Australia’s External Position & FX Market Evolution with the RBA’s Christopher Kent

Christopher Kent is the Assistant Governor (Financial Markets) at the Reserve Bank of Australia, a position he has held since December 2016. In this role, he is responsible for the oversight of the Bank’s operations in the domestic and global financial markets, including the management of Australia’s foreign reserves. He briefs the Reserve Bank Board on developments in financial markets at the monthly Board meetings and participates as the Bank’s representative on the BIS Markets Committee and the BIS Committee on Global Financial Stability. Christopher chairs the Australian Foreign Exchange Committee.

Prior to this, Christopher was the Assistant Governor (Economic) for five years and as such was the chief economic advisor to the Governor and the Board. Christopher has also worked as Head of Payments Policy Department and earlier as Head of Economic Research Department and he spent two years with the International Monetary Fund working on the Italian desk.

Christopher holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from the Australian National University. He has authored numerous papers on the Australian economy and macroeconomic policy and edited a number of the Bank’s annual Conference Volumes.

Stuart is Head of Multi-Asset Solutions at QIC, managing a capability which researches, promotes and manages derivatives portfolios for institutional investors. This encompasses a broad range of derivatives across equities, foreign exchange, rates, credit, inflation, commodities and volatility.

Prior to managing Multi-Asset Solutions, Stuart was the Head of Currency within the Liquid Markets Group, and a Senior Portfolio Manager.

Stuart is also a member of the RBA’s Australian Foreign Exchange Committee (AFXC) and is currently Co-Vice Chair of the Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC), having served as the Australian private sector representative between 2019 to 2022. While on the GFXC, Stuart has co-led working groups on buyside outreach and FX data transparency along with participating in other initiatives including both the ‘pre-hedging’ and ‘proportionality’ working groups.

Luke is the Head eFICC, he is responsible for all electronic trading and
distribution across ANZ Markets. In this capacity, Luke is responsible for driving
and innovating our digital and data strategy and execution, upgrading our
electronic platform and our trading systems, aligning infrastructure to compete
with our global peers.

Luke holds a Bachelor in Economics from the University of New England and a
Masters in Applied Finance from Macquarie University. He has also studied
Digitisation and Industrialisation at MIT Sloan School of Management. He has
been with ANZ since 1989 in various roles, among those Head of FX Trading
London, Global Head of FX Options, Chief Dealer Asian Currencies and most
recently Global Head of Wholesale FX.

In 2019, Luke completed the Leadership in Digital Transformation Strategy
through Berkley Executive Education and studied Block Chain Technology and
Business Innovation at MIT Sloan Executive Education in 2020.

Luke is a member of the Australian FX Committee and the Global FX Committee
as well as a Board Member on ACI Australia. Luke has undertaken an active role
with regards to CBDC and the adopting of the associated technologies,
transforming virtual currencies into digital currencies. New technology adoption
is required to ensure currency efficiencies align end to end, promoting innovation
for the economy of the future.

Luke has been a mentor on the Woman in Banking and Finance program since
2015.

Ray Attrill is Head of FX Strategy within the Fixed income, Currencies and Commodities division of National Australia Bank. With over 30 years’ experience as an economist and market strategist, he has held roles in London, New York and Sydney.

Ray has amassed considerable experience in research and strategy and has been a joint founding partner for 4CAST Limited, a leading independent economic and financial market research company and has held senior roles at MMS International, also a leading online market research provider.

Prior to joining NAB in 2012 he has held a similar senior role at BNP Paribas.

He holds both Master and Bachelor of Science degrees in economics from the London School of Economics.

Damian Jeffree is the Head of Financial Markets, Exchanges and Digital at the Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA). He has degrees in law, computer science, physics and philosophy, and has worked in law and policy at AFMA and in government, as an equity trader, as well as in information technology and leading a compliance function at global banks and trading houses. He is currently working on a PhD in an AI-related field.

James McIntyre is Bloomberg Economics economist covering the Australian and New Zealand economies. He has previously covered the Australian and New Zealand economies at Macquarie Bank and Commonwealth Bank. He also has a background across economics, public policy and politics through his roles in the Australian Treasury, the Australian Banking Association, and as an economic advisor in the Office of the Prime Minister. He is based in Sydney.

Vicky Cheng is Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs Asia Pacific, overseeing government relations and regulatory developments impacting Bloomberg and its clients in the region.

Before joining Bloomberg, Vicky worked in both the public and private sectors. Her focus has been policy and regulatory development, advising senior management on related requirements and implementations. Vicky drove advocacy and public affairs programs for various organizations including global corporates and financial institutions. During her time with an international law firm, Vicky led business development and thought leadership strategies for the Financial Services Regulatory and Dispute Resolution practices. She began her career with a Government providing policy analysis and communications.

Ben Pool is the Head of Sales for Australia and New Zealand at Bloomberg, overseeing and guiding the firm’s strategy in the region. He has years of experience supporting clients in optimizing their operational efficiency and data transformation. Throughout his career, Ben has held various leadership roles at Bloomberg, including Head of Hong Kong and China Buyside Sales teams. He started his career in Bloomberg’s London office before moving to Hong Kong in 2014. Ben holds a bachelor’s degree in Financial and Business Economics, and is actively involved in various committees at Bloomberg.