European Banking in 2025: Rethinking Risks and Opportunities, Perspectives from ECB and Finance Leaders

Klaus Düellmann, Head of Division, Strategic Risk & Analytics, European Central Bank
Klaus is Head of Strategic Risk and Analytics Division within the Directorate Supervisory Strategy and Risk of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt. Main areas of his work cover the assessment of the risk landscape for SSM banks and supporting the supervisory priorities setting.

Between May 2014 and February 2021 he was Head of Division within the horizontal Banking Supervision of the ECB with responsibilities for risk analyses and supervisory stress tests. Before May 2014 he was Head of Supervisory Coordination and Risk Analysis Division in the central office of the Deutsche Bundesbank in Frankfurt.
He has a PhD in Finance from the University of Mannheim and a First Degree (Diplom) in Mathematics from the Technical University of Darmstadt.

Mark Rhys

Mark has spent over thirty years auditing banking and capital market clients.

He was Deloitte’s global lead contact for interactions with the Financial Stability Board. As joint Chair of the GPPC’s Bank Working Group, Mark led regular discussions between the profession, the FSB and IFIAR regarding bank accounting and audit quality and leads Deloitte’s discussions with the BCBS Accounting Experts Group. He was a member of the PRA’s Practitioner Panel for six years and sat on Sir Donald Brydon’s Auditors’ Advisory Group.

At the ICAEW, Mark was the first Chair of the Financial Services Faculty, and has chaired the Technical Strategy Board.

Ian Freeman, Banking Partner, KPMG
Ian is an experienced Financial Services partner with deep knowledge in banking and global markets for large multi-national organisations with diverse operations.
He has particular interest in global markets businesses with strong expertise of operations, financial control and valuations, and areas of regulatory focus.
Ian's professional journey has included significant Audit experience working under various regulatory frameworks including international, US, and UK standards.
Ian also sits on the ICAEW Banking Committee.

Marcus Bensasson, Research Economist, Eurobank
Marcus is an economist at Eurobank specialising in global developed economies, with a focus on key trends and challenges affecting the macro outlook. Previously, he covered the eurozone debt crisis for a major international news organisation before transitioning to macroeconomic analysis of Greece. He also has experience with project finance, and covered Mexico early in his career.

Polly Tsang
Prior to joining the ICAEW, Polly specialised in structured finance and asset backed securitisation at PwC, helping firms raise debt market funding and buy/sell asset pools. She qualified as an ACA with PwC London within investment management and banking and capital markets. She is interested in exploring the risks and opportunities in regulating financial services in the post-Brexit landscape, particularly in evolving areas such as ESG, cryptoassets and AI.

Michael is chief financial officer of Goldman Sachs Bank Europe. He also manages the EMEA Legal Entity Controllers, Asset & Wealth Management Corporate Controllers, Investment Accounting, Fund Controllers and Financial Reporting teams across London, Frankfurt, Dublin and The Hague. In addition, he has responsibility for the regional Controllers teams across EMEA. Previously, Michael was head of Operations, Technology, Finance and Services, and chief financial officer for Goldman Sachs Bank AG in Switzerland between 2011 and 2013. Prior to that, he worked in Product Control in London from 2004 to 2011, supporting the Asset Management Private business. Michael joined Goldman Sachs in 2001 as an associate in Frankfurt and was named managing director in 2012.

Prior to joining the firm, Michael worked at BDO Stoy Hayward for four years in London.

Michael earned a BA (Hons) and a MMath in Mathematics from Cambridge University. He is also a qualified chartered accountant.