Speakers

Alexandru Petrescu currently serves as President of the Financial Supervisory Authority of Romania (A.S.F.), a position he assumed in December 2023 following his appointment by the Romanian Parliament. In this role, he also represents A.S.F. as a member of the Boards of Supervisors of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

Previously, he was a member of the Romanian Government, holding successive portfolios as Minister of Economy, Minister for Business Environment, Trade and Entrepreneurship, and Minister of Communications and Information Society. During his last ministerial mandate, he coordinated the European Digital Single Market agenda as President of the Transport, Telecommunications and Energy (TTE) Council during Romania’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

He holds a UK BSc in Business Administration and has extensive senior executive experience in banking and financial services across the UK, Denmark, and Romania, including investment banking, payments, cybersecurity, and complex ICT infrastructures.

Anca Dragu serves as Governor of the National Bank of Moldova since December 2023. A career economist with nearly three decades of experience in banking and finance, macroeconomic policy, and public service, she has built a solid professional profile at national, European, and international levels.

During her mandate, she is actively advancing the Republic of Moldova’s European integration agenda by accelerating structural reforms and the modernization of the financial sector. Moldova’s accession to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) marked a historic milestone, strengthening the country’s integration into the European financial infrastructure and reinforcing its convergence with European financial standards.

She began her career at the National Bank of Romania, followed by more than a decade at the International Monetary Fund. She later joined the European Commission (DG ECFIN), where she served as an economic analyst and senior adviser, contributing to the design and coordination of European economic and financial policies. Her professional background also includes senior leadership roles in the private energy sector.

Her career is further complemented by top-level political experience, having served as Speaker of the Romanian Senate and as Minister of Finance. These mandates were marked by structural reforms, enhanced budgetary transparency, and policies aimed at sustainable economic growth.

Anca Dragu holds a PhD in Economics and is an associate professor at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies and other academic institutions, lecturing in macroeconomics and finance. She has authored numerous scientific papers published in national and international journals.

Dumitru Budianschi has served as President of the National Commission for Financial Markets (NCFM) of the Republic of Moldova since 2023. Previously, he was Minister of Finance of the Republic of Moldova from 2021 to 2023, contributing to the development and implementation of the country's financial and budgetary policies.

Radu Hanga has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) since 2020 and of the Central Depository since 2023. Since June 2023, he has also been President of the Federation of Euro-Asian Stock Exchanges (FEAS).

Previously, between 2017 and 2020, he was a member of the BVB Board of Directors. From 2020 to 2022, he also served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Romanian Fund Managers Association (AAF). Before that, from 2015 to 2020, Mr Hanga served as President of the AAF.

He has extensive experience in financial markets and has completed a range of executive education and professional development programmes, including the Certificate in Global Management at INSEAD, the Master in Board Practice and Directorship at Henley Business School/Envisia, the MBA Programme (IDE), postgraduate studies in Business Administration at the European Institute for Business Administration of Babeș-Bolyai University, specialised courses in the International Financial System offered by the Romanian Banking Institute in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Bankers Scotland, and the Erasmus Programme at the University of East London.

Mr Hanga began his career in financial markets in 1997 as an analyst at brokerage firm SSIF Broker (BRK). In 1999, he joined Banca Transilvania (TLV) as a capital markets officer, a position he held until 2002.

He subsequently held several positions within companies belonging to the Banca Transilvania Financial Group, including Vice-Chairman of the Board of BT Securities (2001–2005), Head of the Capital Markets Department at Banca Transilvania (2002–2013), CEO of SAI BT Asset Management (2005–2013), Executive Director for Group Strategy and Coordination at Banca Transilvania (2013–2017), and Senior Adviser to the Board of Directors of Banca Transilvania (2017–2020).

Mr Hanga has also served on the boards of other listed companies, including Boromir Prod (2013–2017), SIF Moldova (2013–2017), and SIF Oltenia (2017–2020).

Leonardo Badea is First Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Romania and Vice-Chairman of its Board of Directors. From 2017 to 2019, he served as President of the Financial Supervisory Authority.

He graduated from the Faculty of Finance, Insurance, Banking and Stock Exchanges at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies. In 2005, he was awarded a PhD in Accounting by the same university.

He also holds an MSc in International Banking and Finance, with distinction, from the University of Salford. In February 2026, he completed a postgraduate certificate programme in Organisational Leadership at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

Mr Badea began his academic career in 2000 and has since held several academic positions.

In 2016, he obtained his habilitation in Finance, and since 2017 he has served as a PhD supervisor at the West University of Timișoara. In February 2022, he was appointed Full Professor at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies.

As a member of the executive management of the National Bank of Romania, Leonardo Badea oversees the activities of several directorates within the central bank, namely the Supervision Directorate, the Financial Market Infrastructures Oversight Directorate, the International Relations Directorate, the Legal Directorate, the Budget Directorate, the Secretariat Directorate, and the Technical and Maintenance Directorate.

Gabriel-Ioan Avrămescu has served as First Vice President of the Financial Supervisory Authority of Romania (ASF) since December 2023 and, since August 2025, has also been responsible for coordinating the Financial Instruments and Investments Sector. He holds a law degree from the University of Bucharest, a master’s degree in project management from the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, and a PhD in Management from the University of Craiova.

He began his career in public administration and European affairs in the mid-2000s and built extensive experience within central and local government, including senior positions in the National Agency for Fiscal Administration and as Prefect of Galați County between 2019 and 2020. He later served as a member of the Romanian Parliament from 2020 to 2023, where he was active on committees for public administration and economic policy.

At FSA Romania, Gabriel-Ioan Avrămescu is responsible for strategic coordination and has played a key role in capital market development, the digital transformation of supervision, financial education initiatives, and the implementation of European regulatory frameworks, while also overseeing investor protection and market stability.

Anamarija Staničić is Deputy President of the Board of Hanfa, was the Head of Regulatory Harmonisation and International Cooperation Division at Hanfa from 2018 until being appointed member of Hanfa Board. After graduating from the Faculty of Economics and Business in Zagreb, she joined Hanfa as a trainee in November 2006. After that, she progressed from the position of expert associate, via positions of senior and chief advisor to the position of head of division. As part of this function, she has so far been responsible for national and EU regulations and Hanfa's international cooperation. Among other things, she is Hanfa's representative in several committees of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and working groups of the Council of the EU.

Dariusz Adamski is Deputy Chair of the Board of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) and a professor of law at the Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics of the University of Wrocław. He specialises in Polish and EU economic and financial law and governance. He has been awarded a Fulbright Fellowship at Harvard University, participated in the European Central Bank’s Legal Research Programme, and held the Fernand Braudel Fellowship at the European University Institute in Florence.

He is a member of the Academic Board of the European Banking Institute in Frankfurt am Main and of the Advisory Committee of the EMU Lab at the European University Institute in Florence. He is the author of numerous research papers and supervises doctoral dissertations on financial market-related topics. He is also a frequent speaker at national and international conferences in the financial sector.

In 2024–2025, he served as Director of the Institute of Finance at the Ministry of Finance.

Michail Fekkas has served as First Vice Chair of the Hellenic Capital Market Commission since February 2024. As a member of both the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee, he contributes to the formulation and implementation of the supervisory strategy for the Greek capital market.

His supervisory portfolio encompasses key areas relating to listed companies, transparency and the quality of financial reporting, public offerings and prospectuses, as well as market and transaction supervision. His responsibilities also include human resources, information systems, digital transformation and the deployment of advanced supervisory technologies. He also chairs the Investment Firms Resolution Committee.

Mr Fekkas represents the Hellenic Capital Market Commission in European and international supervisory fora. He actively contributes to the work of ESMA and IOSCO. His work focuses on strengthening the integrity, transparency, resilience and competitiveness of capital markets, with particular emphasis on investor protection, supervisory convergence and responsible financial innovation.

He has more than 25 years of professional experience in the Greek capital market, having held senior positions in portfolio management, regulatory compliance, internal audit, risk management and the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing.

Mr Fekkas studied at the Université du Droit et de la Santé Lille II in France, where he obtained a Maîtrise d’Administration Économique et Sociale. He also holds a postgraduate degree, DESS Analyste Financier International, from the École Supérieure des Affaires at Lille II. He is certified in financial instruments and issuer analysis and holds a derivatives trading certification from the Athens Stock Exchange.

Antonio Gomes is Deputy Director of the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs (DAF), the Directorate responsible for the areas of Competition, Investment, Financial Markets, Consumer Finance, Insurance and Pensions, Anti-Corruption, Corporate Governance and Corporate Finance, and Responsible Business Conduct. He represents the OECD at the Financial Stability Board Analytical Group on Vulnerabilities (FSB AGV). He previously served as Head of the OECD Competition Division, President of the Portuguese Competition Authority, Senior Competition Expert at the OECD Competition Division and Director of the Merger Department of the Portuguese Competition Authority. Since 2005, he has been an Assistant Professor at the Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal. Antonio Gomes holds a PhD in Economics from the University of York, U.K., and Master Degrees in Economics from the University of York and the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.

Remus Vulpescu has served as Chief Executive Officer of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) since 2025 and has been a member of its Board of Directors since 2024.

He holds degrees in Legal Sciences from the Faculty of Law and in Political Sciences from the Faculty of Political and Administrative Sciences, both at the University of Bucharest. He also holds two Executive MBA degrees, awarded by Tiffin University in the United States and the University of Bucharest.

A lawyer by profession, Remus Vulpescu has built his career in the legal field, specialising in business law. He has extensive experience in corporate governance, as well as in the administration and management of enterprises. He has been active in professional associations in the capital markets and restructuring sectors, including INSOL Europe (United Kingdom) and the Turnaround Management Association (United States).

Throughout his career, he has held positions in academia and public administration and has served on the boards of several Romanian companies, including Hidroelectrica, Cupru Min S.A., Nuclearelectrica, Professional Imo Partners S.A., ROMAERO S.A. and S.N.T.G.N. Transgaz S.A. He has also served as a member of the Supervisory Board of C.N.T.E.E. Transelectrica S.A.

In public administration, he served as Head of the Office for State Holdings and Privatisation in Industry and as an Adviser to the Minister within the Ministry of Economy, Trade and the Business Environment. He also held the position of Director General of the Prime Minister’s Control Body within the Government of Romania.

Adrian-Victor Vevera is the General Director and Senior Researcher of the National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics – ICI Bucharest, Romania’s leading institute for research and innovation in information and communication technologies, operating under the coordination of the Romanian Government. He holds PhDs in Military and Information Sciences, Intelligence and National Security, and Industrial Engineering.

His professional expertise spans cybersecurity, the protection of critical infrastructure, digital transformation, and emerging technologies, with a particular focus on developing resilient and secure digital ecosystems. Throughout his career, he has been involved in national and European initiatives addressing advanced digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and the governance of strategic technologies.

Through his leadership at ICI Bucharest, Adrian-Victor Vevera contributes to the broader policy dialogue on trust, resilience, innovation, and security in digital communication environments. His work engages with issues increasingly relevant to regulators and decision-makers, including digital infrastructure resilience, cross-border connectivity, AI-enabled systems, and the evolving relationship between technological development, public policy, and societal trust. He also serves as Romania’s national representative within the NATO Innovation Fund Partners’ Advisory Committee, contributing to discussions on dual-use technologies, innovation, and transatlantic cooperation.

William Knottenbelt is Professor of Applied Quantitative Analysis in the Department of Computing and Director of the Imperial College Centre for Cryptocurrency Research and Engineering (IC3RE) at Imperial College London. He serves on the editorial board of the cryptocurrency/blockchain journal Ledger, is an editor of Performance Evaluation Journal, and has served as general or program chair of numerous conferences and workshops related to blockchain, cryptocurrency and quantitative analysis. He carries out expert witness work involving forensic investigations related to cryptocurrency, is an expert of the World Economic Forum on blockchain and is technical advisor to several start-ups.

Tudor Grecu is a Partner at KPMG in Romania and Moldova, with more than 23 years of experience working alongside financial institutions during a period of unprecedented transformation in the industry. His path from audit to advisory gives him both a deep understanding of how financial institutions operate and a forward-looking view of how they can evolve. With a strong focus on innovation and the evolving role of technology, Tudor Grecu brings insights into how digital transformation, data, and emerging technologies are redefining business models, strengthening resilience, and creating new opportunities across Central and Eastern Europe.

Dr. Stefan Tomanek heads the Division of Supervision of Crypto Markets and Financial Innovation at the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA). The division is responsible for the authorisation and ongoing supervision of crypto-asset service providers under the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), as well as the FMA’s regulatory sandbox and FinTech initiatives. His work focuses on developing effective, risk-based supervision of crypto markets, strengthening European supervisory cooperation, and fostering responsible financial innovation.

His professional background spans both financial supervision and the crypto industry. He also lectures at the University of Vienna and has authored several publications on financial market and crypto-asset regulation.

Peter Tkáč holds a Master of Laws degree and successfully completed his rigorous legal examination in the field of financial law in 2007. Since 2005, he has been active in financial market supervision, first at the Financial Market Authority and subsequently at the National Bank of Slovakia, where he has built extensive expertise in the regulation and supervision of capital market participants.

Alongside his regulatory work, he has pursued academic research in financial market regulation through doctoral studies. His research has focused on the regulation of financial markets in the context of the global financial crisis and its implications for financial stability and market oversight.

Mr. Tkáč has authored several professional publications and presented his research at numerous international scientific conferences. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Supervisors and the Management Board of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) and represents the National Bank of Slovakia on various international regulatory and supervisory committees. He is currently the Director of the Capital Market Supervision Department at the National Bank of Slovakia.

Claudiu Negrea is Director of the Financial Market Infrastructures and Payments Oversight Department at the National Bank of Romania, where he has dedicated over 18 years to the supervision and resilience of financial market infrastructures, payment schemes and payment instruments. His expertise lies in monitoring security measures related to payments and related fraud, as well as assessing the risks associated with financial market infrastructures that operate in Romania’s market.

In parallel with his professional role, Claudiu Negrea holds a PhD in economics from the Romanian Academy, specializing in operational and security risk analysis - a field that complemented and deepened his work at the central bank.

As the coordinator of the Critical Infrastructures Protection Committee, Claudiu Negrea leads national efforts to safeguard Romania’s essential financial services. He fosters collaboration among key stakeholders to mitigate threats and ensure the robustness of the country’s financial ecosystem.

Paul Barangă has over 23 years of professional experience in financial services and financial instruments, gained in both the private sector and the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA). At FSA, he has coordinated activities related to the monitoring of financial instrument transactions and the supervision of entities operating in the capital markets. He currently serves as Director of the Directorate for Integrated Supervision.

In the private sector, he has been involved in projects focused on the development of trading and settlement systems and architectures, as well as in the alternative investment fund industry. He has also contributed to the implementation of several European legislative packages that underpin the regulatory and operational framework for capital market entities.

For over 15 years, he has also contributed to the professional development of specialists in Romania’s financial markets, serving as an accredited lecturer for various professional training organizations.

Ovidiu Petru is Director of the Directorate for Intermediaries and Market Institutions at the Romanian Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF) and Vice President of the Institute of Financial Studies (ISF). Previously, as ASF General Director, he contributed to the Authority’s strategic and operational priorities. With over 25 years of financial markets experience, including as CEO of Romania’s leading derivatives market, he focuses on financial market regulation, digital finance, and professional education on crypto-assets and the EU MiCA framework.