Archives: Speakers

Mr. Solis is a recognized expert in FDA import operations who has served as the acting assistant commissioner and director of ORA’s Office of Enforcement and Import Operations (OEIO) since March 29, 2020. During this time, he has provided leadership and direction to all OEIO field import divisions as well as the Division of Food Defense Targeting and Division of Import Operations at FDA HQ. He brought about the leadership and stability needed during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Mr. Solis was selected as the Assistant Commissioner for Import Operations on November 22, 2020 and prior to that he was the Division Director for the Division of West Coast Imports since February 9, 2018. He started his career with FDA in 1998. Prior to working in FDA, Mr. Solis worked in the Bioresearch field focusing on Medical Device and Drug Application Products after graduating from the University California of Irvine and the University of La Verne. Mr. Solis has held many positions within FDA that includes working at the FDA lab in Irvine, Ca. as a Microbiologist, HQ position within the Division of Import Operations in Rockville, MD, working as an Import Compliance Officer and working in the FDA Los Angeles District Office as a Director of Import Operations Branch. Mr. Solis is an experienced collaborator who has played an integral role in FDA operational activities with other federal agencies, partnering with Customs and Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Drug Enforcement Agency, and state and local law enforcement agencies. Additionally, he conducts local and national training on imports, is a member of the National Leadership Development Workgroup at FDA’s Office of Training and Education Development, and has served as a mentor for the Federal Executive Board in Los Angeles and ORA’s Potential Supervisors Program. In his new role, Mr. Solis serves as the principal advisor to Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs and report to the Deputy Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs (DACRA) on all import matters. This includes providing direction and oversight to FDA field import operations, reviewing prior notice and intelligence data on human and animal food, and leading the development and implementation of new import programs and procedures. Mr. Solis has had many accomplishments within FDA and these are a few notables: Implementation of PREDICT at all ports in the US, the implementation of electronic communications and paperless transactions initiatives with the Trade Associations, formation of the CBP/FDA Teams including the Opioid Task Force, formation of the West Coast Import Advisory Council, formation of Federal and State Task Forces, conducting Federal Operations, streamlining the refusal process in the Ports of LA, San Francisco and Seattle, and development of strong partnerships with the filers, brokers and importers in the Pacific Region. Mr. Solis is nationally recognized as a subject matter expert in the program area of Import Operations and gives local, as well as, national training on Imports Investigations. He is a member of the National Leadership Development Workgroup at FDA’s Office of Training and Education Development, has served as a mentor for the Federal Executive Board in Los Angeles and the Potential Supervisor Program within FDA. He also has had integral roles in FDA Operations with other Federal Agencies, working with CBP, HSI, USDA, FWS, DEA and State and local law enforcement agencies. Currently, aside from his duties at the port, Mr. Solis is also a member of the FSMA – Foreign Supplier Verification Program (FSVP) Implementation Team as well as the Associate Commissioner’s IT Advisory Workgroup, the Associate Commissioner’s Import Advisory Panel, member of AFDO, WAFDO, ASQ, OCRA and the Pacific Island Health Officers Association (PIHOA). Mr. Solis holds a Masters Degree (MS) in Healthcare Administration from the University of LaVerne and a Bachelor’s Degree (BS) from University California of Irvine.

Matthew was appointed FNZ Group Proposition Director in 2022, responsible for developing the vision and roadmap behind FNZ’s overall proposition. He joined FNZ in December 2012 as Head of Institutional Product before going on to lead the Proposition team in 2014. Matthew was appointed Chief Executive Officer, UK & SA in February 2019 where he successfully led the execution of many of FNZ’s largest and most complex client deliveries, managed a significant number of large customers and grew the business at record pace. Prior to joining FNZ, Matthew spent 7 years at Cofunds where he held a number of roles across Operations, IT and eventually as Head of Product for the Cofunds Institutional Service. Before this, Matthew’s career also included roles at Sumitomo Trust and Banking, Citibank and UBS where he held multiple roles across Operations, IT and Treasury.

Philippe is the Head of Switzerland for FNZ where he particularly works with Private Banks. Philippe has 30 years of experience in the industry advising Private Banking clients and Private Banks. Prior to FNZ, Philippe worked in the industry at UBS Wealth Management in various roles and as Partner in Strategy Consulting advising Wealth & Asset Managers on growth, digital strategies and their transformation plans. He worked with more than 50 Private Banks – global, regional or domestic leaders – on all continents and in both offshore and/or onshore markets – seeking to improve their competitive position and economics. Philippe also advised wealthy individuals on leaving a legacy.

Suman has more than 20 years’ experience in the wealth management technology and services space. A career built alongside the evolution of technology driven by opportunities and challenges faced by the wealth management sector. Extensive experience in bridging the gap between business, operations and vendor. Now Head UK product management and pre-sales offering at Avaloq UK Ltd., embracing agile and human-centred design thinking to deliver value to users. A geek at heart, Suman holds an MBA and is experienced in new-logo hunting, product launches, new market entry, complex migration and implementation projects.

BSc, PhD, CChem, FRSC, EurChem, CEng, FIFireE Chairman, FPRS, February 2021

Dr. Cash is an experienced Fire, Safety and Emergency Planning professional with considerable exposure to a wide range of safety regulatory activities in the rail, aviation, oil & petrochemical, marine and military sectors. Based in the United Kingdom, Tony is a Chartered Fire Engineer accredited by the Institution of Fire Engineers and a Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers, a Chartered European Chemist and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He’s a distinguished Member of the British Standards Institute, International President of the Rail Industry Fire Association (RIFA) and Vice-President of the London Branch of the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE). United Kingdom Expert on the European Standard CEN/TC 256/WG 1, Railway Applications (Fire Protection) working group. Been practicing fire protection engineering for over 35 years and has specialised in the fire safe design of very complicated and unusual projects in a wide range of private and public sectors.Tony has previously been the Chartered Fire Engineer at Heathrow Airport Limited and before joining Heathrow, Tony worked for Bombardier Transportation, Trenton Fire, London Underground (LU), Transport for London (TfL), the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority and Angus Fire Ltd.
He earned a Bachelor of Science (BSc) Honours in Chemistry from the University of London in 1983 and earned a Doctorate in Physical Chemistry (Ph.D.) from the University of Leeds in 1987. He is a Chartered Chemist (CChem), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) and a Chartered European Chemist (EurChem). Dr. Cash is also a Fellow of the Institution of Fire Engineers (FIFireE), and a Chartered Fire Engineer. Tony has been involved in fire safety engineering since 1983 and first became a Chartered Practitioner in 1987. Tony has experience of working in the UK, USA, Canada, the Far East, the British Overseas Territories, the Middle East, Scandinavia, Europe, Cyprus and South Africa. Throughout his broad & varied career, Tony has participated on a number of committees advising on new guidance documents and proposed legislation including British Standards, NFPA, ICAO, UK CAA, EASA and the Institution of Fire Engineers Special Interest Groups. In addition, he has set and marked exams for his professional bodies, the UK CAA and overseas aviation agencies on fire safety & emergency planning, human factors in engineering and the Carriage Packaging and Labelling of Dangerous Goods/Hazardous Materials. Tony regularly speaks on the subject of rail rolling stock and tunnel fire safety at international conferences. He has chaired numerous annual conferences on the Fire Protection of Rolling Stock and is looking forward to chairing the 18th annual conference back in Berlin.