Born in 1944 in Montreal, Canada, Roy Cullen earned his B.A. in Business Administra­tion, and a Master of Public Administration. He qualified as a Canadian Chartered Accountant in 1972. Initially elected to the House of Commons in Ottawa in a by-election in 1996, he was re-elected in the 1997, 2000, 2004, and the 2006 general elections. He retired from the Canadian House of Commons in 2008. During his career prior to 1996, Mr. Cullen served as an assistant deputy minister in the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, and as a vice-president in the Noranda Forest Group (now Norbord).

As a member of the Prime Minister Jean Chrétien’s government, and later under Prime Minister Paul Martin, Mr. Cullen served as chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, as parliamentary secretary to the minister of finance, as parliamentary secretary to the deputy prime minister and the minister for public safety and emergency preparedness; and as chair of the Ontario Liberal caucus. In 2006 he was sworn-in as a member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada. He also served as Official Opposition critic for natural resources.

In March 2004, Mr. Cullen orchestrated the passage of a complex private members’ Bill C-212, An act respecting user fees, by engaging members of parliament and senators.  The Bill was passed and resulted in significant changes to government user fees, making the system more transparent, performance-based, and accountable. 

During his tenure as parliamentary secretary to the minister of finance, Mr. Cullen was actively involved in designing and implementing Canada’s anti-money-laundering regime. Mr. Cullen has been very active with the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC) in the international fight against corruption and money laundering. He has spoken out on these scourges and has played a leadership role at several anti-corruption and anti-money-laundering workshops and conferences. Currently Mr. Cullen serves on the Management Committee of GOPAC, and on GOPAC’s Anti Money Laundering Global Task Force. 

In 2008 Mr. Cullen completed a book The Poverty of Corrupt Nations in which he examines the relationship between corrupt leaders and poverty; and how, as a result of the misappropriation of public assets by elected and senior officials, millions of citizens around the world are being deprived of the basic human right of the chance to move out of the ranks of the poor. He offers a Twenty Point Plan as a way of attacking these vexing problems. In his second book, Beyond Question Period, or What really goes on in Ottawa, which was published in 2011, he chronicles the life of an MP In Ottawa beyond the rhetoric of the cut and thrust of Question Period.

Nicholas is a Professor in Financial Crime who has authored four monographs The Financial War on Terror (2015), The Financial Crisis and White Collar Crime (2014), Money laundering an endless cycle (2012), and Financial Crime in the 21st Century (2011).  Nicholas has also published two edited collections The Financial Crisis and White Collar Crime - Legislative and Policy Responses (2017) and Fighting Financial Crime in the Global Economic Crisis: Policy, Trends and Sanctions (2014).  He has also authored three textbooks The Law Relating to Financial Crime in the United Kingdom (2013 and 2016) and Commercial Law: Principles and Policy (2012). 

Nicholas is the series founder and editor for Routledge's The Law Relating to Financial Crime and is a member of several editorial boards and contributing editor for Goode: Consumer Credit Law and Practice.   Nicholas is the Co-I for the Centre for Research and Evidence on Security Threats, the initial funding is for three years, with £4.35m from the UK security and intelligence agencies and a further £2.2m invested by the founding institutions.  Nicholas has been asked to consult on several financial crime matters for the BBC, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Insight, RBS Radio and ITN News.

Stef Cassella served as a federal prosecutor in the US Department of Justice for 30 years.  He specialized in money laundering and asset forfeiture and served in a number of posts before concluding his career as the Chief of the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the US Attorney’s Office in Baltimore, Maryland.  He is author of nearly 40 law review articles on these topics and of the treatise Asset Forfeiture in the United States that is used by most practitioners in the field.  Upon concluding his federal career in 2015, Mr. Cassella formed a consulting company, Asset Forfeiture Law, LLC, through which he serves as an expert witness, provides training and legal advice for law enforcement agencies and financial institutions, and publishes a monthly digest of developments in the law.  He is a regular contributor to the Symposium.

Alexios Kartalis graduated from the Department of Statistics of Athens University of Economics and Business (ex-ASOEE) in 1991 and received an MBA in Finance from ESCEM. He is a certified derivatives clearer from the Athens Exchange and also holds the Advanced Certification from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CYSEC).

He started his career with Citibank Athens, where he worked from 1994 until 1997. From 1997 to 2012, he worked at BNP Paribas Securities Services Athens, initially as Head of Securities Operations and later as General Manager.

Since September 2013, he works as General Manager at GMM Global Money Managers Ltd, a Cypriot mutual funds management company.

He holds the advanced certification from CYSEC and he also serves as a lecturer at the European Institute of Management and Finance (EIMF) on the subject of anti-money laundering.

Marios Siathas has worked in executive education, learning and development, and consulting for more than 20 years.

Marios has gained plenty of experience working with organizations and individuals and building specialised and unique learning and development solutions for them. He has managed several development projects for large and small companies in Cyprus, Egypt, Austria, Bahrain, Greece, Canada, China, Dubai, England, Germany, and South Africa. He holds a BSc in Marketing and Management from Western Kentucky University, an MBA from the University of Guelph, and a Master in Adult Education and Training from Colorado State University.

He is a member of the board of the Institute of Directors (UK) Cyprus Branch and a member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment (CISI), member of the training and HR committee of the Cyprus International Funds Association (CIFA), the Cyprus Human Resource Managers Association, the Cyprus International Business Association, the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (ACAMS) and a host of other professional bodies.