Speakers

Sid is the Chief Researcher at Chartis Research with more than 20 years of experience in the financial, energy and commodities markets in various functions across the trade and software development lifecycles. He has held various roles in product development, trading, risk management, software development and consulting in banks, hedge funds, and risk advisory and software firms, including Standard Chartered Bank, TCG Group, HCL and Cognizant.

Sid’s specific areas of interest and research include risk data, model risk management, quantitative models in illiquid markets, high-performance analytics, energy and commodity trading risk, market structure design, new computational models, and the use of innovative mathematical methods in various emerging areas of risk management .He has a MBA from the Indian Institute of Management and is a qualified Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst CAIA, Financial Risk Manager (FRM) ,Energy Risk Professional (ERP), Member of GARP and CIPM from the CFA institute.

Mark has over 30 years’ experience in global capital markets, consulting and associated technologies, focusing on risk management, front- and middle-office platforms and data management. Before Chartis he held executive positions in large global financial institutions, consultancies and FinTechs, in various roles including platform and software development, solution architecture, large-scale program management, vendor selection and implementation, and strategy development and execution.

With a background covering the front, middle and back office, Mark brings to Chartis a holistic view of business, technology and regulatory issues across the enterprise, and how these issues can be addressed by leveraging appropriate technology solutions. His primary focus has been risk technology, and his work in this area includes: leading the global teams for risk technology at RBS Capital Markets and AIG; working with middle- and front-office technology teams at Barclays Capital; extensive consulting experience with major consulting organizations including EY and Deloitte; and extensive vendor experience, including time at Algorithmics and Misys (now Finastra). Mark has an MA from Oxford University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

Since joining SG in 2009, he has held a range of positions.  Currently, he is the Chief Data Officer, SG Americas, with responsibility for data management and governance within the Region.  This function is responsible for implementing the requirements of BCBS 239, establishing sound data governance framework that meets Group needs and local supervisory expectations, and creating a solid platform for the data to be leveraged for strategic business decisions. Prior to that, he headed up the Project Management Office for the SG US Transformation project.  SG roles before that included Deputy CFO of the Americas Region of their Corporate & Investment Bank and Head of Finance Offshoring in SG Bangalore. 

Prior to joining SG, Bala was with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) for fourteen years in a range of positions in Toronto and New York.  As Senior Vice President of the Wholesale North America Finance, he headed up the controllership function for CIBC’s World Markets and Treasury & Risk Management Strategic Business Units within North America. With a global team across Toronto and New York, he was responsible for establishing a SOX-compliant industry-leading Finance control environment as well as supporting the efficient execution of business initiatives and managing the Finance related US regulatory relationships during a very demanding period. Prior to that, he also had stints as the business-line controller for the Bank's US origination businesses (Corporate Lending, Investment Banking, Merchant Banking, Structured Finance, and High Yield), as well as the 2/ic to the Chief Accountant, with responsibility for consolidated financial, management and regulatory reporting at the corporate level.

Born and brought up in Mumbai India, Bala has a degree in mathematics from the University of Mumbai and holds professional accounting qualifications from both India and the United States.  He lives in Montclair, New Jersey is married with two children, and enjoys long-distance running.

Minor Huffman is a technology leader with extensive executive management experience in capital markets with a focus on electronic trading, risk management, and fund management platforms.  Minor has a proven track record designing and developing new software products that increase revenue, improve efficiency and reduce operational risk in the financial services industry.  

Most recently, Minor served at the Chief Technology Officer at Instinet, where he was responsible for driving technology innovation, operating the firm's trading platforms, and managing the technology organization globally.  Prior to this, Minor served as a Managing Director at Citco Group where he led the development and application support teams for their fund services division.  

He was previous Global Head of Rates Technology at Credit Suisse and the Chief Technology Officer at FXall.  Minor holds an MBA in Finance and International Business from NYU Stern School of Business and a BS in Computer Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).