The geopolitics of payment systems and digital assets

Ulrich Bindseil

Director General, Market Infrastructures and Payments

European Central Bank (2019-25)

Sir Jon Cunliffe

Deputy Governor

Bank of England (2013-23)

Sir Jon Cunliffe is a former British central banker, diplomat and government official.

He served from 2013 to 2023 as Deputy Governor for Financial Stability at the Bank of England, responsible for: financial stability; the regulation and supervision of payments systems, clearing houses and central securities depositories; the Bank’s international work; and, until 2020, the Bank’s role as the U.K. resolution authority. He led the Bank’s work on the regulation of stablecoins and on a potential U.K. central bank digital currency.

As Deputy Governor he was deputy Chair of Financial Policy Committee, a voting member of the Monetary Policy Committee, and a member of the Prudential Regulation Committee that oversees the regulation and supervision of banks and insurance firms in the U.K.

Prior to his role at the Bank of England, Sir Jon served in various government official roles including as the U.K. Permanent Representative to the European Union, advisor on Europe and international financial issues to two British Prime Ministers, and Second Permanent Secretary to His Majesty’s Treasury.

Sir Jon has held a number of international central bank roles: most recently as Chair of the Bank for International Settlements Committee on Payments and Financial Market Infrastructure, member of the Financial Stability Board and chair of its Cross Border Payments Committee; and the Bank of England’s deputy to the G20. Prior to joining the Bank, Sir Jon served in a number of international government roles including as the U.K. Prime Minister’s representative (‘Sherpa’) to the G7 and G20 leaders’ groups and previously, as the U.K. Treasury deputy to the G7 and G20 ministerial groups.

In his earlier career, Sir John served in a range of positions at His Majesty’s Treasury and at the Departments of Transport and Environment.

Sir Jon has Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in English Literature and Language from the University of Manchester and also studied and taught at the University of Western Ontario, Canada. He is married with two grown daughters.

Philip Middleton

Deputy Chairman

OMFIF

Philip Middleton is Deputy Chairman at OMFIF. He is a Director of Rifle House Capital Ltd and a Commissioner at the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, the regulatory body for the finance sector in the Bailiwick of Guernsey. He was formerly a senior Partner and Head of Central Banking at professional services firm EY, where he specialised in strategy consulting and services to governments and other public institutions across Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa.

He has also held several roles within KPMG, including Partner and European Head of Financial Services Strategy Consulting. He holds degrees in History and Modern Languages from The Queen’s College, Oxford University, and an MBA from INSEAD.

Geoffrey Yu

Senior Strategist for EMEA Markets

BNY