Navigating Virtual Assets & Tokenization: Regulatory Trajectories and Institutional Controls

Syed Musheer Ahmed is Founder and Managing Director of Finstep Asia, a Hong Kong advisory firm specialising in fintech, financial services and digital assets. With two decades’ experience, he advises on strategy, market development and regulatory matters relating to fintech and digital assets in Hong Kong and across Asia. His clients include major financial institutions, technology companies, fintech and digital asset firms, regulators and industry bodies. 

Musheer co-founded the FinTech Association of Hong Kong and served as its inaugural General Manager and board member. He was also a member of the founding team at Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority, contributing to its early development and leading efforts on market risk assurance and grandfathering of legacy firms. His thought leadership focuses on industry diagnostics and practical recommendations for policymakers, regulators and business leaders navigating financial innovation. He is regularly invited to speak at leading industry forums across Asia and has been quoted by CNBC, Bloomberg, the Financial Times, South China Morning Post and other leading financial media. 

Angelina Kwan is a Hong Kong-based financial services executive and former regulator, currently serving as CEO of Stratford Finance, a boutique consulting firm advising financial institutions and digital asset businesses on regulatory, operational, licensing, and technology matters. She has held senior leadership roles at HKEX, the SFC, Cantor Fitzgerald, and IMC Asia Pacific, as well as senior executive and advisory positions in digital assets, including Senior Advisor, Group COO, and Group CRO roles at organizations such as HashKey Group and BitMEX, along with leadership positions at major digital asset exchanges.

Beyond her executive career, Kwan is active in public and nonprofit leadership: she chairs The Women's Foundation, sits on several Hong Kong Government boards and committees (including the FSDC's New Business Committee), and serves on the boards of the Ebenezer School for the Blind, University of Wollongong Hong Kong, Web3Harbour, Chevalier Hong Kong, and Zurich Life Insurance. She is a Certified Public Accountant in the US, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand, and in July 2026 received an honorary Doctor of Business Administration from Manchester Metropolitan University. She holds degrees in finance, accounting, business, and law from USC, Pepperdine, the University of Hong Kong/Manchester Metropolitan University, and Harvard Law School.

Tiena Sekharan was recently Head of Institutions for the Ethereum Foundation in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, where she drive enterprise adoption to advance Ethereum's ecosystem.

She began her career in traditional finance, holding roles at Lehman Brothers, BNP Paribas, and JPMorgan. Prior to the Ethereum Foundation, she was heading Business Development for Digital Asset Ecosystems at JPMorgan's blockchain team, Kinexys, driving products like JPM Coin and Tokenized Deposits.

Mr. Simon Au Yeung is currently the CEO of Spark Fintech Limited, aka Bybit Hong Kong. He has extensive C-suite leadership experience across several SFC-licensed Virtual Asset Trading Platform Operators (VATPOs), including HashKey Group, DFX Labs, and HK BGE Limited. Prior to his work with HashKey, Simon served at the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and held senior leadership roles at major global financial institutions, including Ant Financial, RBC, HSBC, BNP Paribas, PwC, and Morgan Stanley.

Simon is the co-founder and co-chairman of the IEEE Blockchain Hong Kong Chapter. He is the award winner of Leader of the Year (2019/20) of IFTA Fintech Achievement Award – Outstanding Financial Technologist. Furthermore, Simon is the founder of Merkle Tree Innovation Foundation, an NGO focuses on using innovative technology to relieve or resolve social problems as well as promoting STEAM education. He is a co-inventor of three blockchain related methodologies and systems, and related patent applications was filed in Mainland China in 2020.