40+ SPEAKERS
representatives from Financial Industry, Advisory, Tax Authorities and Tax Tech
230+ PARTICIPANTS
from the Financial Services Industry
100% Networking
in an exclusive and unique format with an opportunity to meet with Tax Leaders
About the event
Be part of the leading event exclusively dedicated to withholding tax on cross-border investments
Designed for tax leaders and finance professionals seeking to stay informed about regulatory changes and evolving requirements in withholding tax and digitalization.
With its wide range of topics from diverse perspectives, the Global Withholding Tax Summit offers a perfect blend of latest regulatory insights, high-caliber expert sessions, and compelling use cases for digitalization in withholding tax processes
Key Topics
DigitaliZation in tax authorities
Withholding tax processing on cross border investments
Automation of Tax operations processes
Use Cases for withholding tax recovery
Current changes in securities taxation
EU FASTER Directive
Tax considerations in Digital Assets
Impact of Artificial Intelligence in Tax services
Tax Governance, Tax risk management & Talent
and many more
Who should attend?
Tax Product and Tax Operations leaders in Financial Services
Tax Authorities and regulators
Tax Advisors
Tax tech and fintechs
Financial institutions and Banks
Asset Managers
Custodians / DEPOSITORY
Wealth Management and Family offices
Agenda
Time
Session
Speaker
08.30 - 09.00
Registration with Coffee and Tea
09.00 - 09.15
Welcome
Alexander Lerch, RAQUEST
Mariano Giralt, RAQUEST
09.15 - 09.45
Keynote
Katja Pussila, EU Commission TAXUD
09.45 - 10.15
Geopolitics, Macro, and Innovation
How geopolitical shifts, macroeconomic policies, and emerging innovation trends are impacting global withholding tax landscapes.
Suzi Evans, Alpine Edge Consulting
Peter Grant, KPMG
Len Lipton, GlobeTax
Dirk Loscher, Clearstream
Moderator: Alexander Lerch, RAQUEST
10.15 - 10.45
Views from the Top: Global Head of Tax (I)
Senior tax leaders will share strategic priorities, key areas of focus and vision.
Pamela Gordon, JP Morgan
Mark Huyan, State Street
Liam Stanbridge, BNY
Eric Walters, HSBC
Moderator: Mariano Giralt, RAQUEST
10.45 - 11.15
Coffee Break
11.15 - 12.15
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
(1) The Tax World before FASTER: MiKaDiv
Getting ready for MiKaDiv: operational impact and implementation tips.
(2) Data and AI
Use cases where the power of Data and AI can provide value for operational taxes in financial institutions.
(3) Latest Trends on FATCA and CRS
Overview of evolving FATCA and CRS developments, enforcement trends, and compliance best practices.
(4) Key Considerations in the Tax Function - Governance, Risk Management & Talent
Insights and guidance on strengthening governance, managing tax risks and building the talent and skills needed for modern tax teams.
Sebastian André, Clearstream
Silvana Grossi, Northern Trust
Ulrich Vogl, RAQUEST
Justin Walker, JP Morgan
Moderator: Roman v. d. Höh, RAQUEST
Peter Grant, KPMG
David Wren, KPMG
William Sheridan, S&P Global
Krishna Bhagat, Revolut
Gabriela Martins, 17Capital
David Smith, HMRC
Moderator: Neiha Perera, WTS Hansuke
James Clarke, NatWest
Caroline Ashkboos, NBC
Pilar Espejo, BNY
Moderator: Danielle Clark, EY
12.15 - 12.45
Key Trends on Withholding Tax Processing
Increased trends on withholding tax, relief at source, quick refunds and reclaims, reporting and e-filing functionalities.
Arnaud Depelsenaire, Euroclear
Michael Dobson, BBH
Mariangela Fumagalli, BNP Paribas
Liam Ilić, WTax
Moderator: Roman v. d. Höh, RAQUEST
12.45 - 13.00
Meet the Tax Legend (I)
A conversation with an industry “Tax Legend”, sharing career insights, defining moments and advice for tax professionals.
Chris Mitchell, Industry Representative
13.00 - 14.00
Lunch Break
14.00 - 14.45
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
(1) FASTER Overview: The new Era of Withholding Tax Processing
Overview to FASTER, drivers, benefits and the transformational impact on withholding tax operations.
(2) FASTER for Asset Managers and Non-EU Entities
Examination of FASTER use cases for asset managers and non-EU entities.
(3) FASTER for Custodians & CSDs
Focused session on how custodians and central securities depositories can implement FASTER to optimize withholding tax handling and reconciliation.
(4) Digital Assets Tax
Deep dive into tax treatment of digital assets and the implications of CARF, DAC8 and other US/EU regulatory regimes on reporting and compliance.
Myriam Aswad, Deloitte
Marilène Marques, Spuerkeess
Katja Pussila, EU Commission
Ulrich Vogl, RAQUEST
Moderator: Lourdes Bustos, RAQUEST Advisory Board, PMI, former EU Commission
Richard Austin, BlackRock
Antonio Frade Correia, EFAMA
Robert Meindersma, Triple Tax
Katherine Worraker, Deloitte
Moderator: Roman v. d. Höh, RAQUEST
Andrew Chaloner, HSBC
Nicolas Godfrey, Clearstream
Moderator: Reinhart Devisscher, EY
Roger Exwood, Pictet
Amy Harkins, Broadridge
Leila Majed, Société Générale
Moderator: Erin Fennimore, Taxbit
14.45 - 15.15
Views from the Top: Global Head of Tax (II)
Senior tax leaders will share strategic priorities, key areas of focus and vision.
Nicolas Godfrey, Clearstream
Steve Hall, Northern Trust
Paul Radcliffe, Citi
Stephen Vescio, BBH
Moderator: Mariano Giralt, RAQUEST
15.15 - 15.30
Meet the Tax Legend (II)
A conversation with an industry “Tax Legend”, sharing career insights, defining moments and advice for tax professionals.
Ali Kazimi, Industry Representative
15.30 - 16.00
Coffee Break
16.00 - 16.45
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
(1) Key Priorities from Industry Associations
Industry association tax leaders outline collective priorities, advocacy agendas and collaborative initiatives affecting withholding tax policy.
(2) Digital Tax Revolution
Examination of digital transformation across tax functions, real-time reporting and automated compliance frameworks.
(3) Key Tax and Regulatory Dynamics for Portfolio Investments from Sovereign Wealth Funds
Analysis of tax and regulatory considerations shaping sovereign wealth fund portfolio strategies and cross-border investment structures.
(4) MiKaDiv Showcase
How digitalization and technology can help in MiKaDiv compliance: Overview of functionalities and capabilities.
Marja Blomqvist, Finance Finland
Vilma Domenicucci, ALFI
Antonio Frade Correia, EFAMA
Mark Huyan, representing AGC
Leila Majed, representing EBF
Ian Sandles, AFME
Moderator: Chris Hewitt, The IA
Vasanth Barathi, BNY
Jonathan Lawford, Citi
Robin Silverthorne, GTN Group
Moderator: Roman v. d. Höh, RAQUEST
Ali Kazimi, WTS Hansuke
Roy Zimmerhansl, WTS Hansuke
Ulrich Vogl, RAQUEST
16.45 - 17.00
5 Seconds Magic Wand
Yes! We can change the Tax World with the Magic Wand!
Mariano Giralt, RAQUEST
17.00 - 17.15
Wrap up
Alexander Lerch, RAQUEST
Mariano Giralt, RAQUEST
17.15 - 20.00
Networking and Evening Aperitifs
Time
Session
Speaker
08.30 - 09.00
Registration with Coffee and Tea
09.00 - 09.15
Welcome
Alexander Lerch, RAQUEST
Mariano Giralt, RAQUEST
09.15 - 09.45
Keynote
Katja Pussila, EU Commission TAXUD
09.45 - 10.15
Geopolitics, Macro, and Innovation
Suzi Evans, Alpine Edge Consulting
Peter Grant, KPMG
Len Lipton, GlobeTax
Dirk Loscher, Clearstream
Moderator: Alexander Lerch, RAQUEST
10.15 - 10.45
Views from the Top: Global Head of Tax (I)
Pamela Gordon, J.P. Morgan
Mark Huyan, State Street
Liam Stanbridge, BNY
Eric Walters, HSBC
Moderator: Mariano Giralt, RAQUEST
10.45 - 11.15
Coffee Break
11.15 - 12.15
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
(1) The tax world before FASTER: MiKaDiv
Sebastian André, Clearstream
Justin Walker, J.P. Morgan
Ulrich Vogl, RAQUEST
Silvana Grossi, Northern Trust
Moderator: Roman v. d. Höh, RAQUEST
(2) Data and AI
Peter Grant, KPMG
David Wren, KPMG
William Sheridan, S&P Global
(3) Latest trends on FATCA and CRS
Krishna Bhagat, Revolut
Gabriela Martins, 17Capital
David Smith, HMRC
Moderator: Neiha Perera, WTS Hansuke
(4) Key considerations in the Tax Function - Governance, Risk Management & Talent
James Clarke, NatWest
Caroline Ashkboos, NBC
Pilar Espejo, BNY
Moderator: Danielle Clark, EY
12.15 - 12.45
Key Trends on Withholding Tax Processing
Arnaud Depelsenaire, Euroclear
Michael Dobson, BBH
Mariangela Fumagalli, BNP Paribas
Liam Ilić, WTax
Moderator: Roman v. d. Höh, RAQUEST
12.45 - 13.00
Meet the Tax Legend (I)
Chris Mitchell, Industry Representative
13.00 - 14.00
Lunch Break
14.00 - 14.45
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
(1) FASTER Overview: The new era of withholding tax processing
Katja Pussila, EU Commission
Myriam Aswad, Deloitte
Marilène Marques, Spuerkeess
Ulrich Vogl, RAQUEST
Moderator: Lourdes Bustos, RAQUEST Board Advisor, PMI, former member EU Commission
(2) FASTER for Asset Managers and Non EU Entities
Richard Austin, BlackRock
Antonio Frade Correia, EFAMA
Robert Meindersma, Triple Tax
Katherine Worraker, Deloitte
Moderator: Roman v. d. Höh, RAQUEST
(3) FASTER for Custodians & CSDs
Andrew Chaloner, HSBC
Nicolas Godfrey, Clearstream
Moderator: Reinhart Devisscher, EY
(4) Digital Assets Tax
Roger Exwood, Pictet
Amy Harkins, Broadridge
Leila Majed, Société Générale
Moderator: Erin Fennimore, Taxbit
14.45 - 15.15
Views from the Top: Global Head of Tax (II)
Nicolas Godfrey, Clearstream
Steve Hall, Northern Trust
Paul Radcliffe, Citi
Stephen Vescio, BBH
Moderator: Mariano Giralt, RAQUEST
15.15 - 15.30
Meet the Tax Legend (II)
Ali Kazimi, Industry Representative
15.30 - 16.00
Coffee Break
16.00 - 16.45
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
(1) Key Priorities from Industry Associations
Marja Blomqvist, Finance Finland
Vilma Domenicucci, ALFI
Antonio Frade Correia, EFAMA
Mark Huyan, representing AGC
Leila Majed, representing EBF
Ian Sandles, AFME
Moderator: Chris Hewitt, The IA
(2) Digital Tax Revolution
Vasanth Barathi, BNY
Jonathan Lawford, Citi
Robin Silverthorne, GTN Group
Moderator: Roman v. d. Höh, RAQUEST
(3) Key tax and regulatory dynamics for portfolio investments from Sovereign Wealth Funds
Ali Kazimi, WTS Hansuke
Roy Zimmerhansl, WTS Hansuke
(4) MiKaDiv Showcase
Ulrich Vogl, RAQUEST
16.45 - 17.00
5 Seconds Magic Wand
Mariano Giralt, RAQUEST
17.00 - 17.15
Wrap up
Alexander Lerch, RAQUEST
Mariano Giralt, RAQUEST
17.15 - 20.00
Networking and Evening Aperitifs
Join Global Withholding Tax Summit 2026
Know-how and Best Practices
Stay Up-to-Date on latest developments in the Withholding Tax Universe. Gain valuable insights and join deep-dives from industry leaders.
Networking
Seize the chance to connect with experts from financial services and tax authorities. Meet our Tax Leaders and Tax Legends and forge meaningful discussions and exchange during networking breaks or at the evening aperitif.
Speakers
Caroline Ashkboos
Director, Optimization & Regulatory, National Bank of Canada
Caroline has been in the tax industry for 20 years, with a main focus on withholding tax and custodial subject matters. She has a strong passion for international tax matters, with a specific focus on tax and product changes, advocacy, tax operations and tax risk. Caroline debuted her career in tax spending over 12 years in Paris, first with KPMG Paris for a year, before moving into the banking sector, where she held Global Operational Management and Relationship Management roles at BNP Paribas Paris. Upon her return to the UK, Caroline worked for BNY Mellon’s Custody Tax Product team as Global Head of Tax Research, and managed strategic operational and risk projects. She also spent two years as Global Head of Custodian Products at WTax, before moving to National Bank of Canada where her focus remains on international tax matters for the Bank.
Myriam Aswad
Partner Financial Services Industry (FSI) Tax, Deloitte
Myriam recently joined Deloitte Luxembourg as a Partner within the Financial Services Industry (FSI) Tax practice. She brings over 20 years of experience in custody tax, banking, and asset servicing, gained through senior leadership roles at major global custodian banks and asset servicers. This deep industry background gives Myriam a first-hand understanding of the operational realities faced by custodians, depositaries, and asset servicers from tax processes to platform scalability and technology constraints. It is this inside-out perspective that now enables her to design pragmatic, implementable solutions that reflect how tax truly intersects with operations, technology, and client expectations. Myriam is a recognized expert on EU tax regulatory developments, notably the FASTER regulation. An active contributor to industry forums including the EU Commission, ALFI, and ABBL, she helps financial institutions assess the operational and strategic impact of evolving withholding tax frameworks and turn regulatory change into competitive advantage.
Sebastian André
Sebastian Andre is Tax Product Manager in the Product Management and Development department of Clearstream Europe AG. His focus is primarily on the German capital gains tax, MiKaDiv reporting and the EU FASTER Directive. Sebastian Andre has 14 years of experience in taxation in Germany and Luxembourg and holds a degree in business administration. Prior to joining Clearstream, Sebastian Andre worked as an Operations Specialist at DWS and as a Tax Senior at EY Luxembourg.
Vasanth Barathi
Vasanth Barathi is a seasoned technical leader with over 19 years of industry experience, including the last 16 years at BNY focused on Corporate Actions and Tax processing.
He specializes in the full tax lifecycle, encompassing withholding tax determination and relief-at-source, tax documentation and validation, complex tax reclaims, sub-custodian and tax authority integrations, and regulatory reporting.
Krishna Bhagat
Senior Operational Tax Manager, Revolut
Krishna is a Senior Operational Tax Manager at Revolut, with a strong background in Operational Tax. She began her career at Deloitte, where she spent seven years advising a wide range of financial institutions, including banks, asset managers, and wealth managers, on complex tax and regulatory matters. Following her time in consulting, Krishna moved into industry, gaining hands-on experience within a wealth management firm before joining Revolut. Throughout her career, she has developed strong expertise in FATCA, CRS, QI, ISA, and withholding tax regimes, supporting organisations in navigating compliance and operational challenges in an evolving global tax landscape.
Maria Blomqvist
Head of Tax Regulation, Finance Finland
Marja Blomqvist is Head of Tax Regulation at Finance Finland. In her role, she is responsible for all tax-related issues affecting the financial sector as well as the Tax Committee of Finance Finland. She has 30 years of experience in tax law from Big-4 as well as from inhouse positions. She is a member of the tax committees of EBF, Insurance Europe, EFAMA and ICC Finland. At the moment she is currently working actively on the FASTER Directive in close cooperation with their Nordic colleagues.
Lourdes Bustos
RAQUEST Board Advisor, Head of Fiscal Affairs, PMI & former member of EU Commission TAXUD
Lourdes is a Lawyer and economist specialized in international taxation. She offers extensive experience in direct and indirect tax issues and public affairs through more than 15 years working as policy maker in the European Commission and the Spanish Ministry of Finance and as tax auditor within the Spanish Tax Agency. Within the Spanish administration, Lourdes worked in the International Tax Office dealing with transfer pricing issues and as head of financial advisory in the cabinet of the Secretary of State for Finance. She worked for the European Commission as a policy officer in the direct taxation and administrative cooperation Unit where she has had active participation in recent EU legislative tax initiatives. In 2025 she joined the Spanish International Tax Office as a Tax Auditor.
Richard Austin
Director – EMEA Tax Product, BlackRock
Richard Austin is a seasoned professional with over 25 years tax experience within the financial services industry. Having previously worked at Euroclear UK & Ireland and RBC Dexia; Richard’s current role is the EMEA Portfolio Tax lead at BlackRock, having served there for the last 13 years. In his current role, he oversees portfolio level tax entitlement and compliance for all EMEA domiciled BLK Funds. Prior to this, Richard’s experience was within the Operational Taxes space, with focus on the delivery of Operational Tax Services at a Central Securities Depositary, and then at a Custodian Bank. He is an active participant in various tax industry group forums, whether that was via the AGC or ICTLG whilst at RBC Dexia, or through EFAMA and the IA in his current role at BlackRock.
Andrew Chaloner
Securities Services Tax Product, HSBC Bank
Responsible for Tax Product Delivery within HSBC Global Custody, I have 20 years experience in operational taxes across the custody and broker dealer environment. Early part of my career was spent working in tax operations teams, before moving into the Product space where I now reside with a large focus on upcoming regulatory withholding tax changes.
James Clarke
Head of ATE & ABC Financial Crime Risk, NatWest
James has worked for large international banks for the last 25 years including JPMorgan and BNY in a broad range of roles across Tax and Financial Crimes Compliance. This has included running global and regional programs, tax product design, operations, risk management, regulatory mapping, policy & procedure design and ownership, along with industry level work for UK Finance, AMLP, JMLIT, HMRC Counter Fraud Banking Forum, HMRC, UK Treasury, AFME and the Wolfsberg Group. James specialises in Anti-Tax Evasion, Anti-Bribery & Corruption, Tax and Financial Crime Risk Management, along with extensive experience in withholding taxes. James has a Master of Laws degree (LMM); specialising in Financial Regulation & Compliance, the ATT (Association of Taxation Technicians) qualification and a bachelors degree in Economics.
Arnaud Depelsenaire
Head of Tax Product Management, Euroclear
Arnaud is heading the Tax Product Management team in Euroclear supporting the delivery and the development of Tax services for Euroclear Bank and ESES CSDs. He joined Euroclear in 2006 and had various roles within Asset Servicing operations before transitioning to the Product Management division in 2013. Initially focused on the execution and delivery of Euroclear Tax strategy, Arnaud now focuses on adapting the strategy to the numerous upcoming regulatory frameworks and technological changes.
Reinhart Devisscher
Partner Operational Tax, EY UK LLP
Reinhart is a partner at EY UK LLP and is leading the operational tax service offering for asset servicers and custodians. He works at the intersection of banking, capital markets and wealth & asset management and is co-leading the firm’s global FASTER offering.
Michael Dobson
Global Tax Services – Investor Services, Brown Brothers Harriman Investor Services Ltd.
With over 26 years of taxation experience in professional services firms (corporate and personal tax) and last 16 years in Custody Tax Product across three organisations, Michael is based in London with BBH as a VP in Global Tax Services in the Product management team in a client facing role.
Vilma Domenicucci
Head of Tax, Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI)
Vilma is Head of Tax at the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI), the Luxembourg trade association and leads advocacy, industry advice and representation on tax topics. Prior to joining ALFI, Vilma was a Senior Manager at Deloitte Luxembourg in the firm’s tax department, specialising in financial services, with a particular focus on investment funds and the asset management industry. After several years as Vice-Chair, Vilma has been Chair of the Standing Committee on Tax and Accounting (TASC) of the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) since 2022.
Pilar Espejo
Director, Head of Tax and Policy Assurance, Global Tax Product, BNY
Pilar joined BNY in 2015 and heads the Tax and Policy Assurance team within Global Tax Product. Pilar’s team is responsible for providing independent risk and policy direction in respect of custody product and tax changes to BNY. Before joining BNY, Pilar worked for over 13 years as an International Tax specialist with EY in London and KPMG in London and Australia. Prior to this, she worked as a Tax and M&A lawyer with Andersen in Lima, Peru. Pilar holds a Masters in Law (LLM) from the London School of Economics and a degree in Law and Political Sciences from the University of Lima (Peru). She is also a former chair of the Tax Issues Committee at the Association of Global Custodians (AGC) and the Treaty & Withholding Tax Working Group at The Investment Association, and has been an active member of other industry groups including AFME.
Suzi Evans
Managing Director, Alpine Edge Consulting
Suzi is a renowned expert in the field of international stamp duties and financial transaction taxes as they apply to the financial services industry. Suzi supports institutional investors and both sides of the industry to educate, navigate and optimise these transfer taxes throughout the investment lifecycle. With a deep interest in advancing tax technology, Suzi has developed fund tax technology solutions to support the evolving target tax operating model. As an active member of the UK Chartered Institute of Tax Advisors (CIOT), Suzi is a global conference speaker, published author and a member of both the UK Government’s Stamp Taxes on Shares Working Group and CIOT Stamp Tax Practitioners Group.
Roger Exwood
Senior Investment Tax Advisory Manager, Pictet Asset Management Ltd
Roger has over 30 years of experience in the field of asset management taxation, during this time working for Deutsche, UBS, Barclays Global Investors, BlackRock and Pictet. His specialism, for the last 20 of those 30 years, has been on the product taxation of both public and private assets. He has held regional responsibility for product taxes in Asia, Australia and Latin America as well as in Europe, whilst also having significant exposure to US tax issues. Roger has throughout had a strong involvement in public policy work, as an advocate for the industry. This has included roles as Chair of the EFAMA Tax and Accounting Standing Committee, as Chair of the Investment Association Tax Committee, and work with other trade bodies. He has experience of working on industry questions with the governments of the UK, the US, Germany, Switzerland, India as well as the EU and OECD. He has had particular involvement in the evolution of FATCA, has taken a strong interest in FASTER since inception and has been involved over a long period with EFAMA’s advocacy on withholding taxes in Europe. He is currently the Chair of the recently launched Investment Association Tax Aspects of Tokenisation working group.
Erin Fennimore
Chief Customer & Compliance Officer, Taxbit
Erin Fennimore brings over 10 years of expertise and experience in information reporting and withholding. Prior to joining Taxbit, she led the Global Tax Reporting group at Moss Adams, where she focused on the private equity and venture capital sector and advised multinational corporations and financial institutions on compliance with information reporting and withholding regulations.
Erin also worked at IHS Markit (formerly Compliance Technologies International), designing, testing, and implementing tax software solutions for tax due diligence, withholding, and information reporting. At Taxbit, Erin will lead the expansion of tax software solutions in the emerging, ever-changing crypto space, both domestically and abroad.
Antonio Frade Correia
Senior Tax Advisor, EFAMA
António joined EFAMA in November 2018 and is responsible for coordinating the work of EFAMA’s Taxation and Accounting Standing Committee, as well as the three underlying Task Forces (Accounting TF, VAT TF, Blockchain for Taxes TF) where EFAMA members discuss tax related topics with relevance for the European asset management industry. António has comprehensive tax experience, serving multinational companies on issues regarding taxation rules applicable in investments in Portugal and in Portuguese-speaking countries. Before joining EFAMA, he worked as a member of the Business Tax Advisory (BTA) team of Ernst & Young Portugal. From 2004 to 2016 he worked as a qualified Lawyer, advising both individuals and companies (including public entities) in Tax and Customs Law, Public Law (Public Procurement) in Portugal and Portuguese-speaking countries.
Mariangela Fumagalli
Head of Asset Servicing Global Product and Regulatory Solutions, BNP Paribas’ Securities Services
Mari Fumagalli is the Head of Asset Servicing Global Product and Regulatory Solutions at BNP Paribas’ Securities Services. In this role, she leads the team responsible for the firm’s asset servicing offer for both global and local custody, covering corporate actions, income, general meetings, class actions and tax. She also oversees the regulatory adaptation of BNP Paribas’ custody service offer, currently working on the SCoRE Corporate Actions Standards, The Savings and Investment Union (SIU) and the FASTER Directive. Since joining BNP Paribas’ Securities Services in 2001, Mari has held a variety of roles across product and operational teams in Italy and in the UK. She actively represents BNP Paribas in various AFME and AGC asset servicing and tax committees. She serves as co-chair of the UK and Ireland Corporate Actions National Market Practice Group and the SMPG Corporate Actions Working Group.
Mariano Giralt
Global Head of Business Development and Strategy, RAQUEST
Mariano Giralt is the Global Head of Business Development and Strategy of RAQUEST. Mariano is a Financial Services and Digital leader in the field of tax, and also an International Tax Lawyer with strong focus on tax and regulatory solutions in Securities Services. With more than 25 years of experience, he worked at Bank of New York, JPMorgan and Cuatrecasas Law Firm where he covered various executive roles, including Global Head of Tax & Regulatory Services, Head of EMEA Digital, Regional Manager, and Tax Advisory. Mariano holds a Leadership Program at Cambridge University, a Masters in Finance from the London School of Economics; a Masters in Laws from Georgetown University, Washington DC; a Degree in Research in International Law from the University of Barcelona; a Degree in Tax Consultancy and Management from ESADE Law School Barcelona; and a Law Degree from the University of Zaragoza. Mariano is a frequent host, key note speaker, moderator and panelist at leading industry conferences and events and has compiled a number of thought leadership papers and publications.
Nicolas Godfrey
Global Head of Tax Product, Clearstream
Nicolas heads the Tax Product team at Clearstream. In his current role and through his previous experiences in tax advisory, Nicolas has developed extensive international tax expertise in the financial services industry. He has notably assisted funds, custodian banks, and private banking institutions with operational tax issues.
Pamela Gordon
Global Head of Securities Services Tax Product, J.P. Morgan
Pam is the Global Head of Securities Services Tax Product at J.P. Morgan. She has over 20 years experience in Financial Services Taxation at both banking and professional service firms, with a proven track record for business transformation and a strong focus on risk management, controls and regulatory compliance. Pam holds an MA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and is a qualified Chartered Accountant (ICAEW) and Chartered Tax Advisor (CIOT).
Peter Grant
Partner, KPMG LLP
Peter is a partner in the operational taxes team at KPMG and also UK head of banking tax. Peter works with financial services clients including banks, brokers, custodians, asset managers and institutional investors supporting them in areas such as withholding and transaction taxes as well as information reporting.
Silvana Grossi
Senior Tax Product Manager, Northern Trust
Silvana Grossi is a Senior Tax Product Manager in Global Custody at Northern Trust, based in London. She leads Northern Trust’s Tax Product work on Germany’s MiKaDiv reform, focusing on practical requirements, operating model and vendor strategy to support relief at source, reclaims and reporting. Since March 2023, Silvana has been closely involved in MiKaDiv delivery across the industry. Prior to Northern Trust, she led Tax Operations Change and Platform Ownership for withholding tax at Morgan Stanley, including acting as program lead for MiKaDiv implementation across impacted entities. Before that, she held senior tax leadership roles at Bank of America, running tax operations teams and owning material change initiatives across withholding tax, including Qualified Intermediary (QI) reporting and compliance.
Steve Hall
Senior Vice President, Head of Tax Product, Asset Servicing, Northern Trust
Based in London, Steve leads Northern Trust’s Global Tax Product team and is responsible for shaping and advancing tax services across the firm’s Asset Servicing business. With 30 years of industry experience, including 25 years in tax, he brings deep technical expertise and product leadership across multiple tax disciplines in support of Northern Trust’s business units and global client base. Steve and his team play a central role in Northern Trust’s Tax Modernization agenda, leading the firm’s response to major regulatory developments, including the German MiKaDiv regime and the EU FASTER Directive. They also represent Northern Trust in key industry associations across APAC, EMEA, and North America. Steve joined Northern Trust in 2016 from Deutsche Bank, where he served as EMEA Regional Head of Tax. Earlier in his career, he held tax and operations leadership roles at Pershing, Bank of New York, and Royal Bank of Scotland.
Amy Harkins
Vice President, Head of Tax Sales Operations and Control, Broadridge Financial Services
Amy Harkins is Vice President, Head of Tax Sales Operations and Control at Broadridge. Previously, she held various senior roles at CIBC Mellon as the CFO, Head of Conversion and Head of Fund Account. Prior to this, at BNY Mellon, Amy ran global tax services from 2007 to 2018.
Mark Huyan
Global Head of Tax Product, Custody and Fund Services, State Street
Mark is responsible for tax product management, development and risk oversight across State Street’s custody, fund administration and other back office services. He is an active participant in industry advocacy and currently serves as chair of the AGC Tax Committee, Vice Chair of the EBF Tax Committee and as part of the senior leadership group at the AFME tax committee. Prior to State Street he was an Executive Director in the JP Morgan product tax advisory team and covered a range of businesses and global projects during his time there. A lawyer by training, he began his career as an advisor in the tax investigations and prosecutions function at the Australian Taxation Office in Sydney.
Liam Ilić
Global Head of Strategic Partnerships, WTax
Liam Ilić is the Global Head of Strategic Partnerships at WTax, leading the firm’s global partner strategy across EMEA, APAC, and North America. Based in London, he focuses on expanding WTax’s partner ecosystem to support more effective withholding tax processing, relief at source, reclaim recovery, and operational interoperability across the investment chain. Prior to this role, Liam was a Regional Sales Director, working with asset managers and asset owners across Central and Eastern Europe, Belgium, and the UK. He works closely with pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, asset managers (UCITS and AIFs), wealth managers, custodians, fund administrators, and strategic partners, including investment consultants, law firms, transfer agents, and investment technology providers. Before joining WTax, Liam worked at Dimension Data, an NTT company, where he held various roles in product development and led the vendor technology onboarding process.
Ali Kazimi
Managing Partner, WTS Hansuke
Ali Kazimi is WTS Hansuke’s Managing Partner, and a global leader in operational taxation with extensive experience across the FS sector. He previously served as Head of Tax at BlackRock and, prior to that, was an International Partner at Deloitte LLP, advising major financial institutions on complex tax and regulatory matters. Ali has written extensively on operational tax topics, including the Qualified Intermediary (“QI”) regime and Automatic Exchange of Information (“AEOI”) frameworks such as FATCA, CDOT, and CRS. Over the course of his career, he has led more than 100 AEOI-related engagements, supporting financial institutions in implementing and strengthening their tax reporting and compliance frameworks across multiple jurisdictions.
Jonathan Lawford
Director, Global Head of Tax Operations, Citi
As the Global Head of Tax Operations for Citi’s Investor Securities Services, Jonathan oversees all tax processes and operational delivery for the global and direct custody businesses. With a career spanning over 25 years in the securities services industry, Jonathan has been with Citi for 20 years, holding diverse roles in operations, product development, and client service management. Before joining Citi, he spent over five years at Newton Investment Management (a BNY Mellon company), where he focused on tax and asset servicing. An active participant in industry forums, Jonathan previously served as chairman of the UK Finance International Custodian Tax Liaison group for several years.
Alexander Lerch
Co-Founder and CEO, RAQUEST
Alexander Lerch is Co-Founder and CEO of the Fintech RAQUEST, which has developed the leading software for the digitalisation of withholding tax processes. The company’s customers include well-known financial institutions in Europe. RAQUEST is a subsidiary of the Halvotec Group, which Alexander Lerch also heads as Managing Director.
Len Lipton
Head of Direct Client Sales, GlobeTax
Len Lipton joined GlobeTax in 2004 and is Head of Direct Client Sales for the firm. In his role, Len works with a diverse range of clients, including hedge funds, investment managers, large institutional investors, wealth managers and major financial institutions. Len also collaborates with product, operations and technology departments to ensure the delivery of high-quality service and solutions to GlobeTax’s clients. Len regularly represents the firm with industry associations, at various industry events sharing his insights and knowledge around withholding tax, tax reporting, global custody, corporate actions and financial data.
Dirk Loscher
CEO, Clearstream Europe AG and Head of Custody & Investor Solutions, Clearstream Securities Services
Dirk Loscher has 20+ years practical work experience in the international financial services industry, where he began his professional career in the Euro and Global Custody business segment at Dresdner Bank.
From 2000 to 2022 Dirk held various roles at Citibank with the latest role being Cluster Head of Securities Services covering Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Greece. In parallel he held a governance role managing a legal entity in his capacity as Head of Citibank Europe plc, Germany Branch.
In October 2022 Dirk joined Clearstream Banking AG as the Head of Custody &
Investor Solutions and was nominated as a Member of the Executive Board of
Clearstream Banking AG.
Leila Majed
Head of Tax, Société Générale Securities Services
Layla Majed is head of tax of Société Générale Securities services department and the tax supervisor of SG Forge, the French subsidiary of Société Générale Group regulated as Digital Asset Service Provider under French Law. Layla primary areas of focus are operational taxes and implementation of tax transparency regulations (such as FATCA, CRS, MDR/DAC6, DAC8 and FASTER) for global foreign financial institutions. Layla is member of the Business Advisory Group (BAG) @OECD and took part in the submission of comments by Business at OECD on the late modification of the CRS and the new Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF). She sits also in the tax committees of main French Professional Association and participates in lobbying action within the French Banking Federation and the European Banking Federation.
Marilène Marques
Senior Vice President & Head of Department Legal, Spuerkeess
Marilène Marques is Head of Legal at Spuerkeess, a public bank in Luxembourg. With more than 20 years of experience in the banking and financial services sector, she leads the bank’s Legal Department and advses on legal, tax, regulatory, governance and risk-related matters. She has extensive expertise in international tax transparence and cross-border tax reporting frameworks, including FATCA, CRS, DAC 8 and FASTER. She serves as Chair of the Legal and Retail Committee of the European and Savings Banking Group ( ESBG ) and chairs the Investment Income Working Group of the Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL), where she actively contributes to discussions on tax policy, regulatory developements and the implementation of new standards. Marilène is also a member of the EU Commission’s FASTER Working Group contribution to the practical implementation of the FASTER Directive.
Gabriela Martins
Compliance Director and MLRO, 17Capital
Gabriela started her career in Regulatory Compliance following her Master’s degree in 2016. She first became a consultant, advising investment firms on Compliance and then decided to transition to an in-house role, starting in asset management and pension advisory, later moving to the private equity and infrastructure sector. Gabriela is now a Compliance Director and MLRO at 17Capital, a private credit firm. At 17Capital, she leads the firm’s FATCA and CRS framework across its global fund platform. She oversees investor tax classification, due diligence, and reporting obligations, including the collection and validation of self-certifications and the review of annual filings across multiple jurisdictions. Gabriela is also responsible for maintaining the firm’s FATCA/CRS operating model, providing oversight of delegated service providers, carrying out remediation exercises as needed and ensuring robust governance and regulatory compliance.
Robert Jan Meindersma
Partner and Co-Founder, Triple Tax Services
Robert Jan Meindersma is a Partner and Co-Founder of Triple Tax Services, a European focused boutique firm exclusively dedicated to operational taxes. He has over 20 years of experience advising financial institutions on operational tax matters, with particular focus on the U.S. Qualified Intermediary regime, FATCA, CRS, and the EU transparency frameworks (DAC6, DAC7, and DAC8/CARF). Robert Jan began his career in 2003 as an in-house tax adviser at a global asset manager, where he covered VAT, fund structuring, securities lending, wage taxes, and operational tax regimes including the EU Savings Directive and QI. He then spent 16 years at Big 4 firms, serving clients across the financial services industry, family offices, multinationals, digital platforms, and crypto-asset service providers. In 2024 he co-founded Triple Tax Services alongside three partners with whom he had worked with for a decade. Robert Jan is an active contributor to market working groups of the Dutch Ministry of Finance and the Dutch tax authorities.
Chris Mitchell
Tax Researcher and Industry Representative
Chris started his career with Sun life Assurance (now AXA Sun Life) and spent 26 years in actuarial, accounting, and taxation. From 2000 to 2021 (when retiring) Chris worked for the Bank of New York Mellon ultimately as Head of UK Tax Services, providing a full tax service to various clients. Chris now works part time as a Financial Planner, and as a Tax Researcher.
Neiha Perera
Tax Partner, WTS Hansuke
Neiha Perera is a Tax Partner at WTS Hansuke with extensive experience advising financial institutions on global tax transparency and reporting regimes, including FATCA, CRS, and the Qualified Intermediary (“QI”) regime. She previously served as UK Head of AEOI and related compliance services at EY, leading complex engagements for some of the world’s largest financial institutions. Neiha also spent three years on secondment at Goldman Sachs, supporting the development of its tax compliance framework. She combines deep technical expertise with practical industry experience to help institutions navigate evolving regulatory requirements.
Katja Pussila
Policy Officer, EU Commission DG TAXUD
Katja Pussila is a Policy Officer at the European Commission’s DG TAXUD Unit D.2 – Direct Tax Policy & Cooperation, where she drives forward key initiatives, notably the FASTER file. Holding a Master’s Degree in Law from the University of Helsinki, Katja brings a strong academic foundation to her role. With over a decade of experience at the Finnish Tax Administration, she has developed a broad expertise in international tax law, with particular focus on withholding tax encompassing withholding, tax reporting, relief at source, and refund claims. She contributes her expertise to support the development of EU tax policies, combining her technical knowledge and practical experience with a deep understanding of tax compliance and regulatory matters.
Paul Radcliffe
Head of Tax Product & Operations, Citi
Paul Radcliffe is a Managed Director and is Head of Tax Product & Operations at Citi. His expertise is technical tax matters, managing risk and business and process transformation. He is an ex-Big 4 Tax Partner who was the co-head of the EMEIA Operational Tax Competency Group. His focus there was on serving custodians, broker dealer, asset managers and asset owners on a global basis. He was worked on major operational tax initiatives at both an EU and OECD level – notable working groups include the OECD’s TRACE and Collective Investment Vehicle projects. He represents Citi at a number of industry organisations and working groups with regulators. Paul is a regular speaker at industry events and conferences and has written numerous articles for the tax press on operational tax topics including TRACE, managing operational tax risk, FASTER and transparent funds.
Ian Sandles
Director of Tax and Accounting, AFME
Ian Sandles is Director of Tax and Accounting at AFME. Ian has specialised in tax throughout his career and spent more than 20 years working as an in-house tax adviser at major investment banks, including Barclays, Lehman Brothers and Nomura. He started his career at Deloitte where he qualified as a chartered accountant and chartered tax adviser. Ian has a MA in History from Oxford University.
William Sheridan
Managing Director – Head of Tax Solutions , S&P Global
William Sheridan is a Managing Director with S&P Global Market intelligence Markit where he serves as the Global Leader for Tax Solutions and oversees the product roadmap and commercial strategy for the Tax Solutions business. Mr. Sheridan has an extensive background in tax information reporting, documentation and withholding and he serves as one of the subject matter experts for QI, FATCA, Section 871(m) and the CRS and CARF. Mr. Sheridan has over twenty years’ experience in the financial service industry and brings a practical understanding on how to implement strategic institutional change in order to comply with operational tax matters. Prior to joining Markit, Mr. Sheridan spent more than twelve years with HSBC Bank where he was seconded in the United Kingdom and acted as the Group’s subject matter expert for FATCA implementation and had oversight of the Group’s QI program. Mr. Sheridan has experience in implementing and developing global operational tax risk processes and procedures and has developed information reporting, documentation, and withholding training programs for business lines.
Robin Silverthorne
Global Head of Tax Services, GTN Group
With over 30 years of tax experience, including roles at NatWest, HSBC, PwC, and HMRC, Robin is now Global Head of Tax Services at GTN Group, having previously led the Global Tax Services division of SonataOne (formerly IDR). He develops investor and GP-friendly tax services utilising the SonataOne due diligence platform. Sonata One’s Private Markets solution integrates Tax, KYC, and Subscription services, speeding up investor onboarding and providing compliance insights for GPs. Robin joined the group in September 2023 from Natwest Group where he was Head of Operational Taxes. He is also chairman of a cricket club more than 250 years old!
David Smith
International Collaboration and Transparency, HMRC
David Smith has worked for HM Revenue and Customs in the field of international exchange of information for over 20 years, taking on various operational and policy roles. David currently works in the International Collaboration and Transparency Team in HMRC’s Business, Assets and International Directorate, with particular responsibility for automatic exchange of information under the Common Reporting Standard and FATCA.
Liam Stanbridge
Global Head of Tax Product, BNY
Liam Stanbridge, Managing Director, is Global Head of Tax Product at BNY. Liam is responsible for client servicing tax solutions for institutional clients, focusing on the transformation and digitization of tax services. Prior to joining BNY, Liam was Head of EMEA Tax Services at State Street and a Tax Advisor in EY’s financial services practice. Liam has over 25 years’ experience in International Tax and participates in a number of industry associations focusing on domestic, regional and global tax issues impacting institutional investors. Liam is also a frequent speaker at leading industry conferences and events and has compiled a number of thought leadership papers and publications.
Stephen Vescio
Managing Director Investor Services, BBH
Ulrich Vogl
Co-Founder and CTO, RAQUEST
Roman von der Höh
Managing Director, RAQUEST Switzerland
Roman von der Höh is Managing Director of RAQUEST Switzerland, leading the Swiss branch of RAQUEST. With over 20 years of experience in banking and banking services, Roman held management positions in tax operations for many years, previously working at SIX and Avaloq. He is also an author of specialist articles, keynote speaker, and recognized expert in tax and regulation. As a speaker, he addresses developments in tax law and practice, particularly regarding withholding tax, regulatory requirements in the financial sector, and the digital transformation of tax processes within finance.
Justin Walker
Securities Services Tax Product, JP Morgan Chase Bank Securities Services
Based in London, Justin Walker is responsible for Platform Delivery for the Securities Services Tax Product within JPMorgan Chase Bank Securities Services, partnering with stakeholders and strategic partners to shape product design and delivery. Across a 30-year career that began at the Irish Revenue Commissioners, he has held various Asset Servicing and Tax roles at Citi Bank, Commerzbank, Dresdner Bank, Deutsche Bank, and Barclays in Dublin, Frankfurt, and London, before joining JPMorgan in 2023.
Eric Walters
Global Head of Tax Operations, HSBC Bank
Eric is the Global Head of MSS Tax Operations at HSBC, where he has 17 years’ experience as well as 30 years in the Industry. He has worked in Tax Operations, Group Tax (Finance), Equity Finance, Asset Services and Non-Financial Risk, and has expertise across all global Operational Taxes and processes, including transformation, implementation and control compliance.
Katherine Worraker
Partner, Deloitte LLP
Katherine is a Partner at Deloitte UK, in the investment management & reporting tax practice. Her clients include global investment managers, asset servicers and large institutional investors. Katherine supports clients establishing investment funds and dealing with day to day operational taxes. She provides advice from an investment and investor perspective including compliance, process design, and other tax issues across public and private fund markets. She also works with custodian banks to support them with both tax processes and complex queries. Katherine leads Deloitte UK’s withholding tax team.
David Wren
Partner, KPMG LLP
David is a partner at KPMG, supporting clients to implement technology across their operational tax requirements. His work includes data-led transformation and remediation, development of end-to-end compliance systems, and increasingly the application of AI to improve operational tax processes. David is KPMG’s global lead for FASTER and CARF.
Roy Zimmerhansl
Partner, WTS Hansuke
Roy is a Partner at WTS Hansuke, where he leads the Capital Markets practice. He has over 30 years of experience advising financial institutions, market infrastructures, and regulators on strategy, regulation, market evolution, and post-trade optimisation. He has held senior leadership roles at major global institutions, combining deep market insight with a strong track record of innovation, execution, and industry engagement. A recognised industry thought leader, Roy co-leads the UK and EU Securities Lending Working Groups, helping shape industry responses to the transition to T+1 settlement. His previous roles include Vice Chair of ISLA, Board Member of PASLA, and member of the Bank of England’s Securities Lending and Repo Committee. His work spans traditional and emerging market structures, including digital assets, sustainable finance, ETFs, and securities lending innovation, with a consistent focus on market resilience, transparency, and regulatory readiness.
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Yes, participants will be regularly informed of the programme schedule and any changes to the agenda prior to the event.
No. The Global Withholding Tax Summit is organised exclusively as a face-to-face event without digital transmission.
There are a few hotels next to the venue. We recommend the Motel One London Tower Hill, Leonardo Royal Tower Bridge or Premier Inn London City.