Focus on Capital Markets Union

Adam Farkas is the Chief Executive Officer of AFME. Joining in February 2020 he is responsible for providing vision and shaping the strategy for the Association going forward and reporting to the Board.

Before joining AFME, Adam was the Executive Director of the European Banking Authority (EBA) from April 2011 until the end of January 2020 where he managed the organisation’s daily operations and led the implementation of its regulatory work programme.

Prior to joining the EBA, he acted as the Executive Chairman of the Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority between 2009 to 2010 where he spearheaded the Authority’s response to the financial crisis and helped implement policy such as a new code of conduct for banks.

His other previous positions include CEO for Allianz Bank from 2006 until 2009 and acting as the co-CEO of CIB Bank between 2002 and 2005. Between 1997 and 2001, he was Managing Director and Member of the Board at the National Bank of Hungary.

Adam started his career as an Assistant Professor at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences (subsequently renamed Corvinus University of Budapest). He was also a Consultant to various financial institutions in Budapest and London, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) between 1991-1997.

Adam holds a doctorate in Finance from the Budapest University of Economic Sciences, and a Master’s in computer-based simulation and modelling from Sunderland University in the UK.

Panagiotis (Panos) Asimakopoulos is Head of Research at New Financial. He joined in September 2016 as a research analyst specialising in capital markets and Brexit. Before joining New Financial he worked in DG FISMA at the European Commission and at NATO.

He has a Masters in Public Administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science, an MSc in Finance and Economics from Queen Mary University of London  and a BSc in from Athens University of Economics and Business.

Jean-Jacques Barbéris is Head of Institutional and Corporate Clients Coverage and an Executive and General Management board member at Amundi.

Before joining Amundi, Jean-Jacques acted as advisor for Economic and Financial affairs in the staff of the French President of the Republic, where he served from 2013-2016. Prior to this, he was a member of staff of Pierre Moscovici, French Minister of Economy and Finance.

Between 2009 and 2010, Jean-Jacques chaired the European group of experts on climate finance in the negotiations at UNFCCC. During that time, he also participated in different studies on the economics of climate change, such as Jean Tirole’s report published before the Copenhagen UNFCC conference in 2015.

Jean-Jacques started his career in the French Treasury Directorate General where he served from 2008 to 2012.

Jean-Jacques was a lecturer in advanced economics at Sciences-Po Paris From 2009 to 2012. He is also chairman of the French think tank “En Temps Réel”, dedicated to European politics.

Jean-Jacques is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum since 2019.

He is also a vice-chairman of Finance for Tomorrow, the French financial association devoted to sustainable finance

Jean-Jacques Barbéris graduated from Ecole Normale Supérieure “Lettres et Sciences Humaines”, “agrégé” in History, and alumni at both Sciences Po Paris and Ecole Normale d’Administration.

Chris Hollifield is head of business development at Luxembourg for Finance, where his work involves advising FinTech and financial companies looking to develop cross-border activity through Luxembourg-based platforms. He also advises on the development of the ecosystem in Luxembourg and on synergy creation with other key financial centres, with a focus on East Asia.

Prior to working at Luxembourg for Finance, Chris worked in the strategy department of Clearstream Banking SA, an International Central Securities Depository that facilitates the settlement of interbank transactions in over 50 markets worldwide. Here, his work focused particularly on strategic projects concerning distributed ledger technology and other FinTech topics.

Anna Lindner is Lawyer, Senior Associate at GSK Stockmann.

She focuses on Capital Markets, Banking & Finance, Corporate, Restructuring and Sustainable Finance.  She is admitted to the Bar in Germany (2015) and Luxembourg (2017) and holds qualifications from Julius-Maximilians University in Würzburg and Humboldt University in Berlin.

Anna undertook traineeships at two major international law firms in Berlin in the areas of insolvency administration and antitrust, and was employed at a major international law firm in Frankfurt am Main with a focus on corporate and finance litigation.

She speaks English, French and German, and is a member of the Luxembourg Banking Law Lawyers Association (ALJB).

Rainer Riess is Director General of FESE and an Independent Advisor to exchanges and financial services companies with more than 30 years of experience in the global exchange industry. He is the Vice Chair of the Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG) which provides ESMA with opinions and advice on its policy work.

He was Senior Independent Director in the Supervisory Board of the Moscow Exchange, heading over the years the Audit, Remuneration and Nomination as well as the Strategy Committee. He served for many years as Vice Chairman of the Board of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and was responsible for the cash market business of Deutsche Börse AG. During his tenure at Deutsche Börse he created and managed markets, drove changes in the European corporate governance and accounting practice, financial market regulation and supervision of market player. Major initiatives include running the cash market in a competitive MiFiD environment and financial market crises, the creation of DTB Deutsche Terminbörse / Eurex, developing European primary markets (Neuer Markt, indices, corporate governance and regulation), launch of the Xetra electronic trading system and the CCP as well as the creation of the European ETF and structured products markets.

He is a Member of the Board of Trustees of the English Theatre Frankfurt and several charitable organisations. He holds a Master in Economics from Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University in Frankfurt and received an MBA from the University of Miami as a Fulbright Scholar.

Oliver Schimek is CEO and Founder of CrossLend, a FinTech company that provides technology driven end-to-end solutions for loan asset transactions. He is responsible for the company’s overall business development and expansion across Europe.

Prior to funding CrossLend in 2014, he held a key position at a global online lender as Chief Financial & Investment Officer. His main responsibilities included the supervision of the finance department and ongoing development of the scoring model. Oliver also previously founded Quantea, specialised in the development of trading algorithms and IT infrastructures for currency trading.

He studied Physics and Economics at the Freie Universität Berlin.

Holger von Keutz, a German Wirtschaftsprüfer and Luxembourg Réviseur d’entreprises agréé, is a Partner in the assurance department of PwC Luxembourg, furthermore leading the PwC Luxembourg Securitisation business.

Besides being responsible for the audit of Luxembourg securitisation vehicles, Holger provides financial and regulatory advice as well as advice on the set-up of structured products. Furthermore, he is involved in audit and audit-related services to credit institutions, asset managers, and investment firms. is speaker at many conferences.

He acts as Chairman of the IRE securitisation committee and is member of the ExCo of the Luxembourg Capital Markets Association (LuxCMA). Holger is also lecturer in audit and financial reporting at the University of Applied Sciences Trier and he has authored several securitisation-related publications in Luxembourg.

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).

Josée Weydert is the Managing Partner of NautaDutilh Luxembourg, where she heads the Luxembourg Banking & Finance practice. Josée specialises in financing, securitisation (debt and equity), capital markets and financial regulatory matters.

Josée is a trusted advisor of numerous financial institutions, financial professionals and corporate groups. With more than 25 years of legal experience, Josée enjoys high recognition among both market players and clients.