New York Banking Summit 2025

Vivek is global co-head of Private Credit within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, where he leads efforts to significantly grow the firm's scaled private credit business. He is a member of the Asset Management Private Credit Investment Committee, and the Asset Management Investment Grade Private Credit and Asset Finance Investment Committee. Previously, Vivek was global head of the Financing Group within Investment Banking and served as co-chair of the Firmwide Capital Committee. Prior to that, he was chief operating officer of the Global Markets Division, and before that, Vivek was co-head of the Americas Credit Finance Group, overseeing the firm's Leveraged Finance and Structured Finance businesses.

Prior to that, he held various roles in Structured Finance and Leveraged Finance. Vivek joined Goldman Sachs in 1999, was named vice president in 2004, managing director in 2007 and partner in 2012. Vivek serves on the Undergraduate Executive Board of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, the Leadership Council of the Mindich Child Health and Development Institute at Mount Sinai, and the board of the American India Foundation.

Vivek earned a BS in Economics, magna cum laude, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Luigi De Ghenghi is a partner within the Financial Institutions Group at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. His practice focuses on bank M&A, strategic bank regulatory and financial reform advice and capital markets transactions for U.S. and non-U.S. banks and other financial institutions. He advises on Basel III regulatory capital and liquidity issues, living wills, enhanced prudential standards and a wide variety of financial regulatory matters.

Mr. De Ghenghi advises U.S. and non-U.S. banks and other financial institutions on corporate governance and compliance matters, bank insolvency issues, government investigations and enforcement actions, cross-border collateral transactions and clearance and settlement systems.

Chambers USA ranks Luigi in Band 1 for Financial Services Regulation: Banking (Compliance) and for Financial Institutions M&A. Law360 has recognized him as a “Banking MVP of the Year.”

Education
J.D., Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law

cum laude
Articles Editor, Northwestern University Law Review

B.A., Law, University of Oxford
Wadham College

B.A., McGill University
with great distinction

Monsur is Head of Markets Research at Fitch Ratings. He is actively involved in investor outreach and has published research and articles on regulation, digitalisation and emerging themes in professional magazines. Prior to joining Fitch, Monsur worked as an advisor for global investment banks.

Meghan Neenan is a managing director and the North American head of Non-Bank Financial Institutions. Her coverage includes investment managers, business development companies, consumer and commercial finance companies, leasing companies, securities firms and financial market infrastructure companies.

Prior to joining Fitch in June 2006, Meghan was an equity analyst at Morningstar, Inc. covering companies in the financial institutions industry. She began her career as a bank examiner at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, analyzing a wide range of institutions, from small community banks to large, complex banking organizations.

Meghan graduated summa cum laude from Mount Union College and earned her MBA from the University of Notre Dame. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder and a member of the CFA Institute and the New York Society of Security Analysts.

Daniel Pietrzak joined KKR in 2016 and is a Partner and serves as the Global Head of Private Credit and a portfolio manager for KKR’s private credit funds and portfolios. Mr. Pietrzak is Chief Investment Officer of the KKR / FS Investments joint venture and Co-President and Chief Investment Officer for FS KKR Capital Corp. (FSK), which trades on the NYSE. He also serves of the board of directors of FSK and several KKR Credit portfolio companies, including Pepper and Toorak Capital Partners. Prior to joining KKR, Mr. Pietrzak was a managing director and the co-head of Deutsche Bank’s structured finance business across the Americas and Europe. Previously, Mr. Pietrzak held various roles in the credit businesses of Societe Generale and CIBC World Markets. Mr. Pietrzak started his career at Price Waterhouse in New York. Mr. Pietrzak holds an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Accounting from Lehigh University. Mr. Pietrzak serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Lehigh University College of Business, is a member of the Advisory Board of the Scholars of Finance and serves on the Board of Directors of First Tee – Metropolitan New York. 

Ebrahim H. Poonawala heads North American Banks research for BofA and serves as a Managing Director in US Equity Research. As part of his coverage, Poonawala covers approximately $2 trillion in market-cap spread across large-cap US banks and investment banks, regional banks, Trust banks and the Canadian lenders. Poonawala has spent over two decades in the financial services sector, both on the sell-side covering the banking industry and prior to that performing asset liability and risk management functions at a commercial bank.

Poonawala also hosts the Fintech Firesides series, inviting industry experts to discuss the digital innovation within the financial services sector.

Before moving to the US to pursue his graduate studies, Poonawala worked in the real estate investment sector in Mumbai, India. He has a bachelor's degree in accounting from Bombay University, India, and an MBA in corporate finance from Virginia Tech. He is based in New York. He has ranked among the top analysts covering US banks for the US Institutional Investor
All-America Research poll. For more information about any awards cited, visit
https://go.bofa.com/awards.

Ira Robbins is CEO of Valley Bank and approaches his role from a unique perspective. He joined Valley in 1996 as part of the Bank’s Management Associate Program and has grown along with the company. From college student to thought leader, his twenty-plus year career at Valley has seen him through several key positions where his invaluable contributions have helped shape Valley’s growth and success. As CEO, Ira has led Valley into the future while keeping true to the company’s roots as a local bank. In an ever-evolving digital and mobile world, Ira and the rest of Valley’s leadership team strive
to create a stronger, faster, more efficient, and more responsive organization. His vision for success is building a purpose-driven organization which includes embracing innovation, being customer-centric, promoting social responsibility, and empowering Valley’s associates.

Ira earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Economics from Susquehanna University, his MBA in Finance from Pace University and is a graduate of Stonier Graduate School of Banking. He is a Certified Public Accountant in New Jersey and a member of both the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Public Accountants. Ira serves on the board of the Mid Size Bank Coalation (MBCA), the New Jersey Bankers Association, the New York Bankers Association, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (FHLBNY). He previously served on the board of the American Bankers Association. He also serves on the board of the Jewish Vocational Service of MetroWest NJ (JVS). Ira takes great pride in community outreach and is an active supporter of several other philanthropic organizations in his community as well.

David Sandler is a managing director and co-head of investment banking in the financial services group at Piper Sandler.

Previously, he was a principal and co-head of investment banking at Sandler O'Neill + Partners, L.P. He worked with the firm’s clients in all aspects of strategic planning and franchise value enhancement, including mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance, strategic partnerships and asset/liability management. Sandler also advised the firm’s private equity clients on capital raising and financial services strategy. He is a frequent lecturer at banking graduate schools, trade associations and industry conferences. In addition to serving as co-head, Sandler is also responsible for Piper Sandler Financial Technology advisory strategy, overseeing a team of seasoned professionals advising fintech companies and their sponsors on mergers, capital markets and growth through strategic partnerships.

Sandler is a thought leader in financial innovation, having advised on important transactions ranging from SoFi’s announced acquisition of Golden Pacific Bancorp to OnDot’s groundbreaking acquisition by Fiserv. Other notable strategic advisory assignments include Western Alliance Bancorporation’s $600 million subordinated debt issuance, Wilshire Bancorp’s $1.0 Billion merger with BBCN to create Hope Bancorp, Crestmark’s sale to Meta Financial and Bridge Bancorp’s sale to Western Alliance.

Sandler received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Shelly Shetty is a Managing Director and the head of Asia and Americas Sovereigns at Fitch Ratings, based in New York. She has over 25 years of experience in assessing sovereign risk.

She is responsible for overseeing ratings and leading the research initiative on sovereigns in the Americas and Asia. Previously, she has been the primary analyst for high-profile emerging markets like Brazil, India and Mexico and has been involved in sovereign debt restructurings in emerging markets, especially in Latin America. She is also the chief spokesperson for the group on Latin American sovereign ratings.

She is a member of rating committees for sovereigns throughout the world, particularly emerging markets. Prior to joining Fitch in 2000, Shelly was an assistant vice president for the sovereign group at Duff & Phelps Credit Rating Co. (DCR), where she covered countries in Central Europe, Africa, and Asia. She earned a B.A. and an M.A. in economics from Delhi University and an M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University.

Olu Sonola is Head of U.S. Economic Research at Fitch Ratings where he’s responsible for coverage of U.S. economics, including the labor market, consumer spending, inflation, demographics and many more. He joined Fitch in 2007 and has held various roles since then.

Olu frequently speaks about the U.S. economy to Fitch analysts, investors, issuers and the media. He is often quoted by major media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, USA Today, CNN and many more.

Olu earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Lagos State University, a master's from Columbia University and a PhD from Rutgers University. Olu holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Christopher D. Wolfe is a managing director in Fitch Ratings’ financial institutions group. His responsibilities include overseeing the coverage of ratings and analysis on U.S. banking institutions. He is also a member of Fitch’s corporate finance criteria committee.

Prior to joining Fitch in 1999, Christopher was a financial analyst with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He was responsible for collateral valuation and review, and acceptance of accountholders and counterparties with the bank’s credit and risk management department.

Christopher earned a B.S. in business administration from Alfred University in New York.