Symposium on Digital Assets: Risks and Opportunities
Supporting the below United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:支持以下聯合國可持續發展目標：支持以下联合国可持续发展目标：
The Symposium on Digital Assets: Risks and Opportunities will be held on 25 April 2026 (Saturday). This is the 17th symposium organized by the BSc in Risk Management and Business Intelligence (RMBI) Program at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). The symposium will feature the following topics delivered by prominent speakers:
Addressing the Financial and Monetary Stability Risks of Stablecoins
Mr. Ho was appointed as Executive Director (Monetary Management) of Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) in November 2023. His key responsibilities include stablecoin regulation, financial stability surveillance, the Linked Exchange Rate System, currency issuance, and the regulation of stored value facilities and retail payment systems. He previously served as Executive Director (Banking Policy), and he was responsible for the HKMA’s work on implementing international regulatory standards and banking policy making, including policy on green and sustainable banking.
An economist by training, Mr. Ho joined the Research Department of HKMA in 2001. Before taking up his present role, he had worked in various functional areas including monetary operations, market development, and financial stability surveillance.
Before joining HKMA, Mr. Ho served in the investment banking industry as an economist between 1993 and 2000.
Tokenization of Trade Assets and Documents
Raluca Popa is the Head of Global Trade Solutions for HSBC Hong Kong. She leads a team of 150 colleagues covering structured trade, import and export finance, supply chain financing, and factoring solutions. Prior to her current role, she has extensive corporate banking and credit risk experience in Shanghai, UK, US, and Mexico covering M&As, LBOs, Renewables, and Infrastructure project finance. She led diverse teams across various corporate sectors including Automobiles, Manufacturing and Consumer Goods. She was awarded the International Banker of the Year Award by Euromoney Mexico for her work in building HSBC’s international franchise proposition in the country.
She is a part-time lecturer in Structured Lending Products with Paris-Dauphine/ Stanford University, her alma mater, and she is a mentor for Young Entrepreneur Accelerator Programme.
In her free time, she enjoys sports and spending time with her husband and 2 boys.
The Programmable Ecosystem: Navigating the Opportunity and Systemic Risk of Asset Tokenization
Alan is a consulting partner at PwC Hong Kong with a focus on digital transformation, Web3.0, and emerging technologies such as Blockchain/DLT, Data, and AI. With over 15 years of experience, Alan has supported banks, insurance companies and regulators in technology strategy, emerging technology assessment, digital transformation, system architecture design, and has led over 10 implementations of large-scale enterprise applications, AI, advanced analytics, and blockchain platform.
Bridging Traditional Finance and Web 3.0
Calvin is a financial professional and engineer with over 20 years of experience navigating the intersection of traditional finance and emerging technologies.
Career has spanned the full spectrum of the capital markets, from Proprietary Trading to leading Institutional Equities divisions and Virtual Assets.
Academic Credentials & Professional Designations:
- Engineering: M.Eng (Industrial) and B.A.Sc (Mechatronics) from the University of Toronto.
- Business: EMBA at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).
- Professional: Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Financial Risk Manager (FRM), and Professional Engineer (P.Eng) (Canada)