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8th Annual QED Conference on Sustainable Finance

8th Annual QED Conference on Sustainable Finance

Allianz
barclays2

  • 15.00-15.30

Registration and welcome coffee

  • 15.30-16.10

Introductory remarks by speakers

Lara Wolters

Member of the European Parliament

Maggie O’Neal

Global Head of ESG Research, Barclays

Joanna Sikora-Wittnebel

Deputy Head of Unit, Sustainable Finance,
DG FISMA, European Commission

Helena Viñes Fiestas

Commissioner, Spanish Financial Markets Authority (CNMV) and Chair, EU Platform on Sustainable Finance

Elise Attal

Head of EU Policy, UN PRI

Dr. Julia Backmann

General Counsel Europe,
Allianz Global Investors
  • Moderator

Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker

Editor, Responsible Investor
  • 15.00-15.15

Coffee break

  • 16.10-17.00

Panel discussion and Q&A

Jermy Prenio

Principal Advisor, Financial Stability Institute, Bank for International Settlements

David Henry Doyle

Vice President, Head of Government Affairs & Public Policy, EMEA, S&P Global

Juan Orti

Country Manager Spain, Head of Issuing Business Spain, Benelux and Nordics, American Express

Bryan Coughlan

Chief Economist, BEUC

Ana-Maria Fimin

Policy Officer, European Commission
  • Moderator

Jacki Davis

Managing Director, Meade Davis Communications
  • 16.15-16.30

Coffee break

  • 16.30-17.30

Session 3: Shaping Smarter Regulation – Delivering Competitive and integrated EU Financial Markets

Christian M. Stiefmüller

Senior Adviser, Research & Advocacy, Finance Watch

Andrea Beltramello

Directorate General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union Savings and Investments Union coordination, DG FISMA, European Commission

Anton van der Kraaij

Head of the Financial Regulation and Policy Division, DG Macroprudential Policy and Financial Stability, ECB

Jakub Michalik

Chief Policy Officer & Member of the Executive Committee, Euronext

Pablo Portugal

Senior Public Affairs Director, Regulatory, Compliance & Public Affairs Euroclear
  • Moderator

Jacki Davis

Managing Director, Meade Davis Communications
  • 17.00-18.00

Networking drinks

Shaping Sustainable Finance: Priorities for the New Legislative Term

  • From framework to practice: what have we learned from the EU sustainable finance agenda so far?
  • Going forward, what should the current Commission prioritize on the sustainable finance agenda?
  • Beyond the text: how are EU sustainable finance regulations being interpreted and applied in practice?
  • SFDR 2.0 and the evolution of ESG disclosures: towards greater clarity or added complexity?
  • Taxonomy developments: what’s new and what’s missing?
  • Scaling transition finance: are current instruments fit for purpose?
  • Greenwashing risk and ESG integrity: what does credibility look like in 2025?
  • Europe, the US, and beyond: how are global political shifts shaping sustainable finance ambitions?

Lara Wolters

Member of the European Parliament
Lara Wolters (1986) is a Dutch politician representing GroenLinks-PvdA in the S&D group. She has been serving as a Member of the European Parliament since July 4, 2019. Currently in her second term, Wolters is Vice-Chair of the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI), a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON), and a substitute member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN). During her first mandate, she was the rapporteur for the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), shadow-rapporteur on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Co-rapporteur on Women on Boards Directive.

Maggie O’Neal

Global Head of ESG Research, Barclays
Maggie O’Neal is a Managing Director and Global Head of Sustainable Investing Research. She co-developed Barclays’ approach to ESG Research and assumed her current role in 2022. Prior to moving to ESG Research, Maggie covered Basic Industries/Industrials and was named in the top three of Institutional Investor European Fixed Income Research team for her coverage of Basic Materials and Industrials since 2016. Prior to joining the firm in 2015, she was at Deutsche Bank for ten years, where she held a similar role covering High Yield Basic Industries and Industrials following a short time in Emerging Markets Credit Risk.

Joanna Sikora-Wittnebel

Deputy Head of Unit, Sustainable Finance,
DG FISMA, European Commission
Joanna Sikora-Wittnebel works as deputy Head of Unit for Sustainable Finance in Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA). She joined the European Commission in 2007 and worked in several policy areas, such as sustainable finance, corporate governance or competition. She holds a PhD in business law.

Helena Viñes Fiestas

Commissioner, Spanish Financial Markets Authority (CNMV) and Chair, EU Platform on Sustainable Finance
Helena serves as Commissioner at the Spanish Financial Markets Authority (CNMV) and is Chair of the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance. She also co-chairs the COP28 established Taskforce on Net Zero Policy, created as a follow-up to the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Expert Group on Net Zero Pledges, of which she was a member. In addition, she sits on the Climate and Environment Advisory Council of the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Advisory Group of the International Transition Plan Network (ITPN), and the Council on Sustainable Finance chaired by the Minister of Economy in Spain. Prior to her appointment at the CNMV, Helena was Senior Policy Adviser on Sustainable Finance at BNP Paribas and served as Global Head of Stewardship and Policy at BNP Paribas Asset Management. In this role, she played a key part in shaping and implementing the firm’s Global Sustainability Strategy and led the Sustainability Research team. Helena was a board member of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change and represented BNPP AM on the EFAMA Stewardship and ESG Committee. She also served on the AMF’s Comité Climat et Finance Durable and continues to contribute to several international initiatives, including the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Green Finance Advisory Group, the PRI Policy Reference Group, and the Technical Advisory Group of the LSE-led Transition Pathway Initiative. From 2020 to 2022, she served as rapporteur for the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance, having previously been a member of the European Commission’s Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance, which contributed to the development of the EU taxonomy and the implementation of the EU Sustainable Finance Action Plan. Helena brings over two decades of experience in sustainable finance and responsible business.

Elise Attal

Head of EU Policy, UN PRI
Elise Attal is the Head of European policy at the UN-supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). She sat as an Observer in the EU Sustainable Finance Platform from (2023-2025) and is a member of the French SRI Label committee since January 2025. She joined the PRI in February 2020 and is based in Paris. She leads a team of policy analysts working on EU, UK and Swiss regulations and engagement with policy makers. She has more than 15 years’ experience in the fields of sustainable finance, ESG and CSR. Prior to joining the PRI, Elise worked at ESG data provider Vigeo Eiris, formerly part of Moody’s, for four years as the Institutional Affairs Manager. Elise also worked as CSR and stakeholder engagement manager for French NGO Comité 21 for four years, Policy Analyst for the British think-tank Green Alliance and Policy Analyst on energy and climate change at the French Embassy in London. Elise holds a MSc in Public Policy from King’s College London and a Master in Public Affairs from Sciences Po Lille.

Dr. Julia Backmann

General Counsel Europe,
Allianz Global Investors
Dr. Julia Backmann is the General Counsel Europe at Allianz Global Investors, based in Frankfurt. She leads legal strategy and regulatory engagement across the European jurisdictions and is responsible for all legal matters within Europe. Before joining AllianzGI, Julia worked at the German Investment Fund Association (BVI), where she contributed to policy development and industry positioning on key EU legislative initiatives. Prior to that, she practiced law at an international law firm advising clients on capital markets law. Julia is a regular speaker at industry conferences and has been involved in the EU Platform on Sustainable Finance including as rapporteur for the SFDR categorisation proposal.

Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker

Editor, Responsible Investor
Lucy Fitzgeorge-Parker joined Responsible Investor as editor in 2022 from Euromoney magazine, where she was ESG editor. Prior to that, she was Euromoney’s editor for Central and Eastern Europe and contributing editor at GlobalCapital. She has covered most aspects of banking and capital markets since switching to journalism from investment banking in 2003.

Adam Lindmark

Founding Partner, QED

Anyve Arakelijan

Senior Regulatory Policy Advisor – ESG & Stewardship, European Fund and Asset Management Association

Aurélie Verronneau

Journalist, Rsedatanews

Ben Leblique

Senior Policy Specialist EU, UN PRI

Carlijn Straathof

Press Officer, European Central Bank

Carolene Clarke

Policy Associate, City of London Corporation

Carolina Cazzarolli

Manager, Advocacy, AFME

Carolina De Giorgi

Senior Manager EU, Allianz

Cian Rice

Director, Government & Corporate Relations, Barclays

Cristina Preda

Expert, Ministry of Finance

David Cowan

Team Leader, EIOPA

Estela Bibiloni Diaz

Vice President, Government Relations, JP Morgan

Giovanna Bua

Economic and Policy Analyst, Joint Research Centre European Commission

Hannah Schneider

Senior Associate, Deutsche Börse Group

Ilia Bekou

Regulatory Policy Advisor – Stewardship & Sustainability Reporting, European Fund and Asset Management Association

Jack Roe

First Secretary for Financial Services, UK Mission to the EU

Jean Pierre Salendres

Director of EU Policy, FIA

Jose Gonzalez Minguez

Adviser to the Spanish PermRep, Banco de España

Julia Meyer

Junior Associate, DGA Group

Kamile Miskinyte

Senior Analyst, Moody’s

Léa Bareil

Deputy Head, EU Regulatory and Public Affairs, Freshffields LLP

Leonard Dorny

Senior Manager EU Affairs, Allianz SE

Lina Bouaissi

Government Affairs, Euronext

Lisa Keuper

Director, Flint

Lisa Rodriguez

Cooperation Officer, ESMA

Loredana Radu

Finnacial Services Attache, Permanent Representation of Romania

Lucia Alessi

Team Leader, European Commission

Lukas Praxmarer

Policy Advisor, Swiss Finance Council

Maria Craiu

Expert, Ministry of Finance

Marlies Baekens

Account Director, FleishmanHillard

Micol Ambroso

Associate, Global Counsel

Mikelis Zondaks

Counsellor, Latvijas Banka

Nickolas Reinhardt

Director, Afore Consulting

Nicolas Marquez

Student, Maastricht University

Oliver Moullin

Managing Director and General Counsel, AFME

Przemyslaw Sadowski

Budget Officer | Blue Book Trainee, European Commission

Rebecca Christie

Senior Fellow, Bruegel

Rebecca Wood

Managing Director, Penta Group

Riccardo Bagni

Trainee, European Commission

Roman Busch

Counsellor, Swiss Mission EU

Sophie Chauliac

Journalist, Rsedatanews

Stevi Iosif

Senior Advisor to Public Policy, ISDA

Thomas Coutinho Lehnen

Account Executive, Fleishman Hillard EU

Vasili Fochin

Chief Business Development Officer, Etoso ltd

Vitus Ortner

Intern, EU Affairs and Communication, Austrian Savings Banks Association

Zelda Bank

Associate, Deutsche Boerse Gruppe

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