Speakers
Maha El Dimachki
Chief Executive Officer, GFTN Solutions
Global Finance & Technology Network (GFTN)
Maha is Chief Executive Officer, GFTN Solutions. GFTN (Global Finance and Technology Network) bridges policy, capital and technology to build resilient, efficient and inclusive ecosystems.
Prior to this Maha served as Centre Head, BIS Innovation Hub Singapore. The centre develops public goods in the technology space to support central banks in how they discharge their roles in a digital economy and improve the financial system using emerging technologies.
In the UK, Maha joined the Financial Conduct Authority to set up the first Payments Department and deliver Open Banking and PSD2. This followed by setting up Early and High Growth Oversight department, leading the FCA's response to the Kalifa review of Fintech. She served as Chief Payments Officer at Pay.UK on secondment from the FCA, responsible for running the payments operations of the UK’s payment operator.
Maha is the author of Fintech Regulation in Practice. A book that provides a clear, hands on guide to the practical considerations that fintechs, banks adopting fintech and other key players in the fintech ecosystem need to take into account when embedding regulation.
She serves as the independent reviewer of the Australian Regulatory Sandbox, appointed by the Australian Treasury.
Maha has a Degree in Commerce from Macquarie University and a Masters in Public Administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Speaking At
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9:00–9:20amMon 16 NovLaunchpadLaunchpad RoomOpen
Others
Insights2040 Annual Meetings Opening Address
LaunchpadLaunchpad RoomOpen
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Anthony ThomasChief Strategy & Growth OfficerGlobal Finance & Technology Network (GFTN)
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Maha El DimachkiChief Executive Officer, GFTN SolutionsGlobal Finance & Technology Network (GFTN)
About this session
Anthony Thomas and Maha El Dimachki will open the Insights2040 Annual Meetings. Insights2040 is GFTN's new revamped brand, where we bring together a year of dialogue, views and perspectives on what is shaping today's and tomorrow's future of financial services. The aim of Insights2040 annual meetings is to turn these perspectives into practical pathways for further research or concrete action.
Taking place at the start of Singapore FinTech Festival week, the Annual Meetings will convene senior leaders from central banks, regulators, financial institutions and technology partners to examine the forces shaping the next phase of global finance.
GFTN will share key findings and priorities emerging from a year of collaboration with its members and partners, examining how technology, geoeconomics, capital, talent and policy are reshaping the financial system. Discussions will span six themes:
- Accountability & Liability in Agentic Systems
- The Scaling Challenge in Tokenized Markets
- Shaping Tomorrow’s Innovation
- Global Frameworks and Shared Best Practices in Payments Chains
- Sovereignty & Resilience in a Rewired Financial System
- Preparing Finance for the Quantum Era
The Annual Meetings will also set out GFTN’s priorities for 2027, building on the work and insights developed over the past year.
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9:30–11:00amMon 16 NovPublic-Private RoundtableRoundtable Room 1OpenModerator
The Scaling Challenge in Tokenized Markets
Tokenized Markets: Frictions, Choices and the Path to Interoperability
Public-Private RoundtableRoundtable Room 1OpenModerator
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Alan CroftsHead of Innovation & FintechFMA New Zealand
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Herman SchuellerDirector, Innovation & Technology Risk - SupervisionDubai Financial Services Authority
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Jaime PradenasHead of Financial Technology HubCentral Bank of Chile
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Katie MitchellHead of APAC & MEA PolicyCoinbase
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Kushal BalluckSenior Manager, FMI Innovation & Payments PolicyBank of England
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Michael MaurerResearch EngineerMIT Digital Currency Initiative (DCI)
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Owureku AsareDirector, FinTech & InnovationBank of Ghana
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Peter KerstensAdvisor, DG FISMAEuropean Commission
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Tang WeiHead of Public Policy, Southeast Asia & ChinaStripe
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Toh Wee KeeGlobal Head of InsightsKinexys by J.P. Morgan
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Ulrich StrohmeierHead of Wholesale CBDCDeutsche Bundesbank
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Dr. Wong Huei ChingExecutive Director, Digital Strategy & InnovationSecurities Commission Malaysia
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Jael TanHead of Government ProgrammesGlobal Finance & Technology Network (GFTN)Moderator
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Maha El DimachkiChief Executive Officer, GFTN SolutionsGlobal Finance & Technology Network (GFTN)Moderator
About this session
Tokenization projects today are often built vertically, with each initiative solving a specific problem within its own ecosystem. Yet tokenizing an asset in isolation does not deliver the full potential of tokenization. Benefits such as atomic settlement and greater capital efficiency depend on interoperability across the entire transaction chain — from the asset and its supporting infrastructure to trading, settlement and the movement of money. The challenge is how countries and institutions can pursue their own tokenization ambitions while avoiding the fragmentation that siloed approaches risk creating.
This roundtable brings together findings from a year of open-call research, alongside problem statements and perspectives from private-sector practitioners navigating the practical choices, risks and constraints of tokenization. It will explore how a decision-making framework can help countries assess their starting points and ambitions, identify the capabilities required across the transaction chain, and consider different pathways towards more interoperable markets. Looking ahead to 2027, participants will discuss emerging problem statements and the coordination, partnerships and policy support needed to connect individual initiatives into a more coherent financial ecosystem.
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