John Hogan
Secretary General, Department of Finance, Ireland
John has held a number of positions in the Department throughout his career. He was previously Assistant Secretary General with responsibility for Tax policy and prior to that for Banking Policy in the Financial Services Division of the Department.
He has worked as Financial Services Counsellor in the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the European Union and has held posts in a number of Government Departments.
John McCarthy
Chief Economist, Government of Ireland, Ireland
John McCarthy is an Assistant Secretary General and as Chief Economist has responsibility for the Economic Division .
He was previously a senior economist in the Department heading up the macro economic analysis unit. He is the deputy member of the Economic and Financial Committee and the chair of the Economic Policy Committee (EPC) output gap working group.
He is a member of the National Statistics Board and an adviser to the National Competitiveness Council. He is the Irish member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Economic Policy Committee. Prior to joining the Department, he was a senior economist in the Central Bank.
Stig Henneberg
Permanent Secretary of State, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Denmark
Biography to follow shortly.
Vonlee Harris
Accountant General, Ministry of Finance, Anguilla
Vonlee was appointed as accountant general in May 2019. Responsible for managing the Treasury within the Ministry of Finance, he previously served in various roles in the Government of Anguilla since 2005. He has held positions including clerical officer, approval payables officer, principal cashier, accounts officer ledger and bank reconciliation, accountant, and, from 2015, deputy accountant general.
Vonlee serves as chairman of the National Youth Awards Committee, audit committee member for the Anguilla Social Security Board and a distinguished member of the Health Authority board of directors and chairperson of the finance and audit committee.
Vonlee earned a Masters of Science Degree in Management Studies with Distinction in 2018. He also holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Information Technology, obtained in 2012.
2026 will be his second appearance at the Finance Summit.
Marine Khurtsidze
Head of Tax and Customs Policy Department, Ministry of Finance, Georgia
Marine has been in her current role since 2021.
She heads the Georgian Delegation to the OECD/G20 Inclusive framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) and, since 2024, has also been an Elected Member of the Steering Group of the OECD/G20 framework. She also heads the Georgian Delegation to the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes.
Since 2020 Marine has been an Elected Chair of the Conference of the Parties to the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI) at the OECD.
In addition, on behalf of the Government of Georgia, Marine has been an authorised person (Head of Delegation) for the negotiations of Double Tax Treaties. She is also a competent authority for Mutual Administrative Procedures.
In 2023-24, she was reelected member of the Steering Committee and Co-Chair of Addis Tax Initiative (ATI).
In 2011-2021 Marine was Head of International Taxation Division at Georgia’s Ministry of Finance. Before working for Ministry of Finance of Georgia, she worked in different positions at the Georgia Public Defender Council and Bank of Georgia.
Laércio Marques
Deputy Secretary, Secretariat of Finance, State of Sergipe, Brazil
Laércio has been a public servant since 2015, when he began working as a federal auditor specialised in finance and treasury control at the Brazilian National Treasury.
Since January 2023, he has focused on modernising fiscal administration in Sergipe, with the primary goal of improving the state’s business environment, strengthening relationships with taxpayers, increasing revenue and keeping fiscal balance. His efforts aim to streamline processes, enhance efficiency, and create a more favorable climate for economic growth and sustainability.
Throughout his time at the National Treasury, Laércio held key roles, including overseeing systems development and data analysis at the Sub-secretariat of Intergovernmental Affairs, as well as managing fiscal procedures at the Sub-secretariat of Public Accounting. During this time, he gained extensive expertise in fiscal balance management, subnational risk analysis and financial reporting.
A Mechanical Engineering graduate, he began his professional career at Petrobras, the Brazilian oil and gas company, but decided to change fields and specialise in public finance.
2026 will be his second appearance at the Finance Summit.
Lord Gus O’Donnell
Former Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, United Kingdom
Gus O’Donnell served Prime Ministers Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron as Cabinet Secretary and Head of Civil Service from 2005 to 2011. He stood down from this position at the end of 2011 and was appointed to the House of Lords in January 2012. He played a leading role in the preparations for the 2010 election, which eventually resulted in the formation of the UK’s first coalition government since the Second World War. He was awarded the CB, KCB and GCB for his services to government.
Prior to his role as Cabinet Secretary, Lord O’Donnell served as Permanent Secretary of the UK Treasury from 2002 -2005 and as Press Secretary to Prime Minister John Major from 1990-1994 .
From 1997-98, he was the UK Executive Director on the boards of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Lord O’Donnell spent most of his career with HM Treasury. In 1999 he was appointed Managing Director of Macroeconomic Policy and International Finance and was responsible for fiscal policy, international development, and European Union Economic and Monetary Union. During this period, he oversaw the production of the ‘five tests’ analysis for whether the UK should join the Euro.
He studied Economics at Warwick University and then Nuffield College, Oxford, before lecturing in political economy at the University of Glasgow. He has honorary doctorates from Warwick and Glasgow Universities.
Ian Hall
Editor, Global Government Finance
Ian is editor of Global Government Finance and formerly edited predecessor title Global Government Fintech (2020-2025).
He participated in the Finance Summit in Dublin in 2025, having curated the Global Government Fintech Lab in Dublin (2023, 2024 & 2025) and in Tallinn, Estonia (2022).
Previously he was UK director of Euractiv (2011-2018); editor of Public Affairs News (2007-2011); and news editor of PR Week (2000-2007). He was shortlisted for ‘Editor of the Year’ at the British Society of Magazine Editors (BSME) Awards in 2010. He began his career in the Balkans at English-language weekly the Sofia Echo (Bulgaria: 1998-1999).
Ian has a BA in Economics (1995-1998) and MA in Urban & Regional Change in Europe, both from Durham University (UK) (1999-2000).