Local Currency Development in Frontier and Emerging Markets

Axel Van Nederveen

Managing Director, Treasurer

EBRD

Axel van Nederveen is Managing Director and Treasurer of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He has overall responsibility for asset and liquidity management with €30 billion under management. He is also responsible for the funding operations of the Bank, as well as the overall market risks associated with EBRD’s lending in the Bank’s countries of operation. The Bank currently lends in 27 different currencies. He is currently Vice-Chairman of the board of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) and is Chairman of the board of Frontclear, an emerging market money market development company. He joined the EBRD in May 1995 and fulfilled several roles within Treasury before becoming Treasurer in April 2004. Previously he held positions in government bond sales and trading at ABN AMRO in Amsterdam and Paribas in London.

Aude Pacatte

Director, Head of Portfolio Management, EMEA

EBRD

Aude has been with the EBRD since 1998 where she has covered different positions within the Treasury department before being promoted to Deputy Head of Asset and Liability Management in 2008. In 2014, she was promoted to Head of Local Currency Balance Sheet Management when a unit dedicated to managing risks associated with EBRD’s local currency activities was created as a result of EBRD’s increased on-shore activities in a growing number of countries. She has since been actively working on supporting the growth of EBRD’s local currency loan portfolio. Aude has a Masters in Management Finance from Nice Business School and Masters in Economy of Emerging Markets from La Sorbonne University, Paris.

Daria Dergunova

Auctions System & E-Bond Technology Service Product Manager

Bloomberg

Daria started her career at Lehman Brothers, where she worked in the Global Prime Brokerage department. She later was an FX trader at a London commodities firm. Daria joined Bloomberg in 2011 and worked on building the Bloomberg FX franchise, Multi Asset class electronic trading solutions across various Emerging Markets and took the global product manager role for the Auctions System and in E-Bond in 2022.

David Vavra

Managing Partner

OGResearch

David is a co-founder of OGResearch, a macroeconomic consultancy based in Prague and Budapest specializing in monetary and fiscal policy issues and the development of financial markets, particularly in emerging and frontier market economies. For much of his career, David has consulted for IFIs (including the IMF and the EBRD) advising central banks on monetary policy. He also served as advisor to the Governor of the Czech National Bank during the global financial crisis. Currently, David is advisor to Governors of the central banks of Ukraine and Georgia. David has helped a series of central banks move to flexible exchange rate regimes and implement inflation targeting frameworks. Throughout his career, he has regularly engaged with academic institutions. David holds a Ph.D. in Economics.

Giorgi Laliashvili

Head of Financial Markets

National Bank of Georgia

Giorgi has been working for National Bank of Georgia since 2001, where he occupied various positions, including specialist at International Reserves Management Division, deputy head of Risk Management division and head of Macroeconomics Department. Since 2006 Giorgi is heading Financial Markets Department. Giorgi’s responsibilities cover areas of Portfolio management, Risk management, International settlements, Domestic monetary operations and operation of GSSS – Georgian Securities Settlement System. Giorgi has been actively involved in local currency money and capital market development, and has been at the forefront of many important reforms in related areas. He has been leading implementation of many initiatives supported by EBRD in the local financial markets. Giorgi Laliashvili holds Master’s degree from Georgian State University in Banking and Finance and MA in Economics from Center for Development Economics, Williams College, USA.

Gursu Keles

Associate Director, Portfolio Management, EMEA

EBRD

Gursu is a Portfolio Manager at Local Currency Balance Sheet Management Team at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Treasury, managing financial risks associated with EBRD’s local currency activities in various countries and overseeing policy dialogue with the central banks of the emerging countries. He has been working at the EBRD since 2017. Previously, he had fulfilled different roles at the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye, where he lastly held a director position responsible for the management of all local currency operations at the Financial Markets Department. Gursu holds a PhD in finance from Bilkent University, Ankara.

Igor Levin

Emerging Markets Product Manager

Bloomberg

Igor is responsible for Bloomberg Terminal and Enterprise Product developments across Global Emerging Market regions. With a tenure of 16 years at Bloomberg LP, Igor has gained extensive experience across various departments within Bloomberg Analytics, Terminal, and Enterprise sales, Market Specialists, all with a strong focus on emerging markets. In his current capacity as Emerging Markets Product Manager, Igor is instrumental in enhancing and developing Bloomberg’s Terminal and Enterprise product offerings tailored for global investors seeking opportunities across all major asset classes and financial instruments within global emerging markets. His strategic vision and deep understanding of market dynamics continue to drive Bloomberg’s commitment to providing comprehensive solutions for navigating the complexities of emerging market investments.

John Morton

Market Specialist, Financial Regulation and Official Institutions

Bloomberg

John’s career in fixed income markets started in the mid ’80s covering Central Banks for Merrill Lynch’s Fixed Income Sales team. In 1995 he joined Bloomberg, working in several roles, primarily as a fixed income specialist, more focused upon emerging markets, guiding the development of Bloomberg’s product in this segment. In 2012 he was seconded to the UK’s Ministry of Finance, better known as Her Majesty’s Treasury, to provide data and understanding of OTC markets to help the UK in its negotiating position for MiFID II. This was for an initial 12 month period re-joining for a further 12 months from 2014 to help develop the UK’s ideas for Capital Markets Union as well as better calibrating bond market transparency in the Level II text for MiFID II. Following John’s return to Bloomberg in 2015, he has helped to develop and promote Bloomberg’s product offering in the regulatory space particularly with respect to MiFID II, SFTR, MMFR, CSDR, and more latterly, MiFIR II.

Ronald Gindrat

Program Manager

SECO

Ronald Gindrat is a financial economist, currently serving as a program manager in the Macroeconomic Support Unit at SECO Economic Cooperation. Prior to his current role, he represented Switzerland at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a member of the Executive Board. Before his tenure at the IMF, he worked at the Swiss Ministry of Finance, as economist and senior policy advisor in areas related to financial stability and international financial architecture. Ronald holds a PhD in finance.