Mr John Lee was born in 1957. He joined the Hong Kong Police Force in 1977 as a Probationary Inspector of Police and was promoted to Deputy Commissioner of Police in 2010. He served in a variety of posts in the Force, including Assistant Commissioner (Crime), Director of Crime and Security and Deputy Commissioner (Management). He holds a Master's degree of Public Policy and Administration from Charles Sturt University in Australia.

Mr Lee was appointed Under Secretary for Security in 2012 and Secretary for Security in 2017. During his service in the Security Bureau, he was responsible for the formulation of security policies covering law and order, immigration and customs control, fire and emergency rescue services, correctional services, government flying services and other areas. He also oversaw and coordinated the work of six disciplined services departments and two auxiliary forces under the Bureau.

Mr Lee was appointed Chief Secretary for Administration in 2021. Apart from assisting the Chief Executive in policy administration, Mr Lee was also responsible for supervising the work of nine policy bureaux, harmonising the work which straddled across different bureaux and departments, as well as promoting a good relationship between the Executive Authorities and the Legislature.

Mr Lee won the Chief Executive Election of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on 8 May 2022, and was appointed as the sixth-term Chief Executive by the Central People's Government on 20 May 2022. Mr Lee assumed office on 1 July 2022.

Mr Chan is a Certified Public Accountant. He is a former President of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Before joining the Government, Mr Chan held a number of public service positions including member of the Legislative Council and Chairman of Legal Aid Services Council.

Mr Chan served as Secretary for Development from July 2012 to January 2017. He has been Financial Secretary since 2017.

Mr Hui has been Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury since 2020. He serves on the boards of Mass Transit Railway Corporation Limited, Hong Kong Airport Authority and also as the Chairman of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation.

He was an Administrative Officer in the Government from 1999 to 2003 and served in the Economic Development Branch, the Office of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Beijing and the Home Affairs Department. After leaving the Government, Mr Hui spent 13 years at the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, having been the Managing Director for Market Development and Head of Project Management and also in various senior roles in Listing and Market Development. He worked for a number of multi-national companies in the private sector as well. He was appointed the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council from 2019 to 2020.

Mr Hui previously held a number of public roles including Councillor of the City University of Hong Kong, Member of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority Process Review Panel, Hong Kong Stock Exchange Listing Review Committee and also Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants Disciplinary Panel.

Mr Hui holds Bachelor and Master (Hon) Degrees in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford, and Master of Business Administration Degree from INSEAD. He also attended the Stanford Executive Programme (SEP).

Mr Yau assumed the post of the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development on July 1, 2022. His portfolio covers policy areas from trade, commerce to telecommunications and broadcasting, and from promotion of intellectual property and consumer protection to boosting inward investment.

Before joining the Government, Mr Yau held key managerial positions in the aviation and logistics sector. He was Chief Executive Officer of Greater Bay Airlines, and prior to this, Chief Executive Officer of Cathay Dragon, Executive Director of Cathay Pacific Board, and Director Service Delivery of Cathay Pacific. Mr Yau managed different aspects of business operations throughout his career in the private sector, and also served on various advisory bodies of the Government.

Mr Yau holds a Bachelor of Business degree in Transport and Logistics from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University. He is also a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Hong Kong.

Jin Liqun is the inaugural President and Chair of the Board of Directors. On July 28, 2020, he was elected to serve a second term of five years, beginning on Jan. 16, 2021. Before being elected as the Bank’s first President, he served as Secretary-General of the Multilateral Interim Secretariat tasked with establishing the Bank. Jin has rich experience across the private and public sectors and with MDBs. He served as Chair of the China International Capital Corporation Limited (China’s first joint-venture investment bank), Chair of the Supervisory Board of the China Investment Corporation, and Chair of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds. He previously served as Vice President and then Ranking Vice President of the Asian Development Bank and as Alternate Executive Director for China at the World Bank and at the Global Environment Facility. Jin spent nearly two decades at the Chinese Ministry of Finance, reaching the rank of Vice Minister. He holds a master’s degree in English Literature from Beijing Institute of Foreign Languages (now Beijing Foreign Studies University) and was a Hubert Humphrey Fellow in the Economics Graduate Program at Boston University from 1987 to 1988. Jin is from the People’s Republic of China.

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Geoffrey Hinton is the winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics for his pioneering work in artificial intelligence.  Hinton has been called “the godfather of AI” and is considered one of the most important thought leaders on the emergence of AI and its implications for business and society.  It was Hinton, in 2012, who created the technology that would become the foundation for the AI systems that are emerging as potential game-changers for business. But Hinton is not entirely a proponent of the rapid development of AI: Hinton’s view is that the technology offers tremendous potential benefits to humankind, but we are at an important inflection point where society needs to think hard about how to restrict the use of AI to avoid potential pitfalls.

Hinton received his PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the University of Edinburgh in 1978. After five years as a faculty member at Carnegie-Mellon he became a fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and moved to the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto where he is now an emeritus professor. He has also held roles as a VP Engineering fellow at Google and Chief Scientific Adviser at the Vector Institute.

Geoffrey Hinton was one of the researchers who introduced the backpropagation algorithm and the first to use backpropagation for learning word embeddings. His other contributions to neural network research include Boltzmann machines, distributed representations, time-delay neural nets, mixtures of experts, variational learning and deep learning. His research group in Toronto made major breakthroughs in deep learning that revolutionized speech recognition and object classification.

Geoffrey Hinton is a fellow of the UK Royal Society and a foreign member of the US National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His awards include the Nobel Prize in Physics (2024), the David E. Rumelhart prize, the IJCAI award for research excellence, the Killam prize for Engineering, the IEEE Frank Rosenblatt medal, the NSERC Herzberg Gold Medal, the IEEE James Clerk Maxwell Gold medal, the NEC C&C award, the BBVA award, the Honda Prize, and the Turing Award.

Georges Elhedery was appointed Group Chief Executive from 2 September 2024.

He most recently served as Group Chief Financial Officer from January 2023 until September 2024.

Mr Elhedery joined HSBC in 2005 as a senior Global Markets executive with extensive trading experience in London, Paris and Tokyo.

He later moved to Dubai and served as Regional Head of Global Markets, Middle East and North Africa (MENA); then as Head of Global Banking & Markets, MENA; and finally as CEO for HSBC, Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye.

Mr Elhedery returned to London to serve as Head of Global Markets in 2019 before taking up the position of Global Co-CEO of Global Banking & Markets in 2020.

Mr Elhedery holds a degree in Engineering from the École Polytechnique in Paris, France, as well as a postgraduate degree in Statistics and Economics from the École Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Économique (ENSAE).

Career‍

Bill has had a distinguished career in banking, having spent 26 years with JP Morgan in diverse leadership roles, becoming co-Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Bank in 2004 until he stepped down in 2009. Bill was the only career banker to be invited to be a committee member of the Independent Commission on Banking, established by the UK government in 2010 to recommend ways to improve competition and financial stability in banking. Subsequently, he served as advisor to the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards and was asked by the Court of the Bank of England to complete an independent review of the bank’s liquidity operations. Bill was awarded a CBE for his services to the UK economy and financial services in 2013. Bill founded the private credit fund Renshaw Bay in 2011 where he was Chairman and CEO until he stepped down from the company on appointment to the Standard Chartered PLC Board.

Bill is deeply engaged in driving the climate finance agenda. He is a member of the GFANZ Principals Group, and a founding member of the World Bank Private Sector Investment Lab. Bill sits on the Distinguished Advisory Group of the Integrity Council for Voluntary Carbon Markets and the board of Climate Impact X (CIX) and chaired the Taskforce for Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets.

In January 2023, Bill was appointed UK chair of the India-UK Financial Partnership formed between the Ministry of Finance of India and HM Treasury by Ministers during the UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue in 2014 to strengthen links and deepen cooperation between the financial services industries of both countries.‍

External appointments

Bill is an Independent Director on the Board of Stripe Inc, Board Advisor of the International Rescue Committee and Chair of The Coronet Theatre Board of Trustees.

Mr SUN Yu was appointed Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of BOC Hong Kong (Holdings) Limited and Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited (“BOCHK”) since December 2020. He is a member of each of the Strategy and Budget Committee as well as the Sustainability Committee, Chairman of BOCHK Charitable Foundation, and Chairman of BOC Group Life Assurance Company Limited since February 2021.

Mr SUN joined Bank of China Limited (“BOC”) in 1998. He served as Executive Vice President of BOC from February 2019 to December 2020. Mr SUN previously served as Chief Overseas Business Officer of BOC, CEO of Bank of China (UK) Limited, and also General Manager of London Trading Center of BOC. He was Director of Global Financial Markets Department, General Manager of Global Markets of BOCHK, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank of China (UK) Limited, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BOC Aviation Limited, President of Shanghai RMB Trading Unit of BOC, and General Manager of Beijing Branch of BOC.

Mr SUN currently holds a number of public offices in Hong Kong. He is Honorary President of the Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises Association, Chairman of the Chinese Banking Association of Hong Kong, and sits on the Exchange Fund Advisory Committee, the Banking Advisory Committee, and the Council of the Treasury Markets Association. Mr SUN sits on the Advisory Committee on the Northern Metropolis and the Advisory Committee on Attracting Strategic Enterprises of the Government of the HKSAR. He is a member of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Financial Co-operation Committee, Co-Chairman of Guangdong-HK-Macao Bay Area Entrepreneurs Union, and Advisor of Hong Kong Alliance of Technology and Innovation, etc.

Mr SUN has extensive experience in the banking and financial services industry with substantial knowledge in business management and strategy, corporate governance, risk management and sustainable development. He graduated from Nankai University with a Master’s Degree in Economics in 1998.

Jenny Johnson is President and Chief Executive Officer of Franklin Templeton. In a career spanning over 35 years, she has been a key driver of the company's transformation to what is now one of the largest global investment managers across public and private asset classes with $1.6 trillion in assets under management.

Ms. Johnson held leadership roles in all major divisions of the business, including investment management, distribution, technology, operations and wealth management before becoming CEO in February 2020. She has led the evolution of the business in recent years, further diversifying the company's investment capabilities and solutions for clients through key strategic acquisitions and investments.

Ms. Johnson has received many recognitions, including being named to Forbes' "World's 100 Most Powerful Women" list in 2023 and 2022, as well as its "50 Over 50" list in 2022. She has been named to Barron's list of the "100 Most Influential Women in US Finance" for six consecutive years, most recently in 2025. The Committee for Economic Development, the public policy center of The Conference Board, honored Ms. Johnson with a 2024 Distinguished Leadership Award. She was also named to Pensions & Investments' inaugural class of "Influential Women in Institutional Investing" in 2023.

Ms. Johnson serves on a variety of boards, including Thermo Fisher Scientific and the Investment Company Institute's Board of Governors where she also serves on its Executive Committee. In an advisory capacity, she is a member of the International Advisory Panel of the Monetary Authority of Singapore and serves on the NYSE Board Advisory Council. In addition, Ms. Johnson is a board member of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Foundation and Catalyst, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing women in the workplace. Previously, she has served on several other boards, including Stanford's Lucille Packard Children's Hospital and the San Francisco Giants.  Ms. Johnson earned her B.A. in economics from the University of California at Davis.

Mr. Lin oversees Tencent’s overall fintech business, including payment, wealth management, securities and other fintech services. Previously he was the Managing Partner at Tencent Investment, where he was responsible for Tencent’s equity investment in various areas, such as e-commerce, Internet Finance, Online to Offline and digital contents etc. Notable deals including JD.com, China Literature, Tencent Music, Meituan, PDD, Bilibili etc. Prior to joining Tencent, Mr. Lin held various senior positions in finance, strategy, and operating management at Microsoft and Nokia.

Forest Lin holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Bachelor of Engineering from Zhejiang University.

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Mr. Eric Jing serves as the Chairman of Ant Group, having initially joined Alibaba Group in 2007, he held the position of the Chief Executive Officer at Ant Group from October 2016 to December 2019, and subsequently from March 2021 to February 2025. Mr. Jing has been serving as the Chairman of Ant Group since April 2018.

Under Mr. Jing's leadership, Ant Group has evolved from a mobile payment pioneer to a globally recognized open platform for digitalization, through continuous technological innovation in a comprehensive collaborative ecosystem. Currently, the company is advancing AI-driven inclusive digital financial services, digital healthcare services, and other digital technology offerings for billions of consumers and small businesses worldwide.

Mr. Jing serves as a board member at the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders Foundation and a Patron of Nature at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). He also held high-level advisory roles at various prominent international institutions, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and UN Secretary-General’s Digital Financing Taskforce .

Mr. Jing completed his Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the College of Economics & Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1994. He subsequently earned his Master's degree in Business Administration from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, U.S. in 2005.

Jean-Pierre Grimaud is the CEO of Ofi Invest, the 5th largest Asset Management group in France, managing EUR 200 billion and employing 700 seasoned professionals.
Based in Paris and founded in 1971, Ofi Invest covers all asset classes in both listed and unlisted assets, including private equity and real estate.  The company has been committed to responsible finance for more than 25 years and is among France’s leading active asset managers.
It is wholly owned by Aéma Group, the 4th largest insurance group in France.

Cai Wensheng, the founder of Meitu and a prominent angel investor, is often referred to as the "Godfather of Personal Websites" and the "King of Domain Names." He entered the internet industry in 2000 and has successfully invested in numerous projects since then. Cai is actively involved in the fields of AI and Web3, advocating for their development. Additionally, he serves as a member of the Hong Kong government's task force on promoting Web3 development.

Mr. Biswa Misra is the Group Chief Technology and Life Operations Officer responsible for providing leadership to the Group’s technology, digital and analytics areas as well as Group Operations and Operations Shared Services. He is also responsible for the Group’s businesses operating in New Zealand and Sri Lanka. He is a director of various companies within the Group. He joined the Group in June 2013. Prior to joining the Group, Mr. Misra served as the Regional Chief Technology Officer for ING Insurance Asia Pacific. Previously, he spent six years with information technology consulting firm Capgemini, leading the company’s insurance practice for Asia. Mr. Misra holds a degree in electrical engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Surat, India.

Maggie Ng is the Chief Executive Officer for Hong Kong at HSBC, while also serving as the Head of Retail Banking and Wealth (RB&W) in Hong Kong. In her dual role, Maggie oversees HSBC’s Hong Kong franchise, and leads the strategic growth of the Bank’s flagship RB&W business.

Maggie has a proven track record of delivering growth, particularly in wealth management, improving customer advocacy; driving digital transformation and effectively managing risks – all underpinned by a people-focused culture.

She joined HSBC in 2020 from IG Group, a leading online trading provider, where she was the Greater China CEO. Prior to that, Maggie co-founded a fintech wealth management and asset management company – Assured Asset Management – which was recognised in 2019 as the “Best New Wealth Management Platform” by AsiaAsset Management magazine and “Editors’ Triple Star” by the Asset magazine.

With over 20 years of experience in the finance industry, Maggie is a seasoned banking professional, having held a number of senior local and regional positions at Citibank in both business and risk management. In her earlier career, Maggie worked for leading professional services firm Ernst & Young (Australia) and global resources company BHP Billiton.

She holds a Bachelor of Technology in Business Information Technology from the University of New South Wales, Australia, and an MBA in Accounting and Finance from California State University, Hayward.

John Lindfors is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of DST Global, which backs exceptional category-leading internet and software companies led by visionary founders. Previously, John was the Head of European Tech and a Partner of Goldman Sachs in London.

Fred is Primavera Capital Group’s Founder, Chairman and CEO. He oversees the firm’s overall strategy, talent development and culture, and assumes the primary responsibilities in establishing and maintaining the firm’s long-term partnerships with global investors. Fred initiated and led investment transactions such as Alibaba Group, Ant Group, Yum China, ByteDance, Xpeng Inc., Kuaishou Technology, SenseTime, and Mead Johnson Greater China.

Prior to forming Primavera, Fred was Partner and Chairman of Greater China at Goldman Sachs and a member of Goldman’s Partnership Committee. He previously served as an economist at the International Monetary Fund. He also served on the Hong Kong Government’s Strategic Development Committee and the Advisory Committee for the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, and was an independent director of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and ICBC.

Fred is currently the non-executive chairman of Yum China Holdings Inc. and serves on the boards of UBS Group AG and Chubb Limited. In addition, he is a member of the The Nature Conservancy’s global Board of Directors and the co-chair of its Asia Pacific Council, a trustee of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) and the China Medical Board, a member of the HKEX Mainland China Advisory Group, the Global Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Jerome A. Chazen Institute of International Business at Columbia University, Harvard Kennedy School’s Dean’s Leadership Council and Harvard University’s Global Advisory Council.

Fred holds a Master in Engineering Science from Tsinghua University and a Master and PhD in Economics from Harvard University.

Mr. Duane Kuang is a Founding Managing Partner of Qiming Venture Partners and a member of the Investment Committee. Duane has over 30 years of operational and investment experience and started his venture capital career in 1999.

Duane's areas of investment include Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Automation, and Blockchain. Some of his prior investments include Roborock (SHSE:688169), WeRide (NASDAQ:WRD), UBTech (SEHK:9880), Unisound (SEHK:9678), Hesai Technology (NASDAQ:HSAI), Intelligent Automation, Chaitin, Qiniu Cloud (SEHK:2567), etc. Duane is the Chairman of the China Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (CVCA) and a member of the VC committee of AMAC.

Lily Liu is an operator and investor focused on the blockchain industry. Lily is the President of the Solana Foundation and Co Founder of Anagram.

Lily has a background as a CFO and operating executive in the US, Europe, and Asia. Previously, Lily co-founded [Earn.com](http://earn.com/) which was acquired by Coinbase in 2018. She was also the CFO of the Chinaco Healthcare Corporation, where she built a 500-bed private hospital in China. Lily also worked at KKR in New York as well as McKinsey in New York and Beijing.

Lily received a BA in Economics and International Relations from Stanford, and studied East Asian Studies at Harvard.

Richard Teng is an experienced executive with over three decades of financial services and regulatory experience. Richard has been the CEO of Binance since his appointment in November 2023. By working closely with various stakeholders including regulators, policymakers, industry players and users, Richard is furthering the growth of Binance in a compliant and sustainable manner. Prior to this role, Richard held various senior leadership roles within the company since joining in August 2021.

Before joining Binance, Richard was CEO of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), where he showcased his capabilities as one of the world’s foremost innovative regulators. Richard’s vast experience also includes being the Chief Regulatory Officer of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and the Director of Corporate Finance in the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Richard received his Masters in Applied Finance from the University of Western Australia.

J. Edward 'Ned' Conway is the Executive Secretary of the Wolfsberg Group, an association of 12 global banks that develops frameworks and guidance for the management of financial crime risks. Prior to his appointment at Wolfsberg, Ned was the Group Head of Financial Crime Compliance Framework and Policies at Banco Santander. He chairs the UN’s Private Sector Dialogue on the disruption of financial crimes related to environmental crime, which he has done since its inauguration in 2021, and he collaborates regularly with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, training financial intelligence units, central banks and supervisory authorities in the Americas, Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.  Mr. Conway is the author of Counterterrorism and Threat Finance Analysis During Wartime (2015) and A Less Vivid Future (2017), with publications in Foreign Affairs, the Wall Street Journal, and peer reviewed journals such as Energy Policy. Prior to working in the private sector, he was a threat finance analyst for the US Department of Defense. He has a PhD in International Relations from the University of St Andrews (Scotland) and a degree in Psychology from Davidson College (North Carolina, USA).

Harry brings over 25 years of investment experience to MPC (previously known as Matrix Partners China), where he joined as a founding member in 2008. With a keen focus on early-stage technology investments in China, he specializes in artificial intelligence, deep technology, and robotics. Harry has been at the forefront of nurturing innovative startups, significantly shaping the landscape of the Chinese tech ecosystem.

Before joining MPC, Harry was a Partner at WI Harper Group, a leading cross-border investment firm, where he oversaw investments in the TMT sector from the China office. Prior to his venture capital career, he led investment teams for two Nasdaq-listed technology companies.

Harry has been instrumental in a range of successful investment projects, including Xpeng Inc (NYSE: XPEV), DIDI (NYSE: DIDI), Hello Group (NASDAQ: MOMO), JD Technology, VNET (NASDAQ: VNET), Career International (SZ: 300662), Egls (SZ: 002619), Umeng (sold to Alibaba), Editgrid (sold to Apple), and Moody. His contributions have earned him recognition as one of Forbes’ Top 100 Best Investors and as one of China’s Top Venture Investors by Jiemian and Toutiao.

Harry graduated from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science and Engineering.

Mars/Zizhao Xue serves as Vice President at MiniMax. Before joining the company, he developed his career in primary-market technology investment at Hillhouse Investment and Silver Lake, where he spearheaded multi-stage investments in leading technology companies, including MiniMax’s early financing rounds.

Christine Moy is a Partner at Apollo, where she serves as Head of Digital Assets, Data, and AI Strategy. She leads Apollo’s efforts in digital asset innovation, investing in and partnering with companies transforming financial services while integrating blockchain technology into Apollo’s businesses. She also oversees the firm’s Enterprise Data Strategy, driving high-impact data initiatives, commercializing data products, and working across the firm to identify and implement the most promising AI use cases that enhance decision-making and amplify team capabilities. Previously, Christine was a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan, where she led the Blockchain program, focusing on digital assets, tokenized payments, and decentralized identity. Earlier in her career at J.P. Morgan, she worked in Syndicated Loans, Securitized Products, Credit Risk, and Commodities. Christine holds a BA from Brown University.

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Philippe Laurensy is a Managing Director and CEO of Euroclear's Asia Pacific markets. In this role, he is responsible for designing and implementing the company's Asian strategy with the objective of seizing new growth opportunities in the region. He took on this position in mid-September and reports to Euroclear's CEO Valerie Urbain.

With over 35 years of experience at Euroclear, Philippe Laurensy most recently held the position of Head of Product, Strategy & Innovation for the Euroclear group. His extensive knowledge of Euroclear's portfolio, strategy and client base will be key benefit in his new responsibilities. Previously, he led Euroclear's Commercial division, overseeing sales, marketing and relationships with customers across the group.

Mr Laurensy took up an MC position in Euroclear UK and Ireland and Board from 2013 until 2016, as well as in the Risk and Audit Committee of ESES from 2013 until 2018.

Previously, Mr. Laurensy headed a team of product managers responsible for managing and developing Euroclear's range of products and services. Mr. Laurensy' s responsibilities included research, pricing and service quality across products.

Earlier, Mr. Laurensy was head of the Custody and New Issues Operations departments at Euroclear Bank from 1997 to 2000, with responsibility for managing Euroclear's operational activities in those domains.

From 1994 to 1997, Mr. Laurensy was Senior Relationship Manager for investment banks within Euroclear's Commercial division. Before this, he was Network Manager for Asia, Central Europe and North America from 1992 to 1994. And prior to this, he was Relationship Manager for France from 1991 to 1992. Mr. Laurensy joined Euroclear in 1987, holding various positions in operations until 1991.

Mr. Laurensy holds a Bachelor's degree in Applied Economics from the University of Liege (Belgium) {1984) and a Master's degree in Accountancy and Finance from the International Institute of Commerce and the European University, San Francisco, USA (1986).

Monsinee joined Ascend Group as the Chief Operating Officer in 2014 and she has also been promoted to the Co-President of Ascend Money since March 2018. She is responsible for driving the operational excellence of Ascend Money as well as its overall corporate policy. Prior to joining the Group, Monsinee worked as the Head of  e-Commerce and General Manager at True Corporation Public Co., Ltd. She was later appointed as the Chief Commercial Officer of True Digital Content and Media Co. Ltd. Previous to that, she has held several managerial positions at Openwave System and Lucent Technologies.        
Monsinee’s strengths lie in her leadership skills and her ability to implement successful market operation. Highly motivated with excellent problem-solving skills, she has a deep understanding in various components that go into running and overseeing the operations of a successful business as well as a vast experience of creating and driving content for the digital world. In less than four years, she has successfully expanded Ascend Group’s business to six countries, while building up human capital and establishing a scaled agile operational practice across the region.
Monsinee graduated a Bachelor’s degree with a first class honors in Engineering from Chulalongkorn University. She  was also awarded a Fulbright scholarship for her Master of Business Administration degree at Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Drew Propson is the Head of Technology and Innovation in Financial Services at the World Economic Forum. She leads a portfolio of initiatives focused on advancing innovation while maintaining financial system stability. Current research areas include the deployment of AI and emerging technologies in financial services, technology-driven systemic risks, and fintech market trends. Drew has additionally presented and authored work on financial inclusion, regulatory dynamics, and entrepreneurship.

Drew holds MBAs from Columbia Business School and London Business School, a PhD in Spanish literature from UC Berkeley, and a BFA in Painting from the University of Washington. Her experience prior to joining the Forum includes private equity research, development finance, and international strategy and operations.

João Del Valle

Co-founder and CEO

João is CEO of EBANX, a position he assumed in 2021 after more than three years as Chief Operations Officer, preceded by almost seven years as Chief Technology Officer. With more than 20 years of experience in software development, he is the mind behind the first codes for the EBANX platform, which allows all of the company's operations to work with synergy, rapid, and frictionless responsiveness. During his time as COO, he was at the forefront of important fintech projects, such as building the global commercial team, launching 50 new integrations and payment methods in the company's B2B solutions in a single year, and the international expansion of EBANX, which currently operates in 29 countries in the three regions where the digital market is growing the fastest in the world: Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

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Thomas G. Tsao is Co-founder and Chairperson of Asia-focused venture capital firm, Gobi Partners. Over the last 20 years, Thomas has invested in over 300 startups, guided more than 40 exits, and had nine portfolio companies reach unicorn status. Notable startups include Airwallex, Carsome, and Sandbox VR.

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Carol Lin, CEO of Zhipu International, is in charge of the company's global expansion strategy, who has over 7 years of experience of leveraging expertise in go-to-market execution, global account development, and strategic leadership.  
She currently focuses on building and managing high-performing Global Product across regions such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and Dubai, ensuring seamless collaboration to achieve international business objectives.

David Tng is the Managing Director at TZ APAC, a Web3 ecosystem builder empowering founders, creators, developers and institution leaders to thrive. Since joining TZ APAC more than four years ago, David's time in the Tezos ecosystem can be encapsulated by his passion in supporting institutions, creators and projects to seize Asia-driven Web3 opportunities and drive adoption for Tezos. He oversees the direction of key initiatives led by TZ APAC, one of which is Fortify Labs - a startup studio launched in March 2024 empowering startups building on Tezos and Etherlink.

Previously, David led multiple marketing initiatives for both fintech and private banks including MatchMove and UBS. He is an early advocate of blockchain and co-founded his own communications consultancy startup to amplify the reach of regional blockchain firms. Prior to TZ APAC, David ran Arete Vision – a communication consultancy for regional blockchain firms, including Bluzelle and Synthetix.

As a member of the Technical Advisory Committee at the Tezos Foundation, David is uniquely positioned to champion innovative Web3 projects in Asia.

Antoine Blondeau is a technology investor and a visionary entrepreneur, starting in the deep Artificial Intelligence space as early as 1998.  Since 2017 he is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Alpha Intelligence Capital, a venture capital firm investing in Artificial Intelligence companies globally. Prior to that, he worked for 25 years in the technology industry, primarily based out of San Francisco and Hong Kong. In addition to holding senior leadership positions at Good Technology, Salesforce.com, and Sybase, Antoine was the CEO of Dejima, which developed the technology that later evolved into Apple’s Siri. He was also chief operating officer of publicly-listed Zi Corporation, whose smart text input software was embedded in hundreds of millions of devices. He was also the co-founder and CEO of Sentient Technologies, one of the most advanced AI platform companies in the US. He is the author of 4 patents.

In addition, Antoine is an advisor to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR & Co.), Pictet et Cie., BITKRAFT Ventures, and board chair of crypto.com, one of the world’s largest blockchain and cryptocurrency full-service platforms. Antoine has lived and worked in six countries – the United States; Japan; Hong Kong, China; Germany; France; and the United Arab Emirates.

As the Head of Authorisation within the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, Wai Lum oversees the licensing of financial services firms in the banking, insurance, payments and capital markets sector.

With digital transformation at the forefront of global regulators’ agenda, Wai Lum also spearheads ADGM’s regulatory strategy in financial technology and innovation. He has been instrumental in shaping the fintech landscape in the UAE, pioneering several first-in-the-region regulatory initiatives. Wai Lum formulated the Regulatory Sandbox for fintech innovation, the Venture Capital Framework for investment managers, and the Private Financing Framework to improve access to alternative financing for ventures and SMEs in the private markets. He was also instrumental in shaping ADGM’s regulatory frameworks for digital assets.

Prior to joining ADGM, Wai Lum was with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.  Before that, he was with the Singapore Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment working on environmental policies including climate-rated issues.

Wai Lum graduated from Imperial College, London with a Master of Engineering and holds a Master of Science in Applied Finance from the National University of Singapore.