992 and his law degree with honors from Duke University in 1995. He is the first Asian-Pacific American to serve as a Commissioner at the SEC.
Seth Weber
Executive Vice President
Liquid Mercury
Seth Weber is an Executive Vice President at Liquid Mercury. Seth is a trusted partner to traditional financial institutions on the most effective way to enter the digital asset trading markets. Seth gained his traditional financial experience within the Equities, Options, and Fixed income markets over the last 30 years. Spending almost 20 years at Lehman Brothers, most recently his roles were the Head of Broker-Dealer Execution Services and Chief Administrative Officer within the Equity Division. Seth is a subject matter expert on Electronic Trading, Operations, and workflow automation.
After Lehman, Seth developed and ran electronic trading for firms including Stonex (INTL FCStone). Most recently, Seth was the Chief Revenue Officer of Matrix Executions, the sister company of Liquid Mercury. At Matrix, he oversaw the Sales and Service teams, created an equity electronic trading offering, and led the transition to a new clearing firm. Under Weber’s leadership, Matrix tripled revenue during his tenure.
Victor Werny
Senior Director, Head of North American Exchange Traded Product Listings
Cboe Global Markets
Victor Werny is Senior Director, Head of North American Exchange Traded Product Listings at Cboe Global Markets. In his role, Mr. Werny is tasked with covering issuer relationships across North America, managing the exchanges’ U.S. Exchange Traded Product (ETP) market making programs and exploring new business opportunities within the ETP industry.
Mr. Werny graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with Concentrations in Finance and Marketing from Binghamton University’s School of Management. Mr. Werny is currently in the process of pursuing his Master of Business Administration from New York University’s Stern School of Business
Edward Woodford
Founder and CEO
Zero Hash
Edward Woodford is the Founder and CEO of Zero Hash, the leading crypto infrastructure platform trusted by industry leaders like Stripe, Franklin Templeton, Shift4, and Interactive Brokers. Zero Hash has secured over $170M in funding, settled over $50 billion in transaction volume and onboarded 5m+ people to the crypto and stablecoin economy. Under Edward’s leadership, Zero Hash has been recognized for its industry-leading innovation. In 2024, the company was recognized as the 4th fastest growing company in North America by Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™ and as a winner by Fintech Breakthrough for Cryptocurrency Innovation. In 2023, Zero Hash was named the 46th fastest-growing company by Inc 5000 and 21st in Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500™, while also earning recognition as a finalist for World Changing Ideas by Fast Company. Edward himself has been honored as a 2025, Titan 100 (Chicago’s Top 100 CEOs & C-level executives) and by Goldman Sachs as one of the Most Exceptional Entrepreneurs of 2023, one of the 101 Top CEOs in Fintech by Best Startup US, and his commitment to diversity was acknowledged when he received the 'Best CEO for Diversity' award from Comparably. Prior to Zero Hash, Edward successfully launched and sold a CFTC-registered derivatives execution venue to tastytrade. He holds a First Class B.A. in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Warwick as well as a Master of Finance from MIT.
