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Karmela Holtgreve
Deputy Head & Head of Operations
BIS Innovation Hub
Karmela Holtgreve is currently Deputy Head and Head of Operations of the BIS Innovation Hub, where she is responsible for the Hub’s operations across the globe, including IT, risk and finance. She joined the BIS in 2024 from the Deutsche Bundesbank, where she was Director General Strategy and Innovation, overseeing the Bank’s strategy and leading its most significant organisational transformation since the 1990s. Karmela previously held various leadership positions at the Bundesbank, including Head of Innovation and Digitalisation, and represented the Bank in national and international fora. She holds a diploma in political science.
Speaking at SFF 2026
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12:45–1:30pmWed 18 NovPolicy StageHall 3, Singapore EXPOOpenModerator
Policy Rewiring
Central Banks and Future Payment Systems: Priorities, Trade-offs, and Opportunities for Cross-Border Collaboration
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Dr. Alexandra HachmeisterDirector General Digital EuroDeutsche Bundesbank
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Daranee SaejuDeputy Governor, Payment Systems Stability & Financial Services SupervisionBank of Thailand
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Sasha MillsExecutive Director of Financial Market InfrastructureBank of England
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Stephanie CabossiorasChief Strategy & Global Policy OfficerSociete Generale-FORGE
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Karmela HoltgreveDeputy Head & Head of OperationsBIS Innovation HubModerator
About this session
As financial systems evolve, central banks face a dual challenge -modernising the infrastructure that works today while building the foundations for what comes next. This means making strategic choices around the future of digital money and settlement, wholesale and retail systems connectivity across borders, and the interoperability, liquidity and governance arrangements that underpin them. At the same time, an increasingly AI-enabled financial system is raising the bar for the safety, reliability and resilience of critical payment infrastructure. This panel will discuss the key building blocks for the next generation of payments and where deeper cross-border collaboration can deliver capabilities that individual jurisdictions cannot achieve alone.
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