China Finance Forum 2021

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.

Nicolas Mackel is CEO of Luxembourg for Finance, the Agency for the Development of the Financial Centre, since July 2013.

Nicolas is a career diplomat. He has graduated with a law degree from the University of Aix-en-Provence, and holds two post-graduate diplomas in European law from the Sorbonne University, respectively the College of Europe in Bruges where he then also served as a teaching assistant in the Law Department. He worked as a legal clerk at the European Court of Justice before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1999. His assignments focused on the successive EU Treaty negotiations (Amsterdam, Nice, Constitution, Lisbon).

Nicolas was consecutively posted at Luxembourg’s Permanent Representation to the EU (2002-07), as Deputy Chief of Mission at Luxembourg’s Embassy in Washington DC (2007-11) and as Consul General in Shanghai (2011-13) where he was in charge of promoting Luxembourg’s economic interests throughout China as the Executive Director of the Luxembourg Trade and Investment Office.

Judith Bogner is a television presenter, event facilitator and commentator for international finance, business and geopolitics based between the UK and Germany. For more than ten years she was one of the main European anchors of the financial news channel Bloomberg Global Television in London. Since 2012 Judith runs her own business, offering event and business facilitation, client advisory boards and strategic consulting. She is also a UK accredited mediator.

Judith regularly leads public and private events for corporate and institutional clients in the financial sector and beyond. Her list of clients include the Federation of German Industries, the Euro Finance Week (Frankfurt), Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bank of New York Mellon, The Brewers of Europe, Luxembourg for Finance, the Dutch Development Bank FMO, Ergo Insurance, State Street, Scope Ratings, the Institute of Culinary Art, Allianz Global Assistance, Wacom and the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Born in Germany, Judith has lived in Switzerland, China, Ukraine, France and Italy. She is bilingual in English-German and also speaks Italian, French and Mandarin Chinese. Judith holds a degree in International Business Management and Chinese from the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen.

Julie Becker has been at the helm of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE) since April 2021. She joined LuxSE in 2013 and was appointed to its Executive Committee in 2015, before being named Deputy CEO in 2019, and CEO two years later.

Her career in the financial sector in Luxembourg spans over two decades and includes positions at the Central Bank of Luxembourg and Dexia. In 2016, Julie Becker founded the Luxembourg Green Exchange (LGX), the world’s leading platform for sustainable securities. A recognised expert in the field of sustainable finance, Julie Becker has represented LuxSE and LGX at numerous, international expert forums and conferences over the past years, including the EU High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance from 2017 to 2019 and the United Nations High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development in 2023.

Julie Becker is a member of the board of directors of several Luxembourg-based financial industry associations and the Chairwoman of LuxCMA, a capital markets industry association established in 2019. She was awarded The inventor” by Global Landscape as part of their campaign “16 Women Restoring the Earth” in 2019 and was named the “Most Influential Economic Decision Maker in Luxembourg” in the 2022 edition of the Paperjam Top 100.

Julie Becker played a crucial role in the founding of the Luxembourg Women in Finance Charter. She is a member of the Luxembourg Gender Finance Task Force, launched in 2023, and the EIB’s Women Climate Leaders Network, launched in 2024. She was appointed as a member of the University of Luxembourg’s Board of Governors in 2023.

Julie Becker specialises in regulatory and legal matters linked to capital markets. She holds a Master’s Degree in European & Comparative Law and a Master’s Degree (DEA) in Private Law from the University of Nancy II, France. She is also an alumna of the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Eric joined Aberdeen Standard Investments (ASI) in 1997 and is based in the London office, where he is responsible for developing relationships with key wholesale and institutional investment clients globally. He works closely with the Group Chairman, senior executives and regional business leaders within ASI to deliver clients investment expectations.

Eric has extensive experience across Asia and has been involved in the development of various initiatives and partnerships with large clients across the regions.

Previously, Eric was chief distribution officer for the Standard Life Asia (SLA) business in Hong Kong. Prior roles include Head of Wealth and Investment solutions for Standard Life Asia. Eric has a BA (Hons) in Financial Services and has the Investment Management Certificate

Miranda Carr joined MSCI in January 2021 as Head of APAC Thematic ESG Research to focus on the key issues and developments in ESG in the main Asian markets, including China.

Prior to joining MSCI, Miranda was Senior ESG Analyst at Haitong International, one of China’s largest securities companies, where she worked from 2015-20 and launched their ‘ESG in Asia’ research product, which developed corporate governance and ESG investment frameworks for the Chinese and Asian markets.

Before that, she spent 8 years analysing Chinese government policy and investment strategy as Head of Research for an independent research company, NSBO, in London/Beijing. In 2003, she obtained an MSc from Bayes Business School (formerly CASS Business School), where she focussed on Socially Responsible Investment.

Stefano Chao is an Investment Manager at AZ Investment Management, the Chinese subsidiary of the Azimut Group. Azimut Group is Italy’s largest independent asset manager with total assets under management of over US$40 billion and a global presence throughout Europe, Asia (China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan) and Latin America (Brazil, Chile, Mexico).

At AZ Investment Stefano is in charge of the China onshore bond investments and China research and supports the management team managing the RMB Opportunities Funds, two of the largest offshore RMB funds in the world.

Prior to joining AZ Investment, Stefano was a VP at Lehman Brothers in New York in the Fixed Income Division. Stefano holds a BA in Economics from Yale University and an MBA from the China Europe International Business School.

Charlotte Chen is located in Hong Kong and practises investment fund and corporate law. She specialises in the field of establishment and structuring of investment funds and participates in acquisition and financing transactions.

Charlotte holds a maîtrise en droit from the Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas (France) and a Master’s degree in European law from the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (France).

She is a member of the Regulatory Sub-Committee of the HKIFA (Hong Kong Investment Funds Association) and a member of the Hong Kong Sub-Committee of ALFI (Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry). Charlotte became a member of the Paris Bar in 2009 and a member of the Luxembourg Bar in 2014.

Dingxin Gao has been the Chief Representative of the People’s Bank of China Frankfurt Representative Office since April 2017.

Dingxin started his career in the People’s Bank of China in the banking supervision field, in charge of the registration and off-site supervision of foreign financial institutions in China, overseas establishments of Chinese commercial banks and later of all the major domestic commercial banks in China. In 2002, he became the Chief Representative of PBC Rep Office in Africa and worked in the field of development finance with international and regional development agencies in Africa. In 2006 he worked as the special advisor in the African Development Bank in Tunisia. Then he moved back to PBC headquarters in Beijing and continued to work with development institutions in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbeans. In 2014, he joined the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group in Washington DC as Principal Investment Officer in charge of equity investment and private equity fund management. In April 2017, he rejoined PBC and moved to Frankfurt, with the main responsibilities covering the euro-zone area of Europe and the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland.

Geng Yichen (Crystal) is Principle ESG expert and Head of ESG Strategy, Ping An Group, and has been leading the ESG focused  sustainability transformation since 2018.

Responsible for the Group’s ESG improvement and ESG investment, she helped Ping An Group upgrade its MSCI-ESG rating to Grade A for two consecutive years, and coordinated the construction of PA’s ESG investment system, PMO of AI-ESG investment platform.

Yichen graduated from national University of Singapore, majoring in sustainable Development with LEED AP, WELL AP. She has many years of experience in ESG and sustainability consulting in China and overseas. She helped more than 20 listed companies with the ESG strategy and management improvement, especially in finance, real estate, manufacturing, ICT etc. She has participated in the establishment of several ESG guidelines.

Emmanuel Gutton is the Director of Legal and Tax at ALFI, the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry, since September 2020.

Before joining ALFI, Emmanuel was Head of Legal and Conducting Officer at Pictet Asset Management (Europe) S. A., a Luxembourg UCITS management company and AIFM, from 2016.

Prior to joining Pictet, Mr Gutton worked for more than ten years as a lawyer (Luxembourg Bar and Paris Bar), specialising in collective investment funds and management companies. He worked as Counsel at Elvinger Hoss and in September 2012 he relocated to Hong Kong to launch Elvinger Hoss’ office and he stayed there until September 2015. Previously, Mr Gutton had worked as a lawyer at Linklaters in Luxembourg and De Pardieu Brocas Maffei in Paris.

Mr Gutton holds a Master’s degree in Law from the University Paris II Panthéon-Assas (France) and a Master’s Degree in International Business Law and Management from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC), Paris in partnership with the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP).

Dr Yifan Hu joins us as Regional Chief Investment Officer & Head Macroeconomic Asia Pacific. She is based in Hong Kong, and serves as a member of the CIO Asia Investment Committee as well as the CIO Emerging Markets Investment Committee.  Working alongside the investment teams globally and in Asia Pacific, Yifan is helping shape CIO’s macroeconomic and investment views on APAC.

Yifan has held several Chief Economist positions since 2007, most recently at Haitong International where she was tasked with leading H-share equity research. Prior to this role, Yifan worked as a Chief Economist at CITIC Securities, China Economist at France’s Natixis, and China Strategist at Merrill Lynch. Her views and columns can be found in leading financial media.

Prior to that, Yifan was an Assistant Professor at the School of Business and Economics at the University of Hong Kong and published extensively in the international and Chinese academic journals. Yifan has considerable experiences in research and consulting, and served in various prestigious organizations including the World Bank and The Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) in Washington D.C.

Yifan received her Ph.D in Economics from Georgetown University and B.S. in Economics from Zhejiang University.

Zennon Kapron is the Founder and Director of Kapronasia, a leading financial industry research and advisory firm with offices across Asia. Zennon has been involved in the financial industry for over 20 years and is a recognised expert on the development of fintech in China and its impact on the financial industry.

Before Kapronasia, Zennon was the Global Banking Industry Director for Intel and before Intel, the CIO for Citigroup Portugal. Zennon is also the co-founder of China Fintech and the author of Chomping at the Bitcoin: The Past, Present and Future of Bitcoin in China. He holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Syracuse University and an MBA from INSEAD.

Stephane Karolczuk is a Partner of Arendt & Medernach and the Head of the Hong Kong office. Stephane advises clients based in the Asia Pacific region regarding their European projects and their Luxembourg legal and regulatory questions.

As Partner in the Investment Management practice, Stephane advises international clients on all issues relating to Luxembourg investment funds (UCITS or other vehicles) including the structuring, setting-up and marketing of these funds (under UCITS or AIFMD), as well as strategies involving investments in the Asia Pacific region and questions relating to the distribution of funds in the region.

Stephane also specialises in questions relating to the internationalisation of the RMB and the opening of the PRC capital markets (QFII, RQFII, Stock Connect, QDII, QDII2, QDIE, QDLP, etc.) from a Luxembourg perspective.

In 2008, Stephane was seconded to Arendt & Medernach’s representative office in New York with a view to developing an Investment Management Helpdesk advising US clients in relation to Luxembourg investment funds questions.

Stephane has taken part in the activities of the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI), the Hong Kong Investment Funds Association (HKIFA), the Hong Kong Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (HKVCA) and he is regularly invited to speak on Luxembourg funds related topics at conferences in the region.

Stephane graduated from the University of Brussels (Belgium) and the University of Ghent (Belgium). He is admitted to practice in Hong Kong as a Registered Foreign Lawyer, as well as in Luxembourg and Brussels.

Languages: English, French, Dutch and basic knowledge of Mandarin.

Agatha Kratz is an Associate Director at Rhodium Group.

Agatha coordinates Rhodium Group’s European activities and leads research on European Union-China relations and China’s commercial diplomacy. She contributes to Rhodium work on China’s global investment, industrial policy and technology aspirations. Agatha is a non-resident Adjunct Fellow of the Reconnecting Asia Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies under the Simon Chair in Political Economy.

She holds a Ph.D. from King’s College London, on China’s railway diplomacy. Her previous positions included Associate Policy Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and Editor-in-Chief of its quarterly journal China Analysis, Assistant Editor for China Economic Quarterly, and Junior Fellow at Asia Centre in Paris. Agatha has a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a Masters in Finance from SciencesPo Paris, as well as a Masters in Public Administration from the London School of Economics and Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

Arthur R. Kroeber is a partner and Head of Research at Gavekal, a Hong Kong-based economic research firm, and founder of its China-focused Dragonomics research service.

Before establishing Dragonomics in 2002, he spent fifteen years as a financial and economic journalist in China and South Asia. He is adjunct professor of economics at the NYU Stern School of Business, a senior non-resident fellow of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center in Beijing, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the National Committee on US-China Relations.

His book China’s Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know (2^nd edition 2020) is published by Oxford University Press.

Frederic Neumann, PhD, is Managing Director and Co-Head of Asian Economics, based in Hong Kong. Before joining HSBC, Frederic was an adjunct professor at a number of US universities, teaching courses on Asian sovereign risk analysis, international financial markets, international monetary policy, and Southeast Asian political culture.

He also served as a consultant on Asian economic and political affairs various public sector institutions.

He is also a former research associate of the Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC. A former Fulbright scholar, Frederic Neumann holds a PhD in International Economics and Asian Studies.

Robert Scharfe is the Chairman of the Nomination Committee of the World Federation of Exchanges. He has been the CEO of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange from 2012 until April 2021.

He is a recognised expert in Capital Markets matters and a specialist in Green finance.

Before joining the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, he spent 35 years in the banking industry, mostly in Corporate Finance and Financial Markets. Between 2000 and 2012 he was a Member of the Management Board of BGL BNP Paribas in Luxembourg. During that time, he also assumed senior responsibilities within Fortis Bank in the areas of Institutional Banking and Global Markets.

During his banking career, he acquired extensive knowledge in International Capital Markets and gained solid experience in the fields of Asset Management and Investment Funds.

He holds a Master Degree in Economics from the University of Nancy, France, and he is an alumni of Insead, France and Stanford Graduate School of Business, Palo Alto, USA.

Mr SHEN Huayu is the Head of Overseas Non-Bank Institutions Division, International Business Department of CCB Head Office. Prior to this, he was Head of Foreign Exchange Business Management Division.

He joined CCB in 2000, with 20 years of extensive working experience in international business including international settlement, trade finance, foreign exchange business management and financial institutions. Mr SHEN obtained his MBA degree from Tsinghua University.

Aileen Song is the Managing Director, Head of Sales & Marketing for AllianceBernstein’s China business. Before joining AllianceBernstein, she was an Executive Director at China Life Franklin Asset Management, responsible for institutional sales and product development. Prior to that, she was a Director at China Asset Management (Hong Kong), responsible for business development. Earlier in her career, Ms. Song worked for BlackRock and held progressive roles in the company’s China institutional business.

Ms. Song is also currently a Director at the Asian Financial Cooperation Association as well as a member of its Green Finance Cooperation Committee. Ms. Song holds a Master of Business Administration degree and a Master of Finance degree, both from the University of Hong Kong.

Dmitriy Vlasov is Portfolio Advisor at East Capital, based in Hong Kong. He joined East Capital in 2007 and has been focusing on China since 2011. Dmitriy was based in Shanghai between 2011 and 2013 during which period he was instrumental in the launch of East Capital’s A-shares strategy. Prior to East Capital, Dmitriy was Head of Valuation for Russia/CIS at Jones Lang LaSalle in Moscow, Chief Representative of the Shanghai office of Thor Group and Equity Research Analyst at Security Global Investors in the US. Dmitry has an MBA from the University of Kansas and a BSc in Economics from St Petersburg State Technical Marine University. He is a CFA charterholder.

Established in Sweden in 1997, East Capital has expanded its reach from being a pioneer investor in Eastern Europe, and one of the largest investors in this region, to offering global emerging and frontier market strategies. The firm also offers innovative products in the field of sustainable investing, such as East Capital Global Emerging Markets Sustainable. East Capital’s investment strategy is based on extensive company knowledge gained through proprietary fundamental analysis and frequent company meetings. We incorporate ESG-related risks and opportunities in our investment process, and favour companies with long-term, sustainable growth perspectives and responsible owners.

Jörg Wuttke is Chief Representative of BASF China, based in Beijing. Mr. Wuttke is President of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China – an office he already held from 2007 to 2010 and from 2014 to 2017. Mr. Wuttke is a member of the Advisory Board of the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) in Berlin.

He has lived in Beijing for more than three decades.

Jinny joined ICBC Standard Bank in early 2016 as Chief China Economist and leads the China markets strategy and research team. Her focus is to deliver China macroeconomic and market insights to internal and external stakeholders. Her team launched the Belt and Road Economic Indices, which offers unique insight into China’s increasing connectivity with emerging economies. She also helps stakeholders to understand more about China’s Interbank Bond Market (CIBM), as it opens further to foreign investor access.

Prior to joining ICBCS, Jinny was a London-based Senior Economist at Standard Chartered Bank. She covered key China-Europe macro topics with a focus on Renminbi internationalisation. Her previous economist roles include covering China based in Shanghai, Europe, and supporting the Chief Economist.

Heading up the European RMB Solutions team, Jinny chaired the Education and Marketing stream of the City of London’s Renminbi initiative. Widely recognised as a China and Renminbi expert in London, she makes frequent appearances in media and at high-level conferences.

Jinny studied Economics (BA Hons) at the University of Durham. Later in her career, she gained her Masters of Development Studies (MSc.) from the London School of Economics.

YAN Xuetong is a distinguished professor of Tsinghua University and a member of Russia Academy of Sciences. He is serving as the Dean of The Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University and the Secretary General of the World Peace Forum.

He obtained Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley in1992 and was named as one of world’s Top 100 public intellectuals by the American journal Foreign Policy in 2008. He has been the only political scientist listed in Most Cited Chinese Researchers by Elsevier since 2014. Some of his books have been translated into English, Japanese, Korean, Farsi or Albanian.

Dariush Yazdani, Partner, leads the Global Market Research Centre within PwC Luxembourg. He has more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry. He has led and contributed to various research and thought leadership studies, as well as strategic consulting for clients.

Client assignments include the development of market entry studies and strategies for multiple global and regional asset managers, product and fee benchmarking reports, as well as reports for the EU Commission. He was member of the editorial board of the AWM Revolution Embracing Exponential Change; Pressure on Profitability and Rising attractiveness of alternative asset classes for Sovereign Wealth Funds. He holds a MBA from the University of Chicago, GSB.

Tae Seok Clement Yoo serves as Managing Director in Global Client Development department in Markets Division. His department is responsible for covering relationships and business development initiatives engagement of institutional clients across sell-side exchange participants, buy-side investors and custody banks.

Since joining HKEx in 2011, he was head of platform development & strategy and product & index development. He has been a key member of initiatives such as stock & Bond Connect, OTC Clear, BRICS exchanges alliance and London Metal Exchange (LME) acquisition. Yoo has over 23 years of industry experience with 14 years at CME Group as head of Asia strategy in institutional sales in Singapore and senior positions in business development and clearing risk management in Chicago and Hong Kong. Prior to CME, he worked at Sumitomo Mitsui Bank (Sakura Dellsher, Inc.) and at Goldman Sachs & Co in Chicago.

Yoo holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, MBA from the Stuart School of Business at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and GSAL program at the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business. He has been named an inventor on nine U.S. patents on derivatives risk management applications.