TISA Digital Virtual Conference 2024

Ed Vaizey was appointed to the UK House of Lords in September 2020, where he sits as a Conservative Peer and is a member of the Communications and Digital Committee. Ed was the Member of Parliament for Wantage between 2005 and 2019. He served as the UK Government Culture and Digital Minister from 2010-16, and is the longest-serving Minister in that role. He was appointed a privy councillor in 2016. In his role as digital minister, Ed was responsible for the roll out of the successful rural broadband programme to more than 4 million homes, the introduction of 4G, and tax credits for film, television, animation and video games, which have helped make the creative industries the fastest growing part of the UK economy. In addition, he played a key role in putting coding in the national curriculum for schools, and in attracting inward investment to the UK tech economy. Ed also helped persuade Lucas Films to make the new Star Wars in the UK, and received a credit in the first film of the series.

Ian joined the FCA in the summer of 2021 as Director of the Intelligence & Digital division. He is helping set up a cross-FCA centre of excellence to ensure the organisation utilises the range of intelligence it receives and to maximise the exploitation of digital opportunities. Prior to his current role, Ian was most recently Director of Citizens' Health Technology at NHS Digital, helping lead its response to COVID-19. Ian has also worked at the Home Office, overseeing the world's largest migration to Amazon Web Services, as well as transforming immigration platforms at the height of Brexit. Ian has spent over a decade in National Security with strong expertise in data exploitation, in addition to holding senior technology roles at Visa, Citibank and American Express.

Graeme has over 25 years’ experience in financial services and was appointed Workplace Pensions Director at Scottish Widows in September 2019. He is responsible for leading the workplace business, developing strategy, distribution and propositions to market as well delivering digital solutions to customers. Graeme is a member of the Scottish Widows Independent Governance Committee, chair of the Master Trust Strategist Committee and works closely with the Master Trust Board. Prior to Scottish Widows, he was Operations Director at M&G Prudential leading strategy, development and the global services business in Mumbai. He was at Standard Life for 20 years and held a range of roles including Strategy Director, Operations Director and Proposition Director covering retail platforms and workplace pensions through RDR, Auto-enrolment and Pension Freedoms. Graeme is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries and also holds positions as Board trustee and chair of the Finance committee at Sight Scotland.

Liz Brandt is co-founder and CEO of Ctrl-Shift, her career has spanned 20+ years of business consultancy across numerous sectors. She advises global clients including Facebook, O2, the BBC, and JPMorgan Chase, helping them to develop and future-proof their digital products and services. Her career has spanned multiple disciplines including consultancy, digital media, customer service design and strategic marketing. After twelve years with Barclays, Liz moved to the Systems Integrator company Logica, heading up their Sales and Marketing and the development and running of their international CRM business, after which she has founded several companies, including a mobile CRM company, Zishi, and Digital Public, a public sector consultancy developing a consumer-centric digital media service for government. Since its launch, Ctrl-Shift has been at the forefront of understanding, explaining and shaping the Personal Information Economy(PIE), it has pioneered data portability and Personal Information Services (PIMS) and remains at the forefront of strategic business consulting in the data market.

I am a Professor of Financial Mathematics at Cardiff and belongs to Operational Research Group. In the academic community, I am known for my expertise in interdisciplinary approaches of financial modelling (e.g. Hawkes processes, network approaches) that tackles modern finance problems. My research provides a methodological foundation for social-technical issues in FinTech, financial market behaviour, and regulatory impacts. holds editorships for The Journal of Futures Market, The European Journal of Finance (EJF), International Review of Economics and Finance, IMA Journal of Management Mathematics and Quantitative Finance. I also hold adjunct/visiting professorship in various world-leading universities including Columbia, UCL etc. I co-lead the EPSRC UKFin+ Network for Financial Services (https://ukfin.network/). I have been PI/Co-Is for multiple Fintech projects funded by Wales Data Nation Acceleration/Turing Institute and Data Transformation Innovation Institute (Cardiff). I advise on Fintech and wider Finance/Economics problems for Cardiff-ONS (Office for National Statistics) strategic partnership, Finance and Economics Section of Royal Statistical Society (RSS), and the Centre for Research toward Advancing Financial Technologies (CRAFT https://www.stevens.edu/craft). I am one of the leads of the Fintech theme in the Data Transformation Innovative Institute at Cardiff. My research directly engages with diverse range of stakeholders (e.g., government, companies, regional Fintech hubs, charities, start-ups, educational groups, schools etc.) in the FinTech industry and benefits them with deployable solutions and products. I am passionate about several fundamental problems in finance that share the nature of being complex social-technological problems and demand for interdisciplinary methodologies and deployable applications as well as solutions.

Jonny Fry is Group Head of Digital Assets Strategy for ClearBank Ltd, established in 2015 became the first bank in over 250 years to be regulated as a clearing bank in the UK. Jonny is also CEO of TeamBlockchain Ltd as research and publishing firm that produces Digital Bytes. He is a NED of TURN, a blockchain-powered reporting platform for the asset management industry and Chairman at Gemini Capital UK, and he is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. For over 20 years was CEO of Premier Asset Management Plc, a London Stock Exchange-listed company. Since March 2018, Jonny has been the author of "Digital Bytes" which offers weekly insights into the global applications of blockchain technology and digital assets across various industries and jurisdictions. Hosts its own weekly radio show on Cyber.FM; reaches 4.6 million listeners in 170+ countries; presents a weekly podcast featuring interviews with diplomats, global companies, start-ups and technologists. Respected speaker and moderator, Jonny Fry is a recognised figure in blockchain and digital assets sectors, earning him the CryptoA.M. 2022 "Influencer of The Year" Award.

Charlotte is head of Taylor Wessing's Financial Services Regulation & FinTech Group. She has significant experience in providing international regulatory advice on FinTech and other financial services matters. Her clients include FinTech and crypto firms, investment and asset managers, investment platforms, crowdfunding platforms, payment services providers, e-money issuers and banks. In the FinTech area, Charlotte's clients include challenger banks, payment services providers and users of payment services, crowdfunding platforms and investment platforms, as well as advising on digital currencies and cryptoassets, blockchain and NFTs. Charlotte's practice is described in the Legal 500 as having "vast experience in the UK financial services sector" and "providing high-quality work", as well as being "very knowledgeable" and "very approachable".

Brian McNulty is a seasoned entrepreneur and visionary leader with a track record of building and scaling innovative ventures in the finance and technology sectors. In the first half of his career he was a practitioner, including holding the position of Senior Derivates Trader at Rand Merchant Bank. As the Founder and CEO of FundAdminChain (FAC), he spearheads the development of cutting-edge SaaS solutions that streamline investments in both conventional and tokenised funds, revolutionising the financial landscape. With over 25 years of experience in buy-side and fund administration, Brian's expertise spans a diverse range of roles and industries. He has successfully launched and exited multiple companies, including DBFS Consultancy, renowned for delivering over 300 bespoke software solutions for the Funds industry, and Tradermade International, serving over 300 blue-chip banking customers. Brian's journey into blockchain technology saw him serve as the Managing Director and Global Head of Services at R3, where he played a pivotal role in driving strategic initiatives. Prior to that, he honed his skills as a strategic change consultant, collaborating with prestigious firms such as JP Morgan, London Stock Exchange, HSBC, and BNP Paribas. He co-founded the Post Trade Distributed Ledger Group (PTDL), uniting 40 financial blue-chips to explore the transformative potential of distributed ledger technology. In addition to his entrepreneurial pursuits, Brian's passion for education shines through as he shares his insights as a guest lecturer on Technical Trading Strategies and Business Entrepreneurship at esteemed institutions including Glasgow, Brunel, and Strathclyde University. Brian holds an Honours degree in Mathematics from Glasgow University, complemented by a Masters Diploma in Information Systems from Strathclyde University. He is also a Certified Financial Technician (CFTe Level II), underscoring his commitment to excellence and mastery in the field.

Simon is a former IFA turned product marketer with extensive experience in banking and savings, wealth management and consumer finance. He's worked in the UK and in international markets at Abbey National, Santander, Alliance & Leicester, Standard Bank and Ikano Financial Services, part of the IKEA group. He holds an Executive MBA with emphasis on strategic sustainability, is a Director at Notts & Lincs Credit Union, and is an elected Councillor in Derbyshire Dales. He leads Moneyhub's proposition development team to help clients create value from transaction data and Open Finance. He is especially passionate about propositions that deliver good outcomes for people and the planet alongside profit.

Dr. Dara Sosulski is Managing Director, Head of Artificial Intelligence and Model Management for Markets and Securities Services at HSBC. Over the course of her career she has led a variety of teams specialising in Data Science, analytics, and modelling. Prior to joining HSBC she was an award-winning Neuroscientist, receiving her PhD from Columbia University before moving to University College London on a fellowship from The Royal Society. Working at the intersection of technical development, operations, and AI risk management, Dara specialises in the application of AI to solve problems in highly regulated environments.

David Vatchev is an Enterprise Tech Executive, with a special focus on Capital Markets, Blockchain Strategy, Digital Assets, and Tokenization, including Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). David brings an extensive background in finance, regulated markets and strategic partner alliances. Currently serving as the Head of Platform Sales at R3, implementing sales strategy and driving new business growth. His previous roles include Strategy Consultant for a Middle East Based Multi-Asset Family Office and Director of Capital Markets Sales & Trading at Credit Suisse/UBS. An alumnus of the University of Oxford, David holds both Bachelor's and Master's degrees.

Larry is CEO, TISA Commercial Enterprises and was appointed in his new role in February 2023 while continuing with his non-executive director role as Deputy Chair of TISA. Larry brings a raft of board and executive experience to the TISA Group, having been an NED/Chair of Mortgage Brain and The Mortgage Trading Exchange for nine years and having been on the TISA Board since 2015.Larry became Deputy Chair in 2020. He has supported TISA’s Executive team as Board representative and been directly and actively engaged in TISA’s work on Later Life Lending and Personalised Guidance where he chairs the cross-industry working group. Larry served 34 years with Nationwide in many senior positions across multiple disciplines prior to taking early (semi) retirement in August 2020. His roles included Director for Financial Planning, Protection & Investments from September 2015, which included developing roboadvice solutions in the FCA sandbox, before expanding that role to include all of Mortgage Distribution (inc. Intermediaries) in 2019. This also included “Nationwide-Now” the video conferencing service launched for Mortgages and Financial Planning.Larry has previously been Director for Branch Network, contact centres, was Head of Mortgages and has held CF1 responsibilities as Managing Director of The Mortgage Works, the largest Buy-to-Let lender in the UK.Prior to leaving Nationwide, Larry launched the new Later Life advice team for Lifetime Mortgages and introduced the “Video to Member” service at the start of the pandemic, a full advice video conference capability linking Financial Planners, Mortgage Consultants and Later Life advisers to members in their own homes.