Free Podcast - Monday 16 April 2018 | 10:30am BST / 11:30am CEST
Blockchain's disruption of financial services was a topic of discussion that bubbled under the surface in 2017. But following cryptocurrencies' thrust into the public consciousness at the back end of 2017, this year has begun with a sense of that 2018 will be year blockchain makes the transition from lab theory to successful use cases and even beyond to mass adoption. But how realistic are the lofty goals of blockchain's proponents?
Topics covered with industry experts include:
What benefits does blockchain purport to offer financial services?
Which areas of financial services are most susceptible to blockchain disruption?
How do you guide a blockchain startup to success?
Do financial services see a place and use for cryptocurrencies?
How soon until we see mass adoption of blockchain technology?
Keith Bear
Vice President, Financial Markets
IBM
Keith is responsible globally for the strategy and development of IBM’s business in Financial Markets, which is a multi-billion dollar business for IBM. He works extensively with global clients on their major transformation programmes, typically on the cutting edge of shaping IBM’s solutions for the Financial Markets industry. He has worked extensively with trade finance organisations, financial markets infrastructure firms and leading global banks on the deployment of Blockchain. He is also actively working with the We.Trade SME Trade Finance consortium on their blockchain deployment.
Sophia Grami
CEO & Co-Founder
Synswap
Sophia is the CEO and co-founder of Synswap. Her career spans in derivatives and structured products. Following a first experience in Global Equities and Commodity Derivatives at BNP Paribas in Paris, Sophia joined the cross-asset solution sales team at Société Générale in London. Sophia holds an MSc in Finance from EM Lyon Business School.
Dr. Lee Braine
Blockchain Lead.
Barclays
Lee Braine, from the investment bank chief technology office at Barclays, has a deep interest in technology innovation. His current focus is distributed ledgers, blockchain and smart contracts. He represents Barclays Investment Bank on several distributed ledger consortia and is the co-author of academic papers on smart contracts. His background is in investment banking, clearing and settlement, stock exchanges, corporate banking, payments, and wealth management. He has a PhD in Computer Science from University College London.
David Beach [Moderator]
Editor
bobsguide
Dave Beach is the Editor of bobsguide, specialising in emerging financial technologies, risk management and wealth management. He has a background in e-journalism and editorship in a number of different sectors, including property and sport. Published both online and in print, he is a diligent researcher and award winning writer.