Providing Solutions for the Regulatory Environment

The members of the informative panel (chaired by John Bohan) each presenting their own insights and experiences from different industrial point of views.

The Panel consisted of the below:

John Bohan, Managing Director (Europe and Middle East), Apex Fund Services

John is the Managing Director of Europe & Middle East for Apex Fund Services Ltd., a specialist Management and Administration Company founded in 2003.

Prior to his current role as Managing Director, John has accumulated over 19 years of experience within the financial services industry from management positions with Citigroup, BNY – Alternative Investment Services, Bank of Ireland Asset Management and Apex Fund Services Ltd. in Bermuda as COO.

John qualified as a certified accountant in 1999 and became a fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants in early 2004.

Peter Oakes, Business Strategist, Lawyer and Regulatory Adviser

Peter Oakes is business strategist, lawyer and regulatory adviser.  He has advised financial institutions, their boards and central banks/regulators for more than 20 years.   He qualified as a lawyer in Ireland, the United Kingdom and Australia.  Peter served as the Central Bank’s first Director of Enforcement and AML/CFT Supervision from 2010 to 2013 and was a member of the Senior Leadership, Operations, Policy and Supervisory Risk committees. At the Central Bank, Peter established and led the first Enforcement Directorate and was responsible for of all investigations and enforcement issues. Peter is a former Enforcement Regulator with the UK Financial Services Authority (now FCA) and Senior Officer with the Australian Securities Commission (now ASIC).  Peter founded and was managing director of regulatory consulting firms (Europe and Australia) and worked as in-house counsel, compliance officer and Money Laundering Reporting Officer in London and Dublin.  Peter’s experience includes independent non-executive directorships in the funds and reinsurance industries.

Mario Zardoni, Product Manager of Risk, StatPro

Mario, 40, holds a university degree in economics with a specialisation in mathematical models applied to financial markets. He has 11 years experience working in the investment funds industry. Before joining StatPro in 2011, he worked for six years as Risk Manager and then Director of Risk for RBS Luxembourg S.A., he also spent over three years as Investment Funds Risk Manager for Sanpaolo Asset Management in Luxembourg. Mario is a member of ALFI’s Market Risk working group.

James Conaghan, Assurance Director, PwC

James specializes in the provision of audit and business advisory services to alternative investment clients including hedge funds, private equity funds, fund-of-funds and managed account platform providers in the US, the UK and throughout Europe. He has worked in the financial services industry for over 13 years, five of which he spent working on offshore clients in Bermuda.

James has advised a number of leading US and UK investment management groups in establishing offshore investment funds of various structures, and adopting differing accounting standards frameworks. He has been responsible for a number of advisory engagements dealing with the operational challenges associated with complex financial instruments and the review of internal control environments.

He has presented at a number of industry events in Europe and throughout Asia on the challenges emerging and impacting the funds industry globally. James sits on a number of industry committees of Irish Funds Industry Association and has chaired and acted as compere to the Global Annual Funds Conference hosted annually in Dublin.

James is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.

Fionán Breathnach, Partner at Mason Hayes & Curran

Fionán is a Partner in the Financial Services Department of Irish law firm Mason Hayes & Curran and is Head of the firm’s Investment Funds and Financial Regulation Practices. Fionán has over 15 years of experience working in the investment funds industry, both in-house and in private practice. Fionán has been a member of the IFIA’s Legal & Regulatory Committee for over 10 years and is currently actively advising clients, both promoters and service providers, on structuring their businesses to take advantage of opportunities under AIFMD.