Confirmed Speakers:
Rachel Anderika, Chief Risk Officer, Anchorage Digital
Rachel Anderika is the Chief Risk Officer at Anchorage Digital. She brings more than 15 years of experience in regulatory and risk management and nearly a decade of professional experience at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, where she served as National Bank Examiner (and later, Large Bank Examiner) to ensure that national banks operated safely and soundly, while complying with applicable laws and regulations. Rachel then served eight years in the private sector at Promontory Financial Group, a premier bank regulatory consulting firm, later purchased by IBM where she worked with numerous traditional financial institutions on risk management and compliance. Rachel also helped found Promontory’s Digital Assets Risk and Compliance Team, where she guided digital assets custodians through the state and federal regulatory licensing process. Rachel is based in Connecticut and enjoys sailing her 99 year-old wooden boat in her spare time
Miriam Bazan, Innovation Officer, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
Miriam Bazan is an Innovation Officer with the OCC’s Office of Innovation, focusing primarily on crypto-assets as they relate to national banks. She has been with the OCC since 2004 and, prior to joining the Office of Innovation, served as a National Bank Examiner in community, midsize, and large bank supervision in the agency’s Western and Central districts
Richard Flynn, Managing Director and Head of Risk & Quantitative Analysis EMEA, BlackRock
Richard Flynn is Managing Director and Head of Risk & Quantitative Analysis EMEA at BlackRock. In addition, he is the Chief Risk Officer of BlackRock Group Limited (BGL), co-chairs the EMEA Enterprise Risk Committee, and is a member of the European Executive and Global Operating Committees of the firm.
Mr. Flynn's service with the firm dates back to 2005, including his years with Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which merged with BlackRock in 2009. Prior to joining BGI in November 2005, he spent 4 years at London-based hedge fund Horizon Asset Limited focused on convertible bond arbitrage research and equity stat-arb trading. Previous experience includes setting up proprietary trading groups and managing risk arbitrage strategies at both Sanwa International plc and Sumitomo Finance International plc. Mr. Flynn began his career by spending 9 years with Salomon Brothers Proprietary Fixed Income groups variously in London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and New York
Mr. Flynn holds a Masters in Finance from London Business School, a BSc in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and is a CFA Charterholder
Katey Neate, Managing Director and Chief Risk Officer, Asset Servicing and Digital, BNY Mellon
Katey Neate is a Managing Director and Chief Risk Officer for Asset Servicing & Digital at BNY Mellon. In this capacity, she leads a global team of risk professionals responsible for the oversight and challenge of the Bank’s largest business, from strategy to product development and change management. Additionally, she leads all risk and compliance activities for the enterprise in the digital assets space, including the design and implementation of an enterprise risk framework, and global regulatory engagement. Leveraging her extensive risk management expertise, Katey collaborates across all regions and functions, including operations, product and relationship management, to support BNY Mellon’s development of market-leading digital asset capabilities
Nazia Siddiqi, Head of Counterparty Credit Risk, Galaxy Digital
Nazia Siddiqi is the Head of Counterparty Credit Risk at Galaxy Digital. Prior to joining the firm, she was a Director of Hedge Fund Counterparty Risk at Credit Suisse and held senior positions at Deutsche Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch as well. She holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania in Economics and International Relations
Brian S. Strauss, Chief Credit Officer, Celsius Network
Brian S. Strauss serves as Co-President of RMA NY and is a former Chairman of the Capital Markets Credit Analysts Society (CMCAS). Brian is the Chief Credit Officer at Celsius Network, a cryptocurrency lending platform founded in 2017. Prior to joining Celsius, Brian was Executive Director and Senior Credit Officer at Natixis North America LLC, where he and his team were responsibile for managing the firm's credit risk to Financial Institutions and Structured Credit counterparties. Before joining Natixis, Brian worked for several years as a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers and then eDelta Consulting, advising financial institutions on risk management, regulatory and compliance-related matters.
Prior to joining PwC, Brian served as Managing Director and Chief Risk Officer of KCG Americas LLC, as well as Deputy CRO of KCG Holdings, Inc. Brian previously served as CRO of Knight Capital Group, a predecessor firm, where he had global responsibility for credit, market and operational risk management. Before being promoted to this newly-created role in September, 2012, Brian had served as Chief Credit Officer of the firm.
Brian was previously a Managing Director and Senior Credit Officer at UBS Americas Inc., where he served as Co-Head of Hedge Fund Credit in the Americas. While at UBS, Brian was the primary risk liaison to the domestic and international equities businesses and the exchange-traded derivatives businesses globally. Prior to joining UBS, Brian was employed by Bank One N.A. as a Managing Director and Capital Markets Credit Officer, where his responsibilities included managing the bank's exposure to hedge funds, securities firms and money managers, and overseeing the ISDA documentation group.
Brian received a B.Sc. in finance from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. in finance from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University