Speakers

Antonio C. Moncupa, Jr.
President, Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP)
Chief Executive Officer, East West Bank

Antonio Moncupa, Jr. is the president of the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) and chief executive officer of East West Banking Corporation, a position he has held since January 2007. He has served the BAP in various positions, including as first vice president, treasurer, and secretary. He was also chair of the Open Market Committee and Capital Markets Development Committee.

He obtained his undergraduate degrees in economics and accounting from De La Salle University and his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Moncupa is also the chairman of EastWest Rural Bank, Inc. and EW Insurance Brokers, Inc., and sits on the board of EastWest Ageas Life Insurance, Inc., PDS Holdings and its subsidiaries, and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. He also served on the board of Bancnet, Philippine Clearing House, Local Government Guarantee Corporation, Philippine Depository and Trust Corporation, and the Market Governance Board of the Philippine Dealing System. He was also a past president of ACI Philippines. He was likewise involved in civil society and served on the board of the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement and was a president of the Rotary Club of Manila Bay.

Taimur Baig
Managing Director and Chief Economist,
Group Research DBS Bank

Taimur Baig heads global economics as well as macro strategy for interest rate, credit, and currency at DBS Group Research. He also advises the bank on risk management and investment strategy.

Prior to joining DBS, he was principal economist at the Economic Policy Group, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). Earlier, he spent nine years at Deutsche Bank’s Singapore office as managing director and chief economist for Asia. From 1999-2007, he was based in Washington, D.C., at the headquarters of the International Monetary Fund, where his last position was senior economist.

Baig has published extensively for both specialists and general audience, on monetary policy, digital currency, financial technology, climate change, demographics, frontier markets, fiscal policy efficacy, and financial market contagion. He hosts “Kopi Time,” a widely-followed podcast series on markets and economies. He also sits as council member for the Asian Financial Think Tank, Economic Society of Singapore, and Women’s World Banking.

Dr. Baig holds a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He attended London School of Economics and Wabash College for his undergraduate degree in economics.

Lito Villanueva (EDITED ALREADY)
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.

Nichel Gaba
Founder and Chief Executive Officer Philippine Digital Asset Exchange (PDAX)

Nichel Gaba is the founder and CEO of PDAX. He has been a financial market professional throughout his career and a chartered financial analyst since 2013. He has worked in banking, asset management, trust and the securities services industries. He founded PDAX in 2017 after getting his Master of Business Administration degree from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Kirill Kalashnikov
Regional Director for APAC Robocash Group

Kirill Kalashnikov is the regional director for Asia Pacific of Robocash Group, which operates artificial intelligence-powered lending service Digido in the Philippines. He served as country manager of Digido before assuming his newly created role.

A business leader for over a decade specialising in analysis, operations performance improvement, and new products development, Kirill held country business advisor and senior business analyst positions in recent years.

He obtained his master’s degree in The Higher School of Economics in Moscow in 2015.

Gunneet Singh Bally
SVP, Group Head Retail Channel, Security Bank

Gunneet Singh Bally is a retail banking business head with over 23 years of experience in diverse economies spanning the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the Asia Pacific. He has developed a strategic roadmap throughout his career and implemented short and long-term strategies to achieve business growth and economic progress. Gunneet serves as retail channel head for Security Bank, Philippines. Before, he worked with Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VPBank) for nine years in various roles, including head of consumer lending, head of cards business. head of products, payments, and customer engagement at Ubank, a new digital bank powered by FECredit and VPBank. In addition, he was the business head of consumer cards in American Express (AMEX) and various other roles at ICICI Bank.

Dr. Felipe Medalla
Governor
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP)

Dr. Felipe Medalla, a noted economist and educator whose career spans more than four decades and four administrations, is the current Governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

He has been a member of the policymaking Monetary Board since July 2011, having been appointed by former president Benigno Aquino III and by former president Rodrigo Duterte in July 2017.

Before joining the Monetary Board, he was a prominent figure in the academe, having taught at the University of the Philippines School of Economics (UPSE) from 1991 to 2011. He also served as UP vice president of planning and finance from 1988-1991 before being named dean of UPSE from 1994-1998.

In 1998, Dr. Medalla was appointed Secretary of Socioeconomic Planning and Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority by then-president Joseph Estrada.

He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and his M.A. in Economics from the University of the Philippines. A certified public accountant, he graduated cum laude from De La Salle University with a dual degree in Economics and Accounting.

Jiro Reyes
President and Chief Executive Officer
Bitskwela

Jiro Reyes is a Web3 educator promoting cryptocurrency adoption in the Philippines. He is the CEO and founder of Bitskwela, a multilingual education technology platform that strives to bring cryptocurrency education closer to the masses. His passion for the space started during his college days when he realized the importance of managing one's finances and investments—leading to the discovery of cryptocurrency.

Before starting Bitskwela, he worked as a marketer and freelancer in the Web2 space for well-known companies such as Red Bull, Ayala Malls, and Landco Pacific.

Foo Boon Ping
President and Managing Editor
The Asian Banker

Boon Ping is the Managing Editor of The Asian Banker, where he manages its 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 former director of research at The Asian Banker, between 2004 and 2012, and continues to work freelance with the company providing research and consulting services to top-tier financial institutions and their investors in benchmarking their business and strategic capabilities in consumer and retail financial services.

Mathew Welch
International Resource Director
The Asian Banker

Mathew Welch has over 25 years of management and financial services experience across Asia. His experience covers strategy consulting, banking, private equity and FinTech.

He is currently working in Executive Search for Global Sage in Financial Services as well as serving on various Boards in Singapore and Vietnam.

Mathew has previously worked at a variety of financial institutions including Standard Chartered, Temasek Holdings, ING and HSBC.

Mathew has over the years served as Board Director of various companies including Banks, FinTechs and Investment companies.

At Standard Chartered, Mathew headed the Financial Institutions business in Asia and subsequently the Banks business globally.

Mathew was also one of the founding members of the Financial Institutions Practice for McKinsey & Co. in Asia working from Hong Kong and Singapore.

Mathew earned his MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Business School in 1993, where he was a Baker Scholar. He also has an MA (Oxon) from the University of Oxford where he studied Chinese.

He is based in Singapore and Bangkok, holding Singapore Permanent Residence status.

Ric Sim
Business Development Manager, Southeast Asia
Wolters Kluwer

Ric Sim is Business Development Southeast Asia Manager of Wolters Kluwer Finance specializing in risk and regulatory reporting. He works closely with banks in the fulfillment of their regulatory obligations, compliance with financial requirements, and management of risks. Ric’s in-depth understanding of banks’ challenges stems from his 10 years of experience working as a technology business partner at two of the largest banks in Asia: DBS and OCBC. His areas of expertise include formulating strategies for business roadmaps, guiding decisions in tech acquisition, and delivering enterprise-wide solutions in risk management and finance. With his experience working in and with banks, Ric will bring into the discussions insights on how banks can cope with changes in the regulatory landscape.

Lyn Javier
Assistant Governor, Policy and Specialized Supervision
Sub-Sector (PSSSS)
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas

Lyn I. Javier is the Assistant Governor of the Policy and Specialized Supervision Sub-Sector (PSSSS) under the Financial Supervision Sector of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). She oversees the supervisory policy and data departments of the central bank as well as the supervision of specialized areas such as money laundering, information technology, treasury, and trust operations. Ms. Javier is also the designated BSP representative to the Basel Consultative Group, the Executives' Meeting of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks Working Group on Banking Supervision, and one of the workstreams in the Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS). At the domestic level, she is involved in interagency committees and working groups related to the supervision of financial institutions and promotion of sustainability agenda. She also represents the BSP in the Financial Reporting Standards Council.

Iris Yacat
Chief Operations Officer and Chief Customer Experience Officer
UBX

Iris Yacat is the Chief Operations Officer and Chief Customer Experience Officer of UBX, a leading open finance platform in the Philippines. She leads functions that have grown the company’s customer base including multichannel acquisition and round-the-clock service. She also strengthened the company’s data and analytics to gain insights into customers’ needs, and assembled teams dedicated to improving customer engagement.

Yacat is among the top customer experience professionals in the Philippines today, having more than two decades of experience in building customer-centric capabilities and culture from the beginning phase to large-scale operations.

Maria Gaitanidou
Chief Launch Officer
UnionDigital Bank

Maria is a fintech and blockchain enthusiast and a lawyer. She joined UnionDigital Bank, one of the six licensed digital banks in the Philippines set to launch late this year, as its chief launch officer.

Moving to the Philippines in 2015, Maria joined Coins.ph in its early days. She held various senior management roles focusing on business development, compliance and legal for both its fiat and blockchain businesses. She established partnerships for on-ramp and off-ramp, international remittance rails, and merchant payments. Maria also worked with regulators to navigate the applicable regulatory frameworks, secure regulatory approvals and licences, and ensure compliance and administration of a robust anti-money laundering (AML) program.

Angelo Madrid
President
Maya Bank

Angelo Madrid is the president of Maya Bank, the digital banking arm of technology company Voyager Innovations. In tandem with PayMaya Philippines, Maya Bank is building the Philippines' all-in-one money platform, Maya.

Before joining Maya Bank, Angelo served as the country manager of Tala Philippines (Tala PH), a US-based fintech lending startup. He also held executive roles in Citibank in New York, co-founding a fintech startup with Citi Ventures that uses alternative data to help consumers in the US gain access to credit. Early in his career, he practiced law at Baker & McKenzie (Quisumbing Torres) and Sycip Law, doing banking, project finance, and M&A transactions.

Gelo received his bachelor's degree in Management and Juris Doctor degree from the Ateneo de Manila University. He completed his MBA from Duke University - Fuqua School of Business.

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.

Marita Socorro D. Gayares
Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer
Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI)

Ms. Gayares has been the CRO of the BPI Group and head of its risk management office since January 2018. She oversees the management of the Group’s enterprise risks and supports the board through the risk management committee.

Prior to her appointment as CRO, Ms. Gayares served as BPI’s chief compliance officer from 2012 to 2017 with overall responsibility for compliance, anti-money laundering, corporate governance, and data privacy frameworks.

She joined BPI in 2000 as part of the merger with Far East Bank. Aside from heading risk management and compliance, she also had work experience in corporate banking, credit, transaction banking, loans operations, project management and financial Control.

Ms. Gayares is a graduate of the University of the Philippines with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Economics and completed her MBA at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Roy Villareal
Head, Consumer Banking Group Digital Banking
BDO Unibank

Roy Villareal heads digital banking of BDO Unibank's Consumer Banking Group. Prior to joining the Bank, he was the head of Digital and Marketing Group for Citi consumer business in Middle East, based primarily in Dubai for 2.5 years. Before relocating to Dubai, he led the Customer Franchise for Citi consumer business in Philippines, looking after Digital Banking, Customer Experience, Marketing and Data and Analytics.

Sergio Ceniza
First Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer
Philippine Business Bank (PBB)

Atty. Sergio Ceniza is a seasoned regulatory compliance professional.
His more than three decades experience in the fields of law, regulatory compliance and financial crime detections and prevention obtained from financial services sector, made him a recognized speaker and lecturer in the field of regulatory compliance and AML-CTF.

He used to be the Compliance Officer of BDO Universal Bank and was seconded to its financial leasing unit BDO Leasing and Finance Corp. He later moved to First Metro Investment Corporation as its Chief Compliance Officer before he moved to Philippine Business Bank as its First Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer.

Atty. Ceniza is also very active in the legal circle being a law professor in various law schools in Manila and a known Bar Reviewer in Commercial Law. He conducts regular lectures on the Philippine Banking Laws and the AML Law to lawyers and AML practitioners from the financial sectors.

A graduate of Far Eastern University- Institute of Law, he was a recipient of the Golden Tamaraw Award in 2019 bestowed by the FEU Law Alumni Association.

Lester Cruz
Head of Liabilities, Products & Partnerships
UNO Digital Bank.

Lester Cruz is head of Liabilities – Products & Partnerships for UNO Digital Bank. He manages the deposit, wealth management, and insurance businesses of the bank while cultivating partnerships.

An accomplished financial services professional and business manager, he has more than two decades of experience in managing multiple segments and products, and leading cross-functional teams as well.

Prior to joining UNO Digital Bank, Cruz was with the all-digital and mobile first CIMB Bank PH where he was a pioneer member of the senior leadership team. There, he established the overall direction and strategic initiatives of each major function and business line. Before venturing into the digital banking space, he was president and director of Citicorp Financial Services and Insurance Brokerage Philippines, Inc. (CFSI), the brokerage arm of Citibank, N.A. (Philippines). He was responsible for Citi’s wealth management and insurance business in the Philippines.

Neil Trinidad
Vice President and Head of Cryptocurrency
GCash

Neil Trinidad is the VP & Head of Cryptocurrency in GCash. In this role, Neil aims to grow the crypto and blockchain ecosystem through partnerships and market development. He has over 18 years of experience in marketing, management, and sales across FMCG, tech, and e-commerce. Neil was most recently the Chief Marketing Officer of Lazada Philippines, where he helped accelerate the growth of e-commerce in the country. In 2021, Neil was recognized as the Asia Pacific Tambuli Awards Chief Marketing Communications Officer of the Year. Neil previously worked in Google Philippines, where he was an Industry Manager for Telco, Travel, and QSR verticals. For 15 years of his career, Neil worked in Unilever across local, regional and global marketing roles, where he handled over 15 brands, including Dove, Rexona, Pond’s, and many more. He is also the Co-Founder of The Feel Good Food Group, an e-commerce health food delivery business that was founded in 2017 and today has four brands - Ketos of Manila, The Sugar-Free Bakery, Eat’s Life Manila, and Get Well Soup. Neil graduated from The University of Asia & the Pacific in 2004 with a Master’s Degree in Communications, Major in Integrated Marketing Communications.

Alexander Escucha
International Resource Director
The Asian Banker

Alexander C. Escucha is an International Resource Director of The Asian Banker. He has chaired the Technology conferences of The Asian Banker Summit since 2006. He also chaired the Technology Implementation Awards from its inception in 2007 to 2012. A former SVP of China Banking Corporation, where he was a key member of its Technology Steering Committee with crucial involvements in the selection and implementation of core banking systems, loans origination, e-banking, cash management, CRM/business intelligence. He also set up the bank’s call center and service quality units.