Featured Regulatory Speaker
Haoxiang Zhu
Director, Division of Trading and Markets
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Haoxiang Zhu became the Director of the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets in December 2021.
Mr. Zhu is the Gordon Y. Billard Professor of Management and Finance and Associate Professor of Finance at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management. He also has served as a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, Finance Department Editor at Management Science, and Associate Editor at the Journal of Finance.
He previously served as an academic expert for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Bank for International Settlements, and was a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Working Group on Financial Markets.
Mr. Zhu earned a B.A. in mathematics and computer science from the University of Oxford and a Ph.D. in finance from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Featured Congressional Speakers
Rep. Bill Huizenga
Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Congressman Bill Huizenga represents Michigan’s 4th Congressional District. During the 118th Congress, Congressman Huizenga will serve as the Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee on the House Financial Services Committee. This Subcommittee will oversee all agencies, departments, programs and matters within the Financial Services Committee’s jurisdiction. Federal agencies under the purview of the Financial Service Committee include: The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Federal Reserve, the Department of Treasury, and the Government Sponsored Enterprises (Fannie & Freddie) to name a few. Congressman Huizenga will also serve as a member of the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets. This subcommittee spearheads efforts regarding all aspects of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) operations, activities, and initiatives to ensure that it fulfills its congressional mandate to protect investors, maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitate capital formation. Prior to serving Michigan’s 4th Congressional District, Congressman Huizenga represented Michigan’s Second Congressional District from January 2011 until January 2023.
Rep. Wiley Nickel
Member
House Financial Services Committee
Wiley Nickel is currently serving his first term in Congress as the U.S. Representative of the 13th District of North Carolina which includes Wake, Wayne, Johnston and Harnett Counties. Rep. Nickel lives in Cary with his wife, Caroline, and their two kids. Rep. Nickel earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Tulane University and later graduated from the Pepperdine University School of Law. Prior to being elected to Congress, Rep. Nickel served as a North Carolina State Senator, attorney, small business owner and worked for two White House administrations.
Rep. Dan Meuser
Member
House Financial Services Committee
Rep. Dan Meuser was sworn in as a member of the 116th Congress representing in 2019, Pennsylvania’s 9th Congressional District. Congressman Meuser currently serves on the House Financial Services and Small Business Committees. He also currently serves as the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital Access for the Small Business Committee. Congressman Meuser is also a member of the Problem Solvers Caucus, the Republican Study Committee, the Border Security Caucus, the Congressional Coal Caucus.
Congressman Meuser joined Pride Mobility Products in 1988, a small healthcare products manufacturer that he helped grow into the worldwide industry leader in power mobility products. Congressman Meuser served as President of Pride USA for seven years.
Congressman Meuser and his wife of 30 years, Shelley, have two daughters and a son, and live in Luzerne County, PA.
Additional Speakers
Lev Bagramian
Director of Capital Markets and Investor Protection Policy
House Financial Services Committee
Lev Bagramian is the Director of Capital Markets and Investor Protection Policy for Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA) on the House Financial Services Committee. In his role, he leads Ranking Member Waters’s work on the Subcommittee on Capital Markets. Mr. Bagramian also supports Ranking Member Waters on her policy and oversight work on digital assets and national security (particularly on CFIUS and outbound investments screening).
Prior to House Financial Services Committee, Mr. Bagramian was the Senior Securities Policy Advisor at Better Markets from 2016-2021, where he led the organization’s investor and consumer protection, and government watchdog programs. Prior to Better Markets, he was solely responsible for developing and executing Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s Congressional and Administration policy and strategic goals, while advising MSRB’s Board of Directors and Senior Leadership in fulfilling MSRB’s Congressional mandate of investor and issuer protection.
Between 2009 and 2013, Mr. Bagramian assisted two Senate Banking Committee Chairmen, Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Tim Johnson (D-SD), on securities and other policy matters. Notably, Mr. Bagramian assisted in the drafting and passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act’s securities and investor protection sections, and later the oversight of the implementation of dozens of new rules mandated by the Act.
Matt Billings
Vice President of Brokerage, President of Robinhood Financial & Robinhood Securities
Robinhood
Mr. Billings began his career on the exchange floors in Chicago more than 30 years ago. His long-standing and hands-on experience in the mechanics of trading, coupled with extensive industry engagement and regulatory insight, fuel Mr. Billings’ unique perspective on how the markets operate and impact traders and investors.
Mr. Billings recently joined Robinhood Markets as President of Robinhood Financial and Robinhood Securities. Prior to Robinhood, Mr. Billings worked on Two Sigma Securities’ Wholesale Market Making team. His areas of oversight included the trade/service desks as well as client relationships. Mr. Billings also focused on market structure, and in particular market data.
Prior to Two Sigma Securities, Mr. Billings led the team overseeing market data at TD Ameritrade. He managed all aspects of the firm’s market data strategy as well as contributed to the areas of government relations and market structure. Before TD Ameritrade, Mr. Billings managed Trading Services for Scottrade for over 10 years, accountable for several areas including order routing & execution quality and market data.
Ari Burstein
General Counsel and Chief Policy Officer
Imperative Execution
Ari Burstein is General Counsel and Chief Policy Officer of Imperative Execution, which he joined in July 2021, and where he is responsible for legal, regulatory and policy issues impacting Imperative Execution and the IntelligentCross ATS.
Prior to joining Imperative Execution, Mr. Burstein was President of Capital Markets Strategies, representing investment advisers, broker-dealers, hedge funds, securities exchanges and trade associations before regulators and policymakers, in the U.S. and globally, and providing advice on trading, best execution, and capital markets issues.
Prior to starting Capital Markets Strategies, Mr. Burstein was Head of US Regulatory Affairs for Kreab, a leading global consulting firm. He also was Senior Counsel for capital markets issues for the Investment Company Institute (ICI) and ICI Global, the global trade associations for the regulated fund industry. Prior to joining ICI, Mr. Burstein was an attorney in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management from 1997 to 1998 and the Division of Market Regulation from 1992 to 1997.
Jonathan Clark
Head of Equity Trading
Voya Investment Management
Jonathan Clark is head of equity trading at Voya Investment Management, overseeing a team of traders across multiple locations. Prior to joining Voya, Mr. Clark held leadership roles in the industry, including president of InvestX, CEO and president of Luminex Trading & Analytics, and co-head of equity trading at BlackRock. Previously, Mr. Clark was a portfolio manager and trader at MLC Investments and worked as a trading assistant at Bankers Trust. He began his career at Salomon Brothers. Mr. Clark earned a BS in finance from Lehigh University and holds FINRA Series 7, 24, 63, and 99 licenses. He is an active member of the National Organization of Investment Professionals and the Boston Securities Traders Association.
Mark Davies
Co-Founder and CEO
S3
Mark Davies is Co-Founder and CEO of S3, a full–service compliance and trade analytics software company that services many of the world’s largest financial institutions and exchanges. Mr. Davies is responsible for the company’s overall business strategy, as well as the daily operations required to deliver an exceptional experience to S3’s valued clients. S3 was founded in 2001 and discovered its niche after launching its first trading analytics product in 2004. Since then, Mr. Davies has shaped S3 to become the trusted industry standard for international regulatory reporting, 605 / 606 reporting, trade surveillance, CAT, TCA, and best execution analytics across multiple asset classes.
Mr. Davies is an industry thought leader in market structure and regulatory requirements, particularly the SEC’s Rule 606. He is Co-Chair of the FIF Rule 606 Committee and a member of several other industry groups, including the STA Listed Options Committee, the Security Traders Association of NY, the Dallas Security Traders Association, and SIFMA. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and three children.
Stephanie Dumont
Executive Vice President, Head of Market Regulation and Transparency Services
FINRA
Stephanie Dumont is Executive Vice President, Market Regulation and Transparency Services at FINRA. The department conducts extensive oversight of the securities markets through innovative, automated surveillance that assesses billions of market events each day in exchange-listed, unlisted and fixed income securities for compliance with FINRA rules and the federal securities laws. The department also operates facilities that bring transparency to the equity and fixed income markets and create the foundation of the regulatory audit trail, i.e., TRACE (the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine), the Trade Reporting Facilities, the Alternative Display Facility, and the OTC Reporting Facility.
Previously, she was Senior VP and Director of Capital Markets Policy in FINRA’s Office of General Counsel, where she led the policy and rulemaking team. Prior to that, Ms. Dumont was Director of Compliance for a broker-dealer compliance consulting firm. She started her career conducting investigations for NASD in insider trading, fraud, short selling and options. She earned a B.S. in Finance from University of Virginia; J.D. from University of Virginia School of Law; and LL.M. in Securities, with distinction, from Georgetown University Law Center.
Hope Jarkowski
General Counsel
NYSE
Hope Jarkowski is the General Counsel of NYSE Group, Inc. Prior to assuming the role of General Counsel in 2022, Ms. Jarkowski was Head of Equities for the NYSE with responsibility for strategy, product development and relationship management across the NYSE’s five equity exchanges, the TRF, Global OTC and NYSE Bonds. Prior to joining ICE in 2016 as the Co-Head of Government Affairs,
Ms. Jarkowski served in the government—first at the SEC as counsel to Commissioner Troy Paredes and later as senior securities counsel to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. Ms. Jarkowski practiced law at a Fortune 100 law firm and FINRA prior to her time in government service.
She holds an undergraduate degree in Biology from Emory University and a J.D. from Catholic University, Columbus School of Law. Ms. Jarkowski is active in the 100 Women in Finance Next Generation organization, which focuses on cultivating a talent pipeline for female leadership in the financial services industry.
Chuck Mack
Vice President, Head of Strategy, North American Trading Services
Nasdaq
Chuck Mack is Vice President, Head of Strategy for North American Trading Services. He’s responsible for strategic direction for the businesses in North America as well as public policy and capital allocation. Previous to his current role, Mr. Mack was head of US Equities for Nasdaq, where he was responsible for the management, operation and strategic direction for Nasdaq’s US Equities Transaction Business across three U.S. equities exchanges—Nasdaq, BX and PSX. In addition, he oversaw the exchange traded product (ETP) and over-the-counter Trade Reporting Facility (TRF) businesses.
Mr. Mack has over 20 years of experience within financial markets, most of which have been with Nasdaq. At Nasdaq, Mr. Mack has held various operational, management, and market structure roles across equities, options and futures. Mr. Mack began his career in the securities industry in trading and technology at TD Waterhouse Inc. and holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Business Administration from Rutgers University.
Mahlet Makonnen
Principal
Williams & Jensen
Michael Coscetta is the Head of Revenue at Paxos. He was most recently the Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer at Compass, a position he held since October 2018. There, he was responsible for creating sales, development and growth strategies for the organization while overseeing strategic partnerships, new development, marketplace products, and lending partnerships. He also led the strategic initiative around building the first end-to-end real estate transaction platform. Prior to Compass, Mr. Coscetta was Global Head of Sales at Square from early 2016 to end of 2018. In this role, he was responsible for scaling the domestic SMB sales teams into a complex global sales organization covering SMB, mid-market, and enterprise. He was also supervising the sales development, operations, strategy, and partnerships teams. Formerly, Mr. Coscetta was Vice President of Sales and Marketing at StructuredWeb from 2013 to 2016, a leading channel marketing automation software, servicing mostly enterprise customers in the tech industry. From June 2003 to August 2013, he was CEO and Founder of Dynasty Division Inc, helping tech companies build and grow their sales and marketing organizations. He holds a BA with honors in economics from Harvard University.
Joel Oswald
Principal
Williams & Jensen
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Oswald worked as a Legislative Assistant for Senator Michael B. Enzi (R-WY) covering a range of issues including financial services and foreign affairs. He then served as Professional Staff on the Senate Subcommittee on International Trade and Finance, Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, where he took a leading staff role in the effort to reauthorize the Export Administration Act (EAA). In 2001, Mr. Oswald served as Professional Staff to the Senate Subcommittee on Securities and Investment, Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, under the Chairmanship of Senator Michael B. Enzi.
Nicole Pursley
Director, Public Policy
Cboe Global Markets
Nicole Pursley is Director of Public Policy at Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe), where she advocates for and promotes Cboe’s public policy interests with legislators and regulators. She focuses on policy issues affecting the industry and the markets, including those related to derivatives, market structure, and digital assets. Ms. Pursley also covers policy matters impacting Cboe at the state level and represents Cboe in several industry associations and coalitions. She joined the firm over 10 years ago and previously served in an attorney role at Cboe. Ms. Pursley holds an undergraduate degree in Marketing from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law.
Jason Vedder
Director of Trading and Operations
Driehaus Capital Management
Jason Vedder joined Driehaus Capital Management in 2000. He is responsible for directing the firm’s domestic and international trading function, which includes supervising all traders. Additionally, he serves on the firm’s business management committee. Mr. Vedder received his B.A. in economics from Albion College in 1992. From 1992 to 1998 he was a floor specialist and position trader on the Chicago Stock Exchange, as well as a market maker on the NASDAQ. During this time, he was also a member of the Equity Capital Formation Task force for the US Department of the Treasury. From 1998 to 2000 he worked as a founding partner of Smart Bandwidth, LLC. During his tenure with Driehaus, Mr. Vedder has held positions of increasing responsibility prior to assuming his current role in 2010. He has participated as a panelist for a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) roundtable on thinly traded securities. Additionally, he remains an active participant in global equity market structure issues, including guest speaking at industry conferences and meeting with appointed SEC commissioners and elected government officials. Mr. Vedder earned his M.B.A. from DePaul University in 2003. Mr. Vedder has passed all 3 levels of the Chartered Market Technician program (CMT).
Kirsten Wegner
Chief Executive Officer
Modern Markets Initiative
Kirsten Wegner is a lawyer and thought leader on the role of innovation in financial technology in advancing retail investor savings. As Chief Executive Officer of Modern Markets Initiative (“MMI”), she has testified before Congress on “Robots on Wall Street” before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services Task Force on Artificial Intelligence. She is a frequent speaker at industry and university conferences on market automation and the future of trading technology. She has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, MSN, Business Insider, Bloomberg, Fox News, The Hill, Morning Consult, among other publications. Before joining MMI, Ms. Wegner served as Director, Government Relations for the International Securities Exchange, where she built the Washington office of the first all-electronic options exchange from the ground up. Previously, Ms. Wegner was a Senior Associate at Squire Patton Boggs LLP, where she worked with technology firms, startups, and innovators in building out their Washington strategies. Ms. Wegner holds a J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. degree from Columbia University.
Dan Zinn
General Counsel and Chief of Staff
OTC Markets Group
Daniel (Dan) Zinn is OTC Markets Group’s General Counsel, Chief of Staff and Corporate Secretary. He leads the Company’s regulatory and policy-making efforts and is often a speaker on over-the-counter equity markets. As Chief of Staff, Mr. Zinn also oversees the company’s Human Resources and Administrative functions. Prior to joining OTC Markets Group in 2010, he served as outside counsel to OTC Markets Group beginning in 2007, as a partner at The Nelson Law Firm LLC. Previously, Mr. Zinn worked in the corporate office of AIG. He received his JD from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he served as Associate Editor of the Cardozo Law Review and received his BS from Pennsylvania State University. He is a member of the American Bar Association.
Jim Toes
President & CEO, Security Traders Association
Jim Toes has served as President and CEO of Security Traders Association (STA) since 2011. In this role, Mr. Toes maintains STA’s relationship with U.S. regulators and congressional policymakers, advocating for the employees and customers of the financial markets. Under Mr. Toes’ leadership, STA has written more than 50 comment letters on a wide range of issues under the regulatory oversight of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Treasury, Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), FINRA, and the Senate and House Financial Services Committees. In addition, Mr. Toes has penned close to 100 articles on current events and human interest stories that resonate well with individual members and align with STA’s core principles.
Mr. Toes has nearly 35 years of experience in the securities business, particularly within equity and options sales, trading, and clearing. Prior to joining STA, Mr. Toes was a Managing Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch for 18 years, where he held various management positions, interacting with a broad range of clients including institutional and middle market asset managers, broker-dealers, and retail investors. Over the course of his career, Mr. Toes has also used his breadth of market structure knowledge to serve on various best execution and market structure committees and has testified before Congress. As a past President of the Security Traders Association of New York and a former Governor and Secretary of STA, Mr. Toes has a deep understanding of the STA organization and the vital role its 24 Affiliate organizations in North America play in the success and mission of the Association.