Shanghai 2019

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.

A career diplomat since 2005, Marc Hübsch was promoted Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China in April 2017.

From 2014 to 2017, Marc Hübsch was positioned in Luxembourg as Deputy Director at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs where he was in charge of WTO issues and matters concerning the European trade policy. He was also Chairman of the trade policy committee “Full members” (meetings at Ambassador’s level), during Luxembourg’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union. During this time, Marc contributed actively to the proposed European reform of the investor-state dispute settlement approach through the development of a permanent Investment Court System and supported the EU in developing a new generation of transparent bilateral trade agreements.

Marc was furthermore Chief negotiator for bilateral investment protection agreements between Luxembourg and third countries.

From 2011 to 2012, Marc Hübsch served as Deputy permanent representative of Luxembourg to the OECD, in Paris. In 2012, he then served as Director General for Trade and Investment Promotion, providing advice to the Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade on bilateral trade affairs as well as strategy and trade policy promotion. His division also provided direct support to Luxembourg companies through trade missions and national pavilions at trade fairs. Marc chaired the Committee for the Promotion of Luxembourg Exports, was a member of the Consultative Committee on Foreign Trade and a board member of the Office du Ducroire (Luxembourg’s export insurance provider). In 2013, Marc took a leave to pursue a career path in the private sector and worked as a business consultant.

He was educated at the Rheinisch Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH Aachen University), in Germany, gaining a Master and a PhD in economic geography.

Since July 2013, Luc Decker is the Consul General of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg in Shanghai. He is also the Executive Director of the Luxembourg Trade and Investment Office, a role that aims at strengthening the economic ties between China and Luxembourg. Since January 2018, he is the Dean of the Consular Corps in Shanghai.

Before being appointed as Consul General, Luc Decker was in charge of the Luxembourg Trade and Investment Offices in China and the United States at the Ministry of Economy. In that role, which he held from 2007 to 2013, he assisted Chinese and American investors and companies to set up base in Luxembourg as their gateway to the European market. Prior to this, he was in charge of Press Relations for the Minister of the Economy from 2005 to 2007.

Luc Decker studied law and political science in Paris, at the Sorbonne (Université Paris 1) where he obtained his Master’s Degree in political science in 2004. He is also a passionate swimmer and represented Luxembourg at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

Cornelius Bechtel is Managing Director of Apex Corporate Services S.A. and acts as the Head of Corporate Services & Private Clients for Luxembourg. He furthermore leads and oversees the build out of the Corporate Services & Private Clients service proposal for the Apex Group in Hong Kong.

Cornelius Bechtel has over 25 years of experience in Corporate Management and Fund Administration Services, having held various senior positions with KPMG Financial Engineering, Fortis Intertrust, United International Management, CF Corporate Services SA/BDO and Link Corporate Services (now part of Apex Group).

Next to his professional qualifications as Bankkaufmann and Expert Comptable, Cornelius Bechtel has been certified as an Independent Director from the Luxembourg Institute of Directors (ILA) and has graduated from the INSEAD Independent Directors Programme (IDP-C). Cornelius Bechtel graduated in business administration at the European Business School (ebs) in Germany in 1994.

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 at the prestigious EU High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance from 2016-2018. She is also the Chair of LuxCMA, a capital markets industry association established in 2019.

Julie Becker specialises in regulatory and legal matters linked to capital markets. She holds a Master Degree in European & Corporate Law and a Master 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.

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.

Fei CHEN is a Chinese banker with over 21 years of experiences at ICBC, taking up management roles at the Global Head Office and Regional Headquarters for the overall bank management, client relationship coverage, FX and overseas IT infrastructure within the bank in China and Western Europe.

He currently acts as General Manager of ICBC Luxembourg Branch since June 2017 and sits on the board as Chairman of ICBC (Europe) since October 2015. Prior to that, he was General Manager of ICBC’s Frankfurt Branch from July 2012 and General Manager of ICBC (Europe) Brussels Branch since January 2011. He joined the ICBC Group upon graduation in 1998 and previously had held a number of management positions within the International Banking Department in ICBC Head Office. He was elected as the founding President of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Germany and of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Frankfurt while in Germany.

Fei CHEN holds a Master’s Degree in Engineering and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Tsinghua University. He is an active promoter of business relations between China and Europe shaping the strategies in Europe.

Michel Feider is a Partner in the Private Equity & Venture Capital practice at EY Luxembourg, comprising 300 professionals.

With more than 15 years of experience in serving leading Alternative Investment Managers and small and mid-sized Alternative Investment Managers around the globe, Michel has gained an in-depth knowledge of the Alternative Investment industry, focusing on private equity (PE), venture capital, infrastructure and debt structures (both regulated and unregulated structures). He regularly provides training on matters related to the PE sector such as valuation in the private equity & venture capital industry and on the IPEV guidelines on behalf of the EVCA.

Over the past few years, Michel has led assurance assignments for a large number of Alternative Investment funds investing in a wide range of underlying assets and pursuing several separate strategies. Michel also provides support for setting up and structuring Alternative Investment vehicles in the regulated and unregulated sectors in Luxembourg.

Michel is also member of the Valuation Committee of the Luxembourg PE and VC Association (LPEA), of the PE committee of the Luxembourg Fund Association (ALFI) and of the valuation and reporting working group of InvestEurope.

Chris Hollifield is Head of China Desk at Luxembourg for Finance (LFF), 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 the China market.

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 in fintech and market development in the East Asian region.

Chris holds an MA in Chinese Studies from Cambridge University and speaks three languages professionally (English, Chinese, French).

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.

Dr. Jian (Helen) Liang, Executive Board Member and Head of China Desk at Hauck & Aufhäuser since 2017. She is responsible for Fosun Synergies, China Business Development and M&A business.

In 2009, Dr. Liang joined Commerzbank Frankfurt Headquarter and worked as credit officer mainly responsible for DAX listed companies. Then, Dr. Liang has been assigned to Asian Headquarter of Commerzbank in Shanghai with major responsibility of senior credit project manager for credit strategy, process and regulatory requirements.

In 2012, Dr. Liang started to work as Managing Director & Deputy General Manager of Commerzbank Beijing Branch, and was leading China Desk and responsible for cross-border transactions of corporate banking.

Starting in Sept. 2015, Dr. Liang was working as Executive Director in the private banking & Wealth Management division at Fosun Group.

She has completed her PhD study at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management with the scholarship from DAAD. She has obtained a doctorate in Economics with a major in Finance.

Thierry Lohest, attorney at law, is a partner of the Corporate Practice Group at Loyens & Loeff. He focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, capital markets and restructurings for multinationals.

Thierry has more than 25 years of experience in M&A, corporate finance, capital markets and restructurings. He divides his time between the Hong Kong and the Luxembourg offices.

Thierry is a member of the Region Team Asia-Pacific. He teaches international business law at the Luxembourg School of Business.

Claus Mansfeldt is the President of the Luxembourg Private Equity & Venture Capital Association (LPEA). He has served on the Board of Directors of the LPEA since 2016 and is a member of its Executive Committee.

Claus is also the Chairman & Managing Director of SwanCap Luxembourg. SwanCap is a specialist private equity investment manager with offices in Munich, Luxembourg, Milan and New York. With some €3bn under management, SwanCap invests in PE Funds, Direct Co-Investments and Secondaries.

Prior to SwanCap, Claus held senior management positions at UniCredit entities in London, including Head of Principal Investments. He started his career at Nomura International plc, where he spent 12 years in the Merchant Banking area, focused on principal investments in Emerging Europe, and initially in international Capital Markets.

Claus holds a BSc (Econ) from the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE).

Nadia Manzari is a Partner at Schiltz & Schiltz.

Before joining the firm in 2018, Nadia was the Head of the Innovation, Payments, Markets Infrastructures and Governance Department at the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF), where she started her career in 2001.

She is a regular speaker at national and international conferences covering payment services, financial technologies, remuneration policies and corporate governance.

She graduated in law from the University Robert Schuman in Strasbourg and holds a master degree in private law (maîtrise en droit privé, mention “droit des affaires”) as well as a postgraduate DJCE diploma (Diplôme de Juriste Conseil d’Entreprise) degree with a focus on German-French business law. She holds the Certificate in Corporate Governance of INSEAD and is an ILA certified director.

Dr. Marcus Peter heads the Investment Funds and Private Equity practice at GSK Stockmann in Luxembourg. He is a lawyer in Germany (since 2004) and Luxembourg (since 2005) and obtained his LL.M and Ph.D. degrees from the European Institute in Saarbruecken, Germany.

Prior to GSK Stockmann in Luxembourg, Dr. Marcus Peter has worked for a Luxembourg law firm from 2004 to 2016 (last 4 years as partner). Since 2016, he is a partner at GSK Stockmann in Luxembourg. Dr. Marcus Peter is an expert in Luxembourg Investment Funds & Private Equity law, Mergers & Acquisitions and Corporate Law.

Dr. Marcus Peter is a member of the Luxembourg Private Equity Association (LPEA), Chinese-Luxembourgish Chamber of Commerce, DAV Luxembourg, EVER and CBBL (Cross Border Business Lawyers).

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.

Camille Thommes is the Director General of ALFI, the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry. He joined the association back in 2007.

Before joining ALFI, Camille Thommes was in in charge of the Investment Fund Department at the State and Savings Bank, Luxembourg (BCEE) from 2001-2006, after holding various senior positions in the Securities & Custody department since 1993. He started his professional career in 1986 at BGL (now BGL-BNP Paribas) where he held positions in the Securities and Custody Divisions.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Luxembourg Supervisory Authority (CSSF) and a member of the Consultative Committee for Prudential Regulation. Camille is also a member of the High-Level Committee of the Financial Centre set up by the Ministry of Finance and a Board member of the Luxembourg Financial Industry Federation (PROFIL S.A.). Furthermore, he represents ALFI at the Board of Directors of the European Fund and Asset Management association (EFAMA) and is a Board member of IIFA (International Investment Funds Association). In addition, he is a member of the Advisory Board of the Department of Finance of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance (University of Luxembourg).

Camille holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg (France), completed the Accelerated Development Program at the London Business School and accomplished traineeships in London and New York.

A Luxembourg native, Camille is fluent in English, French, German and Luxembourgish.

Christoph Tutsch is the founder and CEO of ONPEX. He started the company in 2013 with the goal to provide businesses with an ideal solution for online payments and digital transactions. An accomplished payments expert, he saw the need for a solution to manage all financial processes in one single platform. Christoph oversees the strategic positioning of ONPEX and the development of its solutions.

A lifelong entrepreneur, Christoph co-founded and directed several companies in the telecom and marketing industries. Online payments first sparked his interest in 2000, when billing internet services on telecom bills. In the following years, he transferred directly into payments to build third party processing for a PSP. There was no flexible, modular and scalable technology that a modern payment infrastructure should have. This resulted in Christoph’s main motivation to add greater simplicity to the payments industry.

Miao Wang is a Senior Adviser within Allen & Overy’s Luxembourg Investment Funds & Fund Regulation practice and a key member of its Luxembourg-APAC Desk.

She has extensive experience advising on the formation of private investment funds and advising on the downstream transactions stemming from those funds. She also regularly assists investors on their investments in funds. Prior to joining Allen & Overy’s Luxembourg office, Miao gained seven years of experience working in other leading law firms based in Hong Kong and in Beijing. She has considerable expertise advising Chinese clients on their investment fund projects and fund-related matters.

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.

Dr. YIN Hong, Ph.D. in Economics, is now Deputy Director of Urban Finance Research Institute at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China as well as Deputy Secretary General of Green Finance Committee at China Society for Finance and Banking.

She is in charge of researches on financial theory and practice of commercial banks, green finance, industry analysis, credit risk, social and environmental risks, etc. with 16 years of experience in credit and investment management, particularly credit policy, process design and risk management.

In recent years, her dedicated researches on green finance, such as the environmental stress testing on commercial bank’s credit risk, ESG rating and green index, have been among the top tier worldwide. She is also the lead author of several books on green finance, such as “Case Studies of Green Finance in China” and “International Case Studies of Green Finance Development”, among others. As the head of UK-China Climate and Environmental Information Disclosure Pilot Action Plan on the Chinese side, she takes the lead to establish and implement the framework of environmental information disclosure for financial institutions in China.