Explore our PwC expertise

Email: ryan.e.leopold@pwc.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ryanleopold-pwc/

Profile

• Ryan is a partner in PwC Canada’s financial services practice. With over 20 years experience with PwC, he currently leads the Canadian National Banking and Capital Markets Assurance practice.
• Ryan possesses a unique skillset, bridging the gap between traditional and emerging finance sectors. He established and chairs PwC’s Crypto Accounting Working Group and has led the creation of in-depth guidance available globally.
• Ryan also co-developed PwC’s Halo Crypto Solution. The tool, developed in collaboration with PwC Switzerland, specifically supports the delivery of assurance services for entities engaging in crypto asset transactions.
  

Relevant Experience

• Provides audit services to public and private entities with crypto exposure
• Provides vendor due diligence services relating to crypto custody and associated Service Organization Control (SOC) reports
• Member of Investment Industry Regulatory organisation of Canada (IIROC) Crypto-Asset Working Group
• Member of CPA Canada Crypto Audit Working Group
• Member of OSFI / CPAB Audit Quality working group focused on Novel Issues and Emerging Industries, providing recommendations on how to bring all stakeholders together to deal with novel issues such as Crypto regulation and reporting
• Member of OSFI’s Deposit-Taking Institutions Auditors Advisory Committee
• Represents PwC Canada on PwC’s Global IFRS Banking Committee
  

Email : charalambos.sergiou@pwc.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/charalambos-sergiou/

Profile

• Charalambos Sergiou is the Partner in the Tax Advisory team at PwC Cyprus. He started his career with PwC in Cyprus and he has also worked on a secondment in PwC Russia, heading PwC’s Cyprus tax desk in Moscow. 
  
• Charalambos has more than 15 years of experience in Cyprus and international tax and has been advising a variety of clients across different industries including oil and gas, banking, insurance, asset management, automotive, pharmaceuticals and real estate structures with regards to Cyprus and international tax matters. 
  
• He is currently leading the planning, execution and completion of blockchain assignments of a large number of companies ranging in size and complexity including public and private companies in Cyprus and abroad.
  

Relevant Experience

Charalambos has extensive experience in the following areas:

• International tax structuring
  
• Mergers and acquisitions
  
• Due diligence
  
• Deal structuring and financing
  
• Russian and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) markets
  
• Blockchain and taxation.
  

Email: theo.parperis@pwc.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/theo-parperis/

Profile

• Theo Parperis is a Partner at PwC Cyprus. He is a member of the Management Board and leader of Tax and Legal Services. 
• Theo is primarily engaged with International clients operating in a broad range of sectors, including information and technology. 
• He is a graduate of London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and is a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
• He is also a full member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), and has completed the Oxford Fintech Programme. Theo has also served as president of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (ICPAC).
  

Relevant Experience

He has vast experience in:

• Strategy and implementation of transformation projects of Tax and Legal functions
• Advising and assisting international clients with group restructuring plans and automating their processes
• Providing comprehensive solutions for High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) including their Family office processes
• Tax and statutory digital compliance for international groups
• Corporate and private wealth consolidation and reporting infrastructures
• Tax and Legal support in acquisition / sale of private assets, crypto and blockchain assets
  

Email: christopher.sur@de.pwc.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/christopher/

Profile

• Chris is a partner and the PwC Global Financial Services Deals Leader, Partner, PwC Germany. He leads the Transaction Services Financial Services team in Germany.
  
• Chris is the Chairman of the PwC Global Financial Market Infrastructures Network. He joined PwC in 2003.
  
• His core competencies include buyside and vendor due diligence, vendor assistance, portfolio transactions as well as Merger and Acquisitions (M&A) and initial public offering (IPO) advice including fundraising.
  

Relevant Experience

• Chris is responsible for a variety of transactions with financial institutions, asset management companies, insurance companies, stock exchanges, Private Equity clients as well as FinTechs.
  
• He has led several engagements for financial and strategic investors with regards to strategy and deals execution of crypto and digital assets brokerage platforms, stock exchanges and other payments and trading providers.
  
• As PwC Global Financial Services Deals Leader he covers a strong international FinTech and Deals network.
  
• Experience with clients through transformational events, including IPO and M&A transactions.
  

Email: georg.zimmer@pwc.com

Profile

• Georg is a Manager in the Advisory Financial Services Deals team based in Frankfurt, Germany. He joined PwC Germany in 2007.
  
• Georg has several years of experience in advising transactions in the financial services sector. In the past he has led several transactions projects in the cryptocurrency mining and online brokerage sector.
  
• He focuses on due diligence projects analysing financials, asset quality and operations. He is also experienced in FinTech transactions and he is a member of the PwC NextLevel Initiative focusing on startup businesses.
  
• His clients include among others major German players in the German financial services and FinTech market as well as international financial investors.
  

Relevant Experience

• Georg has advised a group of cryptocurrency mining companies for the purpose of attracting new funds and assessing data centers. He led a team of financial and technical professionals to perform the analyses.
  
• He has experience in advising financial investors with regards to funding rounds and takeovers of (crypto) trading platforms in Europe by providing buy side financial due diligence services.
  
• Over a period of several years Georg advised a cryptocurrency mining company with regards to a joint venture with an investor and subsequent build-out phases of their data centers. PwC Germany performed financial and technical analyses on the mining operations and data centers.
  

Email: konstantinos.dagianis@pwc.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kdagianis/

Profile

Konstantin is a partner within PwC Germany‘s Assurance Financial Services practice and leads the digitalisation client project in Assurance Financial Services. He has more than 12 years of experience in managing and leading complex assurance as well as consulting engagements regarding digital products, Blockchain/Crypto, Internal IT-Controls, compliance audit and Internal Audit. His focus topics are:

• Technology and Crypto-Compliance
  
• Crypto Custody
  
• Third Party Assurance and Internal Audit Support
  

Relevant Experience

• Compliance assessments at Crypto custodians
  
• Consulting Crypto custodians in building governance, processes and internal controls
  
• Consulting Crypto custodians around german licencing compliance
  
• Compliance Assessments for financial services providers
  
• Assessment of business processes to identify compliance gaps and efficiency potential
  
• at FinTechs, major international banks and financial institutions
• Consulting international banks and FinTechs in the analysis and optimisation of IT control frameworks and IT-Resilience
  

Email: stefano.rossi@pwc.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/stefanorossi/
Phone: +39 366 7631440
 

Profile

• Stefano is part of the PwC Italy Blockchain Competence Center, where he coordinates a team of 12 resources dedicated to projects relating to crypto assets, stablecoins, token economy and CBDCs
• He has been working with Bitcoin and Blockchain technology since 2016, actively participating in the Italian business community, where he has had the opportunity to forge important relationships with leaders in the Italian and European ecosystems
• Over the years he has held various positions in consulting firms, start-ups and companies, up to his current role of Manager at PwC Italy

Relevant Experience

• Crypto-custody global ecosystem mapping and analysis
• Feasibility Studies on Crypto-Custody strategies and implementation for banks
• Proof of concept (POC) design, development and integration for the use of a stablecoin for retail banks in EMEA
• Design and analysis of securities tokenization opportunities for EMEA banks
• Design and development of use cases and POCs for a leading media company in Europe (Blockchain & digital rights management)
• Collaboration with the Italian Working Group of Banks on the Digital Euro

Email: thomas.campione@pwc.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/thomas-campione/

Profile

• Thomas is Blockchain and Crypto-assets Leader of PwC Luxembourg and director in the Capital Markets and Accounting Advisory Services team. 
  
• As part of his involvement in the PwC network, he is the Luxembourg representative in the PwC Crypto Accounting Working Group (CAWG), the PwC Global Crypto Committee and the Global Blockchain Community
  
• Thomas started his career in 2008 and has more than 12 years of experience in advisory and assurance services to both local and international financial institutions and MNCs.
  
• Thomas is qualified as a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), board member of the Luxembourg DLT Association and successfully went through the Blockchain Technologies Executive program from MIT School of Management.
  

Relevant Experience

• Blockchain and crypto-assets strategy definition for listed and private companies;
  
• Crypto-fund set up assistance;
  
• Crypto-assets eligibility assessment for Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITs) funds;
  
• Security token issuance and assets tokenisation readiness assessment
  
• Blockchain and crypto-assets training and awareness sessions;
  
• Accounting advisory assistance for crypto-assets transactions in accordance with IFRS;
  
• Jurisdictions scan of regulatory considerations for crypto-exchanges and ICO.
  

Email: patrick.hc.yeo@pwc.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/patrick-yeo/

Profile

Patrick leads the PwC Singapore’s Venture Hub, with over 19 years of experience across Asia and Europe. He is well-versed in the fields of technology and innovation, and equipped with in-depth expertise in private equity and venture capital industries.
His global experience has allowed him to act as an enabler to the ecosystem – connecting tech companies with investors and clients and acting as a trusted advisor to all stakeholders in this ecosystem.
Patrick has mentored tech companies in areas of commercialisation, fundraising and strategy. He is also responsible for building PwC Singapore’s investment portfolio.
Patrick is licenced by Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) to provide financial advisory services to tech companies.

Relevant Experience

• Patrick initiated PwC Singapore’s blockchain services and has advised clients on ICOs, blockchain strategy and use cases
• He conducted Blockchain hackathons in 2018 and 2019
• He invested in blockchain developer company and agri-tech company using blockchain
• Patrick set up PwC Singapore’s protocols for fees paid by clients in crypto
  

Email : mazhar.wani@pwc.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mazhar-wani/

Profile

• Mazhar has more than  22 years of experience advising multinational organisations, including Fortune 500 companies, on managing all aspects of their global tax function and strategy. 
  
• He serves as PwC's U.S FinTech Tax leader responsible for coordinating services nationally, bringing capabilities from across the firm, and building more integrated solutions and offerings for this market segment which captures payments, digital banking and lending, broker-dealers and wealth-tech, as well as crypto and blockchain. He is a member of PwC’s Global Crypto network and a key contributor to the network’s strategy and thought leadership on Digital Assets. 
  
• Mazhar also serves as the Global Relationship Partner and Lead Tax Partner to national priority clients across the Financial Services and Technology sectors responsible for the overall coordination, delivery, and execution of services to them – including strategy, planning, structuring, risks and compliance, transaction advisory, and technology and transformation initiatives. 
  
• Mazhar is a certified public accountant in California and member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). He has a Bachelor of Science (B.S) degree in Accounting and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree.
  

Email: vikram.m.panjwani@pwc.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/vikram-panjwani/

Profile

Vikram is a Partner with PwC US’s Digital Assurance and Transparency practice and has more than twenty years of experience with a wide range of internal control, technology and operational risk-related solutions. Additionally, Vikram leads the Emerging Technology Risk and Controls solution within the practice.

Relevant Experience

• Vikram specialises in operations and technology risks and controls third party assurance/internal controls assessment and reporting (e.g. SOC2, SOC2+,SSAE 18, AUP, AT 101). 
  
• He has led the delivery of third party assurance solutions for a number of transaction and trade processing, asset servicing and asset management clients, covering operations in areas such as prime brokerage services, trade processing, securities clearing and settlement, investment advisory, trust and custody, and pricing services for both legacy assets as well as digital assets. Vikram also represents PwC US in various industry consortiums related to these topics.
• Vikram has a deep understanding of Emerging Technology and has worked on the AICPA Emerging Technology task force, the AICPA digital assets task force and the Center for Audit Quality – Emerging Technology task force, where he helps publish guidance on risks and controls in emerging technology.

Email: matthew.blumenfeld@pwc.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/matt-blumenfeld/

Profile

• Matt is a Director at PwC US specialising in Digital Asset strategy through execution, focusing on helping organisations define operating models, establish their operational processes and controls.
• Additionally he drives coordination of Digital Asset activities such as business development, thought leadership and go to market strategy across PwC’s network.
• He has over 15 years experience in financial services including risk management, regulatory and digital transformation and holds a MBA.

Relevant experience

• Competitive landscape assessment for digital asset custody solutions
• Operational and risk management frameworks for digital asset custodians, exchanges and funds
• Operational due diligence and vendor selection for family office, crypto fund and asset wealth managers
• Deep understanding of DeFi protocols and NFTs including the shift towards institutionalization
• Digital asset trading, execution and yield generation capabilities
• US digital asset regulation and impact on operating model development
• Drives PwC US thought leadership strategy for digital assets having written several thought leadership pieces across topics such as CBDCs, Crypto regulation and Decentralized Finance as well as hosting PwC monthly digital asset webinars
  

Email : robert.donovan@pwc.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/robert-donovan/

Profile

• Robert is a Managing Director in PwC US’s Cybersecurity, Risk and Regulatory Practice based in New York. Robert has over 20 years experience in financial services including risk management and regulatory compliance, most recently having served for five years as Deputy Superintendent with the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYS DFS). While at NYS DFS, he had responsibility for the department’s licencing and supervision of cryptocurrency businesses, both those chartered as limited purpose trust companies and as money transmitters. Additionally, his responsibilities included managing the department’s oversight of wholesale banks, foreign branches and agencies, including complex anti-money laundering remediations required by public enforcement actions and the development of the department’s Transaction Monitoring and Filtering Regulation, and the department’s Cybersecurity regulation. Prior to his time in public service, he held front office and risk management roles with several global systemically important banks. He is a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist and member of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, as well as a Certified Bitcoin Professional and Certified Cryptocurrency Investigator.

Relevant Experience

• Specialist for cryptocurrency regulation and internal audit engagements at cryptocurrency service providers
• Specialist for cybersecurity regulatory gap assessments, including with respect to the Financial Institutions Examination Council Cybersecurity Assessment Tool (FFIEC CAT), DFS Part 500 (New York State’s regulation establishing cybersecurity requirements for financial services companies) and the SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations observations on cybersecurity and resiliency. 
• Managed approval and supervision of cryptocurrency trusts and licence holders as well as new product approvals for new digital assets, including privacy coins and stable coins. 
• Served as the senior supervisory executive overseeing large foreign branches chartered in New York State, including complex anti-money laundering and sanctions remediations, monitorships and independent consultants.
• Oversaw NYDFS cross border resolution planning policy, including representing the department at international regulators’ resolution planning sessions (“crisis management groups”).