Ari Burstein is General Counsel and Chief Policy Officer of Imperative Execution, which he joined in July 2021, and where he is responsible for legal, regulatory and policy issues impacting Imperative Execution and the IntelligentCross ATS.

Mr. Burstein also is Founder of Trading Evolved, which conducts a series of annual conferences around the globe to spur discussions among thought leaders on the evolution of trading and best execution and the key issues impacting the capital markets.

Prior to joining Imperative Execution, Mr. Burstein was President of Capital Markets Strategies, representing investment advisers, broker-dealers, hedge funds, securities exchanges and trade associations before regulators and policymakers, in the U.S. and globally, and providing advice on trading, best execution, and capital markets issues.

Prior to starting Capital Markets Strategies, Mr. Burstein was Head of US Regulatory Affairs for Kreab, a leading global consulting firm. He also was Senior Counsel for capital markets issues for the Investment Company Institute (ICI) and ICI Global, the global trade associations for the regulated fund industry. Prior to joining ICI, Mr. Burstein was an attorney in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management from 1997 to 1998 and the Division of Market Regulation from 1992 to 1997.

David Leschied is responsible for the management and evolution of the suite electronic trading tools used by low-touch clients and all desks trading CAD equity within the BMO Capital Markets global umbrella. He brings 18+ years of capital markets experience holding diverse positions that include leadership roles in the front office and technology groups.

Etienne Phaneuf is CEO of ArchES Computing. ArchES builds next generation trading and data systems - leveraging FPGA technology to handle massive data at ultra-low latencies. Etienne oversees the firm's strategic direction and culture: delivering cutting edge technological data and execution solutions tailored to clients' needs. Etienne is an experienced executive at the intersection of technology and finance.

Prior to joining ArchES, Etienne was CEO of ITG Canada, now Virtu Canada, a provider of electronic trading services, transaction cost analysis and trading software. Over the course of his 19 years at ITG, Etienne held a number of leadership roles, helping build ITG into the leading electronic trading provider to the institutional community.

Etienne holds a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo.

Grant Vingoe is the first dedicated Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). He previously served as both Chair and CEO of the OSC before the roles were separated with the proclamation of the Securities Commission Act, 2021 on April 29, 2022. He continues to serve as a member of the OSC’s Board of Directors.

Grant is Chair of the Policy Coordination Committee of the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA), the umbrella organization for securities commissions in Canada, and is a member of the board of directors of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). He is also the Chair of the Joint Regulators Committee responsible for the CSA’s oversight of the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments.

Grant is a senior leader and trusted adviser for regulatory agencies and, during his career as a partner in leading global law firms, for issuers and financial services clients. He has extensive cross-border expertise in securities law and deep knowledge of financial markets.

Grant holds a J.D. from Toronto’s Osgoode Hall Law School and an LL.M. from the New York University School of Law. He was admitted to the bar in Ontario in 1983 and in New York in 1985.

John Christofilos leads a team responsible for trading AGF’s Assets Under Management across its Retail, Institutional and Private Client portfolios. He is also a member of AGF’s Business Development unit with responsibility for reviewing and leading Capital Markets opportunities and technology advancements.

John is a member of The Office of the CIO – a structure within AGF’s Investment Management team. This leadership structure encourages and further embeds collaboration and active accountability across the Investment Management team and the broader organization.

John's career has spanned more than 30 years, with experience on both the buy- and sell-side. Before joining AGF in 2013, he served as Managing Director at Canaccord Genuity, leading the firm’s efforts in electronic and program trading. Prior to Canaccord, he worked as Senior Managing Director for E*TRADE Institutional, a full-service financial services firm based in New York City & Palo Alto California.

John also serves as President of the Canadian Security Traders Association, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian ETF Association (CETFA) and Tradelogiq Markets. In addition, he serves on the Ontario Securities Commission’s Market Structure Advisory Committee and is a Board member of The Bay Street Children’s Foundation (BSCF).

John holds a Bachelor of Science degree from San Diego, California-based United States International University, where he played Division 1 Hockey and Baseball.

John Ramsay is responsible for developing and communicating IEX's positions on market policy issues, engaging with governmental and regulatory authorities and liaising with pension owners and other asset owners. He also oversees IEX's membership in the national market system plans, including those concerning consolidated market data, the consolidated audit trail, and the Limit Up/Limit Down plans.

John joined IEX in 2014 from the SEC, where he led the Division of Trading and Markets, the group responsible for regulating broker-dealers and self-regulatory organizations. Previously, he led SEC efforts to implement significant elements of the Dodd-Frank Act. Prior to the SEC, he held senior positions at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the National Association of Securities Dealers (now FINRA), the law firm of Morgan Lewis & Bockius, and Citigroup Global Markets.

An expert in the regulation of securities professionals and securities markets, John serves as adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law School, is a member of the Markets Advisory Council of the Council of Institutional Investors and is a recipient of the Law and Policy Award at the SEC.

John earned his J.D. from the University of Michigan and a B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin.

Kevan Cowan is a financial services executive with more than 30 years of experience in capital markets operational, regulatory and policy matters. He has been a key participant in the transformative changes occurring in Canadian capital markets over that time.

Mr. Cowan is the past Chief Executive Officer of the Capital Markets Authority Implementation Organization, where he worked on behalf of nine Canadian governments leading the development of a pan-Canadian securities regulatory authority. Prior to that, Mr. Cowan was President of TSX Markets, responsible for the equities business of the TMX Group, including the Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange, Alpha Trading, TMX Select and related services. He is also a past President of the TSX Venture Exchange. Mr. Cowan was previously a partner in a large Canadian law firm, practicing corporate and securities law.

Mr. Cowan has served on many boards and in advisory roles, including with the Toronto Financial Services Alliance / Toronto Finance International (Chair of the Board), the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (Board member), the Ontario Capital Markets Modernization Taskforce Expert Advisory Group, the Calgary Economic Development Investment Advisory Committee, and the Ontario Securities Commission Small Business Advisory Committee.

Mr. Cowan holds a B.A. from the University of Toronto, an LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School, and the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Kevin Chang is Vice President and Head of Trading at 1832 Asset Management wholly owned by The Bank of Nova Scotia. He is responsible for Global Equities and FX.

Kevin has 20+ years global trading experience. He began his career at Goldman Sachs in New York and prior to 1832 Asset Management was Head of Trading for Bank of America in Toronto.

Kevin holds a BA in Pre-Med/Economics from Columbia University.

Nitin Gambhir is the founder of Tethys Technology and Tethys Capital is an expert in global quantitative trading. His work and vision has allowed Tethys to successfully expand its product offering globally and across multiple asset classes. Mr. Gambhir is also the founder and chairman of Oceanus Securities. Mr. Gambhir has a Bachelors from the Indian Institute of Technology and a Masters from Yale University. Mr. Gambhir started his career as an Associate at JP Morgan, before joining Bear Stearns where he initially held the position of Vice President before being promoted to the position of Managing Director. Thereafter, Mr. Gambhir worked as a portfolio manager at SAC and then founded Altus Asset Management, LLC, an institutional asset management firm. Mr. Gambhir is a member of the board of several charitable organizations. He is passionate about charitable efforts promoting art, education and governance.

Patrick McEntyre is Co-Head of Institutional Sales for ETFs, Portfolio Trading, Electronic Trading, and Equity Derivatives. He also heads up the Electronic Trading & Services group, which offers DEA and algorithmic trading strategies to institutional clients. He has over 25 years of trading experience.

Prior to NBF, he was with ITG Canada as a Director in their electronic brokerage group and headed up their Commission Management Services. He spent his formative years in Montreal at boutique global investment dealer Pavilion Global Markets where, as the Head of North American Equity Trading, he was instrumental in developing their portfolio trading capabilities in both Canada and the U.S.

He has been actively involved in shaping the Canadian regulatory environment through regular participation in industry comment letters and contributions to advisory committees like MSAC, MRAC, and as current co-chair of the CSTA’s Trading Issues Committee. He is a sitting member of NBF’s Best Execution Committee, which is mandated to ensure best practices in trading for all NBF client flow.

Patrick is a CFA and went to most of his classes at the University of Western Ontario.

Vlad Khandros is the CEO of OneChronos Markets. OneChronos leverages technology to design and operate markets that grow the gross world product by facilitating trade, with an initial focus on US equity trading.

Vlad has accelerated the digitization of financial markets across asset classes, regions, and business lines. Vlad has founded, fundraised, and secured exits as a board member, investor, and employee for numerous companies.

Vlad advises several organizations developing transformative technology, as well as non-profits. He has received multiple awards for his leadership, civic service, and contributions to market structure and trading technology.

As part of the Automated Trading Strategies (ATS) group at TD Securities, Wayne Wong is responsible for managing the firm's automated equities market making strategies. After graduating from the University of Waterloo with a degree in Computer Science, he has spent the last 4 years leveraging his technical background towards the application of market structure strategy for obligatory liquidity provisioning programs.

Constance Lo is the senior trader for Wealthsimple, a financial services company on a mission to help more Canadians build wealth and reach their financial goals. Constance supports Wealthsimple's self-directed trading platform which allows retail investors to trade equities, options and crypto. As part of her mandate, Constance specializes in leveraging data and technology to find improvements and efficiencies in the company's trading operations and deliver a best in class trading experience for clients.

Prior to joining Wealthsimple, she has held roles at W.D. Latimer, Caldwell and BMO Nesbitt Burns in various capacities including sell side, buy side and market maker. Constance holds a B.Sc. in Life Science from Queen's University and a M.B.A. from Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

Chad Reed is Managing Director and Global Head of Execution Solutions & Equity Analytics at Scotiabank.

With over 20 years of industry experience, Chad leads a talented team at Scotiabank, centred around ScotiaRED, Scotiabank’s cross-asset electronic trading offering, delivering high-performance electronic execution capabilities and access to unique liquidity, including actionable indications of interest, controlled by the Central Risk Book. In addition, Chad manages the Bank’s Portfolio Trading and ETF Services and oversees the advanced data analytics and technology required to drive insights and solutions for Global Equities across our global footprint, including exclusive market structure content and index research.

Chad holds a BA in Economics from the University of Waterloo and is a CFA charterholder.

Lou Mouaket is MD & Head of Program Trading at CIBC. He is also a senior Sales Trader on the desk. He has been in the business for over 21 years in various roles.