XXVI Meeting of the Central Bank Researchers Network

Serafín Martínez-Jaramillo
Senior Financial Researcher Banco de México
Advisor, Center for Latin American Monetary Studies

Serafin Martinez-Jaramillo is a senior financial researcher at the Financial Stability General Directorate at Banco de México and currently he is an adviser at the CEMLA. His research interests include: financial stability, systemic risk, financial networks, bankruptcy prediction, genetic programming, multiplex networks and machine learning. Serafin has published book chapters, encyclopedia entries and more than 30 papers in several journals like IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation, Journal of Financial Stability, Neurocomputing, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Computational Management Science, Journal of Network Theory in Finance and some more. Additionally, he has co-edited two books, one special issue at the journal Complexity, two at the Journal of Financial Markets Infrastructures and two at the Journal of Financial Stability. Serafin holds a PhD in Computational Finance from the University of Essex, UK and he is member of the editorial board of the Latin American Journal of Central Banking, the Journal of Financial Stability, the Journal of Network Theory in Finance and the Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination.

Kimmo Soramäki
Founder and CEO
Financial Network Analytics

Kimmo Soramäki is the Founder and CEO of Financial Network Analytics (FNA) and the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Network Theory in Finance.
Kimmo started his career as an economist at the Bank of Finland where in 1997, he developed the first simulator for interbank payment systems. In 2004, while at the research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, he was among the first to apply methods from network theory to improve our understanding of financial interconnectedness. During the financial crisis of 2007-2008, Kimmo advised several central banks, including the Bank of England and European Central Bank, in modeling interconnections and systemic risk. This work led him to found FNA in 2013 to solve important issues around financial risk and for exploring the complex financial networks that play a continually larger role in the world around us.
Kimmo holds a Doctor of Science in Operations Research and a Master of Science in Economics (Finance), both from Aalto University in Helsink.

Jorge Cruz López
Director of Financial Engineering and Research, Financial Network Analytics Ltd. Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Western University
Member of the Advisory Board, New York Institute of Finance

Jorge is the Director of Financial Engineering and Research at FNA. He is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Western Ontario and a member of the Advisory Board of the New York Institute of Finance.
At FNA, Jorge oversees the R&D Department and leads a team of data scientists in the development of analytical models, visualizations, and algorithms that facilitate the management and supervision of financial institutions. He is also responsible for establishing a research program to engage the academic and regulatory communities.
Jorge joined FNA in 2019 after spending eight years at the Bank of Canada, where he worked as a Senior Economist and as a Principal Researcher. There, he conducted research and oversaw policy work in the areas of financial market infrastructures (FMIs), asset pricing, financial stability, and risk management. He also participated in multiple working groups relating to the regulation of derivatives markets and the modernization of payment systems, in addition to serving as the Associate Editor of the Bank of Canada Financial System Review.
Jorge’s research interests include financial asset pricing, financial risk management, and FMIs. He has published in academic and practitioner journals, served in editorial boards, and spoken at several conferences, universities, and policy institutions, including the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and various central banks. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HEC Paris and at Queensland University of Technology, and has held teaching positions in the business schools of Carleton University, the University of Ottawa and Simon Fraser University, where he obtained a PhD in Finance in 2014.

Ramunas Baravykas
Director of Statistics, Bank of Lithuania
•Digitalisation •Data Governance •Business Strategy •Leadership

Ivana Ruffini
Managing Director of Advanced Analytics, Financial Network Analytics, Ltd.

At FNA, Ivana serves as a Subject Matter Expert and manages a team of data scientists who develop analytic solutions for FNA clients.
Prior to joining FNA in 2019, Ivana spent nine years at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, where she utilized network theory to improve the understanding of the propagation of risk in the global financial system. She also analysed the impact and efficacy of regulations and customer protections in derivatives markets and helped inform policymakers on how changes in payment systems and financial market infrastructures may impact various participants in financial markets.
Ivana was also active in the alternative investment space as a private equity investment professional, a derivatives trader, and a credit risk specialist. Her prior employers include Baird Capital Partners, One Equity Partners, and JPMorgan.
Ivana graduated with honors from Denison University and did her graduate studies at Northwestern University. In addition to incorporating network theory in modeling financial markets, her research interests include the development of predictive analytics that utilizes machine learning and linking agent-based and Bayesian modeling.

Katerina Rigana
Data Scientist and Research Analyst at FNA and PhD candidate at the Swiss Finance Institute (SFI).

Patrick McCarty
Georgetown University
Senior Policy and Regulatory Advisor

Mr. McCarty is an experienced lawyer with deep policy, legislative, and regulatory experience. Mr. McCarty is the Founder of McCarty Financial, LLC, a boutique financial services consulting firm focused on futures, swaps and digital asset issues. Mr. McCarty has held multiple senior financial services executive positions including: Managing Director, US Government Relations for ICAP North America (2011-2016); Senior Professional Staff, Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee - primary draftsman of the Title VII Swaps provisions Dodd Frank Act (2010-11); Counsel - Chairman’s Office at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (2009); General Counsel for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (2002 to 2005); General Counsel of the Managed Funds Association (2000-2002); Professional Staff -House Banking Committee during passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (1997-2000); US Banking Regulator - Senior Counsel – FDIC, RTC, OTS and FHLBB (1988 – 2000).
Mr. McCarty teaches at both Georgetown University Law Center (Cryptocurrencies and ICO Seminar since 2018) and Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law (Derivatives Seminar since 2011). He holds a law degree from Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law (1986) and received a B.A. in economics from University of Virginia (1980).

Scott Hendry
Bank of Canada

Scott Hendry was appointed Senior Special Director, Financial Technology (FinTech) in the Banking and Payments Department (BAP) in June 2016. In this role, he oversees the Bank’s efforts to monitor and research developments and implications of new technologies affecting the financial sector. He previously held the role of Director of Research for the Funds Management and Banking Department (FBD) and, before that, for the Financial Markets Department (FMD).
His personal research has focused on electronic money, price discovery in the Canadian government bond market, and central bank communication. He has a PhD in Economics from the University of Western Ontario.

Per Nymand-Andersen
European Central Bank

Per Nymand-Andersen is an adviser to senior management at the European Central Bank. Over the past 20 years of central banking, he has developed his expertise in European banking and financial markets, fintech, data science, securities settlement systems, statistics, digital communication and management. Nymand-Andersen is the key editor of the ECB Working Paper Series and a lecturer on central banking policies and transparency at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt. Prior to joining the ECB, he provided market research consultancy services for the European Commission, Luxembourg. Nymand-Andersen has an MBA in economics and management science from Copenhagen Business School and a Fintech certificate from Harvard University. He is a frequent speaker at international events and the author of several publications and articles regarding financial markets, data science, communication and statistics.

Sally Sfeir-Tait
RegulAltion

Sally Sfeir-Tait is the CEO of RegulAItion, a knowledge-tech company building technology infrastructure for privacy preserving enterprise data analytics, management and collaboration.
As an ex-general counsel, head of compliance, partner at a global law firm and regulator, Sally has a unique perspective on the interconnected worlds of regulation and technology. She has worked on the core ideas that underpin the operational infrastructure for the new economy.

Manit Sahib
Head of Penetration Testing, Bank of England

Manit Sahib is the Head of Penetration Testing at the Bank of England. He is an Offensive Security (OSCP) and CREST certified tester with NCSC’s CHECK status. Previously a security consultant at PwC, he has obtained a vast amount of technical experience from a variety of global organisations. Now, leading BoE’s offensive team to plug the gaps in a collaborative approach.

Olivier Kraft
Data Analyst, FNA

Olivier Kraft joined FNA in 2021 while completing his MSc in Computational Statistics and Machine Learning at University College London.
Prior to joining FNA, Olivier worked on financial crime mitigation in a range of legal and policy roles. Until September 2020, he was part of HSBC’s Financial Crime Threat Mitigation (FCTM) team, identifying and assessing financial crime threats to the Bank and its customers.
Olivier was previously with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Secretariat, where he conducted reviews of countries' anti-money laundering/counter-terrorist financing efforts. He also worked on international anti-corruption matters with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and with the World Bank Group.
Olivier is an Associate Fellow with the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). His areas of research include: virtual currencies, new payment methods, convergence of financial and cybercrime, international and national AML policies.