Focus on Canada

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).

Shauneen is a corporate director, serving as a director of Canadian National Railway Co. and Andrew Peller Limited and Chair of the Board of Governors for the University of Guelph.  She is a member of the Institute of Corporate Directors. Previously, she was appointed as the Chair of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian American Business Council.  She serves as Honorary Consul for Luxembourg in Toronto.

Shauneen Bruder was, until her retirement on October 31, 2019, the Executive Vice President of Operations at the Royal Bank of Canada (“RBC”) where she was responsible for overseeing operations related to all personal and business clients in Canada.  Her previous senior roles at RBC include Executive Vice President of Business and Commercial Banking, Chief Operating Officer of the Global Wealth Management division and President of RBC Centura Banks, Inc. in North Carolina.

She has a BA from the University of Guelph (1980) and was Gold Medalist of the Queen’s University MBA class of 1984.  She is a recipient of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, and in 2016 was inducted into the Women’s Executive Network’s Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women Hall of Fame.

As CEO, Philippe chairs the IS Bank Executive Committee and the Continental Europe & Offshore Operating Committee. Based in Luxembourg, he is also a member of the Board of Directors of RBC Investor Services Bank S.A. and a member of the Operating Committee of RBC Investor Services (RBC IS).

Philippe works with the Business, Function and Country Heads across Europe to advance the regional business and build a sustainable growth strategy in the region through RBC IS’ high quality, full service provider approach. As part of his executive mandate, Philippe oversees regulatory relationships, ensures employee engagement in the region and manages the IS Bank entities as an essential part of the organization. Previously, Philippe was Chief Risk Officer of RBC Investor Services Bank S.A..

Philippe has been in business for 25 years and acquired first experience as operation/production  manager in manufacturing industry during several years before joining the bank industry in 2000.  Prior joining RBC, he worked in many capacities for BNP Benelux including Director Projects & Process Custody Business, Director Sub Custody Network management.

He holds an Honours BSc in Chemical Engineering from Liège University, Belgium.

Piers Roberts is a Senior Vice President in Brookfield’s Real Estate Group, responsible for leading the tax team in Europe.

Mr Roberts joined Brookfield in 2015. Prior to joining Brookfield, Mr Roberts was a Tax Director at Gazeley and a Vice President at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, having worked in the EY real estate team specialising in the tax aspects of property transactions and fund formations.

Mr Roberts received a BA(Hons) in Biological Sciences from Oxford University and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and a Chartered Tax Adviser.

Denise Voss  is a Non-Executive Director of financial services companies and serves as a Director on the Boards of flagship funds of major fund promoters.

Ms Voss has worked in the financial industry in Luxembourg since 1990, and retired from Franklin Templeton in March 2020 after 25 years, where she was a Conducting Officer and member of the board of Franklin Templeton International Services S.à r.l., a Luxembourg-based management company. Prior to joining Franklin Templeton, she worked for 10 years at Coopers & Lybrand in Boston, USA and Luxembourg. She holds a Massachusetts C.P.A. license and obtained a bachelors degree from Tufts University, as well as a masters degree in accountancy from Bentley University.

Ms Voss is currently Chairwoman of LuxFLAG, an independent agency created in Luxembourg in 2006 to support the financing of sustainable development, by providing clarity for investors through awarding internationally recognised Labels to eligible investment vehicles. LuxFLAG also supports a strong network of Associate Members and key partners and regularly shares information on new developments in sustainable finance. She is also Chairwoman of the EFAMA Investor Education Platform, and was Chairwoman of the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI) from 2015-2019, a member of the ALFI board of directors from 2007-2019 and is currently a member of the ALFI Strategic Board.

Nasir Zubairi is CEO of The LHoFT – The Luxembourg House of Financial Technology, a public/private sector initiative to drive fintech innovation in Luxembourg.

He sits on the IMF’s High Level Advisory Group on Finance and Technology and the OECD’s Blockchain Expert Policy Advisory Board. He has been a Non-Executive Board director at a “traditional” bank, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken (SEB) S.A. Nasir has worked in Financial Services for 22 years. He spent 13 years working within Capital Markets at RBS, ICAP, HSBC and EBS.  He has been immersed in the Fintech and startup sector since 2011.

As an entrepreneur, Nasir has built multiple Fintech businesses across verticals. He has advised the boards of leading financial institutions, central banks and governments. Nasir is included in the “Top 40 innovators shaping the future of financial services -2014” by The Wall Street Journal/Financial News.

Nasir has a BSc from the London School of Economics and is a Sloan Fellow from London Business School.