Marcel Haag studied law at the universities of Freiburg, Bonn, Strasbourg and at the EUI in Florence and qualified as a judge in Düsseldorf. After a short stint in business, he joined the European Commission and worked in different Commission services. Until the summer of 2020 Mr Haag served as a Director for policy coordination in the Secretariat-General of the Commission. He is currently Director for Horizontal policies at the Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union.

Beju Shah is Head of Nordics for the Bank for International Settlements' (BIS) Innovation Hub. He leads a team of experts in cybersecurity, payments, artificial intelligence, and central bank digital currencies (CBDC) to deliver trail-blazing work and insights on technology to the global central bank community and policy makers. Before the BIS, Beju was at the Bank of England for 10 years in several roles, leading on large data, digital and business transformation programmes as well as many international initiatives.

Named one of the ‘2021 Top Ten Voices in European Fintech’ Conny Dorrestijn has a focused career in innovation for the international financial technology sector, previously at Clear2Pay/FIS and as Founding Partner/Advisor at BankiFi: a developer of technology ‘putting banks at the heart of business’. She is also Chair of the Supervisory Board at Blanco Services, a Non-Executive Director to the Board of Augmentum Fintech, an Associate of the Digital Insurance Agenda (DIA) and a Global Innovation Awards Judge at BAI (US). She is a co-host/producer of the regular Fintech Cappuccino podcast.

Ivan is a prominent UK Fintech industry leader and regular commentator on finance, business and innovation. In 2018, he co-founded 3S Money, a Fintech company helping corporate clients send, collect and exchange money in 190+ countries. In 2021, 3S Money achieved profitability and is continuing to scale with offices in London, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Riga and Dubai and Singapore.

A former journalist with BBC World Service, Ivan is an advisor of peer-to-peer lender Relendex and 3S Capital Partners, a Dutch-regulated asset manager.

Laura joined the office for economic policy and international affairs (GPEARI) of the Ministry of Finance in November 2020, in order to participate in the Portuguese Presidency of the European Council. She is currently in GPEARI, serving as head of the Financial Services Division.
Laura coordinates a team that has as two major workstreams: the negotiations of all financial services legislation at the European Council level and the preparation of several international meetings such as ECOFIN and Economic and Financial Committee (EFC). She represents Portugal in several international fora such as the Financial Securities Committee (FSC), the OECD’s Financial Markets Committee, the Financial Stability Board Regional Committee, and the European Commission’s Member States Expert Group for Sustainable Finance.
Laura has a law degree by the law school of Lisbon University.

She is the Head of the Payment Systems Department at Banco de Portugal, which is responsible for the oversight, regulation, operation and development of the Portuguese payments market.
She has been involved in the operational and regulatory developments taking place in the field of payment systems, such as the migration towards the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), the transposition and implementation of the revised Payment Services Directive, the deployment of instant payment solutions and other innovative payment services, and the investigation on the possible issuance of the digital euro.
She is also a member of the Market Infrastructures Board (MIB), the Eurosystem body in charge of the operation and management of Eurosystem market infrastructures such as TARGET services, and she represents Banco de Portugal in several other fora.

Teresa Mesquita has been Chief Marketing & Product Officer at SIBS since January 2021, a position she combines with that of member of the Board of Directors of SIBS International since August of that same year.
With almost 20 years of experience in the payments area, Teresa Mesquita held several roles at SIBS in national and international areas such as Product Management Director, where she led the launch of digital payments initiatives such as MB WAY and instant payments.
She currently collaborates with several national and international payment forums such as the Payments Forum of the Bank of Portugal, the Market Advisory Group for the Digital Euro, of the European Central Bank, and is a board member of the European Mobile Payment System Association.
She has a degree in Applied Mathematics and Computing from Instituto Superior Técnico, and has an Executive MBA in Management from AESE/IESE Business School.

Andrea is a highly skilled and experienced Chief Commercial Officer with 10+ years of experience in Fintech, payments, and banking. She boasts unrivalled knowledge about the complexities of financial ecosystems and is passionate about technological innovation in payments.
As 3S Money’s Chief Commercial Officer in Europe, Andrea brings a wealth of knowledge and a successful track record of leading some of Luxembourg’s most ambitious startups.
With a CV that includes industry heavyweights such as Volkswagen, and Banking Circle, Andrea’s ability to navigate the ups and downs of the financial sector is valued by colleagues and clients alike.

Michalis Michaelides is a seasoned global business development expert with a strong emphasis in the payments technology sector and a passion for open banking and marketplace technologies. With over 20 years of experience, he has built an impressive track record in the banking, payments, and commerce industries.
With extensive international assignments across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and India, Michalis has developed a solid understanding of diverse markets and has honed his skills in dealing with major corporations adhering to stringent criteria. He is adept at fostering strategic and long-term business investments that generate value for all stakeholders involved.
Having held key positions at TSYS and Nets (part of Nexi Group) before joining BPC, Michalis brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise from renowned organisations in the field.
Currently, Michalis plays a vital role at BPC, spearheading the development of partnerships and driving business growth in the European region. His dedication and expertise contribute to BPC's success in leveraging cutting-edge payments technology and expanding its market presence.

Jorge Paulo is SIBS’ Product Management Director, the company he joined more than a decade ago and where he has integrated projects such as the development of instant payments across Europe, the Open Banking API platform, the development of authentication systems for ecommerce shopping and MB WAY origin.
With more than 20 years of professional experience, Jorge Paulo has a degree in Computer Engineering (Artificial Intelligence branch), from Instituto Superior Técnico, and throughout his career he has performed several roles in the Information Technologies area, in companies such as Banco Santander, Datacomp and Altitude Software.
Jorge Paulo collaborates in several national and international forums, such as the Cards Working Group and Payments Forum of the Bank of Portugal and the European Cards Stakeholder Group, which contribute to the evolution, standardization and uniformity of payments.

Being a highly accomplished professional in the field of finance and fintech, driven by his passion for payments, fintech, digital banking, and embedded finance, with more than 25 years of extensive experience, Peter joined BPC ranks as SVP Europe to drive business growth and expansion across the European market.
Throughout his career, Peter has worked with customers in diverse regions, each with unique needs, gaining valuable insights into the global fintech landscape. His track record in business development and leadership is exceptional, having held key positions in internationally recognized fintech companies such as Pelican.ai, Rivero, Endava, Integri, Clear2pay, and TAS Group.
He possesses an in-depth understanding of payments and banking, which allows him to navigate complex challenges and deliver tangible outcomes. With his wealth of knowledge and experience in IT, operations, business, and finance, Peter is adept at providing innovative and viable business solutions in the highly competitive fintech market.

Co-founder of Banking Circle and Chief Executive Officer of Banking Circle Group, Anders la Cour previously worked as a technology and financial M&A lawyer at a tier one law firm in Copenhagen.

Anders was a top graduate from the University Master of Laws in Denmark, and was admitted to the Bar in 2008. His experience in legal M&A, as well as in venture capital, coupled with his strong commercial acumen and entrepreneurial mind-set means Anders understands the financial tech industry. In identifying a flaw in how the FinTech sector is serviced by the banks, he has seized the opportunity to bring a solution to market that will be a serious game-changer and challenger to the status quo.

Anders is responsible for the day to day management of Banking Circle Group as well as investor relations.

“Because FinTechs have been, rightly, focused on improving the customer’s user experience, the banking side of the equation hasn’t been addressed to the same degree. This means they haven’t had the ability to offer international bank transfers that match their ‘no barriers’ ambitions. That’s where Banking Circle comes in.”