EXTENT-2019: Speakers

EXTENT speaker - Robert Palatnick, Managing Director & Chief Technology Architect, DTCC

Managing Director & Chief Technology Architect, DTCC

Robert Palatnick

Managing Director & Chief Technology Architect, DTCC

Chairman of the Governing Board, Hyperledger

Robert Palatnick is Managing Director and Chief Technology Architect at DTCC, where he has responsibility for the global IT strategy, architecture, standards and engineering design of the systems and applications that support the firm’s broad range of products and services. In addition, he leads DTCC’s technology innovation initiatives, including cloud, automation, big data analytics and distributed ledger technologies and co-sponsors DTCC’s Office of Fintech Strategy.

Before this role, Rob held a number of senior technology positions at DTCC, including Application Development Domain Lead, Chief Administrative Officer of IT and CIO of FICC. Prior to joining DTCC, Mr. Palatnick was Vice President, Development and Systems, at Security Pacific Corporation Sequor Software Services.

An active technology voice in the industry, Rob has been a featured guest speaker at key conferences worldwide and is often quoted in the press. He also serves as Chairman of the Governing Board of the Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Project, a collaborative effort to establish, build and sustain an open distributed ledger platform across industries.

Rob received his BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Buffalo, and is an alumnus of the David Rockefeller fellowship.

EXTENT speaker - Alain Courbebaisse, CIO, Euronext

CIO, Euronext

Alain Courbebaisse

CIO, Euronext

Alain Courbebaisse is the Chief Information Technology Officer of Euronext. With more than 25 years of industry expertise, Alain is responsible for the oversight of all Group technology services, with teams in UK, France and Portugal.

Previously, Alain spent 18 years working at Société Générale in Paris, London, Chicago and New York. Prior to the integration of Newedge into SG, Courbebaisse was the Global CIO of Newedge in charge of all the technology dimensions of the company, he was also a member of the Newedge Group Executive Committee. Since the integration of Newedge into SG in 2014, Alain was in charge of the Prime Brokerage and Clearing business line and Head of Sales for Prime Services for SG Americas.

Father of 3, Alain was born in Dakar, Senegal and he has a Bachelor of Science from Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers.

EXTENT speaker - Alex Powell, CTO, Euroclear UK & Ireland

CTO, Euroclear UK & Ireland

Alex Powell

CTO, Euroclear UK & Ireland

Alex is a former COO in securities services, has extensive management consulting experience and currently works as CTO for Euroclear UK & Ireland, in addition to a wider group role on technology innovation.

He has served as a Partner at both Accenture and EY, helping exchanges, CCPs, CSDs, custodians and asset management clients with business, technology and product strategies and implementing strategic and regulatory driven change. He ran EY’s Advisory services to Financial Markets Infrastructures.

Alex also has senior line management experience working as COO for HSBC Securities Services where he developed business strategy and led significant transformation across operations and IT to reduce cost and increase quality. During his time, he led an M&A integration, a major transformation programme and set-up offshore centres.

He has been involved with blockchain since 2015, acting as an Adviser to a blockchain startup, supporting exchanges and consulting firms and writing several white papers.

EXTENT speaker - Alexey Zverev, Co-CEO & co-founder, Exactpro

Co-CEO & co-founder, Exactpro

Alexey Zverev

Co-CEO & co-founder, Exactpro

Alexey started his professional career as a QA engineer in the Moscow division of a New York-based company specializing in providing enterprise network management solutions. When the company was acquired by Quest Software in 2003, Alexey was working as a senior software architect on several off-the-shelf products. In 2004, Alexey joined a company specializing on providing QA services for the financial industry. His first assignment with the company as a senior developer was to implement a test harness for testing the back-end of a major US broker's trading system. As a technical project lead and senior R&D manager, Alexey then oversaw a number of successful software releases for a few development, test automation and consulting projects for a number of the company's clients. As VP of Technology, Alexey also lead the company's work on developing several products including a back-end systems tester and an interactive exchange simulator.

Alexey currently serves as co-CEO of Exactpro which he co-founded in 2009. The firm is focused on functional and non-functional testing of exchanges, clearing houses, depositories and other market infrastructures, thus providing software testing services for mission-critical technology that underpins global financial markets. In 2017, Exactpro was named Non-Functional Testing Provider of the Year in the prestigious QA Financial European Software & App Awards. The award is given to companies that set new standards of quality assurance, demonstrating innovation and excellence in response to the key challenges facing financial firms.

Alexey graduated summa cum laude from the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI) and holds a Master of Sciences degree in Theoretical Physics.

EXTENT speaker - Ann Neidenbach, CIO, Shared Services, LSEG

CIO, Shared Services, LSEG

Ann Neidenbach

CIO, Shared Services, LSEG

Ann Neidenbach is the Global Head of LSEG Technology and Chief Information Officer, Shared Services for the London Stock Exchange Group, responsible for the oversight of all Group technology services, business operations and corporate services, with teams in UK, Italy, France, US, Sri Lanka and Romania.

As LSEG Technology’s Group Head, Ann is responsible for the Technology Products & Services business which delivers robust, scalable, high-performance technology including broker, exchange, market data, risk management, surveillance, clearing and settlement products.

With over 25 years of industry expertise, Ann brings a wealth of experience to LSEG’s technology businesses. Previously, Ann was Managing Director and Chief Information Officer at Cowen Inc. where she was responsible for providing strategic direction and driving technological innovation across all its businesses. She also led the firm’s software development, information services, and technical infrastructure. Prior to Cowen, Ann has held a variety of senior technology roles at BNY Convergex, Nasdaq, and Citi. She was part of the executive team and CIO at BNY Convergex. Earlier at Nasdaq, she served as Senior Vice President of Market Systems, where she led a team of expert architects and engineers developing electronic trading, clearing, market data, and index solutions. She also served as Senior Vice President of Market Technology, responsible for delivering trading and clearing solutions to over 90 exchanges globally, and as the COO/CIO of Nasdaq Europe.

Ann has also held senior positions at Citibank; as Managing Director of Electronic Trading Technology, where she was responsible for overseeing the technology for equity and options electronic execution, algorithmic trading and electronic market making, and as Chief Operating Officer for Lava Trading.

EXTENT speaker - Anne Giviskos, Chief Risk & Compliance Officer, Euronext

Chief Risk & Compliance Officer, Euronext

Anne Giviskos

Chief Risk & Compliance Officer, Euronext

Anne is the Chief Risk and Compliance Officer at Euronext NV with teams in Europe and the US. She is a member of the Oslo Børs VPS Board and Interbolsa Board, both Euronext subsidiaries, and member of the Risk Committee of LCH SA.

Anne has over 20 years of experience in Financial Services and Technology industries in Paris and New York in finance, risk management, compliance, controlling, cross functional project management and operations in transformational and international environments, including nearly 15 years at NYSE/NYSE Euronext/ Euronext. She began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the assurance function. Mother of 2, born in New York, NY, she graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of General Studies, with a focus on psychology and business.

EXTENT speaker - Darko Pilav , Head of Switzerland Office & Senior Product Manager, Enterprise Solutions, Digital Asset

Head of Switzerland Office & Senior Product Manager, Enterprise Solutions, Digital Asset

Darko Pilav

Head of Switzerland Office & Senior Product Manager, Enterprise Solutions, Digital Asset

Darko is a senior product manager with Digital Asset in Zurich where he manages the local team and oversees product development for the company’s high-growth Enterprise Solutions business. Darko joined the Zurich-based technology start-up Elevence in 2015 before it was acquired by Digital Asset early the next year.

Elevence developed the precursor to DAML, Digital Asset’s intuitive and open-source smart contract language. Since 2015, Darko has lead engineering teams responsible for developing the developer tools that complement DAML (e.g. the DAML SDK). He also oversaw the implementation of client use cases for some of the largest financial institutions and market infrastructures in Central Europe. Darko received his master's degree in Theoretical Physics from ETH in Zurich.

EXTENT speaker - Ekaterina Volobueva, QA Analyst, Exactpro
Ekaterina Volobueva

QA Analyst, Exactpro

EXTENT speaker - Elena Treshcheva, Business Development Manager & Researcher, Exactpro

Business Development Manager & Researcher, Exactpro

Elena Treshcheva

Business Development Manager & Researcher, Exactpro

Elena initially joined Exactpro as a QA analyst. Working in this position, she got first-hand experience in software testing, the focus of her work being post-trade systems, market data processing and storage. In parallel with her work on the project, Elena was involved in speaking on behalf of Exactpro at a number of IT and Fintech conferences, including EXTENT-2018 in London (June 2018). Most recently, having joined Business Development, Elena has represented Exactpro at the QA Financial Forum in Chicago (April 2019) and AI Test 2019 in San Francisco (April 2019).

As part of the Exactpro Global Business Development team, Elena gets to leverage her broad experience of presenting at the conferences and continues to be actively engaged in the company’s Research & Development Strategy.

Prior to joining Exactpro, Elena held a position of Associate Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Applied Linguistics for several years after obtaining her postgraduate degree. Her responsibilities included project management of scientific work aimed at computer resource design and development.

EXTENT speaker - Eugene Litvinenko, QA Project Manager, Exactpro

QA Project Manager, Exactpro

Eugene Litvinenko

QA Project Manager, Exactpro

EXTENT speaker - Iosif Itkin, Co-CEO & co-founder, Exactpro

Co-CEO & co-founder, Exactpro

Iosif Itkin

Co-CEO & co-founder, Exactpro

Iosif is co-founder and co-CEO of Exactpro, a specialist firm focused on functional and non-functional testing for market infrastructures. Founded in 2009 with ten core specialists on board, Exactpro now employs over 550 specialists. In May 2015 - January 2018, Exactpro was part of the Technology Services division of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG). In January 2018, the founders of Exactpro completed a management buyout from LSEG.

Iosif manages business development and research in the field of high-load trading systems reliability. He is actively involved in delivering strategic software testing initiatives. Iosif has organized several industry conferences, including EXTENT — a Software Testing and Trading Technology Trends Conference. He frequently speaks at FinTech events worldwide.

Iosif started his professional career in 2000 as a software engineer in a US-based software development company. For seven years, he worked as a Team Lead and a Technology Architect on projects for a number of US companies. In 2006, Iosif joined a company providing QA services in the financial sector. His extensive software development experience helped him to establish a Performance Testing Department specialising in testing high load trading systems. As a Technical Lead, Iosif was responsible for developing testing tools and implementing technical solutions for a number of leading exchanges and global investment banks. Iosif's experience also includes managing a consulting practice focused on advanced execution systems. As VP of Technology, he was responsible for implementing testing solutions on a number of complex projects for customers all around the globe.

EXTENT speaker - John Pigott, CEO, ABE Global

CEO, ABE Global

John Pigott

CEO, ABE Global

EXTENT speaker - Kirill Anisimov, Senior QA Analyst, Exactpro

Senior QA Analyst, Exactpro

Kirill Anisimov

Senior QA Analyst, Exactpro

EXTENT speaker - Kirill Zagorouiko, COO, Exactpro

COO, Exactpro

Kirill Zagorouiko

COO, Exactpro

Kirill joined Exactpro Systems in December 2009 as Managing Director and head of the Moscow office. He previously worked as a Senior Project Manager for a company specializing in providing Quality Assurance services to customers in the financial services industry. Kirill has lead a series of complex QA projects for customers worldwide. His experience includes QA project management, project initiation and pre-sales, business analysis, business communications, training. A graduate of the Maurice Thorez Moscow State Linguistic University with a BA degree in translation and interpretation, Kirill has also studied multicultural communications at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

EXTENT speaker - Marina Soloveva, QA Project Manager, Exactpro

QA Project Manager, Exactpro

Marina Soloveva

QA Project Manager, Exactpro

EXTENT speaker - Mario Quonils, CTO, LME

CTO, LME

Mario Quonils

CTO, LME

Mario joined the LME Group as Chief Technology Officer in September 2018. Since joining the Group, he has completed a reorganisation of the 200+ strong IT function, in order to support the Exchange’s largest programme of change since it launched its clearing house in 2014. The programme includes the delivery of an event streaming platform, and the in-house development of a new trading platform with its parent company, HKEX.

Mario has substantial expertise both operationally and strategically, having previously worked at Deutsche Boerse as Global Head of IT Infrastructure, and prior to that, at Merck Sharp & Dohme for 15 years, where he held a variety of roles including, IT Global Technology & Operations Transition Leader.

EXTENT speaker - Michael Smith, Head of Sales, Exactpro

Head of Sales, Exactpro

Michael Smith

Head of Sales, Exactpro

With over 20 years’ experience in the financial marketplace, Michael has worked in investment banks, software providers and technology firms. After beginning his career as a macro-economic analyst, Michael moved into a sales role and has worked in that capacity ever since. He started at the earlier days of electronic trading by selling trading platforms for several firms and then moved in the operational space and continued to work for Broadridge. A key relationship developed over a number of years prior, however, pulled him into the world of trading securities, and here, he was at the forefront of promoting market access and electronic solutions to the emerging markets. Following this, he invested privately, raised capital and advised several technology firms on sales and marketing. A keen skier and tennis player, Michael has always been competitive, and believes that the harder you work, the easier it gets.

EXTENT speaker - Mikhail Odintsov, QA Project Manager, Exactpro

QA Project Manager, Exactpro

Mikhail Odintsov

QA Project Manager, Exactpro

EXTENT speaker - Monica Summerville, Director, Fintech Research & Head, TABB Group UK

Director, Fintech Research & Head, TABB Group UK

Monica Summerville

Director, Fintech Research & Head, TABB Group UK

Monica Summerville is Director, FinTech Research, and Head of TABB UK. She is a seasoned financial services industry executive with more than 20 years of experience in senior positions on both the buy and sell side, including working for leading consulting firms and as a US retail broker. Her past positions include broker services at J&W Seligman Investment Management; senior consultant in the financial services division at PWC Consulting; vice president of front office and market data technology for North America at ABN Amro; publisher and executive editor at RiskWaters Group; and director at Jordan & Jordan.

EXTENT speaker - Moray Grieve, Head of QA, R3

Head of QA, R3

Moray Grieve

Head of QA, R3

Moray started his career as a research physicist working in the fields of molecular electronics, space physics, and genetic algorithms for MRI magnet design. Industry roles included a year at the European Space Operations Centre as a spacecraft engineer, ten years at complex event processing vendor Apama as test and solutions engineering manager, and six years at two investment banks as a senior FX trading developer. Prior to joining R3, Moray built out the test, data and platform engineering functions at Cambridge start-up Audio Analytic, creating the world’s largest audio dataset for the machine learning of sounds.

EXTENT speaker - Richard Fenner, Manager, Regulatory Affairs, WFE

Manager, Regulatory Affairs, WFE

Richard Fenner

Manager, Regulatory Affairs, WFE

Richard Fenner is a Manager on The WFE’s Regulatory Affairs team and leads the organisation’s regulatory work on CCP issues. The WFE is the global industry group for exchanges and clearing houses around the world. It represents over 250 market infrastructures ranging from those that operate the largest financial centres to those that run frontier markets. The WFE seeks to ensure regulatory outcomes that foster well-functioning capital markets and reinforce systemic stability in addition to developing markets.

Richard began his career as an advisor on economic and foreign policy at the UK Parliament’s House of Commons. He then served as Head of Public Affairs at TheCityUK and latterly worked as a public policy and strategic communications consultant for a wide variety of financial institutions and platforms, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Carlyle Group, Experian and Seedrs.

Richard holds an MA in International Relations from the University of St Andrews and a Certificate in Risk from the Chartered Institute of Securities & Investment. He was born in Orange County, California and is a dual British/American citizen.

EXTENT speaker - Dr. Sian Lewin, Client Delivery Director, RegTech Associates

Client Delivery Director, RegTech Associates

Dr. Sian Lewin

Client Delivery Director, RegTech Associates

At RegTech Associates, Sian works with clients to help them refine, grow and scale their RegTech products and companies. She also leads the research and content generation activities. Sian is a recognised expert and influencer in RegTech and financial regulation and was featured on the Innovate Finance Women in FinTech Powerlist of 2018.

Prior to joining RegTech Associates, she was awarded a PhD from the London School of Economics. Her systematic research explored the challenges faced by banks in dealing with the volume and speed of regulatory change following the 2008 financial crisis. She has more than 20 years of experience in helping large financial institutions such as JP Morgan, UBS and RBS build their regulatory strength in response to regulatory requirements.

EXTENT speaker - Vince Julier, CEO, Freġnan

CEO, Freġnan

Vince Julier

CEO, Freġnan

Vince learnt computer programming as a child and wrote his first AI programme at the age of 17, back in 1983.

He then spent the next 30 years steeped in business and finance, 23 years at BP plc, with roles including: Global Head of Planning; Chief of Staff Treasury; and Commercial Manager of Angola; and, more recently, by forming and running two private equity companies.

As a co-Founder of FREĠNAN he is returning to his roots in technology, building a FinTech company that uses machine learning to automatically produce equity research. With near universal coverage of any size company, and unique insights from machine learnt financial models, FREĠNAN is supporting active investment managers, thereby helping to underpin liquidity in global exchanges.