Join us for the latest instalment of our 'Key Conversations' series for a thought-provoking half-day event focused on new digital assets and money.

This event will feature regulators, policy-makers and thought leaders to reflect on the policy and regulatory progress within the digital assets and money ecosystem and identify where there may still be gaps. 

We'll also consider the relationship with the wider economy, where the opportunities exist, and consider what level of risk is desirable and the potential consequences of not taking action. 

The event will feature short spotlights on use cases for payments, the institutional and wholesale opportunities, the wider ramifications of the unbacked crypto asset ecosystem and much more. 

This unique event offers delegates an opportunity to learn more about the latest industry developments, share ideas and examine your most pressing questions. 

Join UK Finance and industry peers for this half-day event, followed by networking and a drinks reception. We will be announcing our full list of speakers shortly.

Learning outcomes

A perspective on new forms of digital money for payments

We will outline the new use cases and opportunities for digital money and assets in payments, such as CBDCs, Stablecoins, Tokenised Deposits, and more. 

Are we making the best use of digital assets and tokenisation?

We will assess the importance for London to remain a financial centre and to make the most of the opportunities tokenisation, blockchain and digital assets will provide. 

Cryptocurrency and alternative asset classes 

As a look ahead and in a challenging economic landscape this session will set the scene for how cryptocurrency and digital assets might play an increasingly important part for investors to diversify and better manage their risk. Highlighting potential use cases and a greater explanation for their role, when placed as part of an unfolding and concurrent set of exponential digital trends, that Governments, society and individuals seem uncertain in how to best grapple with.

Key Conversations series

UK Finance’s Key Conversations series is a selection of half-day events spotlighting key trends, emerging themes, and timely policy and regulation developments through short, focused conversations.

We have designed these sessions to provide engaging discussions, the chance to hear directly from industry experts, gain insights on the latest trends and issues, and connect with peers face to face.

Why should I attend? 

  • Stay ahead: Gain insights from industry experts on the latest industry trends, issues and regulations. 
  • Network: Connect with peers and thought leaders in a relaxed, informal setting. 
  • Engage: Participate in focused, engaging sessions that fit into your busy schedule.
  • Enjoy: Cap off the afternoon with networking drinks, fostering connections and discussions. 

Top Speaker

Lord Holmes of Richmond MBE

Lord Holmes of Richmond MBE

House of Lords

Chris is a passionate advocate for the potential of technology and the benefits of diversity and inclusion. He is a member of the influential House o...

Chris is a passionate advocate for the potential of technology and the benefits of diversity and inclusion.

He is a member of the influential House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology and has previously co-authored House of Lords Select Committee Reports on: Democracy and Digital Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Financial Exclusion, Social Mobility, and Digital Skills.

In 2017 he published a report; “Distributed Ledger Technologies for Public Good: leadership, collaboration and innovation” calling on the Government to look at the challenges and opportunities of this technology for improving public services. He was a member of the Special Public Bill Committee for the Electronic Trade Documents Act, which came into force last month (Sept 23) and which Chris has described both as “the most important law you’ve never heard of” and “the blockchain law that doesn’t mention blockchain”.

An ex-Paralympic swimmer, Chris won nine gold, five silvers and one bronze medal across four Games, including a record haul of six golds at Barcelona 1992.

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Scott Cohen

Scott Cohen

Chief Executive Officer, JKBX

Scott Cohen joined JKBX in 2022 as founding Chief Executive Officer and investor. One of the music industry’s most notable pioneers, Scott co-founded ...

Scott Cohen joined JKBX in 2022 as founding Chief Executive Officer and investor. One of the music industry’s most notable pioneers, Scott co-founded The Orchard — the world’s first digital distributor of music — and was Warner Music Group's first ever Chief Innovation Officer. A champion of innovation and progress in both his professional and personal lives, he publicly advocates for human rights and has been a vegan for more than 25 years.

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Yvonne Deane Harte

Yvonne Deane Harte

Director, Secondary Markets and Post Trade, Capital Markets & Wholesale, UK Finance

Yvonne Deane Harte acts as UK Finance’s Director for Secondary Markets and Post Trade processes and leads UK Finance securities tokenisation work. Yvo...

Yvonne Deane Harte acts as UK Finance’s Director for Secondary Markets and Post Trade processes and leads UK Finance securities tokenisation work. Yvonne joined UK Finance in 2020, working in industry and private practice as a senior counsel solicitor specialising in investment management and financial regulation, advising on DvP trades, MiFID II, accessing new markets, market infrastructure, CASS and Brexit. Yvonne is passionate about advancing industry priorities to ensure the continued success of UK financial services.

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Monica Gogna

Monica Gogna

Partner and Head of Financial Institutions Law Group, EY

Monica Gogna is Practice Head of the EY Financial Institutions Law Group. With over two decades of experience in the City starting her career in inves...

Monica Gogna is Practice Head of the EY Financial Institutions Law Group. With over two decades of experience in the City starting her career in investment banking, a decade in a magic circle and partner in elite US law firms for a decade, Monica is a well-known and recognised private practice lawyer within the UK. Monica is ranked by Legal 500 as a “Leading Individual” and founded a new practice at EY ranked as “One to Watch” by the Legal 500. Monica has twice been individually commended by the FT Innovative Lawyer awards for her work in the Financial Services industry. Monica has significant experience of advising both sell-side and buy-side financial institutions (including banks, Fintechs, asset managers and private equity firms) in relation to the key regulatory matters within the UK and relevant cross-border impact of global regulatory change. She has advocated for and led several innovative projects within The City. Including recently leading an initiative with UK Finance to solve for the launch of a UK digital gilt, writing legislation for Peer 2 Peer lending plus leading an industry initiative with the Investment Association/ICI Global for the implementation of the MiFID II inducement regime. Monica is an Ambassador to The Diversity Project and founded the award winning social media campaign #FishOutOfWater focused on raising awareness of diversity and inclusion in Financial Services.

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Sarah Green

Sarah Green

Law Commissioner of England and Wales (2020-2024) and Head of Digital Assets and Trade Finance at D2 Legal Technology

Professor Sarah Green was Law Commissioner for Common and Commercial Law at the Law Commission of England and Wales from 2020 to 2024. During that tim...

Professor Sarah Green was Law Commissioner for Common and Commercial Law at the Law Commission of England and Wales from 2020 to 2024. During that time, her law reform work included the Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023, Advice to Government on Smart Contracts, updating the Arbitration Act 1996, scoping reforms to the law on Intermediated Securities, and drafting guidance and a bill to ensure that English law is well-suited to accommodate Digital Assets. In 2023, she won both the International Chamber of Commerce’s Award for the Individual Who Has Made the Greatest Contribution to the Digitalisation of Trade and the Outstanding Achievement Award at the British Legal Technology Awards. In 2022, she was placed on the Women in Fintech Power List and on Bloomberg’s “Who to Watch” Crypto List. Sarah is now Head of Digital Assets and Trade Finance at D2 Legal Technology, Professor of Private Law at the University of Bristol and a member of T3i Partner Network. Sarah also sits on the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce, LawTechUK, The Digital Commonwealth, LegalUK, and the Trade Digitalisation Taskforce, as well as being an advisor to the APPG on Blockchain Technologies. She was previously Professor of the Law of Obligations at the University of Oxford and a software consultant at Accenture. She has written books and articles on subjects such as blockchain, smart contracts, digital assets and intermediated securities, and her work has been cited extensively in Parliament, across several jurisdictions in appellate courts, and in US Congress.

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Lord Holmes of Richmond MBE

Lord Holmes of Richmond MBE

House of Lords

Chris is a passionate advocate for the potential of technology and the benefits of diversity and inclusion. He is a member of the influential House o...

Chris is a passionate advocate for the potential of technology and the benefits of diversity and inclusion.

He is a member of the influential House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology and has previously co-authored House of Lords Select Committee Reports on: Democracy and Digital Technologies, Artificial Intelligence, Financial Exclusion, Social Mobility, and Digital Skills.

In 2017 he published a report; “Distributed Ledger Technologies for Public Good: leadership, collaboration and innovation” calling on the Government to look at the challenges and opportunities of this technology for improving public services. He was a member of the Special Public Bill Committee for the Electronic Trade Documents Act, which came into force last month (Sept 23) and which Chris has described both as “the most important law you’ve never heard of” and “the blockchain law that doesn’t mention blockchain”.

An ex-Paralympic swimmer, Chris won nine gold, five silvers and one bronze medal across four Games, including a record haul of six golds at Barcelona 1992.

Read more
Hyder Jaffrey

Hyder Jaffrey

Head of Principal Investments and Strategic Ventures, UBS Group

Responsible for Principal Investments and Strategic Ventures at UBS; Hyder has been actively exploring how Digital Assets/blockchain technologies can ...

Responsible for Principal Investments and Strategic Ventures at UBS; Hyder has been actively exploring how Digital Assets/blockchain technologies can transform core business models in the financial marketplace since 2015. He represents UBS in several transformational DA initiatives and projects across Digital Cash, Digital Issuance, Digital Repo, Digital Margining and Digital XCS, all with a strong focus on post-trade models.

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Charles Kerrigan

Charles Kerrigan

Partner - Crypto and digital assets, Web3, AI, CMS UK

The Blockchain Industry in the UK Landscape Overview names Charles as a “leading influencer in blockchain”. He is part of teams working on investing a...

The Blockchain Industry in the UK Landscape Overview names Charles as a “leading influencer in blockchain”. He is part of teams working on investing and setting standards for emtech in the UK, Europe and the US.

At CMS he is part of the firm’s specialist crypto and digital assets team. He is a Board Advisor of Cointelligence Fun, Holistic AI and Hedgehog Hedgehog - Easy investing in real-world assets.

Partner at CMS: digital and crypto assets, AI; Advisory Board Member at Investment Association Engine. Advisory boards of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence (APPG AI) and the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Blockchain (APPG Blockchain); Bank of England’s Financial Markets Law Committee on Virtual Currencies; Special Consultee to the UK LawTech Delivery Panel’s Legal Statement on Cryptoassets and Smart Contracts. UK’s “recommended lawyer” for blockchain and digital technology in the UK Parliament Hub. 

Specialist in emerging technologies including digital assets and AI; working on corporate finance and consulting projects in crypto, tokenisation, and AI. 

Author: Crypto and Digital Assets Law and Regulation; AI, Machine Learning & Big Data; Artificial Intelligence Law and Regulation.

He has worked on transactions worth over $5bn funding fintech platforms; on over 65 NFT projects; for more than 250 cryptoasset clients; including global exchanges, blockchain gaming and play-to-earn projects, DeFi and Web3 platforms; crypto and digital assets investment & M&A; tokenisation projects for debt, equity and alternative assets.

He is Editor and Co-author of Artificial Intelligence Law and Regulation (Edward Elgar, 2022).

He writes a monthly column in the crypto pages of City AM. 

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Jana Mackintosh

Jana Mackintosh

Managing Director for Payments, Innovation & Resilience, UK Finance

Experienced executive with a particular focus on competition and regulatory policy, having worked across a number of public and private sectors in sev...

Experienced executive with a particular focus on competition and regulatory policy, having worked across a number of public and private sectors in several markets. Influence payments regulation across the UK and Europe, leading discussions on strategic industry and regulatory policy initiatives. Has commercial credentials delivering and implementing these policies in practice. Skilled at relationship building, hold several board positions and work with a number of charities.

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Stephan Mahnke

Stephan Mahnke

Head of Customer Management & Growth, Fnality UK

Stephan is responsible for commercial growth, new products and business partners, and customer management for Fnality UK, which has commenced operatio...

Stephan is responsible for commercial growth, new products and business partners, and customer management for Fnality UK, which has commenced operations in 2023. Prior to joining Fnality, Stephan spent 16 years in banking, including most recently Director and head of UK wholesale payments product at Deutsche Bank. Stephan brings experience of working across a wide variety of wholesale banking businesses and functions including technology, product management and international program management in three countries. Stephan lives in London with his family, is passionate about mountain sports and is a CFA Charterholder.

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John McNaught

John McNaught

Head of Payouts , Worldpay

John McNaught is Head of Payouts at Worldpay, with responsibility for Strategy, Product Management, Commercialization and Sales. He’s passionate about...

John McNaught is Head of Payouts at Worldpay, with responsibility for Strategy, Product Management, Commercialization and Sales. He’s passionate about opportunities to simplify payouts, brought about by the ever-evolving payments ecosystem. Punctuated by a two-year stint helping to make cross-border fintech startup NIUM a unicorn, John joined Worldpay in 2014, and has held several Product leadership positions, notably in cross border payments, FX and Web3. At NIUM, John was part of the core leadership team; leading Sales, Product, Strategy and Operations. Prior to joining Worldpay, John spent several years in Banking at Barclays. He holds an Ancient History degree from Newcastle University.

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Katey Neate

Katey Neate

Managing Director, Chief Risk Officer Securities Servicing & Digital , BNY Mellon

Katey Neate is the Chief Risk Officer for Securities Services & Digital at BNY Mellon. In this capacity, Katey is responsible for second line over...

Katey Neate is the Chief Risk Officer for Securities Services & Digital at BNY Mellon. In this capacity, Katey is responsible for second line oversight of all risk management across the business. Katey has been directly responsible for the risk management oversight of all digital asset products at the firm, drawing on her extensive and diverse experience in the financial services industry.

Katey joined BNY Mellon in 2003 and has served in a variety of positions, including varying senior management roles within the Operations and Risk organizations. Prior to her current role, Katey served as the Chief Risk Officer of Asset Servicing & Digital and the Risk Officer of BNY Mellon UK Legal Entities. As a leader in Risk Management and Digital Assets, Katey is engaged in driving diversity, equity and inclusion in the Digital Assets space. She is actively involved in advising leadership of digital asset startups on business and risk management strategy, which includes representing BNY Mellon on the board of Coin Metrics.

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Nikola Plecas

Nikola Plecas

Senior Director, Global Head of GTM & Product Commercialization, Visa Crypto

Nikola Plecas works at Visa and is currently leading the global GTM & Product commercialization for Visa’s crypto initiatives. In this position, h...

Nikola Plecas works at Visa and is currently leading the global GTM & Product commercialization for Visa’s crypto initiatives. In this position, he is responsible for operationalising and delivering our crypto strategy globally by working closely with our existing and new partners, and is also a subject matter expert and acts as Visa’s spokesperon on the topic of digital currencies. Nikola joined Visa in 2017, starting in the Corporate Strategy team before having spending time in Strategic Partnerships & Fintech and VCA teams. He has previously worked in finance and consulting, and is a CFA Charterholder.

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Sophie Skelton

Sophie Skelton

Partner, Addleshaw Goddard LLP

Sophie is a Partner in the financial services regulatory team at AG. She is Chambers ranked as a specialist advising on consumer finance. Sophie advis...

Sophie is a Partner in the financial services regulatory team at AG. She is Chambers ranked as a specialist advising on consumer finance. Sophie advises on the law and regulation that firms must comply with carrying on regulated business in the UK. She is an advocate for ensuring law and regulation enables innovation and promotes competition whilst ensuring an appropriate degree of protection for consumers.

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Spiros Theodossiou

Spiros Theodossiou

Chief Product and Technology Officer, ClearBank

Spiros Theodossiou is the Chief Product and Technology Officer at ClearBank. An industry figure with over 20 years of experience, Spiros previously se...

Spiros Theodossiou is the Chief Product and Technology Officer at ClearBank. An industry figure with over 20 years of experience, Spiros previously served as CPO at cloud accounting platform DEXT. Before this, he was SVP of Product Management at WorldPay and his professional history includes various lead and executive product positions for other industry stalwarts such as PayPal, Skrill, and Vouchercodes.com. Spiros spent the first 10 years of his career in internet security with 8 years at VeriSign in the US and held roles at Thawte and Dimension date in South Africa. Spiros has an Electrical Engineering degree from Wits University South Africa and an MBA from Henley Business School.

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Iana Vidal

Iana Vidal

Head of Public Policy, Block, Inc

Iana Vidal is Head of Public Policy for Block, Inc. in the UK. She leads the company’s engagement with government, regulators and other key stakeholde...

Iana Vidal is Head of Public Policy for Block, Inc. in the UK. She leads the company’s engagement with government, regulators and other key stakeholders, to influence policy and regulation that drives economic empowerment and supports innovation in financial services. Iana has extensive experience across a range of policy areas, and has previously worked for trade and professional bodies, and in the not for profit sector.

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Robert Alice

Robert Alice

NFT Artist

Robert Alice, one of the world’s leading NFT artists (Portraits of a Mind (2019)), editor of the first major art historical survey ‘On NFTs’ by Tasche...

Robert Alice, one of the world’s leading NFT artists (Portraits of a Mind (2019)), editor of the first major art historical survey ‘On NFTs’ by Taschen (April 2024), curator (Natively Digital (2021), art historian, investor, and guest lecturer on NFTs. Full résumé can be found here.

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Addleshaw Goddard

Addleshaw Goddard

Addleshaw Goddard is an international law firm, almost 250 years in the making. We are trusted by over 5000 major organisations, including 51 FTS...

Addleshaw Goddard is an international law firm, almost 250 years in the making. We are trusted by over 5000 major organisations, including 51 FTSE 100 companies, to solve problems, deliver deals, defend rights, comply with regulations and mitigate risk.

Our work spans more than 50 areas of business law, paving the way to deliver the best possible outcomes for clients across multiple industries. Appointed time and again, we help them do business, operate and grow - effectively and safely - in over 100 countries worldwide. And while the challenges our clients bring us may vary, we approach and solve them with the same, single-minded focus: finding the smartest way to achieve the biggest impact.

Financial services is at the beating heart of our business. With over 1000 clients in the sector, we understand the challenges that financial institutions face and the opportunities that are available to them.

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Quant

Quant

Quant is the foundation of the blockchain economy. Assets of all kinds, from currencies to carbon credits, are being tokenised on blockchain, making ...

Quant is the foundation of the blockchain economy.

Assets of all kinds, from currencies to carbon credits, are being tokenised on blockchain, making their ownership immutable, their provenance traceable and their use easy to manage. Our patented technology makes this simple, trusted and future-proof.

We work with financial institutions and other enterprises to dramatically reduce their time-to-market, create new revenue lines, and mitigate risk by delivering enterprise-grade solutions built with security and compliance front of mind.

Founded in 2018, Quant is UK-based with a US presence. We spearheaded the Blockchain ISO Standard TC307 adopted by 57 countries and solved interoperability with the creation of the world’s first API-based blockchain platform, Overledger.

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Confirmed attendees include:

  • Bird & Bird LLP 
  • BNY 
  • ClearBank 
  • Farrer 
  • Fire Financial Services Limited 
  • Grant Thornton LLP 
  • Investec Bank 
  • K2 Integrity 
  • Latham & Watkins LLP 
  • Linklaters 
  • Lloyds Banking Group 
  • Monzo Bank 
  • NatWest Group
  • Norinchukin Bank
  • Pinsent Masons LLP 
  • Plenitude Consulting
  • Santander UK
  • Squareup Europe 
  • State Bank of India
  • Steptoe LLP 
  • Stripe Payments
  • Taylor Wessing LLP