Focus on Brexit

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.

John Marshall is a career diplomat who has served as Her Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg since presenting his credentials to HRH Grand Duke Henri on 14 April 2016.

He was previously British Ambassador to Senegal and non-resident Ambassador to Cabo Verde and Guinea-Bissau from May 2011 to 2015.

John Marshall studied Modern Languages at Bristol University graduating in 1988. He joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office the same year.  He has also served in Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Addis Ababa (the last as Deputy Head of Mission) as well as in several positions in London.

His leisure interests include running, bird-watching and history. He has also been working on a book #LuxUKLinks, highlighting 150 stories that connect the UK and Luxembourg, which will be published in October 2020.

Pierre-Michaël de Waersegger is a Partner in the Insurance & Reinsurance Law practice and the Banking & Financial Services practice.

Pierre-Michaël assists insurance and reinsurance companies, as well as banks and professionals of the financial sector regarding all Luxembourg legal and regulatory aspects of their activities. His expertise includes advising on the implementation of AML/CTF, MIFID, PSD, CRD, Solvency II and IDD regulations, the drafting and review of contractual documentation as well as contacts with the regulators.

Pierre-Michaël’s expertise also encompasses legal advice on insurance products for financial institutions, investments companies and any other type of company having a need for insurance products.

He has been a member of the Luxembourg Bar since 2009 and was also a member of the Brussels Bar (Belgium) until 2013.

Pierre-Michaël sits at the board of various Luxembourg insurance and reinsurance companies, as well as the board of the Association Luxembourgeoise des Fonds de Pension (ALFP). He is also the legal representative in Luxembourg of Lloyd’s Insurance Company.

Pierre-Michaël de Waersegger holds a Master’s degree in law from the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium) as well as a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) in European law from the Institut des Etudes Européennes (Belgium).

Luc Frieden is a qualified lawyer (avocat à la Cour) and a partner with Elvinger Hoss, one of the largest Luxembourg law firms, where he advises on international corporate and banking matters. In addition, he is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL) S.A., Luxembourg’s oldest bank.

Luc Frieden serves as Chairman of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, which represents all Luxembourg companies in finance, commerce and industry. He also sits on the Board of Directors of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange.

For most of his professional career, from 1998 to 2013, Luc Frieden was a cabinet minister in the Luxembourg Government. He served as Minister of Finance, Minister of Defence as well as Minister of Justice.

Luc Frieden was visiting professor in business law at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland and has published numerous articles on legal and political topics. He is the co-author of the book Europa 5.0 on economic growth in Europe.

Luc Frieden graduated in law from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and holds LLM degrees from the University of Cambridge and Harvard Law School. He speaks English, French, German and Luxembourgish fluently.

Charles Muller is an independent director with more than 30 years of experience in Luxembourg financial services, mostly in asset management. He is registered as a honorary attorney (“avocat honoraire”) with the Luxembourg Bar,  chair of the NGO “Finance and Human Rights asbl” and a member of several public advisory bodies, including the regulator CSSF’s “Comité GFI” (Asset management) and the Foreign Ministry’s “ Business and Human Rights” Committee.

After studying law in Paris and London, Charles became a Luxembourg barrister.  In 1994 he joined Banque Générale du Luxembourg, then, in 2003, ALFI, the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry where he held the position of Deputy Director General. Charles was also a Board member of the world-wide federation of investment fund associations (IIFA) and a member of the Management Committee of the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA).

In 2011, Charles joined KPMG Luxembourg as a Partner, Head of Regulatory and Leader of the European Centre of Excellence for Investment Management Regulation. He was also a member of the KPMG Global leadership team for investment management and a Global Lead on AIFMD (Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive.

Martin Parkes, Managing Director, is a member of BlackRock’s Global Public Policy Group based in London. Martin is responsible for engaging with policy makers and BlackRock’s clients on policy and regulation relating to investor protection and distribution, retirement and fund structures in the EU and the UK. He chairs the Investment Association’s International and European Policy Committee and is a member of the AMF’s Post Trade Consultative Committee. He regularly contributes to the work of key asset management trade bodes such as EFAMA, ICMA, ICI, the Investment Association, ALFI and Irish Funds.

He is also a committee member of BlackRock’s LGBT OUT network, particularly supporting the network on external events and outreach with other firms and networks.

Martin has worked at BlackRock since 2004 and prior to joining the Public Policy team he worked in BlackRock’s legal team responsible for BlackRock’s European-managed investment funds. Martin studied European Law at the University of Exeter and at the Université d’Aix-Marseille III and is a qualified solicitor in England and Wales.

Michael Percival is EMEA Head of Regulatory Affairs for JPMorgan, based in London.  He is responsible for JPMorgan’s engagement in material regulatory policy developments, including coverage across key prudential, resolution, markets, and conduct issues, with a primary focus on EU-wide and UK developments. He is currently heavily engaged in all policy issues relating to Brexit.

Before joining JPMorgan, Michael worked at the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) in London, and prior to that at the Irish Banking Federation in Dublin (now the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland).  In those roles he has variously focused on capital / liquidity regulatory and funding issues, among other things.

Michael holds degrees in Law and Management (Economics) from the University of Waikato in New Zealand, and an MBA from the UCD Smurfit Business School in Ireland.