Lord Jonathan Hill, EU Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union

Jonathan Hill (Baron Hill of Oareford) holds a degree in history from Trinity College, Cambridge. He served as a special adviser to Kenneth Clarke at the Department of Employment, Department of Trade and Industry and Department of Health from 1986 to 1989, then as Political Secretary to Prime Minister John Major (1992-94). He then worked for public affairs consultancy Bell Pottinger until 1998, before founding the firm Quiller Consultants.

In 2010, he returned to public life, becoming junior Minister for Schools. In January 2013, he was appointed Leader of the House of Lords (the Government's business manager in the upper house). Since November 2014, he serves as EU Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union.

Jonathan Taylor, Vice President, European Investment Bank

Jonathan Taylor has been a Vice President of the European Investment Bank since January 2013. He is a member of the EIB’s Management Committee which draws up the Bank's financial and lending policies, oversees its day-to-day business, and takes collective responsibility for the Bank’s performance. Mr Taylor has particular responsibility for the Bank’s activities in Greece, Cyprus, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Asia. He also leads on the Bank’s work in energy, climate action and in other environmental lending policies. Internally, he is responsible for a range of control functions, such as audit, compliance and related matters.
Mr Taylor was previously Director General of Financial Services and Stability at HM Treasury (the UK Finance Ministry). He has held a range of posts in both the private and public sectors. He is a graduate of the University of Oxford, in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Prof. Phedon Nicolaides, Jan Tinbergen Chair for European Economics & Director of the European Economic Studies Department, College of Europe

Phedon A. Nicolaides holds the Jan Tinbergen Chair and is Director of the Department of European Economic Studies at the College of Europe in Bruges. He is also Senior Fellow at Maastricht University. He served as Minister Plenipotentiary in the Cyprus Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the private sector as Secretary General of the Cyprus Shipping Council. He was also Advisor to the Cyprus Chief Negotiator during the negotiations of Cyprus for accession to the EU. He has acted as consultant to a number of public authorities in various EU Member States and to international institutions and organisations such as the European Commission, the European Investment Fund, the European Economic and Social Committee, the OECD and the UN. Prof. Nicolaides held academic positions at the London Business School, the Royal Institute of International Affairs (London) and the European Institute of Public Administration (Maastricht) and he holds a PhD in economics and in law.

Verena Ross, Executive Director, ESMA

Verena Ross is the Executive Director of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). She was appointed to the role in March 2011 and joined ESMA on 1 June 2011. She is the first Executive Director of the organisation and forms part of the senior management team along with the Chair of ESMA. The Executive Director has responsibility for the day-today running of the organisation. Prior to this, Verena held a number of senior posts in the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA), with her final position being Director of the International Division from October 2009 to May 2011. Verena was also a member of the FSA's Executive Committee and the Executive Policy and Risk Committees.Verena joined the FSA in 1998 to run the Executive Chairman’s office during the regulator’s start-up phase, and was briefly a seconded advisor to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission in 2000. She subsequently held various positions in the Markets Division and was Director of the Strategy & Risk Division before becoming Director of the International Division.She began her career at the Bank of England in 1994, where she worked as an economist and then banking supervisor, following studies in Hamburg, Taipei and London (SOAS).

Diego Valiente, Head of Financial Markets and Institutions, CEPS

Diego Valiant is Head of Financial Markets and Institutions at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and the European Capital Markets Institute (ECMI). He is also Member of the Group of Economic Advisers (GEA) to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). His research activity focuses on regulation of trading in financial instruments (MiFID and EMIR), financial market structure, institutional aspects of the Eurozone crisis, central banking and commodities market structure. Diego holds a Bachelor in Business Economics and a MSc (2 years) in Economic Analysis of Law from LUISS University in Rome. He also earned a joint LL.M. Master in Law and Economics (EMLE) from Rotterdam and Bologna Universities, and a Ph.D. in Law and Economics from LUISS University in 2010. In 2011, Financial News (Dow Jones) listed Diego among the “Top 40 Rising Stars in Trading and Technology” under the age of 40 in the EMEA.

Niall Bohan, Head of Unit CMU, DG FISMA, European Commission

Niall Bohan is Head of Unit (C1, Capital Markets Union) at the European Commission’s DG for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. He studied economics at Trinity College in Dublin and at the College of Europe in Bruges. He then worked as a teaching assistant at the College of Europe and as researcher at the Centre for European Policy Studies. He has been a European civil servant since 1994, holding a number of posts in the DG for Internal Market and financial services.

Richard Doherty, Global Lead Client Partner for EU Institutions, Deloitte

An Irish national, Richard is Deloitte’s Public Sector leader for EMEA and Lead Partner for the European Institutions.

Richard has worked in EU affairs since 1984. His client work sees him overseeing the delivery of services to EU institutions and related clients in over 40 countries. His experience covers many areas of EU policy and organisation, and he has also served international corporate clients, particularly on public policy issues and their related business impact.

Gert Wehinger  Senior Economist, OECD

Gert Wehinger is a Senior Economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris, where he has been holding assignments in the Economics Department and the Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs. Working for the OECD Committee on Financial Markets, he is monitoring and analysing market developments as well as regulatory changes. Recent work has covered SME finance and securitisation. As organiser of the OECD “Financial Roundtables” he is fostering the Committee’s dialogue with the private financial sector. He is also editor of and contributor to the OECD Journal “Financial Market Trends”. He holds an Economics Master’s degree from the Karl-Franzens-University (Graz, Austria) and a Doctoral degree with honours from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration (Austria), and is a graduate of the Institute for Advanced Studies (Vienna, Austria).

Helmut Kraemer-Eis, Head of Research, European Investment Fund

Dr. Helmut Kraemer-Eis heads the Research & Market Analysis activities of the EIF, the EIB Group's specialist provider of risk finance to benefit small and medium sized enterprises across Europe. By developing and offering targeted financial products to its intermediaries, the EIF enhances SMEs’ access to finance and fosters EU objectives, notably in the field of entrepreneurship, growth, innovation, research and development, employment and regional development.

Prior to that, Helmut developed and headed EIF’s Guarantees and Securitisation Risk Management for 7 years. He also worked as Senior Manager at KfW (Germany) in the field of Business Policy / Securitisation and in KfW’s Economic Research Department. Helmut has a Master in economics (Diplom Volkswirt) from the University of Bonn (Germany) and a PhD in economics from the University of Jena (Germany), where he also worked as researcher and teaching associate.
He authored and co-authored numerous research articles on various economic topics, ie related to SME finance, and a book on country risk analysis. Moreover, Helmut is the editor of EIF’s Working Papers series.

Sachin Patel, Global Co-Head of Capital Markets, Funding Circle

Sachin Patel is Co-Head of Capital Markets and is responsible for institutional lending in Europe at Funding Circle, the leading marketplace for business loans. Prior to Funding Circle, Sachin held a number of roles within the structured products, fixed income & credit solutions businesses at JPMorgan and Barclays.
By January 2016, Funding Circle had helped over 15,000 businesses borrow more than $1.8 billion from individuals, credit funds, family offices, universities, councils and the UK Government-backed British Business Bank.

Antonio H. Garcia del Riego, Managing Director, Head of European Corporate Affairs Banco Santander

More than 30 years of experience in banking, having worked in management positions for the two most international Spanish banks as Banco Santander and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya and acquiring experience in 8 different jurisdictions including New York, Hong Kong and Paris.

Since 2008 working at Banco Santander as  head of European Corporate Affairs following up of  financial regulation and interaction with the three main EU institutions and member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)  as representative of the Spanish Banking Association (AEB).

 MBA at the University of New York at Buffalo, degree in Economics at Valladolid University and Fulbright scholar.

Ernesto Lanzillo Partner, Deloitte, Italian Family Business Leader

Hired by Arthur Andersen Audit Genoa Office on December 1989, since September 2000 he has been trasferred to the Audit Milan Office. He has been appointed Partner on November 1, 2002 when the Andersen Organization in Italy entered in the Deloitte Network. He has professional experience in Multinational and Italian Clients for audit, due diligence and not attest activities (internal control system, Accounting procedures, IPO assistance, planning and budgeting procedures), and he acts as Lead Client Service Partner of major Clients in the retail and transportation service. He is responsible for Client & Industries of the Audit Business in Italy and is the Global Audit Capture Program Leader for Italy. He is the responsible of the Family Business Initiative in Italy. He is the Retail Italian Sector Leader.

Marta Testi,  Head of Corporate Advisors, London Stoch Exchange Group

Marta Testi has a degree political sciences and business marketing from SDA Bocconi, and works currently as Head of Corporate Advisors at Borsa Italiana in the London Stock Exchange Group. She is in charge of the Partnership Equity Markets Programme designed to promote the Italian Capital Markets. She is also responsible for the ELITE Advisors, both for the Italian programme and for the European Programmes (Spain and Rest of Europe).

Luigi Amati, CEO and Co-Founder META

Luigi Amati is the CEO and Co-Founder of META Group since 1993. His most recent professional experience is on Seed funds for Knowledge Intensive companies, Innovation policies, Science Parks, Valorisation of Knowledge. He began his career in 1993 where he has taken part as a CEO, member of the Board of Directors or Shareholder to the creation of a number of start-ups among which some are still growing soundly. Luigi Amati holds an Engineering Master degree at the University of Rome and a Master of Science at Imperial College in London.

Korstiaan Zandvliet, CEO and Co-Founder Symbid

Korstiaan Zandvliet has studied sociology, business and entrepreneurship at Erasmus University Rotterdam, and is the Co-Founder and CEO of Symbid, one of the first equity crowdfunding platforms in the world for start-ups and small businesses. The Funding Network has allowed 816 companies to be funded, collected over €526 million and reunited 37 thousand investors. Korstiaan is also personally involved in a series of projects targeting the improvement of investment eligibility of SMEs on a national and international scale.

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Andrea Beltramello, Policy Officer CMU Unit, DG FISMA, European Commision

Andrea Beltramello is a Policy Officer at the European Commission, in the unit responsible for Capital Markets Union in the Directorate General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markers Union (DG FISMA). Between 2012 and 2015 he was Policy Analyst in the Free Movement of Capital and Application of EU Law unit in DG FISMA (formerly DG Internal Market and Services). Between 2007 and 2012, he worked as Economist/Policy Analyst in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, first in the Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs and then in the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry. In 2006-07 he worked in the international trade and European affairs office of a major European technology company. He holds degrees from the University of Trieste in Italy and the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.

Nicolas Veron, Senior Fellow, Bruegel; Visiting Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics

Nicolas Veron is a senior fellow at Bruegel, and a visiting fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC. As cofounder of Bruegel starting in 2002, he was initially involved in the organisation’s design, operational start-up and development, before moving on to policy research between 2006 and 2007. In 2009, he joined the Peterson Institute and currently divides his time between the US and Europe. Previousy, he has worked in Saint-Gobain in Berlin and Rothschilds in Paris, as an economic aide to the Prefect in Lille; corporate adviser to France’s Labour Minister; and chief financial officer of MultiMania as well as Lycos France (2000-2002). From 2002 to 2009 he also operated an independent Paris-based financial consultancy.

Johannes Lindner, Head of EU Institutions and Fora Division, ECB

Johannes Lindner works as Head of the EU Institutions and Fora Division in the Directorate General International and European Relations at the European Central Bank. He joined the ECB in 2003 as Economist in the Directorate General International and European Relations. Between 2005 and 2008 he was Counsellor to Ms Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, Member of the Executive Board. From 2008 and 2012, he worked as Adviser in the Oversight Division in the Directorate General Payments and Market Infrastructure. Johannes studied politics and economics and holds master degrees from the University of Cologne (Diplom-Volkswirt) and the London School of Economics (Master of Science Public Administration and Public Policy). He did a PhD at the University of Oxford in which he focused on conflict and change in the EU budgetary politics.

Jean-Pierre Casey, Head of Investment Solutions, UK and Luxembourg, PMB, Edmond de Rothschild

Professor Jean-Pierre Casey is currently Head of Investment Solutions for the UK and Luxembourg, PMB, Edmond de Rothschild. Before that he was a Partner at Azure Wealth LLP in London, a boutique independent investment management firm, where he was responsible for the advisory and asset management arms of the business. Jean-Pierre Casey is also Visiting Professor at the College of Europe since 2010, where he teaches the course "Marches financiers europeens: structure, fonctionnement et reglementation" (together with Christophe Moussu). Prior to joining Azure Wealth, he was a Director at Barclays, in the Wealth and Investment Management division, where he was Head of Investment Advisory in the International Private Bank in London. Prior to joining the Investment Advisory team, he was Head of Regulatory Policy at Barclays Wealth for four years, also having compliance responsibility for a number of areas within the Product and Investments function, where he sat on a number of senior product and manager selection committees.Before moving to London and Barclays in 2007, he was Head of Research at the European Capital Markets Institute, housed within the Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels' largest think thank, where he still maintains Associate Research Fellow status

Raoul Ruparel, Co-Director, Open Europe

Raoul Ruparel is Co-Director at Open Europe. He is also a contributing author for Forbes, where he write on EU issues; the Eurozone crisis; central banking and macroeconomics. Over the past years Raoul has been at the forefront of analysing crucial issues around Europe. He has led Open Europe’s research into the Eurozone crisis, helping to advise governments and corporations on how to deal with the crisis as well as the potential institutional and regulatory response. Raoul has been heavily involved in the economic and financial analysis of the evolving crisis in Ukraine, and the ensuing sanctions placed on Russia. He has also worked extensively on issues relating to EU trade and economic prosperity, as well as the economic impacts of hot political topics such as migration. 

On top of his regular articles for Forbes, Raoul is a frequent contributor to the broadcast and print media including, CNBC, Bloomberg, BBC and Sky as well as the FT, WSJ and the Times. Raoul holds two masters degrees in economics and public policy from the University of Chicago and a BA in economics and politics from the University of Manchester. Prior to joining OE, Raoul gained work experience at financial firm Habibbank AG Zurich.