Mai Tanaka

Co-chair, Japan Regional Committee
FIX Trading Community
Managing Director, Head of Trading
Nomura Asset Management co., Ltd

Started career as a buy-side FX trader, and subsequently worked as an FX sales trader on the sell-side. After that, joined Nomura Asset. Since joining, worked across trading desks dealing with FX, Fixed Income, money market, Lending and Japanese Equities. From 2019 to 2021, worked as a playing manager at Nomura Asset UK's trading desk. Since Apr 2023, serving as the Head of trading.

Masahiko Saito

Director of the Financial Markets Division
Financial Services Agency

Masahiko Saito joined the Financial Supervisory Agency (now the Financial Services Agency) in 2000 and was appointed Deputy Director of the Financial Markets Division of the Planning and Coordination Bureau in 2007. Masahiko was seconded to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 2014 to 2016. Masahiko became Director of the Macro Analysis Office, Policy and Legal Division, Planning and Coordination Bureau in 2017. After serving as Secretary to the Minister for Financial Services, Masahiko has been in his current position since July 2023.

Kazuto Uchida

President
Government Pension Investment Fund

Prior to be appointed as the President of GPIF, Mr.Kazuto Uchida has held various important positions, covering a wide range of areas, including global market operations, asset management, economic research, ALM, credit risk management, insurance management, and university management. Especially, he served in numerous key executive positions at MUFG Bank, Ltd., including his role as the bank's Chief Economist, General Manager of the Treasury and Investment Division, and as Chief Executive of Global Markets Unit.

Robert Capistron

Head of Analytics Coverage - APAC
Virtu Financial

Rob Capistron heads the Virtu Analytics group in Asia Pacific, which supports Virtu’s multi-asset product suite including pre-trade, real-time, and post-trade analytics. More recently, Rob has been working with clients leveraging Virtu’s Open Technology API platform to more easily access their trading data to run in-depth trading strategy analysis. Prior to Rob’s move to Hong Kong, he managed Virtu’s Client Services team in NY, supporting the US institutional client base where he was heavily involved in the rollout of Virtu’s Algo Wheel reporting offering. Rob holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Boston College.

Brandon “Rym” DeCoster

Product Management Team Leader
Bloomberg

Brandon “Rym” DeCoster leads product management of Bloomberg’s FIX technology. With 18 years of FIX Protocol experience, he is responsible for the ongoing modernization and standardization of FIX across all of Bloomberg’s FIX-enabled enterprise products.

Roman Ginis

CEO, Imperative Execution Inc.
Founder, IntelligentCross ATS

Roman Ginis is the CEO of Imperative Execution, the parent company of IntelligentCross ATS, the largest US Equity Alternative Trading System (ATS) by volume, according to FINRA's Weekly ATS Reports. Founded in 2018, it was the first ATS to offer both dark and displayed liquidity, using AI to optimize price discovery. The ATS matches orders near-continuously to achieve maximum price stability after trades. This enables better prices and tighter spreads, making the market more efficient for all investors. IntelligentCross was designed to achieve an optimal experience for both sides of the trade, getting the order done while moving the price as little as possible. Roman Ginis was Formerly a Quantitative Trader at Cubist/Point72 and UBS for over 10 years, where he developed and traded directional and market making strategies. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Caltech. Roman brings deep expertise in market microstructure, trade execution, and market technology, and he holds several patents in stream computi

David deGraw

Managing Director/Head of Algorithmic Trading
Daiwa Securities Inc.

David Degraw is Head of Algorithmic Trading at Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd. Japan and a senior member of the Equity Data Science Department. David has over 24 years of experience across electronic trading, program trading, options, and delta-1 derivatives. David has worked at Daiwa for over 10 years specializing in algorithmic trading, smart order routing and was responsible for implementing DRECT, Daiwa’s Japan dark pool. He is the product owner for Daiwa’s algorithmic trading, dark pool and smart order routing platforms and responsible for data science initiatives within the agency trading business.
David has been a panel speaker and moderator at industry and trading conferences and a steering committee member of the bi-annual Japan Electronic Trading Conference hosted by the Japan FIX Trading Community. At Daiwa,
He has also led academic research collaboration with the University of Tokyo and has co-authored published research focused on applications of deep reinforcement learning and simulated artificial markets to novel trading probleHis data science team is a recipient of an Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics (AIDA) grant from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for the unique use case of an AI Optimized Algorithm Recommendation Model.
Prior to joining Daiwa, David worked at Morgan Stanley and Citigroup Global Markets in proprietary options, program, and delta-one derivative trading roles. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from UC Berkley.

Yasunori Kasai

Director, Product Management, Data & Analytics LSEG

After working at both domestic and foreign securities firms, he joined Reuters in 2001, engaging in desktop and server product operations. Since 2008, he has led equity business planning, later overseeing Asia-wide equity desktop and transaction businesses from 2013. From 2017, he managed cross-asset trading in Japan, and since 2019, has been responsible for trading and news across Asia. In 2021, he began leading strategic business design across all product lines in Japan. He holds an MBA and CMA.

Kiyoshi Izumi

Professor
The University of Tokyo

He received the B.E. degree and completed the Ph.D. degree from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, in 1993 and 1998, respectively.
In 1993, he joined AIST as a researcher. Since 2010, he has been with the Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, as an associated professor, and became a professor in 2015.
His academic discipline is AI application technology in financial markets.

Hitoshi Suko

Deputy General Manager, IT Strategy Office, Investment Planning Division
Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co.,Ltd.

With a background in equity trading since 2008 at Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management, he launched the Investment IT Strategy Office in 2024 to lead AI and DX initiatives in investment operations. In 2025, he became the leader of the DX Subcommittee under the FSA’s Asset Management Forum and represents the asset management industry in the FSA’s Public-Private AI Forum.

Vlad Shurupov

CEO
Algoteq

With 35+ years in software development, Vlad Shurupov co-founded Algoteq in 2013 to deliver institutional-grade algorithmic trading solutions. Formerly with UBS and RBS, he led global teams in automated trading. Vlad specialises in low latency systems, quant strategies, OMS, AI, and AI-driven market modelling. A visionary yet pragmatic technologist, his mission is to empower banks and exchanges with world-class trading systems built on adaptive algorithms and cutting-edge innovation.

Tomoya Hamano

Project Manger
Mitsui & Co.

In 2019, he will be in charge of the company-wide quantum technology business development and R&D. After partnering with Quantinuum and other companies, he will establish the Quantum Innovation Office in 2022. Currently, as a Tech Lead, he promotes strategy formulation, PoC, and business development of quantum and hybrid products.

Atsushi Haruta

Senior Sales Manager
Quantinuum K.K.

n 2022, he joined Quantinuum Inc. as a sales and business development representative in the cybersecurity area. Quantinuum is one of the world's largest quantum computing companies. Previously, he worked in the telecoms instrumentation and embedded industry, providing security solutions and business development in telecoms security and mobile security.

Hiroshi Matsubara

Co-chair, Japan Regional Committee
FIX Trading Community
Representative
Pine Grove Research

With more than 30-year industry experience in marketing financial information and electronic transaction products. Serves as Co-Chair of the Japan regional committee of FIX Trading Community since 2007 and has taken the industrial thought leadership role. Set up own business entity “Pine Grove Research” in 2021 focussed on new technologies in financial markets by mainly serving for off-shore FinTech firms. Previously spent 15 years at Fidessa (now ION Group) by overseeing product marketing and marketing communication activities. Originally worked for Reuters for 17 years holding various product marketing positions both in Japan and overseas (UK and US). Joined Reuters London as a graduate management trainee from Reuters Asia in 1987.

Kenji Hoki

Head of Web3.0 Promotion Support Division, KPMG Japan
Director, Financial Services, KPMG AZSA LLC.

After gaining experience in fund management at domestic and international financial institutions, he joined the Financial Services Agency in 2003. He worked in the Special Investigation Division of the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Market Affairs Division of the Financial Services Agency's Planning and Coordination Bureau, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the International Affairs Office of the Financial Services Agency's Planning and Coordination Bureau. He joined KPMG AZSA LLC in 2014. As head of Fintech/Web 3.0-related advisory, he is engaged in advisory work such as compliance with Fintech-related regulations including cryptocurrency exchange businesses, financial services intermediaries, and electronic payment agencies, as well as supporting the promotion of Web 3.0 including security tokens, stablecoins, and DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations).

Yuki Tanaka

Head of BlackRock Global Markets Division and Global Product Solution Division
BlackRock Japan Co., Ltd.

Yuki Tanaka is the Head of BlackRock Global Markets in Japan, overseeing trading, securities lending, and cash management. In addition to these responsibilities, starting in 2025, Mr. Tanaka also holds a concurrent position in the Global Product Solutions department, where he oversees transition management. Mr. Tanaka's service to the firm dates back to 2011.He joined in the trading team and had responsibility for trading strategies.

Ken Kawai

Partner
Anderson Mori & Tomotsune

Ken has extensive experience advising global and local financial institutions, fintech firms, self-regulatory organizations, as well as investors and corporate clients across a number of industry sectors on complex financial regulatory matters. Ken is known as one of the leading figures in fintech law area. Ken regularly advises clients on all fintech related legal issues, including cryptocurrencies, digital securities, NFTs, digital asset investment funds, cross-border electronic payments, open banking and metaverse.

Eiji Kobayashi

Country Head, Japan Securitize Japan K.K.

After graduating from Brown University and earning an MBA from the University of Chicago, he joined Merrill Lynch's New York headquarters in the investment banking division as a new graduate and worked on Wall Street for about four years, including at Goldman Sachs. After returning to Japan, he held positions at Lehman Brothers, Deutsche Bank, American Express's corporate business division in Japan, and Mastercard Japan's vice president, before joining Securitize in February 2020. He is a JSTA director.

Yasunori Ejiri

Group Manager Trading Group Trading Department
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management Co., Ltd.

He is currently employed at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management, where he is responsible for trade execution as a trader. After gaining experience in back office work, he has been a trader since 2010, with experience in the fields of foreign exchange, foreign bonds, and foreign stocks. He joined Sumitomo Trust Bank in 1997.

Takashi Kitsukawa

Managing Director, Head of Macro Trading
Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd.

Takashi Kitsukawa was appointed as the Head of Macro Trading Japan in 2023, and is primarily responsible for trading Japanese government bonds (JGBs) and Rates & FX derivatives at Mizuho Securities and Mizuho Bank. Throughout his 27-year career at Mizuho FG, Takashi has undertaken a range of roles with a keen focus on Rates & FX derivatives, including Executive Director, Flow Derivative & JGB Trading at Mizuho International plc, Managing Director, Head of Derivative Products team at Mizuho Bank Co., Ltd and Managing Director, Deputy Head of Derivative Trading, Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd.

Miyuki Takemori

Director Head of Sales
Tradeweb Japan KK

Miyuki Takemori is Head of Sales at Tradeweb, responsible for managing the firm’s relationships with buy- and sell-side side clients, and policymakers, as well as managing the sales team across Japan.
Prior to joining Tradeweb in 2008, Miyuki held various positions in retail, private, and corporate banking at Citi, Mitsubushi and Société Générale. She holds a BA in Law from Keio University, Tokyo.

Toshifumi Niwa

NissayAsset Management Corporation

Team Leader of Domestic Bonds & OTC Derivatives Team, Trading Department at Nissay Asset Management. Oversees all trading operations including Japanese government bonds, interest rate swaps, currency swaps, and CDS. Joined the company in 2006, gained experience in the Foreign Equities & FX Team before assuming current position in 2011. Started career as an inter-dealer broker for Japanese government bonds.

Masa Murakami

Head of Quant Solutions Execution Japan, Executive Director UBS Securities Japan Co., Ltd.

Masa Murakami has been active in the global financial industry since 2006, with a focus on equity prime brokerage and electronic trading. He has worked closely with high-frequency and systematic trading clients across several leading institutions. Since 2021, he has served as Head of Quant Solutions Execution at UBS Securities Japan, where he leads initiatives in advanced trading strategies and execution technologies.

Yusuke Maeyama

Senior Researcher, Financial Research Department
NLI Research Institute.

Yusuke Maeyama joined NLI Research Institute in 2014 and has served in his current position since 2022. He is engaged in the research and analysis of asset management, specializing in stock markets and investment trusts. Prior to joining NLI Research Institute, Maeyama worked at Ibbotson Associates Japan, Daiwa Securities Capital Markets (now Daiwa Securities), and the Daiwa Institute of Research. He also serves as a Guest Researcher for the "Study Group to Deliver Global Growth to All People" at The Investment Trusts Association, Japan.

Hibiki Muneta

Managing Director, Investment Division
Simplex Asset Management Co., Ltd.

Hibiki Muneta joined Simplex Asset Management in 2008. After working as an equity analyst, he spearheaded the firm’s ETF business, listing numerous pioneering ETFs in Japan, including those tracking WTI crude oil, leveraged and inverse, and actively managed products.
Prior to joining the firm, he worked at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu LLC in audit services and at Deloitte Tohmatsu Financial Advisory LLC in M&A advisory.

Mr. Muneta holds a B.A. in Economics from Keio University. He is a CFA® charterholder and a Certified Public Accountant (Japan).

Tomoaki Murano

Business Development Department Professional
Matsui Securities Co., Ltd.

Since joining Matsui Securities in 2002, he has been involved in developing online brokerage services for individual investors for over 20 years. He is responsible for the introduction of OSE derivatives, US stocks, and stock lending services. In the area of execution, he has led onboarding to PTS and the launch of the Japanese stock dark pool. Through his participation in the many working groups, he also proposed ideas on the development of more convenient market rules.

Masakatsu Yamada

Chief Executive Officer
Japannext Co., Ltd.

After graduating from Keio University in 1989, Masakatsu worked at Nomura Securities and at BNP Paribas Securities in Japan, mainly in the fixed income business. In 1999, he joined the Financial Supervisory Agency (the current Financial Services Agency), where he was involved in financial inspections and the preparation of various processes and procedures. Masakatsu then held senior risk management positions at BNP Paribas Securities and Mizuho Securities before joining SBI Japannext Co. Ltd (current Japannext Co., Ltd.) After serving as the COO, he assumed his current position as the CEO in 2020.

Takahiro Yoshida

Retail Marketing Section Manager & Editor-in-Chief
Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc.

After joining the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2010, he worked in the stock department and then in the sales department, where he was engaged in marketing and PR work for individual investors. In the process, he felt the need to expand the investor base through the stock exchange, and in 2016, he planned and developed the web media "TSE Money Club! a web-based media that provides financial and economic information in an easy-to-understand manner. Currently, as editor-in-chief, he oversees the media mix strategy, including not only the website, but also book publishing and audio (radio).

Gucci Yamaguchi

Head of Liquidnet Japan

Gucci joined Liquidnet Japan in 2006 as General Manager of IT Systems and Security. After engaging in sales for institutional investors, Gucci was appointed as Representative Director in September 2012. Prior to joining Liquidnet, he worked for AT&T/Lucent Technologies as a senior sales manager for network equipment sales for domestic telecom mega carriers and as a product manager at the US headquarters, where Gucci was in charge of Asian market development. After returning to Japan, Gucci served as President of Global Alliance Partners, where Gucci provided strategic advice to U.S. start-up companies on how to enter the Japanese market. Gucci holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Economics from Meiji University.

Akiko Imai

Global Head of New Sales
Virtu Financial

Ms. Imai is the Global Head of New Sales at Virtu Financial and a member of Virtu’s Global Management Committee. Prior to her current role, Ms. Imai has built the POSIT Alert (Electronic Block) Asia-Pacific desk from scratch to an essential revenue stream, providing leadership for Virtu’s execution Business. In addition to leading the POSIT Alert business, Ms. Imai also focused on cross-selling products, resulting in increased footprints particularly in Japan where, in the past, Virtu had limited presence. Ms. Imai has a B.A. in Economics from Keio University Japan, and previously worked for Lehman Brothers and Nomura Securities in Tokyo. She won the Rising Star Women in Finance Award in New York in 2018.

Satsuki Oyamada

Head of Electronic Sales Trading
Execution Services
Nomura Securities Co. Ltd.

Joined Nomura Securities in 2015 and started her career in operations. Internally transferred to Global Markets in 2019 and started as coverage in Electronic sales trading.
In charge of the block trading desk within the electronic desk since 2021. Also started to look after Instinet’s BlockCross services for Japanese domestic clients. Head of Electronic sales trading since 2025.
At electronic sales trading since 2019

Gosuke Sakamoto

Senior Vice President, Electronic Sales Trading, Equities Department Jefferies Japan Ltd.

Gosuke Sakamoto captains the Electronic Trading desk for Jefferies Japan as a Senior VP, coverage for both international and domestic institutional clients.
Prior to Jefferies, Gosuke was at UBS in both Sales Trading and IT roles. He graduated from the University of Waterloo in Canada with a BMath in Computer Science.

Junya Umeno

Head of Japan, OneChronos

Junya Umeno is Head of Japan at OneChronos, leading the firm’s entry and growth in the Japanese and broader APAC markets. Leveraging nearly three decades of experience across trading, liquidity, and client relationship management, he works closely with institutional investors, regulators, and industry bodies to drive innovation in market structure and execution quality.

Prior to joining OneChronos, Junya served as Managing Director at BlackRock Japan, where he led trading, securities lending, transition management, and cash management, and later managed relationships with Japan’s largest official institutions including public pensions, endowments, and the central bank.

Junya served as Co-Chair of the FIX Trading Community Japan Regional Committee from 2012 to 2025, actively contributing to market development and regulatory dialogue.

He is a Certified Member Analyst of the Securities Analysts Association of Japan (CMA) and recipient of the Securities Analyst Journal Award. He is also co-author of several books and academic publications on market structure and quantitative investment strategies.

Mie Kobayashi

Head of GSET Japan
Goldman Sachs Japan Co., Ltd.

Mie started her career at Merrill Lynch in 2005 as middle office, moved to Electronic Trading Sales trading from 2007. From 2012 she moved to Goldman Sachs Electronic Trading covering

Kenji Takeda

Senior Trader
Nomura Asset Management Co.,Ltd.

From 2006, started my career as retail sales, then moved to market division as a prop trader, facilitation desk, then to sales trader, in total of 10 years. Subsequently, I moved to two Japanese asset management companies, where I worked as an equity trader covering Japanese and foreign equities. Since February 2025, I have been with Nomura Asset Management, responsible for Japanese equities, foreign equities, and lending.

Yuki Tanaka

Head of BlackRock Global Markets Division and Global Product Solution Division
BlackRock Japan Co., Ltd.

Yuki Tanaka is the Head of BlackRock Global Markets in Japan, overseeing trading, securities lending, and cash management. In addition to these responsibilities, starting in 2025, Mr. Tanaka also holds a concurrent position in the Global Product Solutions department, where he oversees transition management. Mr. Tanaka's service to the firm dates back to 2011.He joined in the trading team and had responsibility for trading strategies.

Masatsugu Takiyama

Chief Trader
Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation

Masatsugu Takiyama joined Mitsubishi UfJ Trust and Banking Corporation in 2019 as a trader of Equities and FX.　Since 2022,has served as a head of equity trading team. Prior to joining Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, worked for 14 years at an asset management firm as a Japanese equity trader.

Ako Nishi

Executive Director, Central Dealing
J.P. Morgan Asset Management (Asia Pacific) Limited.

Ako Nishi joined J.P. Morgan Asset Management in 2015, bringing extensive equity trading experience from both Japanese and international brokerage firms. She has played a key role in developing the firm's proprietary trading automation system, collaborating closely with internal quants teams, technology teams, and brokers. Additionally, she continuously communicates the firm's commitment to best execution to stakeholders, including investors.

Shino Watanabe

Director
Electronic Execution
Equity Execution Services, Equity Markets
Citigroup Global Markets Japan Inc.

Shino joined Citigroup Global Markets Japan in 2022 to manage the Equity Electronic Trading business. Prior to joining Citi, Shino held various roles in Electronic Trading at Bank of America and Credit Suisse, covering responsibilities such as platform marketing and Execution performance consultancy. She has more than 15 years of experience covering Pan-Asia equity trading, primarily focused on Japan.