Radical Restart Digitalisation | Inclusion | Sustainability

Shane Nirash Godwin, Chief Compliance Officer, HSBC

Shane Godwin is an experienced banking professional with 19 years’ experience with HSBC covering Retail Banking, Commercial banking, Financial Crime Risk management, Risk Assurance, Remediation Regulatory compliance, and Regulatory affairs. Experience in deploying Compliance and Regulatory Transformation projects, FCR policy implementation, FCR testing and Remediation projects with a demonstrated record of delivering high quality results at pace. He is a Certified AML specialist (CAMS) and a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). Godwin is the Chief Compliance officer/MLRO of HSBC Philippines and is a part of the HSBC Philippines executive committee. Prior to moving into Philippines, he was the Chief Compliance Officer of HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Rahul Rasal, EVP and Retail Banking Segment Head
Security Bank Corporation

Rahul Rasal is Executive Vice President and Retail Banking Segment Head at Security Bank Corporation. He is responsible for leading the Bank's Retail Banking Segment to execute strategies and plans, resulting in business growth, operational efficiency, and profitability. Rasal ensures the Bank’s market presence through the delivery of new and refreshed customer-centric value propositions. He has been in senior leadership roles in banking and insurance across India, Japan, Taiwan, the Middle East, and presently the Philippines.

Theo Priestley, Author of “The Future Starts Now” and Global Technology Futurist

Theo Priestley is a globally recognized futurist, speaker, and author specializing in the convergence of emerging trends such as Web3, Metaverse, and Artificial Intelligence. He advises political and business leaders on the risks and benefits of technology adoption. Priestley has been listed as a Top 100 global technology influencer, working with major tech and business players including SAP, Siemens, Bosch, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise. He has mentored startup accelerators and authored "The Future Starts Now." With over 300 published articles and media appearances, Priestley is an authority on topics like Web3, AI, Blockchain, and Metaverse.

John Howard D. Medina, Chief Operating Officer, Philippine Bank of Communications

With over 25 years of experience driving innovation, change, and transformation for financial services in different countries, John Medina is the Chief Operating Officer of the Philippine Bank of Communications. He was a pioneer in the process and technology management practice in the 1990s when he helped transform the Asia Pacific operations of one of the largest multinational banks. He subsequently established a private consulting firm in the United States, helping design new digital business initiatives for financial institutions and startups.

Prior to joining PBCOM, he was the Head of Global Operations, Technology and Credit for the Philippine National Bank. He was also the Integration Director who oversaw the merger of Philippine National Bank and Allied Banking Corporation in 2013. Medina also worked at Union Bank of the Philippines where he conceptualised and implemented digital banking products and services.

Patricia de Villa, Chief Product Officer, UnionDigital Bank

Patricia de Villa joined UnionDigital Bank in October 2021, contributing over 20 solid years of experience to help the bank secure its digital banking license. She is a fintech veteran who founded her startup, Auto Top-Up Ventures in 2009 and launched a digital financial services and agent network platform commercially known as PaySwitch. It was recognized in 2016 as one of the Top Fintech Startups by Forbes Philippines. She has previously worked in product and customer-centric functions at Globe Telecom, Asia Netcom, IDT Telecom and SMC Telco. Since her exit from her startup, she has provided strategic consulting in digital transformation, product design and development, agile project management, customer experience and business development to private institutions.

Ms. Lynette V. Ortiz, President & CEO, Land Bank of the Philippines, First Vice President, Bankers Association of the Philippines

Lynette V. Ortiz is the President and CEO of the Land Bank of the Philippines. She serves as First Vice President, Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) of the Philippines (BAP) and is a member of the BAP Executive Committee. With over 30 years of experience in banking and finance, Ortiz held senior roles in Risk Management, Treasury, Corporate Finance and Capital Markets in foreign and local institutions. Prior to this, she was the first Filipino CEO of Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) Philippines. She led strategies to grow the local franchise across the various client segments and deliver sustainable financial performance. During her tenure in SCB, she spearheaded several landmark transactions in both domestic and international capital markets for Philippine and ASEAN issuers. These include the maiden offerings of both LANDBANK and the Development Bank of the Philippines of Sustainability Bonds. She helped the National Government raise funds through global and domestic bond issues, with SCB serving as book runner for foreign currency denominated offerings of the ROP. A strong advocate for diversity and inclusion, she was named United Nations 2021 Philippine Women’s Empowerment Principles Awards Champion for Leadership Commitment.

Peter D. Finn, Co-founder and CEO, Synectify

Peter Finn, PhD, National University of Singapore (NUS) and King’s College London (KCL) is a blockchain expert and early AI adopter with over twenty-five years of information technology experience. He has lectured on blockchain and business transformation at Singapore Management University (SMU) and developed IBF-accredited courses for industry professionals. His broad academic and industry experience covers both theoretical and technical disciplines ranging from political theory and classical philosophy to software development, decentralised finance, systems engineering, aviation, marine operations, and renewable energy. He is a serial entrepreneur, confident leader, passionate educator, and life-long learner.

Ho Chee Wai, Chairperson, Remittance Subcommittee, Singapore Fintech Association

Ho Chee Wai serves as Chairperson of the Remittance Subcommittee, under the Singapore Fintech Association of Singapore and the Remittance Association of Singapore, where he promotes digital transformation among remittance businesses in Singapore. He was the Singapore Country Head & Vice President of Neobanking and Cards Strategy at Nium - the first B2B payments unicorn from SEA that seamlessly connects consumers and businesses to the world’s payment infrastructure. He holds experience working across both the banking and consulting space. Prior to this, Chee Wai led Digital Payments at Starhub and was a Founding Member at Singtel’s digital payment arm - Dash. Singtel Dash made its mark as an early mover in 2012, even before Apple Pay was made available to users in Singapore. He has also worked with Singapore’s Infocomm Development Authority, where he led strategic national policies to spur the adoption of e-payments in Singapore.

Abbie Casanova, President and CEO, SB Finance

Over 25 years of consumer banking experience, Abbie Casanova has extensive exposure in the various areas of the credit cycle for consumer finance, small business loans and credit cards. She has successfully managed and scaled various secured and unsecured consumer and small business loans portfolio. She has held senior positions in multinational and domestic banks like Citibank, GE Money, BDO and Security Bank. Casanova is also a certified Six Sigma Blackbelt.

Ingrid Rose Ann Beroña, CRO, GCash

Ingrid Rose Ann Beroña is the Chief Risk Officer of GCash (G-Xchange, Inc), where she plays a key role in ensuring the security of the e-wallet platform.

With a decade of experience in risk management, Ingrid leads the enterprise risk management, business assurance, and business protection and continuity management functions of the leading fintech company. Her guidance has been instrumental in driving GCash towards excellence in governance of enterprise risk, fraud prevention, and fostering innovative solutions that align with the company’s vision of ‘Finance for All’.

Johnson Poh, Chief Data Officer, Group Executive VPBank

Johnson Poh is currently chief data officer and group executive at VPBank, based in Vietnam. He has been a practicing data scientist for the past decade, with experience spanning across finance, consulting and government sectors. His prior professional appointments include being head of enterprise AI and data at UOB Group; head of data science / practice lead at DBS Bank; chief data scientist of ASEAN region at Booz Allen Hamilton and head of data science / principal data scientist at Ministry of Defence, Singapore. He also serves as an adjunct faculty at Singapore Management University (SMU).

Malek Mroueh, VP & Regional Head, Asia, Middle East & Africa,
TSYS, a Global Payments company

Malek Mroueh has over three decades of experience in the cards and payments industry. As the Vice President & Regional Head for Asia, Middle East & Africa at TSYS, Mroueh has an in-depth knowledge of global payment landscapes, prepaid, the requirements of financial inclusion and the benefits of branchless banking. He has worked in several fields within the payments industry including payment solution design, payment cards consulting and has extensive knowledge of digital payment channels and tools.

Manoj Varma, SEVP and Head of Consumer Banking, UnionBank

Manoj Varma holds the position of Senior Executive Vice President and Head of the Consumer Banking Group of UnionBank. He is also the Chairman of Citicorp Financial Services and Insurance Brokerage Philippines, Inc. Prior to joining the Bank, he was the Country Business Manager of Citibank Philippines from 2018 to 2022. During his 30-year career with Citibank, he served in various business management across all functional units in finance, sales, credit, and marketing from Philippines, India, Taiwan, South Korea, and the United States of America.

Lito Villanueva, EVP and Chief Innovation and Inclusion Officer,
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC)

Lito Villanueva is executive vice president (EVP) and chief innovation and inclusion officer at RCBC. He is also concurrently chief digital transformation advisor of the Yuchengco Group of Companies. Under Villanueva’s leadership, RCBC received six global digital awards during the pandemic and was recognised as the Philippines’ best digital bank. Villanueva also created and launched DiskarTech – the country’s first and only Tagalog and English (Taglish) inclusion super app with over three million downloads in three months after its launch. Villanueva is the Philippines’ leading and award- winning thought leader on digital transformation and inclusive digital finance.

Villanueva has over 20 years of experience in banking, telecommunications, payments, development finance, and financial technology. He has received over 50 global and regional awards, including being one of the Top 100 FinTech Leaders in Asia. He is also founding chairman of FinTech Alliance.ph and has released various publications including the award-winning three-volume Inclusive Digital Finance Report and the Uncharted Beyond: The Taxonomy of FinTech in the Philippines.

Donghyun Park, Economic Advisor (Strategic Knowledge Initiatives) Asian Development Bank

Donghyun PARK is currently Economic Advisor at the Economic Research and Development Impact Department (ERDI) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which he joined in April 2007. Prior to joining ADB, he was a tenured Associate Professor of Economics at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Dr. Park has a Ph.D. in economics from UCLA, and his main research fields are international finance, international trade, and development economics. His research, which has been published in more than 160 refereed journal papers, revolves around policy-oriented topics relevant for Asia’s development, including fiscal policy, population aging, and entrepreneurship. Dr. Park is the Managing Editor of Asian Development Review

Lucose Eralil, EVP, Head of Enterprise Technology and Operations, Security Bank

Lucose Eralil is Security Bank’s Head of Enterprise Technology and Operations, he brings with him more than 32 years of experience in Technology & Transformation in the Financial Services Industry, with a track record in driving transformational change. His main responsibility is to drive the strategy utilizing the Bank’s Operations, Technology, Cyber Security, and Customer Contact Groups by maximizing technology usage and operational excellence. Together with Security Bank’s senior leadership, Eralil oversees the short- and long-term strategies of the bank, aligning initiatives with its overall mission and vision. He is also responsible for co-creating roadmaps and implementing strategic initiatives together with the Bank’s CFO. Eralil is tasked with uplifting the Bank’s technology and cybersecurity footprint through transformation and change. At the same time, he is also leading efforts to reinvent how the Security Bank interacts with its customers, stitching back to the organization’s customer-centricity strategy.

Julie Reyes, Group Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, Maya

Julie is the group chief risk and compliance officer at Maya, the country's all-in-one money platform. She has over 30 years of leadership experience in the banking and telecommunications industry, working in regulatory compliance, enterprise risk management, operations design, and system application development.

She joined PayMaya Philippines, the digital payments arm of technology company Voyager Innovations, in 2013 as its compliance officer, helping build its compliance practice from the ground up. Her team played a crucial role in the establishment of Maya Bank, being responsible for the digital banking licence application and setting up the bank's risk and compliance office. She previously worked as channel administration head at Smart Communications, leading project management and process design for key business projects.

Steve Monaghan, General Partner, FinMirai

Steve Monaghan is a general partner at FinMirai, board member at Rakbank and investment committee member in True Global Ventures (TGV3). Originally a commercial pilot, Steve held senior corporate and banking roles in product, marketing, operations, innovation and general management. He worked for leading corporations and financial institutions including Dell, Compaq, Citigroup, OCBC, Shinsei, DBS Bank and AIA. Throughout his career, he has specialized in introducing new business models, businesses and products in all major markets in Asia and has filed 6 patents in FinTech. Steve hold board level positions in True Global Ventures, Borderless Healthcare Mobile China, HK Israel Trade Association, Pulse Global and a private investor in Artificial Intelligence, Life Sciences, Healthtech, Fintech and ICO’s.

Cef Sison, Chief Compliance Officer, GCash.

Atty. Cef Sison is the Chief Compliance Officer of G-Xchange, Inc., the operating company of the #1 Finance App that is GCash. As the CCO, she is responsible for creating a culture of compliance within the organization and ensuring that the company operates closely aligned with the applicable laws and regulations. She is to lead the company in the national efforts of financial inclusion. Before being the CCO, she was the Chief Legal Officer and was tasked to take care of the legal requirements of the highly regulated company servicing the industry leader GCash. Prior to joining GCash, she headed the Infrastructure Legal Services and the International Business Legal Services, under the Globe Corporate and Legal Services Group, from 2010 to 2019, as a Tech legal practitioner.

Chuchi G. Fonacier, Deputy Governor, Financial Supervision Sector, BSP

DG Fonacier is the head of the Financial Supervision Sector (FSS), which is mainly responsible for the regulation of banks and other BSP-Supervised Financial Institutions (BSFIs). Under her direct supervision are five subsectors which handle onsite examination and offsite surveillance (or integrated supervision) of BSFIs including specialized supervision of antimoney laundering, trust, financial market operations and information technology, oversight of the public credit registry, policy studies/research, and supervisory data management. She serves as the Governor’s permanent alternate as Chair in the Board of Directors of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC). DG Fonacier recently completed two terms as Chair of the Executives’ Meeting of East Asia Pacific Central Banks Working Group on Banking Supervision (EMEAP WGBS), and has served as panelist/resource person in various international conferences/fora on banking supervision, corporate governance, sustainable finance, financial technology and digitalization, financial inclusion, shadow banking, microfinance, bank resolution and crisis management, financial stability, capacity building, etc. organized by international bodies such as the United Nations (UN), IMF/World Bank, Bank of International Settlements (BIS), Financial Stability Institute (FSI), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Asian Bankers Association (ABA), South East Asian Central Banks (SEACEN) and central banks and monetary/supervisory authorities of various countries.

Melchor T. Plabasan (Mhel), Director, Technology Risk and Innovation Supervision Department (TRISD), Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Melchor Plabasan is the Director of Technology Risk and Innovation Supervision Department of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. His progressive leadership has reshaped the Bangko Sentral’s regulatory approach on technology and innovation resulting in financial services that make our day-to-day lives better and easier. When you talk about electronic wallets, online banking services, or digital banks, to name a few, these wouldn’t be possible without the leadership of Plabasan in his role in the Bangko Sentral. Nowadays, Plabasan is yet again at the forefront of regulatory advancements aimed at leveraging on innovative technologies and strategic partnerships to improve the lives of every Filipino. These include regulatory sandbox, supervisory technology, and secure open data access or open finance, among others.

Foo Boon Ping, President and Managing Editor, The Asian Banker

Foo Boon Ping manages The Asian Banker’s publishing and research business in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. He regularly engages the financial services community on transformational issues shaping the industry; speaking at and chairing many of the Asian Banker’s as well as partners’ events. He has more than 25 years' experience in strategic brand management, corporate & marketing communication and research & consulting, covering: retail, corporate and transaction banking, financial markets, risk management, compliance and financial technology. He had previously served in senior management positions at UOB and DBS Bank. He was also formerly a senior consulting manager at Ernst and Young and started his career as a financial journalist.

Christian Kapfer, Research Director, The Asian Banker

Christian Kapfer is research director at The Asian Banker, leading research and consulting engagement with top-tier financial institutions in benchmarking business and strategic capabilities across leadership, commercial, retail and transaction finance, financial markets, risk management, financial technology, and wealth management. Kapfer joined The Asian Banker in 2014 and was responsible for starting many of the company's research programmes, such as Excellence in Retail Financial Services, AB 500 Strongest Banks Ranking and Working Groups.