Jeff Bandman is the founder and principal of Bandman Advisors, an advisory practice that helps clients ranging from startups to global firms meet their strategic innovation and regulatory challenges. Bandman Advisors bridges the gap between business and regulation.

Jeff is a research fellow of the Blockchain for Algorithmic Regulation and Compliance (BARAC) initiative at University College London’s Centre for Blockchain Technologies, serves on the Board of Advisors of Templum Inc., and acts as a fintech regulation mentor for the Techstars Barclays FinTech Accelerator program.

Previously, Jeff was a senior official at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission from 2014-2017. As Fintech Advisor to Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo, he was Founding Director and Architect of LabCFTC, the CFTC’s hub for engagement with fintech innovation (the first launched by a U.S. market regulator). He established and chaired the CFTC blockchain, a virtual currencies and fintech working group, from inception in 2015. Jeff led fintech and regtech coordination with domestic and international regulators and led an international regulator work stream on post-trade digital innovation. He previously led the CFTC’s Division of Clearing and Risk, which oversees many of the world’s largest clearinghouses, and also led the negotiations resulting in “Clearinghouse Equivalence” with the European Commission. He joined the CFTC as Special Counsel to Chairman Timothy Massad and led the CFTC’s Office of International Affairs.

Jeff worked for many years in the financial industry in New York and London. As Head of Partnerships & Alliances of LCH’s SwapClear, he helped design and launch the SwapClear “FCM service” for clearing interest rate swaps through U.S. intermediaries. He also devised the innovative CCP Squared partnership program and led the award-winning SMART margin simulator. Jeff earlier worked on a variety of new market structure and fintech initiatives, including LiquidityHub and the Project Rainbow consortium. Before that, he rebuilt Cantor Fitzgerald’s market data business after the events of September 11th, 2001.

Jeff started his career as an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York and was America’s General Counsel for Prebon Yamane, now part of the ICAP group. He graduated from Yale magna cum laude (honours in History and English) and from Stanford Law School (honours as a member of the “Order of the Coif”). He is a five-time Jeopardy! Champion and spent his winnings backpacking around Africa, Asia, and Europe.

A serial entrepreneur, Praveen has been involved with and influential in the founding of five successful startups, most notably serving as CEO of Pipal Systems and president of ChargePoint. He is currently an MIT Connection Science Fellow.

Praveen has held senior R&D executive positions at Riverstone Networks, Lucent Technologies, and SGI. He is a seasoned technology and operating executive whose teams have developed industry-recognized, market-leading technologies and solutions in telecom, clean-tech and high-performance computer industries. Examples of projects directly impacted by his teams include using supercomputers to generate black hole simulations and violent weather forecasts, Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Infrastructure, and DSL broadband access.

He is named co-inventor on 10 patents and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from Santa Clara University.

Praveen is passionate about partnering with other inspirational entrepreneurs to inspire and support their work, especially in the fields of AI and blockchain technologies, in a concentrated effort to transform and impact many industries. He also serves as an active board member and advisor to 7 startups and 2 universities.

Manny Alicandro currently serves as General Counsel at MANA Partners in New York City. Prior to this role, he worked as the Executor Director of JPMorgan Chase.

Alicandro boasts an impressive resume in compliance and financial services, including leadership of PwC’s Financial Services Risk and Regulatory Practice, General Counsel at MANA Partners, Former Assistant General Counsel and President of BOX Regulation, NASDAQ, and multiple compliance and regulatory leadership roles at FINRA.

He also worked closely on the development of the SEC’s Consolidated Audit Trail or “CAT,” one of the world’s largest data repositories that is slated to contain a complete record of all equities, options, and securities traded in the U.S.