Speakers Biography

Ralph De Haas is the Director of Research at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a multilateral development bank investing in emerging markets across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. At the EBRD, he manages a team of economists and analysts who research the economic transformation of the Bank’s countries of operation. Ralph’s team also conducts rigorous evaluations, including randomized controlled trials, to assess how specific EBRD projects contribute to economic development and environmental sustainability.

A Dutch national, Ralph earned a PhD in economics from Utrecht University, and was the recipient of the 2014 Willem F. Duisenberg Prize, awarded by the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences. He is also a CEPR Research Fellow, a Fellow of the European Banking Center, a Research Associate at the ZEW–Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, and is affiliated with KU Leuven as a Professor of Finance.

Ralph’s research focuses on firms’ and households’ access to financial services; the stability aspects of global banking; finance and green growth; and the role of gender in the economy. His work has been published in various peer-reviewed academic journals, including the Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, Review of Finance, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, Management Science, Journal of the European Economic Association, Journal of Economic Growth, Economic Journal, and the Journal of International Economics. Ralph also regularly contributes to the economics website VoXEU.

Follow him on Twitter – @ralphdehaas – or visit www.ralphdehaas.com. 

Tran Huynh a Career Development Fellow in Finance at Durham University Business School. Her research focuses on financial economics and empirical banking, with a particular emphasis on mortgage markets — including regulation, lending practices, and household borrowing and repayment behavior. She also interested in the intersections of politics, history, and contemporary economic challenges. 

Előd Takáts is the Deputy Head of CGFS Secretariat at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Previously, he worked as Adviser to the Deputy General Manager. He took a leave from the BIS, to manage, as elected Rector, an ambitious reform program impacting over 13,000 individuals at his alma mater, Corvinus University of Budapest. In his 12-year-long career as economist at the BIS he contributed to meetings of central bank leaders and to the Basel III reform process. Before joining the BIS, his career at the International Monetary Fund covered several departments and countries, the last one being China. In addition, a visiting professorship at the London School of Economics and Political Science allows him to combine academic and policy work. He earned his PhD in financial economics at Princeton University. 

Artur Doshchyn is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Financial Economics at the University of Bristol Business School. He is also an Academic Visitor at the Department of Economics, as well as a Junior Research Fellow at Linacre College at the University of Oxford, where he obtained his PhD. Artur’s research is at the intersection of Finance and Macroeconomics, focusing on financial stability, financial intermediation, credit booms and financial crises, as well as liquidity and asset pricing. Artur publishes in leading journals such as Journal of Monetary Economics and Journal of Money, Credit, and Banking. His most recent studies shed light on how financial frictions in emerging economies lead to reliance on short-term debt, triggering frequent crises and hindering long-term economic growth. 

As Associate Dean, External Engagement for the Faculty of Business Joanna works closely with regional, national and international industry partners, as well as the School Executive Education team. She undertakes a wide variety of public and media activities on behalf of the School and University.Joanna is Associate Professor (Entrepreneurship) at the Business School, and Director (Business, Enterprise and Innovation) of Durham University's globally renowned Durham Energy Institute ("DEI"). She sits on the University COP Steering Group and is Co-Programme Director of the new MSc in Energy Engineering Management, a joint programme run with Durham’s Engineering Department which launches in September 2023. She is Pathway Leader for the MBA Entrepreneurship Pathway, winning the 2020 Durham University Enhancing Learning and Teaching: Digital and Online Learning Award.Joanna is a trustee and Board member of Acumen Community Buildings (where she focuses on community businesses and social enterprise). She was Regional Chair for the Chartered Institute of Marketing and Regional Vice-Chair for the Institute of Directors' Northeast branch. She is a Governor at Newcastle's Royal Grammar School where she sits on the Strategy and the EDI Committees, and she is an International Governor at Gifted Minds International School, Hoofddorp, Netherlands.Joanna's professional experience runs from her Oxford University law degree in 1985 and encompasses not only law (mostly company and contract, practiced in South Africa from 1985 to 1987) but also science, creativity and technology. These interests are underpinned by significant and long-term exposure to new developments in media, marketing and advertising. Joanna's entrepreneurial spirit is underpinned by a deep and broad range of regional, national and international corporate and public sector contacts which she builds into her day-to-day activities. Her MBA dissertation focused on the impact of broadband connectivity on the TV industry, and her PhD took this one step further, looking into the impact of technology on the music industry's business models and value chains.Her research and teaching interests encompass Problem Based Learning, energy and renewables, innovation, entrepreneurship, big data, ageing and health and the digital/creative industries. She has a particular emphasis on supporting women in business, and women in STEM in a variety of ways. She works closely with the Executive Education team and undertakes a wide variety of public and media activities on behalf of the School and University.She is nominated as Mentor of the Year and Agent of Change in the 2023 Northern Power Women Awards, was delighted to achieve a position on the Northern Power Women Power List from 2020 and is a member of the NPW Newcastle and Teesside Power Circles. 

Derek Leatherdale is the Senior Geopolitical Risk Adviser at Sibylline Ltd, specializing in providing geopolitical and macro risk intelligence to global corporate clients. He previously founded GRI Strategies Ltd and established HSBC’s pioneering group geopolitical risk function, integrating geopolitical risk into the bank’s global governance and strategy. With a background in UK national security, Leatherdale is also a Visiting Scholar at the London Institute of Banking and Finance, a leading trainer in geopolitical risk for financial institutions, and co-author of guidance on integrating geopolitical risk with ESG oversight. He regularly contributes to industry thought leadership and serves on the Risk Forum Committee of the UK’s Chartered Institute for Securities & Investments. 

With over 20 years' experience in banking, Andrew has held senior roles at EY within audit and advising financial services institutions, and as a Director in Barclays Group Finance. Since joining Atom in 2016, he has overseen many key initiatives including capital raises and securitisation transactions before becoming Chief Financial Officer in November 2022. 

Alex Spooner,

Geopolitical Risk lead, EMEA Centre for Regulatory Strategy at Deloitte.

Alex leads on geopolitical risk and banking supervision at the EMEA Centre for Regulatory Strategy at Deloitte, advising clients on the strategic and aggregate impact of regulatory change and supervisory policy. 

Dr. Elizabeth Stephens is the Managing Director of Geopolitical Risk Advisory, where she uses data analytics to forecast and advise on geopolitical risks. She specializes in geopolitical change, global trade, supply chain management, and the geopolitics of technology and decarbonization. Previously, she was Head of Credit & Political Risk Advisory at JLT Specialty, where she developed the World Risk Review, a widely used country risk ratings tool. Dr. Stephens holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the London School of Economics, lectures at leading business schools, and is a frequent media commentator. She is recognized for her insightful, clear analysis and is available for consultancy, public speaking, and lecturing in country and political risk. 

Iván Alfaro is an Assistant Professor of Finance at BI Norwegian Business School in Oslo, Norway. His research is both theoretical and empirical and focuses on macro-finance, investment q-theory, uncertainty, and household finance, examining how uncertainty affects both firms and households, amplifying not only "wait-and-see" effects on firms but also reducing household spending while increasing their risks and precautionary savings.

His work has appeared in the Journal of Political Economy and the Journal of Financial Economics, with his JPE paper "The Finance Uncertainty Multiplier" ranking among the top 5 most cited papers published in 2024 across all leading economics journals. His research has been presented at major conferences including the NBER Summer Institute, American Finance Association Annual Meeting, European Financial Association, and Stanford Institute of Theoretical Economics, as well as to policymakers including Norway's central bank (Norges Bank), and he serves as a frequent referee for leading finance and economics journals.

He earned his PhD in Finance at The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business. With Latin American and US roots, he worked for 3 years in impact investment for Oikocredit International (a development finance institution in the Netherlands with an equity portfolio of over $1.1 billion) as Country Manager in the Central America and Caribbean Region, providing practical insights that inform his research on how financial frictions and uncertainty affect households and firms across the world.

Robert Goodhead is a Senior Economist at the Central Bank of Ireland, working in the Monetary Policy Division. Robert completed his Ph.D. at the European University Institute in 2018. Robert's research interests include monetary policy communication, event studies, natural language processing, macro-econometrics, and firm dynamics. Recent work looks at: (1) the effects of the temporal orientation of central bank text (past/present/future) on asset prices; (2) a "big data" approach to the non-linear transmission of high-frequency monetary policy shocks; (3) a decomposition of the sources of within-industry misallocation in Europe. 

Nathan Converse is a Principal Economist in the International Finance Division at the Federal Reserve Board. He joined the Board in 2013 after earning a PhD in economics at the London School of Economics. Nathan has also contributed to work by the Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS) on international capital flows and served as a senior economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisors. His research examines the drivers of international capital flows, the role of non-bank financial institutions in channeling those flows, and the ways in which cross-border investment affects the real economy in recipient countries. Nathan’s research has been published in the Review of Financial Studies, the Journal of International Economics, and the Journal of International Money and Finance.

Alexia Ventula Veghazy is an Economist in the Monetary Policy Strategy Division at the European Central Bank. She joined the ECB in her current role in 2022, after holding other positions within the institution. She holds a PhD in Economics from Goethe University Frankfurt (2024). Previously, she worked at the Single Supervisory Mechanism and the European Systemic Risk Board. She also contributes to the International Banking Research Network. Her research focuses on how heterogeneous investors, including their portfolio allocations, affect asset prices and currency demand. Her recent work has been published in the American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics. 

Iikka Korhonen works as the director of Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT), which conducts research and analysis of major emerging market countries, especially Russia and China. He received his doctorate from the Helsinki School of Economics, now part of the Aalto University. He has been a visiting researcher at European University Institute, Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Kyiv School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University and Yokohama National University. Research interests of Dr. Korhonen include monetary and exchange rate policies in emerging market countries as well as economic effects of raw material abundance and corruption. He has studied for decades both the Russian and Chinese economies. Since 2014 Dr. Korhonen has also written extensively on the effects of economic sanctions. 

Simona Malovana is the Executive Director of the Research and Statistics Department at the Czech National Bank and editor of the CNB Working Papers series. She previously served as the Director of the Financial Research Division at the same institution. She has more than a decade of experience producing policy-oriented research, advising central bank policymakers, setting research priorities, and leading project teams. Her research interests include financial stability topics, macro-financial linkages, interaction and coordination of central bank policies, green finance, and climate risks. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as the International Journal of Central Banking and the Journal of Financial Stability. She participates in various international research networks, including the International Banking Research Network and the ChaMP ESCB Research Network. She holds a PhD from Charles University. 

Bogdan Zawadewicz is the Head of Geopolitical Risk Analysis at the Polish Development Bank (BGK). He graduated from the Institute of Political Sciences at the University of Warsaw. Before joining the Bank, he worked at the Center for Eastern Studies (OSW) and the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS) in Regensburg, where he was part of the research group on "Frozen and Unfrozen Conflicts." Additionally, he undertook research internships at institutions such as London School of Economics (LSE) IDEAS, Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow, Center for Southeast European Studies in Graz, Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, and University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, as well as universities in Niš, Novi Sad, and Bucharest. He was also a scholarship holder of the German BAYHOST program. Furthermore, he collaborated as a consultant with the Goethe Institute in Tel Aviv on the "Negotiations Matter" project, which focused on the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.