Ms Linnainmaa is an expert on corporate governance, company law and securities market law as well as women’s leadership issues. She is the Vice Chair of the Finnish Council of Regulatory Impact Analysis, Past Chair of ecoDa and Past Chair of the European Corporate Governance Codes Network. She has served on several European Commission’s expert groups.
Prior to joining DIF in September 2019, Ms Linnainmaa was Deputy Chief Executive of Finland Chamber of Commerce where she worked since 2000. Before that she gained more than 10 years’ experience in the banking sector.
Juan Alvarez-Vijande has more than 22 years’ experience in the Boardrooms, as Non-Executive Chairman, Non-Executive Board Director (as independent director among others), as Executive Director, Advisory Board member as well as Advisor to Boards on Good Corporate Governance Practices. Boardroom experience on Listed Companies, Non Listed and Family firms. Experience gained among others sectors in Telecommunications, Consulting, Energy, Infrastructures, Internet, Defence/Space, Franchise, and others. Among other companies are Amper Group, Cable and Wireless SA, Baytree International, Alcatel Space and Telefonica affiliates, Detea Corporation and others.
Currently and from 2003 he is IC-A (Spanish Board Directors Association) Chief Executive, and IC-A Co-founder. In addition to IC-A activities, he is ecoDa Board Director and Honorary Chairman, he is in different boardrooms as well as advising Boards of Directors and Senior Management on Corporate Governance Best Practices and Strategy on different business sectors for Listed Companies and Large Private Companies. Corporate Governance Practical Guides author for Board Directors, member of the European group that elaborate the first Corporate Governance Guidance and Principles for Unlisted Companies in Europe ( 2010), Chairmen/Board Directors Training Tutor and independent advisor to Venture Capital firms.
As Senior Executive during more than 30 years he served as CEO/MD/CD in multinational companies and affiliates. During four years in Telecommunications sector, he has successful turnaround, restructured and refocus a major Telco group; also as CEO has restructured and integrated various companies acquired by an USA based in Europe Telco, set-up an USA multinational ASP group as partner founder, and he has leading the major M&A corporate transaction developed in Spain in 1997 with large European implications.
Positions: The Spanish Institute of Directors(IC-A, Instituto de Consejeros-Administradores), Executive Director, ecoDa Board Member, Nomination and Evaluation Committee
Dr. Béatrice Richez-Baum is a Doctor in Law specialized in European Law. She completed also training at the Paris Bar School. Having completed her Ph. D. thesis on international Trade and European Law, in 1999, Dr. Béatrice started her career as a legal expert for the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry after few experiences in Brussels in the lobbying sector including the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe and the European Economic and Social Committee.
Dr. Béatrice Richez-Baum was appointed as Secretary General of ecoDa at the creation of the confederation in March 2005 and was appointed as Director General in September 2017. She has been able to raise ecoDa’s profile by advocating the interests of European board members, and by developing close working relationships with the EU institutions and European peer organisations.
With more than 30 years of experience in the Financial Services Industry, occupying several executive positions, including former member of the Executive Committee and Head of Compliance of a Luxembourg key financial institution, part of an international banking group, Anne Kayser has Compliance, Audit, Internal Control and Legal combined experiences and expertise for different business lines: Securities Services, Asset Management, Wealth Management, CIB, Retail Banking, Insurance, Real Estate, Leasing. Over the course of her professional career, she interacted a lot and was used to work with Boards of directors and their specialized Risk, Audit and Compliance Committees. Being risks prevention focused, especially on AML/CTF/Sanctions, she was used to lead in complex environment and in matrix organization, managing multicultural teams worldwide and used to work and cooperate with Regulators, mainly in Luxembourg, France and USA. She is now leading her own Business as Compliance and Regulatory Expert, offering Independent NED mandates and compliance & regulatory advice, with a strong risks, compliance, internal control and corporate governance culture and expertise.
She is Board member of the Luxembourg Institute of Directors and member of its Executive Committee. As a compliance expert, Anne is a Certified Anti Money-Laundering Specialist, CAMS. Anne is collaborating with the Luxembourg House of Training, as a lecturer mainly for compliance topics. She has completed in June 2021 the INSEAD Directors Programme and the process of her certification is ongoing. Anne holds master degrees in Law and Fiscal Law from the universities of Louvain-la-Neuve and Brussels.
Dr. Béatrice Richez-Baum is a Doctor in Law specialized in European Law. She completed also training at the Paris Bar School. Having completed her Ph. D. thesis on international Trade and European Law, in 1999, Dr. Béatrice started her career as a legal expert for the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry after few experiences in Brussels in the lobbying sector including the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe and the European Economic and Social Committee.
Dr. Béatrice Richez-Baum was appointed as Secretary General of ecoDa at the creation of the confederation in March 2005 and was appointed as Director General in September 2017. She has been able to raise ecoDa’s profile by advocating the interests of European board members, and by developing close working relationships with the EU institutions and European peer organisations.
Born in Schio (VI) in 1957 she graduated in Economics at Bocconi University in 1982 and obtained in 1988 an MBA in Finance with honors from New York University Stern School of Business Administration. After working at Bocconi University and at the World Bank as research assistant in Banking, she developed a career in financial services. After joining Citibank as senior financial analyst in corporate finance, she became Director of Premafin, a listed diversified holding company where she was in charge of strategy and financial control of three listed subsidiaries and investor relations for the holding.
In 1999 she joined Borsa Italana where she designed, launched and developed the equity market for growth companies Nuovo Mercato, listing 45 companies and managing all promotinal activities towards investors, issuers and intermediaries.
In 2003 she became Managing Director for Standard & Poor’s Italy and later Head of Southern Europe, managing the franchise , business development and institutional outreach of the rating agency, significantly expanding its leadership in financial analytics. She also served in the Board of S&P Italy until 2018.
In 2016 she was appointed by Bank of Italy , Resolution Unit, as the sole independent director of the four banks in resolution (Nuove Banche Marche, Etruria e Lazio, Cassa di Risparmio di Ferrara e Chieti).
She has been Non executive Director of Luxottica (2015/20) , Autogrill (2018/2023) , Aidexa and several other companies. Since 2018 she is member of the board of UNICREDIT .
She is President of ecoDa, the European Confederation of Director Associations and Honorary Chair of NedCommunity, after serving as President for 4 years . During her professional career she has served as Board Member and Vice Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce, Collegio san Carlo, and several advisory boards. She was founding member of the association Valore D and actively engaged in various project to support diversity in business organizations. For her career achievements she received the Belisario Award in 2001 and other corporate recognitions.