Speaker Biographies

Keynote Address

Moderators

Speakers

Olivier Guersent

Head of Cabinet for Commissioner Barnier, European Commission

Olivier Guersent graduated with distinction from the “Institut d’études Politiques de Bordeaux” in 1983. After 8 years in French Civil Service, Olivier Guersent joined the EC Commission in 1992.

Olivier Guersent took over the Commission's fight against cartels as Director in the Directorate General Competition of the European Commission (DG Competition) in April 2009. For the two previous years (2007-2008), he had served successively as Head of Merger Unit and acting director for "Transport & Other services" (since September 2007) also in DG Competition. Beforehand, he was Deputy Head of Cabinet of Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes (Nov 2004 Dec 2006). Previous positions include: Head of the “Decision Scrutiny and Enforcement Priorities” Unit (Nov 2002-Nov 2004) and Deputy Head of the Cartel Unit, (May 2001-Oct 2002) both in DG Competition. He had previously been Advisor to Commissioner Michel Barnier (Sept 1999 –May 2001); Advisor to Commissioner Karel Van Miert (Oct 1996 – Sept 1999).

His academic activities include frequent lectures in postgraduate studies in several French universities.

Olivier Guersent is an active Board Member of the non-profit organisation “Aremis” that provides Home medical care as a substitute for hospitalisation for heavy pathologies (Cancer, AIDS, Degenerative Genetic Diseases, etc) in the Brussels area.

Michael Dithmer

Permanent Secretary, Danish Ministry of Business and Growth

Michael Dithmer was appointed Permanent Secretary of the Danish Ministry of Economics and Business Affairs in 2001 (from 2011 the Ministry of Business and Growth). Previously he served as Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Economics Affairs and before that as Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance. His active participation in several boards and councils includes the positions as Vice chairman of the Committee of Directors of the Danish Central Bank and as Alternate Governor of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). He was also formerly a member of the Economic and Financial Committee (EFC).

Jonathan Moulds

Bank of America Merrill Lynch. President, Europe & CEO, Merrill Lynch International

Jonathan Moulds is president, Europe and chief executive officer of Merrill Lynch International. He is based at the bank's European headquarters in London.

Moulds is responsible for overseeing the bank's business and support activities in the regions. These include Global Markets, Investment Banking, Corporate Debt Products, Card Services, Treasury Services, Wealth Management, Principal Investing, Leasing, Business Capital and Vendor Finance. He is also responsible for leading the expansion of the bank's commercial and investment banking products, services and overall franchise to its issuer and investor clients in these regions.

Moulds is a director of a number of Bank of America’s legal entities including Banc of America Securities Limited, MBNA Europe Bank Limited and he chairs the boards of Merrill Lynch International and Merrill Lynch International Bank Limited. He also chairs the European Executive Committee and is a member of the Global Banking and Wealth Management and Global Sales and Trading Executive Committees.

Moulds joined Bank of America in 1994 and was instrumental in building the bank's presence in over-the counter derivatives markets and for the integration of the Chicago Research and Trading platform. Following the Bank of America/NationsBank merger in 1998 he was appointed Global head of Rates Derivative Trading. In 2001 he took over management of the Global Derivatives group responsible for Fixed Income Derivatives, Commodity Derivatives and the Chicago Research and Trading platform. In 2003 he was appointed Global head of Liquid Products with additional responsibility for Foreign Exchange, Cash Rate products and International Treasury. In 2005 Moulds assumed overall responsibility for Bank of America’s International Markets business, and in early 2006, he was promoted to President, EMEA and Asia. In 2009 he also held the position of head of Global Banking and Securities Market Risk Moulds overseeing banking and securities market risk globally to ensure the right risk-reward balance in these business activities.

Moulds joined the Board of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) in 1998 and was Chairman from 2004 to 2008. He currently serves on the Board and the Executive Committee for the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) and the Capital Markets Senior Practitioners of the UK Financial Services Authority.

Moulds is a strong supporter of the performing Arts and sits on the Board of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) and serves as Chairman of the LSO Advisory Council. He has recently been invited to join Carnegie Hall’s newly formed International Council. He is a keen collector of fine musical instruments.

Anthony Belchambers

CEO, Futures & Options Association

Anthony Belchambers is a barrister and currently Chief Executive of the Futures and Options Association (FOA), which is a London-based European industry association. He is Vice-Chairman of the Administrative Committee of the European Parliamentary Financial Services Forum (EPFSF) and initiated the establishment of the UK’s Associate Parliamentary Group on Wholesale Financial Markets and Services.

In 2005, he founded and is the principal spokesman for the EU-US Coalition on Financial Regulation, which now comprises twelve transatlantic trade bodies. He is also a member of the Court of the Worshipful Company of International Bankers.

Previously he served as General Counsel for the UK Joint Exchanges Committee (JEC) where his responsibilities included co-ordinating exchange activities and lobbying on behalf of the London-based derivatives markets in relation to international, EU and UK regulation and taxation issues. Prior to joining the JEC, he held the position of Company Secretary and General Counsel to the Association of Futures Brokers and Dealers (AFBD), one of the original five self-regulatory organisations set up under the 1986 Financial Services Act.

John Houston

Senior Partner, Kreab Gavin Anderson

John is a Senior Partner at Kreab Gavin Anderson, and was recently described in the Financial News as 'the best [financial] industry lobbyist in Brussels'. He has advised several of the world’s largest companies and financial institutions on EU matters. He has been in the consultancy business since 1988, initially in the City of London and since 1990 in Brussels. Previously John was a member of the Cabinet of the European Commissioner responsible for financial services, a political journalist, and a special advisor to the British foreign minister. He was the founding chairman of the European Public Affairs Consultancies Association.

Stefano Micossi

Director General, Assonime

Current positions:
Director General, ASSONIME (since April 1999).
Professor at the College of Europe: course on “EU Internal Market: Economic Institutions and Policies” (since academic year 1999-2000).

Other positions and professional affiliations:
Member of the Board of Directors of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro – BNP Paribas (independent).
Member of the Board of Directors, EuropeanIssuers
Member of the General Council of Assicurazioni Generali di Venezia.
Member of the Board of Directors of the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS).
Member and Coordinator of the scientific committee of Confindustria (Confederation of Italian Industry).
Founding member and coordinator of EuropEos, an association of leading journalists, jurists, economists and political scientists created to foster the European construction

Former positions:
Director General for Industry at the European Commission (1995-1998).
Director of Economic Research in Confindustria (1988-1994).
Economist (1972-78), Head of Office (1980-85), Assistant Director and then Director (1987-88) in the International Division of the Bank of Italy’s Research Department.

Education:
Degree in Law, University of Milan (1971).
MA (1973) and M. Phil. (1974), Department of Economics, Yale University Graduate School.

Publications:
Has published extensively in national and international economic journals on macro-economics, international economics and European economic and policy affairs
Writes regular editorial comments for il Sole 24 Ore and occasionally for Project Syndicate, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal Europe.

Sharon Bowles MEP

Chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, European Parliament

Sharon Bowles has a scientific and mathematical background having completed her doctorate at Oxford University. She later trained and worked as a Chartered and European Patent Attorney setting up her own practice in 1981. Sharon has been active in politics since the mid 1980s.

She became a member of the European Parliament for UK South East region in May 2005 and was re-elected in June 2009. Sharon has been a full member of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee since her arrival as an MEP and was elected as Chairwoman in July 2009. Sharon has also been a substitute member of the Legal Affairs committee since January 2007.

During the previous mandate, Sharon was the shadow rapporteur for the directives on Payment Services, Solvency II, Capital Requirements, Deposit Guarantees and Level 3 Committee funding, and for reports on Hedge Funds and Private Equity and Transparency of Institutional Investors. She was also rapporteur on tax fraud and for the setting up of the Statistical Governance Advisory Board.

She has recently been thrust into the limelight as her committee is responsible for vetting, amending and approving the EU's many legislative proposals in response to the financial and economic crisis, notably more effective regulation of European banks and greater financial supervision of the banking, insurance and securities sectors.

Sharon is currently rapporteur on a European System of National and Regional Accounts, the report on increase in shares of EBRD capital for the EU; shadow rapporteur on CRD4, EMIR, and the Securities Law Directive; and she will be shadow for PRIPs, though as Chair she follows all dossiers through to trialogue stage.

Sharon is married to Andrew Horton, a European Patent Attorney, and they have two sons, Remy and Damian.

Koos Timmermans

Vice-Chairman, ING Bank

Koos Timmermans (1960, Dutch nationality) has been vice chairman of the Management Board Banking of ING since 1 October 2011. He succeeded Eric Boyer.

From 24 April 2007 to 1 October 2011, he served as chief risk officer and as a member of the Executive Board of Amsterdam-based ING Group. In this period, he also served as CRO on the Management Board Banking and Management Board Insurance of ING Group.

ING is a global financial institution of Dutch origin offering banking, investments, life insurance and retirement services to more than 85 million customers in Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin America, Asia and Australia. With a diverse workforce of about 105,000 people, ING comprises a broad spectrum of prominent companies that increasingly serve their clients under the ING brand.

Koos Timmermans joined ING in 1996. He performed various roles: head of Treasury ING Insurance, head of Corporate Market Risk Management and from 2006-2007 he was deputy CRO of ING Group. Prior to ING, he worked for IBM’s European Treasury in Ireland. He started his career at ABN Amro in 1986.

Mr Timmermans graduated from Erasmus University Rotterdam in 1986 with a master’s degree in economics.

Emil Paulis

Director - Financial Markets, DG Internal Market & Services, European Commission

Emil Paulis was appointed as Director responsible for Financial Markets in the Commission's Directorate-General for the Internal Market and Services (DG MARKT) in June 2008. Prior to that he worked from 1982 to May 2008 in DG Competition. There, he was Director responsible for Competition Policy and Strategy from 2003 and from February 2006 to August 2007 was Deputy Director General ad interim. Since joining the European Commission in 1982 he has held various positions: Head of Unit in charge of legislation and relations with Member States, Deputy Head and Head of Unit for general competition policy, case handler and interim Head of Unit in the Merger Task Force and case handler for antitrust cases. Between 1985 and 1987 he worked as a research assistant at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. From 1978 to 1982 he was an Attorney in the UK law firm of Clifford-Chance in Brussels, before which he was a Barrister at the Bar in Liège. He was awarded a scholarship by the British Council’s “European Young Lawyers Scholarship Scheme” to study common law at the University of Edinburgh, and studied Belgian and international tax law at the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Fiscales in Brussels following Law studies at the University of Louvain and Commercial Law at the University of Liège. Between 1990 and 1996 he was Visiting Professor at the University of Louvain-la-Neuve lecturing on European competition law. In 2002 be became a Fellow of the Multination Programme of the Eisenhower Fellowship in the US with the Chairman's Fellowship award of Dr. Henry A. Kissinger. He has published several works in the field of tax and competition law. Emil Paulis was born in Belgium in 1952. He speaks fluent German, French and English and understands Dutch and Spanish.

Gabriele Galateri di Genola

Chairman, Assicurazioni Generali

Gabriele Galateri di Genola was born in Rome on January 11th, 1947. Married with one daughter, he has been awarded the Cavaliere del Lavoro honor.

Mr. Galateri was appointed Chairman of Assicurazioni Generali on 8th April 2011.

After earning his MBA at the Columbia University Business School, Mr. Galateri began his career in 1971 at the Headquarters of the Banco di Roma.

In 1977, he joined FIAT S.p.A., where he moved from Head of North, Central and South American Operations at the International Finance Office to Head of International Finance and, ultimately, Director of Finance.

Mr. Galateri became CEO of Ifil S.p.A in 1986. In 1993, he took on the positions of CEO and General Manager of IFI, which he retained until 2002, when he was appointed CEO of FIAT SpA.

Between April 2003 and June 2007, Mr. Galateri was Chairman of Mediobanca S.p.A and from December 2007 to 12th April 2011 he was Chairman of the Board of Telecom Italia SpA, where he still sits as a Member.

Now he is also Chairman of TIM Brasil Serviços e Participações S.A, Chairman of the Board of the IIT and Member of the International Advisory Board of Columbia Business School.

Giovanni Prezioso

Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

Giovanni P. Prezioso is a partner at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP and is based in its Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Prezioso’s practice is focused on securities and corporate law matters. His recent projects have included representation of major corporations and financial institutions in securities enforcement and litigation matters arising out of the financial crisis, as well as counseling clients on a broad range of corporate governance and regulatory matters.

From May 2002 until rejoining the firm in 2006, Mr. Prezioso served as General Counsel of the Securities and Exchange Commission. He served as the Commission’s chief legal officer during a time of unprecedented enforcement and regulatory activity, including implementation of the enforcement and regulatory provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Before joining the Commission, Mr. Prezioso was in private practice with Cleary Gottlieb.

Mr. Prezioso currently serves as Co-Chair of the American Bar Association President’s Task Force on Financial Markets Regulatory Reform, and is a member (Chairman 2006-2010) of the Executive Council of the Federal Bar Association Securities Law Committee. Mr. Prezioso, distinguished as one of the leading securities regulation lawyers by Chambers USA, was honored by The National Law Journal as one of the “Most Influential Lawyers of the Decade.” Mr. Prezioso is a graduate of Harvard Law School (J.D., magna cum laude, 1982) and Harvard College (A.B., History and Literature, magna cum laude, 1979).

Dan Waters

Managing Director, ICI Global

Dan Waters is the Managing Director of ICI Global. Dan served as Asset Management Sector Leader at the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) from 2004-2010, leading the FSA’s regulatory and supervisory policy for the asset management industry. He represented the UK in IOSCO’s Standing Committee on Investment Management, leading numerous projects, including chairing the Technical Committee Reports on Valuation of Hedge Fund Portfolios (2007) and Private Equity Conflicts of Interest (2010). He also represented the UK in the Investment Management Standing Committee of CESR (now ESMA), leading significant work in the revisions of the UCITS Directive (UCITS IV).

His involvement in asset management regulation dates back to 1993, when he moved to the United Kingdom to become Director of Enforcement at the Investment Management Regulatory Organisation, one of the processor bodies of the FSA. Dan was the FSA’s first Director of Enforcement from 1998-2001 and subsequently took on the roles of its first Director of Regulatory Strategy and Risk and later Director of Retail Policy and Conduct Risk. Prior to coming to the UK, Dan was head of International Enforcement at the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington.

A Scholar of the College at Boston College, Dan received his BA, summa cum laude in 1971 and his JD, cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1979.

Verena Ross

Executive Director, ESMA

Verena Ross was appointed Executive Director of ESMA following a nomination by the ESMA Board of Supervisors on 22 February 2011, and a subsequent hearing in the European Parliament on 17 March 2011. She took up her new responsibilities at ESMA on 1 June 2011.

Prior to this, Verena Ross held a number of senior posts in the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA). In her last post, which she held from October 2009 until May 2011, Verena Ross was Director of the FSA's International Division reporting directly to the CEO. The Division's responsibilities included: delivering a strategic approach to FSA's international work, coordinating or supporting the FSA's EU and international committee work and providing technical advice on EU and international policy issues. Verena was also a member of the FSA's Executive Committee and the Executive Policy and Risk Committees.

Verena started her career at the Bank of England as an economist covering the East Asian economies before becoming a banking supervisor after studying in Hamburg, Taipei and London (SOAS). From 1998 to 2000 she ran the Executive Chairman's office for Sir Howard Davies during the creation and early years of the UK's single regulator. She was also briefly seconded as an advisor to the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong in 2000.

Markus Ferber

Member, European Parliament

After his degree in electrical engineering in 1990 and subsequent employments for Siemens AG (Munich) and Pfister GmbH (Augsburg), Markus Ferber, MEP became a Member of the European Parliament in 1994. He is a Member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Substitute Member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism. In 1999 he became Chairman of the CSU delegation in the European Parliament. Since 2005, Markus Ferber is also Regional Chairman of the CSU Schwaben.

William Goodell

Chairman, Managed Funds Association

William Rice Goodell, Chief Operating Officer, Maverick Capital Ltd. – Before joining Maverick in 2008, Mr. Goodell concurrently served as President of the Robertson Foundation and General Counsel of Tiger Management. Prior to Tiger Management, Mr. Goodell was Chief Administrative Officer of Moore Capital Management and earlier, a Partner with the Atlanta, Georgia-based firm of King & Spalding, where he practiced corporate finance law. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Chautauqua Foundation and Choose Responsibility, Inc. Mr. Goodell also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Environmental Defense Action Fund, the Tiger Foundation, and the Maverick Capital Foundation. In addition, he is a Member of the Board of Governors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and an Emeritus Trustee of both Washington and Lee University and Oglethorpe University. He received a B.A. in Political Economics (Cum Laude) from Williams College and a J.D. (Magna Cum Laude) from Washington & Lee University’s School of Law, where he was also a member of Order of the Coif and Omicron Delta Kappa honor societies and served as Special Projects Editor of the Washington & Lee Law Review.

Mickey Levy

Chief Economist, Bank of America

Mickey Levy is Chief Economist of Bank of America, a position he has held since 1998. He is a member of the Shadow Open Market Committee. He is also on the Governance Board of the Research Alliance for New York City Schools. His research focuses on monetary and fiscal policies and their interaction, US economic and financial market behavior, international trade and finance, and issues in banking and risk management.

Christian Clausen

President, EBF, and CEO, Nordea

Christian Clausen began his career in banking back in the 70’ies. After finishing his education and having held different positions first as Assistant Managing Director then as Managing Director in the financial sector, Mr Clausen became the Managing Director of Privatbørsen in 1988. At the formation of Unibank in 1990 Mr Clausen was appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive of Unibørs Securities and later in 1996 of Unibank Markets. In 1998 Mr Clausen was appointed Member of the Executive Board of Unibank. When Nordea was created in 2000 as a result of the merger between Merita-Nordbanken, Unidanmark and Christiania Bank, Mr Clausen became Head of Asset Managment & Life and Member of Group Executive Management of Nordea. On 13 April 2007 Christian Clausen took over the position as President and Group CEO of Nordea. In 2010 Christian Clausen was elected as president (chairman) of the Swedish Bankers’ Association and in 2011 as president (chairman) of the European Banking Federation.

Mark Sobel

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Monetary and Financial Policy, US Department of the Treasury

Mark Sobel is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Monetary and Financial Policy in the U.S. Treasury Department. In this capacity, Mr. Sobel advises senior Treasury officials on a range of issues: coordinating the Department's participation in the G-7/20, overseeing U.S. positions on financial and institutional policies in the IMF, providing analyses on U.S. balance of payments developments, managing the Exchange Stabilization Fund, developing foreign exchange policy and formulating international banking and securities market policies. In this latter regard, he oversees technical level discussions between the US and the European Commission in the context of the Financial Market and Regulatory Dialogue, chairs financial regulatory discussions with Japan, China, Mexico, Canada and Australia, and leads the Department's preparations for the Financial Stability Forum.

Mr. Sobel has worked at the Department for over two decades. Prior to assuming his current position in 2000, Mr. Sobel served, inter alia, in the U.S. office at the IMF, and was Director of the Department's International Monetary Policy and Transition Economy offices.