For this METACO TALKS episode, we were joined by Kelly Chia, Deputy Head of Research Asia, Bank Julius Baer, covering digital assets, macro strategy, ESG and thematic investing.

Prior to joining Bank Julius Baer in 2011, Kelly worked for Temasek Holdings, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund.

Graduating as an engineer from Nanyang Technological University, he first worked at a General Electric joint venture designing complex repairs for aircraft engines. Mr. Chia then transited into business development with the Singapore government and finally made the leap to be a sell-side analyst for OCBC Bank and Standard Chartered more than a decade ago.

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice.

For this  METACO TALKS episode, we were joined by Nitin Gaur, Managing Director at State Street Digital, a division of State Street Bank focusing on digital assets and technologies including cryptocurrencies, central bank digital currency, blockchain, and tokenization. Nitin leads the digital asset and technology design, with aspirations to transition part of the company’s financial market infrastructure and its clients to the new digital economy.

In a previous role, Nitin, served as the founder and director of IBM Digital Asset Labs — committed to devising industry standards, use cases and working toward making blockchain for enterprise a reality. In parallel, Nitin also served as chief technology officer of IBM World Wire — a cross-border payment solution utilizing digital assets. Nitin also founded IBM Blockchain Labs and led the effort to establish blockchain practice for the enterprise.

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice.

For this  METACO TALKS episode, we were joined by Simon TAYLOR, known among many others as co-founder of 11:FS, author of Fintech Brain Food newsletter, and most recently Head of Strategy & Content at Sardine – an API platform providing compliance and instant settlement to the crypto & DeFi wallet industry.

Simon started as a software engineer in Telco, before moving to payments and delivering one of the first Mobile Banking Apps in the United Kingdom.

Throughout his career, Simon has worked across consumer, SMB, cash management, capital markets and crypto/digital assets, with clients like HSBC, Barclays, Meta, Stripe.

At Barclays, Simon launched RISE, the Innovation Accelerator, and was Head of Crypto R&D.

Today Simon advises Governments, Regulators and some of the world’s largest Banks, Financial Institutions and Corporations on how Fintech and Web3 will impact their business in the short, medium and long term.

Simon’s Fintech Brainfood blog is one of the most popular in financial services, and Simon is a regular guest in major media outlets like the BBC and Bloomberg.

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice.

For this episode of METACO TALKS, we were joined by Pedro LOPEZ-BELMONTE, Blockchain Lead at Richemont, the Swiss-based luxury company, owner of brands such as Cartier, Montblanc, Net-a-porter etc.

Pedro is a Blockchain expert, mission-driven, leading business to generate value through emerging technologies and cross-tech innovations.

Currently driving the blockchain & digital asset management strategy & roadmap for Richemont in the public & private blockchains that makes it possible for consumers to access product history and proof of authenticity of luxury goods – from sourcing to sales, all the way to second-hand markets.

With more than 20 years of experience in providing support, long-term vision and continuity to the innovation process as a bridge between the business, the technology and the innovation functions, Pedro contributes defining & leading the Emerging Technologies integration process by working on the strategy and roadmap along with main stakeholders, identifying new tech trends, being part of the external ecosystem to nurture the internal one, continuously identifying and engaging with new relevant players as part of the Emerging Technologies network.

In this episode, we discussed, among others:

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice.

For this episode of METACO TALKS, we were joined by Jean-Marc STENGER, Chief Executive Officer at FORGE, a fully integrated subsidiary of Société Générale Group focused exclusively on digital assets.

Jean-Marc has been with Société Générale since 2000, and has an active member of the European blockchain ecosystem for many years.

Prior to help founding FORGE in order to expand Société Générale’s capabilities in digital assets and digital capital markets, he was Chief Investment Officer (and part of the founding team) at Lyxor Asset Management, a specialized asset management company which was in the meantime sold by Société Générale to Amundi Group.

In this episode, we discussed, among others:

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice.

For this episode of METACO Talks we were joined by Catherine Bautista-Casas, Head of Blockchain Center of Excellence and Digital Asset Markets and VP Fintech Business Group at Union Bank of the Philippines. Catherine is a pioneer in blockchain in the Philippines and has spent the last 20 years at the forefront of innovation at Union Bank (in areas such as market risk, treasury and fixed income derivative trading, and blockchain). 

In this episode, we discussed, among others:  

- What prompted UnionBank to become the first Philippine lender to launch its own stablecoin 

- PHX? - What is driving the fast adoption of crypto currencies and other digital assets in the Philippines? 

- What is the bank’s Blockchain Center of Excellence, how has it grown over time and what are the plans for the years ahead? 

- What is the position of national regulators regarding crypto in general, and how supportive they are with initiatives such as Union Bank’s? 

- What are some of the technology considerations and challenges when it comes to operating digital assets?  

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice.

For this episode of METACO Talks we were joined by Julian Sevillano, Managing Director and Head of Digital Assets at Promontory (an IBM Company). Julian leads Promontory’s client relations on the west coast – this includes developing strategies and solutions for their Fintech practice. He has spent the last 20 years experience in international payments and banking and building an impressive reputation as an advisor to early-stage companies and investment firms.  

In this episode, we discussed, among others:  

- Rewriting regulation 

- Regulation across the globe 

- Digital asset banks

- Governance and digital assets 

- Creating a new compliance programme and team 

- Regulating outside the mainstream  

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice.

For this episode of METACO Talks we were joined by Rehan Ahmed, Chief Product Officer and founding team member at Marketnode, a SGX & Temasek joint venture focused on digital assets. Within this role, he focuses on product development and the digitalisation of capital markets products including bonds, funds infrastructure and sustainable finance. As Head of Fixed Income Products & Digital Assets at SGX, Rehan oversaw the launch of a digital bond issuance platform that culminated in the Marketnode partnership.

In this episode, we discussed, among others:

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice.

For this episode of METACO Talks, we were joined by Izabella Kaminska, editor at FT Alphaville. Before that she worked as a producer at CNBC, a natural gas reporter at Platts and an associate editor of BP’s internal magazine. She has also worked as a reporter on English language business papers in Poland and Azerbaijan and was a Reuters graduate trainee in 2004.

In this episode, we discussed, among others:

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice.

For this episode of METACO Talks, we were joined by Rajeev TUMMALA, Director in Digital and Data team for HSBC’s Markets &Securities Services Business in Singapore. He is engaged with Financial Market infrastructure providers on implications of DLT for securities issuance and associated asset servicing.

Rajeev has worked with Broker Dealers and Securities Service Technology providers for over 20

In this episode, we discussed, among others:

Disclaimer: This is not investment advice.