The Founder
Cecilia is considered a thought-leader in the regulations and compliance space, recognised by Finews as one of Crypto Valley’s Top Female Talents.
Cecilia is a global C-suite executive and domain expert who has solved problems for publicly listed and privately held, family-owned, technology companies, asset managers, family offices, foundations, fintechs, entrepreneurs, and governments. With over a decade of experience in risk management, algorithms, data, and high-performance computing, she has managed systemic and macroeconomic risks at UBS, SIX, and Deutsche Börse during various crises and regulatory changes. Cecilia has been invited to serve as an expert on the Council of Europe’s AI Committee Huderia Platform.
She has mentored cross-functional teams in obtaining digital banking licenses, transforming functions with emerging technologies, adapting to new regulations, and assessing and evaluating regtech tools for implementation. She drafted the CVA Code of Conduct for the community, which has been adopted by over 1,000 individuals and 250 corporations. She serves as the supervisory board secretary of Besso, which creates intelligence to achieve savings in supply chain management.
She was Chief of Staff twice, Chief Operating Officer, and successfully built various functions, compliance, and risk programs and systems from the ground up five times and has represented entities such as the Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin protocols, SIX Exchange, Deutsche Börse, and China Construction Bank Zurich. She has reported into the Boards of Directors of stock-exchange-listed and privately held companies.
She has worked alongside the World Bank and McKinsey on various transformational projects that built digital infrastructure, benefiting tens of millions and fulfilling five UN SDGs. Prior to UBS, she worked at the BIS and helped set global standards for financial institutions. Earlier in her career, she worked at the United Nations and the US Department of State in Washington, D.C..
Accomplishments
Cecilia began her finance career at the Bank for Settlements and worked for UBS’ Investment Bank and its Wealth Management arm, Deutsche Börse, SIX Exchange, and China Construction Bank Zurich. As Chief Compliance Officer, MLRO, DPO, IT Risk and Security Officer, Credit Risk Officer, Financial Reporting, and Senior Regulatory Officer, she was responsible for strategy, driving an effective risk culture throughout the company, maintaining risk and compliance frameworks, overseeing risk management, regulatory compliance, and internal governance practices across multiple business units across EMEA, APAC and N.America. She has built a commercial bank, trading room, and clearing hub for medium and large corporates from the ground up. She served as Company Secretary for three supervisory board committees at Seba Bank: Audit, Risk, and Strategy & Technology.
She is a co-founder and former Chair of the 100 Women in Finance Zurich Education Committee and is currently a member of the Global Fintech Committee.
Awards & Learning for Life
She received a cross-divisional, team leadership award in risk at UBS and a commendation letter from the United Nations for leading a global movement in over 130 countries early in her career.
Cecilia holds an E-MBA from the University of St. Gallen, an MBA from the University of Toronto, and dual degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. She has completed courses in Blue Dot AGI Strategy, Software Engineering, AI and Law, and holds certifications in IAPP Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional and Advanced Compliance Management from the University of St. Gallen. Cecilia speaks English, German, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese.