Speakers
Rostin Behnam
Chairman, Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Rostin Behnam was sworn in as the CFTC’s 15th Chairman on January 4, 2022 after being unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. President Biden nominated Chairman Behnam to lead the agency.
Previously, Chairman Behnam served as CFTC Commissioner since September, 2017. The members of the Commission elected Commissioner Behnam as Acting Chairman effective January 21, 2021.
Since joining the CFTC, Chairman Behnam has individually and as sponsor of the CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee (MRAC) advocated for the CFTC to use its authority and expertise to ensure the derivatives markets operate transparently and fairly for participants and customers, and innovate responsibly to address evolving market structures and products and the emergence and movement of risk across clearinghouses, exchanges, intermediaries, market makers and end-users within an appropriate oversight framework. Through his MRAC sponsorship, Chairman Behnam convened leading market experts and public interest groups to engage in public dialogue on such timely issues as global interest rate benchmark reform, central counterparty (CCP) risk and governance, evolving market structures, and since the summer of 2019, climate-related market risk.
Recognizing that weather and climate present risks to economic productivity, financial stability, and household wealth, especially in low-to-moderate income and historically marginalized communities, Chairman Behnam led the creation of the Climate-Related Market Risk Subcommittee to examine climate-related impacts on the financial system. The Subcommittee’s efforts resulted in the September 2020 release of the report Managing Climate Risk in the U.S. Financial System, the first of-its-kind effort from a U.S. government entity. Chairman Behnam followed its release with testimony before the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis and presentations in other venues focused on climate-related market risk and incorporating sustainability resilience into our financial systems.
One of his first actions since leading the commission was to establish the first-ever Climate Risk Unit (CRU) to support the agency’s mission by focusing on the role of derivatives in understanding, pricing, and addressing climate-related risk and transitioning to a low-carbon economy. Comprised of staff from across the CFTC’s operating divisions and offices, the CRU represents the agency’s next step in response to what has become a global call to action on tackling climate change.
During his time as Commissioner, Chairman Behnam also spearheaded efforts to invigorate internal discussions on agency-wide diversity and inclusion initiatives. He remains committed to ensuring that the CFTC remains vigilant in building and maintaining an inclusive workforce, supportive of employees and reflective of the diversity in the markets it oversees and the public it serves.
Chairman Behnam’s arrival at the CFTC followed extensive experiences in financial and agricultural markets. As Senior Counsel to Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, he primarily focused on policy and legislative matters related to the CFTC and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, agencies within the direct jurisdictional purview of the Committee. Chairman Behnam’s major responsibilities included advising Senator Stabenow on the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and related matters affecting the Treasury Department, the U.S. prudential regulators, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
After graduating from Georgetown University, Chairman Behnam worked as a proprietary equities trader in New York City before pursuing a Juris Doctorate at Syracuse University. During his legal studies, Chairman Behnam interned with the CFTC’s Division of Enforcement in the New York Regional Office.
Upon graduation, he returned to his home state of New Jersey and joined the Bureau of Securities within the state’s Office of the Attorney General. Following his time with the Bureau of Securities, Chairman Behnam practiced law in New York City.
Daphne Breyer
Head of ESG, BB Asset Management
Daphne Breyer is Head of ESG at BB Asset Management, the largest fund manager in Brazil. With more than 16 years in the Capital Markets area, she is a member of the advisory board to the Brazilian initiative Investors for Climate – IPC, whose main objective is to engage and train local professional investors to advance the decarbonization agenda of their portfolios. Breyer is also part of the working group on sustainable investment at of the Brazilian Association of Financial Market Entities and Capital – Anbima, self-regulatory entity for the investment fund industry in Brazil.
Daphne holds a Master's degree in Business Economics (Finance) from the Getulio Vargas Foundation, with diversity in companies as her area of study, a bachelor's degree in Business from Lavras Federal University and CFA-ESG certification.
Brendan Curran
Senior Policy Fellow (Sustainable Finance), London School of Economics and Political Science Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment.
Brendan is a senior policy fellow working on sustainable finance policy with a particular focus on just transition and place-based climate investment.
Prior to joining the Grantham Institute, Brendan spent several years working on sustainable finance policy within the UK Government. Firstly, as a policy adviser on social investment within the Government Inclusive Economy Unit and more recently working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) on green finance policy and the publication of the Net Zero Strategy. During this time, he also had a secondment at the Green Finance Institute. Prior to working in policy, Brendan spent 5 years working for Lloyds Bank across several roles. He has a BSc in economics and politics from the University of Bristol and an MSc in economics from the University of Amsterdam.
Research interests:
- Harnessing private finance to deliver a just transition
- Public finance institutions and interventions to deliver net zero and a just transition
- Financial regulation aimed at a sustainable financial system
- Place-based climate investment
- Policy frameworks to deliver a just transition
Johanna Grönroos
Chief Development Officer, Lamor Corporation Plc.
Johanna is acting as Chief Development Officer at Lamor Corporation Plc. Her main responsibilities include transforming Lamor’s business towards even more sustainable business models. The business consists of environmental protection, soil remediation and recycling of plastics. Johanna is responsible for the strategy implementation work, sustainable development as well investor relations.
Johanna has been acting as the Chief Development Officer at Lamor since 2021. In addition, she is the Chair of the Board of CarbonLink Oy. CarbonLink provides automated carbon footprint calculation supporting companies to reach their carbon targets.
Her earlier positions include building and leading financial advisory and sustainability business at Ernst & Young Finland. While working at Ernst & Young se was a partner and a management team member. On top of sustainability capabilities, Johanna has a long background in finance and transactions. Before joining EY, she has been working in the group reporting of a Finnish listed company Kesko. Johanna started her career as an auditor at Ernst & Young Oy.
Owain Johnson
Global Head of Research & Product Development, CME Group
Owain Johnson is the Global Head of Research and Product Development at the CME Group.
The research and product development team develops new risk management products as well as ensuring the continued relevance of CME Group’s current suite of key benchmarks. The team also produces original research into financial and commodity derivatives and their underlying markets around the world.
Johnson previously served as CME Group’s Managing Director of Energy Research and Product Development where he ensured the integrity of CME Group's existing energy futures benchmarks, which include WTI, Henry Hub, DME Oman, RBOB and NYH ULSD.
Within CME Group, Johnson was previously the Managing Director of the Dubai Mercantile Exchange as well as Executive Director of CME Group Singapore. Before joining CME Group in 2010, Johnson served as Asia Business Development Manager for Argus Media.
Johnson is the author of “The Price Reporters: A Guide to PRAs and Commodity Benchmarks” and co-edited the Oxford Energy Forum’s report on oil benchmarks. Johnson is a member of the International Association for Energy Economics and earned his master’s degree from Cambridge University.
Johnson is chair of the CME Group’s ESG Product Committee; co-chair of the UN’s Sustainable Derivatives Markets Committee; deputy chair of the World Federation of Exchange’s Sustainability Working Group; and a member of the International Regulatory Strategy Group’s ESG Workstream.
Mikkel Larsen
Chief Executive Officer, Climate Impact X
Mikkel Larsen is the Chief Executive Officer of Climate Impact X (CIX), a global marketplace, auctions house and exchange for trusted carbon credits based in Singapore. CIX’s mission is to create real climate impact by turning trust in carbon credits into tangible and actionable outcomes.
Mikkel is responsible for developing and executing CIX’s vision to enable the next wave of demand, bring desirable supply to market, facilitate price discovery, and ultimately help to unlock liquidity through a suite of solutions underpinned by integrity.
Mikkel was one of the early pioneers of the international Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) and of Singapore’s Emerging Stronger Taskforce, a public-private partnership to develop a more carbon-conscious society. Prior to his current role, he was the Group Chief Sustainability Officer and chair of the Sustainability Council at DBS Bank. He has also held leadership positions at UBS, Citigroup and KPMG in Europe.
Mikkel is involved in numerous international sustainability-related councils and committees. These include: the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market; World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and Natural Climate Solutions Alliance (NCS Alliance); and World Wildlife Fund Advisory Council (Singapore), amongst others.
Chris Leeds
Head of Carbon Market Development, Standard Chartered, and Chair, Market Formations and Communications Committee, Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Markets (IC-VCM)
Chris is the Head of Carbon Markets Development at Standard Chartered, building the bank's environmental trading and financing business and growing its profile as a global leader in sustainable finance. This involves advising clients, supporting trade bodies, originating carbon related transactions and building the trading infrastructure. He supported SCB's Group CEO, Bill Winters, in his role as Chair of the Taskforce for Scaling the Voluntary Carbon Markets (TSVCM) and is now a board member of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Markets (IC-VCM).
He is also a board member of Carbonplace, a global carbon credit trading network, and a member of the Climate Impact X (CIX) Advisory Forum. Chris has been appointed as one of the leads for the Energy Transition Accelerator (ETA), a joint initiative between the U.S. Department of State, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bezos Earth Fund to catalyse private capital to accelerate the transition from fossil fuel to clean power in developing countries. Chris’ experience in the commodity markets spans over 30 years in origination, sales and trading.
At Standard Chartered, he built the Bank’s energy risk management platform, originating deals with state-owned and merchant refiners, oil producers, airlines, utilities and shipping companies. Previously Chris was with Barclays where he was Global Head of Environmental Markets Sales and before that at Merrill Lynch where he traded power, gas and set up their carbon emissions trading desk. He was a founder member of the Carbon Markets and Investors Association (CMIA) and was the Chairman of Power Trading Forum a division of the Futures and Options Association (FOA). He also worked as a base metals trader for a number of years before moving to energy.
Chris has a strong understanding of commodity deal structuring, trade finance and managing price risk key note and US developments as the CFTC considers whether to regulate.
Martina Macpherson FICRS, PhD (c.)
Head of ESG Product Strategy & Management, SIX Group
- Head of ESG Product Strategy & Management, SIX
- Chair of the Board and Co-Chair Regulatory and Policy WG,
Future of Sustainable Data Alliance (FoSDA) - Advisory Group Member, All Party Parliamentary Group on ESG,
Houses of Parliament, UK - Advisory Group Member, Corporate Sustainability Regulations,
European Law Institute, EU - Visiting Fellow, Henley Business School, UK
Martina is Head of ESG Product Strategy and Management at SIX Financial Information, the Exchange Group that operates the Swiss and Spanish Stock Exchanges. She has over 20 years of sustainable finance experience, in industry and academia, and is an award-winning ESG influencer, researcher, incubator and entrepreneur.
Prior to her role at SIX, she was Head of ESG Strategy at ODDO BHF Asset Management, Senior Vice President, ESG and Engagement Strategy at Moody’s, Global Head of ESG Index Products and Research at S&P DJI, Managing Director of Sustainable Investments Partners Ltd. and Vice President of ESG Solutions at MSCI. Earlier in her career, she worked in (ESG) product, research and engagement roles at Insight Investment, F&C AM and at Deutsche Bank AG.
Martina has an MBA certificate in finance and business from London School of Business and Finance in the UK, and a M.A. in Law and Human Sciences from University of Frankfurt in Germany. She is a fellow member of the Institute for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (ICRS) UK, a honorary doctoral fellow of the Institute for Certified Risk Management Professionals (ICRMP) UK, and an alumnus of the German National Academic Foundation (“Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes”). She is currently undertaking a part-time PhD at University of Cardiff, UK, in sustainable accounting and finance.
Martina is an academic lecturer, writer and public speaker in sustainable investing and has co-authored a range of ESG and Fintech books, including “The AI Book” (Wiley, 2020), the “Handbook on Species Extinction Accounting and Biodiversity” (Routledge, 2022), and the text book on “ESG in Portfolio Analysis” (RiskBooks, 2022). She has formed part of various leading industry associations and initiatives and now chairs the board of the Future of Sustainable Data Alliance (FoSDA), the industry’s leading body for the ESG data, ratings and index industry. She is also FoSDA’s co-chair of the Policy and Regulations working group. Moreover, she is a member of the All-Parties-Parliamentary-Group (APPG) on ESG at Houses of Parliament UK, and a member of the European Law Institute’s Sustainability Regulations Advisory Group.
For her work in sustainable finance and leadership, she was awarded the title “Top 50 Woman in Finance” by the World Finance Forum (WFF) in 2022. For SIX, she has won two ESG-related Strategy (by Finance Magnates) and Initiatives (A Team Insight) Awards in 2022.
Itumeleng Monale
Chief Operating Officer, Johannesburg Stock Exchange
● BSc, Global Management Certificate
● Appointed COO in 2021
Sunita Pitamber
Associate Director Gender and Inclusion for Access to Infrastructure and Green, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
Victoria Powell
Senior Manager, ESG Regulatory Affairs, World Federation of Exchanges
Victoria Powell leads WFE’s sustainability work.
Victoria has decades of experience in financial services regulation gained both in the UK regulator and as a founding member and Director at the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA). More recently she was a Director of Regulatory Policy at an Asset Manager, Ruffer LLP where she managed the implementation of numerous regulatory projects and contributed to Ruffer’s ESG strategy and processes.
Virginia Ribeiro
Head of Sustainability and Corporate Governance, Sabesp
Virginia Ribeiro, Head of Sustainability and Corporate Governance at Sabesp - 2nd largest global sanitation company According to GWI*, located in Sao Paulo State, Brazil, being responsible for building a long-term climate agenda for the company. She leads sustainable projects and initiatives including the ESG integration strategy at Sabesp. Virginia is a former lawyer with experience in corporate law, M&A and corporate finance projects. Before Sabesp, she had conducted projects involving the issuance of several bonds with sustainable labels issued by Brazilian companies and she was the lawyer responsible for the formation of a joint venture to restore, plant and preserve almost 15,000 square miles of trees in deforested parts of Brazil, in 2022.
Our site: https://ri.sabesp.com.br/en/ and my linkedin profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginia-ribeiro/
Sara Rosner
Director of Environmental Research and Engagement—Responsibility, Alliance Bernstein
Sara Rosner is a Senior Vice President and AB’s Director of Environmental Research and Engagement on the Responsibility team. She leads AB’s collaboration with the Columbia Climate School, which focuses on enhancing investors’ ability to integrate climate change considerations into their decision-making and investment processes. Rosner is also developing and implementing AB’s Climate Transition Framework. She co-chairs the firm’s working groups on net zero and biodiversity and has managed firmwide initiatives on climate scenario analysis, carbon offsets, and ESG education and training. Prior to joining the firm in 2018, Rosner performed research for the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, where she worked on projects related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and renewable energy alternatives in the extractive industry. She spent most of her early career as a journalist covering energy and infrastructure finance in the Americas for Euromoney Institutional Investor. Rosner holds a BS in international studies, magna cum laude, from Pepperdine University and an MS in sustainability management from Columbia University. She is a global member of 100 Women in Finance and a financial literacy volunteer with the High Water Women Foundation. Rosner was named one of Crain’s New York Business Notable Leaders in Sustainability 2023. Location: New York
Pablo Saavedra
Vice President, Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions, World Bank
Pablo Saavedra is the World Bank’s Vice President for the Equitable Growth, Finance, and Institutions (EFI) Global Practice.
In this position, he leads the World Bank’s practice groups that work on macroeconomic analysis and policies, fiscal policy, finance, trade, investment, competitiveness, poverty, governance, and climate economics.
Saavedra, a Bolivian national, served in several positions of responsibility across the World Bank. Until recently, he was the Chief of Staff of the World Bank Group. Prior to that, he served as the Country Director for Mexico, and earlier as the Practice Manager of the Macroeconomics, Trade, and Investment unit in the Latin America and Caribbean Region. He also worked as Economic Adviser at the Country Economics department of the Operational Policy and Country Services (OPCS) Vice Presidency and was the Operations Committee (OC) Secretary. He held several positions in the EFI unit of the Europe and Central Asia Region.
He brings to the position significant leadership experience, extensive technical knowledge of EFI areas, and rich operational experience across regions. He has worked with senior policymakers in several countries on reforms related to economic growth, macroeconomics and fiscal policy, and finance.
Cesar Sanches
Head of Sustainability, B3
Cesar Sanches is Head of Sustainability at B3 SA – Brazil Stock Exchange and OTC Market. He is based in Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil, and spearheads a number of projects and initiatives to promote ESG best practices, sustainable investing, education, reporting as well as develop innovative solutions in data & analytics, natural language processing and machine learning, supporting ground-breaking financial products and indices such as B3’s Corporate Sustainability Index (B3 ISE), Carbon Efficient index (B3 ICO2), Corporate Governance Trade Index (IGCT), Novo Mercado Corporate Equity Index (IGC-NM), Special Corporate Governance Stock Index (IGC), Special Tag-Along Stock Index (ITAG), S&P/B3 Brazil ESG, Special Corporate Governance Stock Index (IGCX). Cesar has earned his PhD in engineering from the University of Sao Paulo, MSc in Economics from the University of Aberdeen and completed the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) Business Sustainability Management course. He also worked on major capital projects across the globe whilst living in Scotland, UK.
Tajinder Singh
Deputy Secretary General, International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)
Tajinder Singh joined the IOSCO General Secretariat in January 2010 as Deputy Secretary General. He was previously Head of International Affairs & Human Resource Development and Advisor to the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Mr. Singh comes from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and has held various positions in the Ministry of Finance in the Government of India, as well as handling a number of assignments for the government in the financial and other sectors. He has 30 years of experience at senior leadership positions in different organizations dealing with strategic issues in regulation, finance and administration, and significant domestic and international experience dealing with Government and regulators.
Mr. Singh holds a Masters Degree in Systems Science and Automation from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, and graduated in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur.
Fredrik Sjudin
Chief Financial Officer, Platzer Fastigheter Holding AB
Nandini Sukumar
CEO, World Federation of Exchanges
Nandini Sukumar is the Chief Executive Officer of the World Federation of Exchanges, the global association for exchanges and CCPs. The WFE represents more than 250 exchanges and clearing houses globally, educating stakeholders on the vital role played by market infrastructures in the real economy and as a standard setter, finding the consensus on issues among the global membership. Of our members, 34% are in Asia-Pacific, 45% in EMEA and 21% in the Americas. WFE’s 90 member CCPs and clearing services collectively ensure that risk takers post some $1.3 trillion (equivalent) of resources to back their positions, in the form of initial margin and default fund requirements. WFE exchanges, together with other exchanges feeding into our database, are home to over 50,000 listed companies, and the market capitalisation of these entities is over $100 trillion; around $140 trillion (EOB) in trading annually passes through WFE members (at end 2022). Ms. Sukumar is Vice Chair of IOSCO’s Affiliate Members Consultative Committee and Chair of the AMCC’s Sustainability Taskforce.
Samantha Sutcliffe
Head of Green and Sustainable Finance, UBS
Frederick Teo
CEO, GenZero
Frederick is the CEO of GenZero. He oversees the strategic direction of the company to achieve both climate impact and sustainable long-term financial returns. Prior to his appointment at GenZero, Frederick held various leadership positions in Sustainability, Portfolio Management and Business Continuity Management in his 12 years at Temasek International. As Managing Director of Sustainable Solutions, he established the team and conceived capability programmes in clean energy, urban, and climate and nature solutions. He led key initiatives such as the establishment of Climate Impact X, a global marketplace and exchange for carbon credits, as well as Singapore’s first brownfield distributed district cooling retrofit project in partnership with SP Group. He also worked on value creation projects with some of Temasek’s large portfolio companies like SingTel and Mediacorp, and led corporate governance and stewardship initiatives within the Portfolio Management team. Frederick also took the lead in several community programmes. In 2014, he partnered Temasek Foundation to execute a nationwide delivery of mask kits during a severe haze episode and worked with ST Engineering on the development of the world’s first N95 masks specifically designed for young children. Frederick is currently a member on the Advisory Panel of the Centre for Liveable Cities which was established by Singapore’s Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Sustainability and Environment to create and share knowledge on sustainable cities. Frederick holds a MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics, and a BA and MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Lincoln College, Oxford University.
Tomas Thyblad
Head of ESG solutions, European Markets, Nasdaq
Tomas is the Vice President and Head of ESG Solutions, European Markets for Nasdaq, where he is responsible for coordination of initiatives and the tactical and strategic work around offerings in the Environmental, Social, and Governance area. Tomas is also a board member of Sustainable Finance Lab – SWEDEN (a transdisciplinary research center for capital market transformation).
Tomas has previously held various positions within Nasdaq, such as Head of Treasury for the Non-US entities , Chief Risk Officer in Nasdaq Clearing, as well as Head of Financial Risks and Treasury Operation in EMEA / APAC. Before joining Nasdaq, worked within the Central Bank of Sweden (Sveriges Riksbank) in various positions, such as Head of Market Operation / Chief Dealer as well as Head of Market Operation and Reserve Management Division.
Jan-Willem van de Ven
Head of International Climate Policy, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
Jan-Willem van de Ven joined the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in August 2003. As Head of International Climate Policy and Development his role covers three strategic areas, international climate policy, carbon market development and climate finance strategy. Jan-Willem maintains close relationships with international bodies (e.g. UNFCCC / EU), the international climate funds (CTF, GEF and GCF) and carbon market related organisations. His work is at the frontier of climate finance and carbon markets and seeks to enable and scale-up climate action.
He plays an active role in the international policy dialogue for the three areas and the promotion of sustainable investments. He is a member of the Senior Climate Advisors of the joint MDB working group on climate change, a member of the Katowice Committee of Experts on the Impacts of the Implementation of Response Measures and a member of the Steering Committee of the NDC Partnership.
Jan-Willem has over twenty-five years of experience in the development of sustainable energy projects from Central America to Eastern Europe. The projects structured under his leadership range from industrial energy efficiency, green cities, built environment, renewable energy and climate resilience. Prior to EBRD he worked as Innovation Manager with Dutch utility company Essent. He has a M.Sc degree in Technology & Society International Technological Development Science from the Eindhoven University of Technology and a B.Eng in Business Engineering from the Eindhoven Higher Technical School.