24th Annual International Financial Reporting and Compliance summit

Mike Velthaak, CRO, Advisor to the Board
Mike has worked at Rabobank since 2012. Before that, he spent 17 years as an external accountant and advisor in the financial sector in the Netherlands and Belgium.
He now advises Rabobank’s Board and senior management on topics such as the Banking Union, EDIS, and the Capital and Investments Union. He has strong knowledge of banking rules and regulations, including SSM, Resolution, EMIR, and ESG. He also looks at digital currencies and their impact on financial stability.
Mike is a member of the executive committee of the EACB and chairs its Banking Regulation workgroup. He also takes part in other EACB and EBF working groups and is a member of the ECB’s BIRD steering committee. In addition, he represents Rabobank in similar roles within the Dutch Banking Association.
Mike co-wrote two books: Handbook Derivatives (Dutch) and Financial Instruments (English). These books explain how financial instruments work and how they are valued, including IFRS 9. He is also a guest lecturer at the University of Karlsruhe.
He studied Business Administration at VU University Amsterdam and has been a chartered accountant since 1999 and a corporate treasurer since 2001.

Dr. Peter Quell is Head of the Portfolio Analytics Team for Market and Credit Risk in the Risk Controlling Unit of DZ BANK AG in Frankfurt. He is responsible for methodological aspects of Internal Risk Models and Economic Capital. He holds a MSc. in Mathematical Finance from Oxford University and a PhD in Mathematics. Peter is member of the editorial board of the Journal of Risk Model Validation and a founding board member of the Model Risk Managers’ International Association (mrmia.org).

Currently, Rodrigue serves as the Head of Enterprise Risk Management and Risk Modelling at Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL) and as a Board Member at BIL Reinsurance S.A. In this role, Rodrigue is responsible for monitoring the risks inherent in the Bank’s business and managing the risk intelligence function, ensuring that reporting delivers actionable insights to support decision-making at the Bank’s Senior Management and Board levels. He maintains direct contact with regulatory authorities, oversees the ERM and Risk Modelling roadmaps, and leads strategic and regulatory risk management projects, including ICAAP, ILAAP, recovery planning, and resolution planning. Additionally, he leads the Internal Ratings-Based Approach (IRBA), Pillar 2, and IFRS 9 teams and is in charge of implementing the models strategy and leading the ESG Risk Management efforts.

Previously, Rodrigue served as Senior Manager and Group Head of Strategy and Risk Analytics in a different Regional Banking Group. In this role, he was instrumental in executing risk management solutions and spearheaded the implementation of Basel II/III across the Group. As a risk and strategy specialist, he led the development of the Group’s long-term strategy and business plans, implemented corporate governance guidelines, and established a best-practice-driven risk management framework. He was also responsible for developing effective risk and capital management policies, streamlining quantitative risk management for economic capital and stress testing, conducting portfolio analyses and institutional risk assessments, performing risk reviews, and leading risk reporting.

Rodrigue has participated in numerous international workshops on banking supervision, risk management, and corporate governance. He served as a university lecturer for eight years and is a frequent speaker at major international conferences and workshops, sharing insights across a wide range of his areas of expertise.

Iliriana joined the IASB technical staff in 2018 and focuses on projects relating to financial instruments accounting.

Currently, she leads the IASB’s Amortised Cost Measurement project and supports other projects on financial instruments matters, including the work of the IFRS Interpretations Committee.Previously she worked on the IASB’s projects on the Post-implementation Review of impairment requirements in IFRS 9, the Interest Rate Benchmark Reform, Dynamic Risk Management, Financial Instruments with Characteristics of Equity, IFRS 18, and the first-time application of IFRS 17 and IFRS 9.

Prior to joining the IASB, Iliriana focussed on audit and accounting advisory for financial services in United Kingdom, New Zealand and Kosovo.

Sarah Esmeijer, Head of Accounting Policies, ABN AMRO Bank

Sarah is Head of Accounting Policies at ABN AMRO, which is a Dutch Bank offering banking services to people and businesses mainly in the Netherlands and Northwest Europe. Outside Europe, ABN AMRO Clearing Bank has offices in Asia Pacific and the Americas.

Sarah started her career as an external auditor at KPMG, with a focus on clients in the financial services sector. Since joining ABN, her role has always involved providing advice in accounting topics. The Accounting Policies team is responsible for interpretation and application of IFRS Accounting Standards and ensures ABN AMRO's financial statements are compliant with the applicable regulation.

Head of Compliance Risk Management and Governance, Group Compliance – Eurobank SA
Argyro has more than 15 years’ experience in the financial services sector. She currently holds the position of Head of Compliance Risk Management and Governance within the Group Compliance Function of Eurobank SA. Her role includes the supervision and coordination of compliance units across the Bank’s subsidiaries, ensuring consistency and alignment of compliance risk management frameworks at Group level. Argyro is also actively involved in the implementation of compliance-related technology initiatives, supporting the digital transformation of compliance processes.

Didrik Thrane-Nielsen is a Project Director at EFRAG overseeing the EFRAG work on a number of topics, but mainly focusing on projects relating to financial instruments.

Before joining EFRAG in July 2021 Didrik was a Partner within Global Accounting Consultation Services of PWC working out of Oslo and specialising in IFRS for Financial instruments. Before joining PWC in 2001 he worked 6 years with Enron on energy risk management.

Didrik holds an MBA in Accounting and Auditing.

Teona Zirakashvili is an FCCA-qualified finance leader with over 15 years across financial services and audit, bringing a dual perspective to financial reporting oversight, audit governance, and risk identification. She currently leads strategic planning, budgeting, and performance management for a listed banking group, including direct engagement with the National Bank of Georgia on product approval, pricing validation, and accounting compliance.
Her executive background spans IFRS compliance, M&A due diligence, and capital allocation, built alongside regulators, Big Four auditors, and advisors including McKinsey, Citigroup etc. She is a graduate of the Stanford LEAD executive program.
Most recently she has led her group's structured adoption of AI across finance designing the framework for who gets which tools, how outputs are controlled, and how the investment is held to the same return discipline as any other capital allocation.