Focus on Switzerland

Following the legislative elections of 14 October 2018, Pierre Gramegna was re-appointed Minister of Finance in the coalition government formed by the Democratic Party (DP), the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) and the Green Party (déi gréng). Pierre Gramegna first joined the government as Minister of Finance in 2013.

As Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna has initiated major reforms to balance the budget and to align Luxembourg’s tax rules with international transparency standards. Thanks to these efforts, Luxembourg’s AAA rating has been consistently confirmed by all major rating agencies and, in 2015, the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes upgraded Luxembourg to “largely compliant”. Pierre Gramegna is also a promoter of the diversification of Luxembourg’s financial centre, in particular with regard to FinTech and sustainable finance. He is the initiator and president of the LHoFT Foundation, which runs the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology. He has also further developed bilateral relations with China in the financial sector.

Pierre Gramegna puts particular emphasis on Luxembourg’s role in multilateral development banks. In 2014, Luxembourg became a member of the African Development Bank and, in 2015, Luxembourg was the first non-Asian country to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Currently, he is the chairman of the board of Governors of the AIIB. In May 2016, Pierre Gramegna was elected chair of the Board of Governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for a one-year mandate. He currently serves on the Board of Governors of the European Investment Bank and on that of the European Stability Mechanism. He is also Luxembourg’s governor to the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

Pierre Gramegna studied law and economics at the Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II), where he was awarded a master’s degree in civil law in 1981 and a degree in economic sciences in 1982. He completed his post-university education with a DEA (postgraduate diploma of advanced studies) in European Union law.

As a career diplomat, Pierre Gramegna joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1983. From 1996 to 2002, Pierre Gramegna was Luxembourg’s ambassador to Japan and South Korea. From 2003 to 2013, Pierre Gramegna held the position of Director General of the Chamber of Commerce.

Philipp von Restorff currently is Deputy CEO at Luxembourg for Finance (LFF), the agency for the development of the Luxembourg financial centre.

Prior to his appointment at LFF, he was serving as Head of Communication of The Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL), where he also held the position of Secretary of the Board of Directors.  Philipp has been Chairman of the European Banking Federation’s Communication and CSR Steering Committee from 2014-2018. Before joining the ABBL he worked for the Luxembourg Information and Press Services of the Luxembourg Ministry of State. 

He is elected member of the Board of Directors of LuxFLAG, the Luxembourg Finance Labelling Agency, as well as of the Luxembourg Sustainable Finance Initiative. Philipp is lecturer at the Luxembourg House of Training and financial education volunteer at “Jonk Entrepreneuren Luxembourg”, a branch of the Junior Achievement Network (JA).

Luca Bertacchi, after graduating in engineering (Politecnico di Milano University) and obtaining an Executive Master – Corporate Finance (SDA Bocconi), was the Head of Energy Group Milano- Director at Fortis Bank and Senior Vice President- Corporate Origination at Unicredit Banca Mobiliare.

Subsequently, he was Head of Sales & Marketing at Pioneer Alternative Inv. Mgt Sgr PA and Head of Sales Swiss Markt for Pioneer Investments. After successfully developping the business in Italy for Lombard International Assurance , he has been appointed as Regional Director Central & Southern Europe.

In June 2019 he has been appointed Head of  Switzerland and International Markets.

Marc Hengen has been the Managing Director of ACA since March 2013. After 18 years of experience in the Luxembourgish insurance sector, he joined the Executive Committee of ACA in 2010. He is also a member of both the Executive Committee of UEL (Union des Entreprises Luxembourgeoises) and the Executive Committee of IE (Insurance Europe), as well as Secretary General of AGERE (Association des gestionnaires d’entreprises de réassurances).

Marc Hengen has a Master’s Degree in Law from the Robert Schuman University of Strasbourg.

Christian Kremer is Senior Partner of the Luxembourg office of Clifford Chance. He heads the Corporate and Capital Markets practices.

Christian Kremer has 30 years of experience acting for private equity houses, banks and other financial institutions on regulatory, banking, finance and capital markets matters. He has a broad corporate, M&A and private equity practice.

He also has a strong experience in finance and capital markets transactions, as well as on Fintech projects and insurance matters.

He is a member of several committees of the CSSF, the Luxembourg regulator of the financial sector. He is also a member of committees of the Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL) and a member of the Haut Comité pour la Place Financière, an advisory committee to the Luxembourg government.

Corinne Lamesch is the chairperson (since June 2019) and board member of the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI) (since June 2017). She is a regular speaker at industry events and has been actively participating in conferences and roadshows that ALFI is organising in Luxembourg and across the globe.

Corinne is Country Head, Luxembourg at Fidelity International and has over 20 years of experience in the Luxembourg fund industry. She joined Fidelity International in 2008 and acts as Conducting Officer of Fidelity International’s Luxembourg-based management company since 2015.

Prior to joining Fidelity International, Corinne worked as a lawyer for Clifford Chance and Allen & Overy from 1998 to 2008, advising on the Luxembourg and international investment fund industry.

Corinne holds two Masters in Law from Université Robert Schuman, Strasbourg and New York University School of Law. She was admitted as a lawyer to the Luxembourg Bar (1999-2008) and to the New York Bar (since 1998).

Jeff Mouton is a Luxembourg national, and has been active the Luxembourg Financial Centre for the past 25 years.

After first employments as investment fund analyst for the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, and as a project coordinator for UBS Fund Services, he started working for and with External Asset Managers since their first emergence in Luxembourg at the turn of the millennium.

First, in 2000, he started the Luxembourg EAM services for Pictet & Cie (Europe) S.A., to later adapt, develop and run the offering for the banks European branches in France, Spain, Germany and the UK. Furthermore, Jeff was the initiator of the working group of the Luxembourg Banking Association (ABBL) for EAM, and is acting chairperson of that committee. Since June 2019, Jeff is running the Intermediaries Desk for Bank Julius Baer Europe S.A.

Through his positions with Luxembourg banks within Swiss groups and his role in the ABBL, Jeff has been working at the junction between the two main European cross-border financial centres, and is in active and regular exchange with key EAM from both countries.

Stanislas Peel is co-managing the Global Wealth Planning Team within LO Patrimonia S.A. as well as within the Lombard Odier Group.

He is specialised in wealth and estate planning for Luxembourg and Belgium. He originally joined the Lombard Odier Group to work for the Brussels office in January 2006 and moved on to the Luxembourg office in 2011. He is working for LO Patrimonia S.A. since 2017. Prior to joining Lombard Odier, he was Director Wealth Structuring at MeesPierson (Brussels), Wealth Planner for Banque Paribas (Luxembourg) and Tax Advisor with Arthur Andersen (Brussels).

Stanislas holds a Master in Applied Economic Sciences from KU Leuven (Belgium), an Executive Master in Tax Sciences and a Degree in European Tax Law, both from the Ecole Supérieure des Sciences Fiscales of Brussels, Belgium.

Serge Weyland is the Chief Executive Officer of Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management (Luxembourg) S.A. (EdRAM).

EdRAM is a Luxembourg based AIFM and UCITS management company overseeing funds managed by the Edmond de Rothschild group and providing fund administration, management company/AIFM and business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions to third party managers and funds.

Before joining Edmond de Rothschild, Serge spent three and a half years with Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL) where he was in charge of the institutional clients business and five years with Caceis where he was responsible for North American & UK based fund managers serviced across the group. Previous working experience includes the private bank Sal. Oppenheim (5 years) and management consulting firm Accenture (7 years).

Serge is the co-chair of the ALFI Digital/Fintech Forum, a Member of the Committee on Investment Fund Managers of the CSSF (“GFI Committee”), a member of the board of the LPEA and a contributor to ALFI and LPEA working groups focusing on hedge funds and private debt.

Jérôme Wigny became a member of the Luxembourg Bar in 1994 and a partner of Elvinger Hoss Prussen in 2001.

He specialises in investment funds (UCITS and AIFs, in particular those pursuing alternative strategies) as well as management companies and alternative investment fund managers (AIFMs).

He is a member of various commissions of the “Luxembourg Association of Investment Funds” (ALFI) and co-chairs the Hedge Fund commission. He is also a member of the investment fund committee of the “Luxembourg Directors’ Institute” (ILA) and of the “Haut Comité de la Place Financière (HCPF), the advisory committee to the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance.

He holds a “licence en droit belge” from the Université Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve. He is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars, in particular in relation to investment fund-related topics, and is an invited professor at Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC), Liège (Belgium).