Appointments in Belgium – June 2021

AXA Belgium & AXA Partners

Audrey Amiot-Dupuis

Audrey Amiot will be the future Head of Operations & Transformation at AXA Belgium. She will take up her position in September 2021 and will also join the management committee of AXA Belgium. Audrey was Head of Claims P&C Retail & Motor corporate since 2019. However, she has been working within the company for more than 10 years in various roles, including transformation and P&C operations. Audrey Amiot succeeds Céline Dupont, who will join AXA Partners on the same date as Chief Operating Officer and member of the Executive Committee.

Insurance Europe

Sandro panizza

Andreas Brandstetter

Andreas Brandstetter, President and CEO of the Insurance UNIQA Group AG, has been re-elected to the General Assembly of Insurance Europe for a further three-year term. The European insurance and reinsurance federation also elected Sandro Panizza, Group Chief Insurance & Investment Officer of Generali Groupe, as Vice President.

Banking : too few women in management positions

The European Central Bank is aiming for 40% of women on management boards by 2025

Christine Van Rijsseghem, CRO at KBC

Only 8% of European banks have a CEO. This is too few for the ECB, who is adding the criteria of diversification to its conditions for access to management positions, the so-called “Fit&Proper”. A working group within the ECB is working on the content of these criteria and the sanctions that could result from them, such as an additional capital requirement. A few examples in Belgium: the country’s leading bank, BNP Paribas Fortis, has four women out of the twelve members of the management committee (CFO, HRD, compliance and customer services). At KBC, there is one female CRO for every 7, compared to two for every 8 at ING (Head of Wholesale and CRO) and Belfius (HR and CRO). There is gender parity in the Argenta executive. According to the NBB, Belgium is neither among the best nor the worst in terms of diversity.

Sources

AXA Belgium: Audrey Amiot devient Head of Operations & Transformation

Insurance Europe : Andreas Brandstetter réélu président

La BCE veut plus de femmes CEO de banques… ou plus de fonds propres

Appointments in Belgium – May 2021

Fédérale Assurance

Tom De Troch (47) became the new CEO of Fédérale Assurance on the 11^th of May 2021. He succeeded Tom Meeus, who has reached retirement age.

Tom De Troch joined Fédérale Assurance in 2014 as a Director Life, overseeing the 2nd and 3rd pillar pension insurance business as well as the short and long-term savings products of branches 21 and 26. One of his main challenges in this role was to achieve growth through value-adding partnerships. Since 2017, Tom De Troch has been a member of the Executive Committee and Managing Director of the Life, Actuarial and Reinsurance activities.

The new CEO’s ambition is to make insurance a simple, understandable and accessible topic for the customer.

Tom De Troch

Mobly

Donald Wolfs, initially Chief Customer Officer of Mobly, is now the new CEO of the Baloise insurer’s subsidiary dedicated to mobility. He succeeded Hans De Mondt, who is leaving the company. The change was presented as a “joint decision” by Mobly’s Management Board.

Donald Wolfs will be assisted by Alex Pauwels, who has been with the company since day one. He will be responsible for Mobly’s product and technology management. Their mission: to develop further the service offering of a platform for searching, buying and insuring a car.

Donald Wolfs

Belfius

Belfius’ Board of Directors approved the appointment of Chris Sunt as the new Chairman of the Board of Directors of Belfius. The Board also approved the appointment of two new non-executive directors for a period of 4 years : Peter Hinssen and Bruno Brusselmans. Their appointment allows Belfius to secure the experience of two experts, on the one hand, in the field of Digital & Data, and on the other hand, in the field of IT infrastructure & transformation. These two areas are crucial for the future of the financial sector in general, but also for the innovative developments targeted by the Belfius Strategy 2025. For information purpose, Marc Raisière and Diane Zygas-Rosen have been reappointed as directors for a period of 4 years.

Chris Sunt

International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS)

Jean Hilgers, Director of the National Bank, became a member of the Executive Committee of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors on the 1st of May 2021. Jean Hilgers has been Director at the National Bank of Belgium since March 1999. His responsibilities include the Prudential Policy and Insurance Inspections Department as well as the Financial Stability, AML Supervision and Prudential Policy for Banks Department .This appointment will allow the NBB to strengthen its role in a number of global projects related to the international framework of insurance supervision, including the development of an International Capital Standard (ICS) and the introduction of a new international framework for the identification and management of systemic risk in the insurance sector (Holistic Framework for Systemic Risk).

Jean Hilgers

Monitoring Board of the IFRS Foundation

The IFRS Foundation Monitoring Board has re-elected Jean-Paul Servais as Chairman for a further two-year term, which will run until April 2023. The FSMA chairman joined the Monitoring Board as a representative of IOSCO, the international organisation of securities commissions, where he has been vice-chairman since 2016.

Jean-Paul Servais

P&V

A week ago, it was announced that Philippe De Longueville was leaving his role as CRO of P&V to join the consultancy company Act-unity as Partner. Act-Unity has declared: “Thanks to [Philippe De Longueville’s] experience and knowledge of the Belgian market, Act-unity is able to position itself even more strongly in actuarial and risk management consultancy services. Moreover, our experience within insurance companies allows us to offer you the opportunity to fill a role of director or key functions in actuarial and risk management.”

According to our sources, his successor is already known. P&V will welcome Nicolas Fauvarque as their new CRO. Nicolas Fauvarque graduated from the master’s degree in Actuarial science from the UCL. He started his career in 2003 at AG Insurance, then joined Bain & Company, and in 2009 he joined the AXA group where he evolved internationally since then, except for a Chief Actuary position at Chubb. His last role was as Chief Product and Transformation Officer at AXA Indonesia.

Nicolas Fauvarque

Sources:

Appointments – April 2021

April 29, 2021/in Belgium English /by Asquarepartners

AXA

Last month we explained that as from July 1^st 2021, there would be a new CEO for AXA Belgium: Etienne Bouas-Laurent. The new role of Jef Van In, current CEO of the Belgian branch, has been announced. As from July 1^st 2021 he will be the CEO of AXA Next, and Director of the Innovation at the group level. He will report to Antimo Perretta, CEO of AXA Europe and member of the board of the AXA group.

AXA Next was founded in January 2019 and is dedicated to innovation and new business models for the group. Jef Van In will take over Delphine Maisonneuve’s role who will take a new role outside of the group.

National Bank of Belgium

Steven Vanackere was appointed Vice-Governor of the National Bank of Belgium by a royal decree published on April 19^th. The position had not been filled since the previous Vice-Governor, Pierre Wunsch, became Governor in 2019. The Vice-Governor’s mother tongue should be different than the Governor’s, which he replaces in case of impediment. Steven Vanackere is a Dutch native speaker, and Pierre Wunsch, Governor of the NBB, is a French native speaker. In addition, the Vice-Governor is responsible for national and international representations.

Steven Vanackere has been a member of the National Bank’s Management Committee since January 2^nd, 2019, when Honorary Governor Jan Smets left the National Bank. On behalf of the Bank, Steven Vanackere is Vice-Chairman of the Higher Employment Council, as well as a member of the Higher Finance Council, the Board of Directors of the National Accounts Institute and the Board of Directors of the Inter-federal Statistical Institute.

Lloyd’s

Sonja Rottier

Amélie Breitburd

Sonja Rottier, current CEO of Lloyd’s Europe, will resign during the next General meeting on June 1^st 2021. This general meeting will also mark the end of the three-year term of non-executive chairman Michel Flamée, and Christian Noyer.

Sonja Rottier joined Lloyd’s in February 2019 as CEO of Lloyd’s Brussels, when Lloyd’s Europe was open in Brussels, as the Brexit was voted in the UK, and Lloyd’s had to reposition itself to keep operating in Europe.

Amélie Breitburd will succeed her as CEO of Lloyd’s Europe. She brings over 25 years’ experience in international insurance markets, having previously worked at AXA, KPMG and Allianz. She will be onboarded during the second quarter of 2021 in an effort to help ensure a smooth transition period.

Sources:

Appointments in Belgium – March 2021

March 31, 2021/in Belgium English /by Asquarepartners

While February was quieter in terms of change of governance for the insurance companies, for March it’s a different story.

AXA Belgium

Etienne Bouas-Laurent

Thomas Buberl, the CEO of the AXA group, has recently announced several changes in the governance of different entities of the French group. Indeed, in order to say on track of the strategic plan of the group, a new CEO for AXA Belgium has been appointed. As from July 1^st, Etienne Bouas-Laurent will be replacing Jef Van In, who will take new responsibilities at the group level.

Etienne Bouas-Laurent is currently the Finance Director of the group, and his role will be taken over by Alban de Mailly Nesle, former Director of risks and investments at the group level.

KBC Belgium

David Moucheron

Luc Popelier

Daniel Falque, currently CEO of the Belgium division, will retire from KBC at the beginning of May, after 12 years with the group as CEO of CBC Bank, from 2009 to 2012 and as a member of the Group Executive Committee and CEO of the Belgium division from 2012 until today. David Moucheron, currently CEO of K&H Bank & Insurance and country CEO for Hungary will take over his responsibilities as the head of the Belgian division.

Rik Scheerlinck, Group CFO of KBC will retire after a 37-year career with KBC. He will be succeeded by Luc Popelier, currently CEO of the international markets division.

Fédérale Assurance

Frédéric de Schrevel

Last October Frank Goes, President of the Administration Board of Fédérale Assurance, sadly passed away. The Belgian insurer has recently elected a new President: Frédéric de Schrevel. He has been a member of the Board of Administration of Fédérale Assurance since 2013. Frédéric de Schrevel is also a member of the Risk Committee since 2016, of the Appointment and Compensation Committee since 2017 and of the Audit Committee since the beginning of 2021.

AG Insurance

Jan Heyvaert

As from April 1^st, the Director of Human resources of AG Insurance, Jan Heyvaert will have greater responsibilities as he evolves as Chief Human Resources & Sustainability Officer (CHRSO), he will now be a member of the Board of Directors. For the first time in the history of AG Insurance, a Director of Sustainability has been appointed: Nathalie Erdmanis.

Sources:

Appointments in Belgium – February 2021

February 23, 2021/in Belgium English /by Asquarepartners

February is the shortest month of the year and it reflects on the appointments in the Belgian insurance sector. After the general assemblies to start the year, February brings more stability.

International Actuarial Association (IAA)

The IAA has elected its new council at then end of 2020. The new President is Jan Kars, from the Netherlands, the President Elect is Roseanne Harris, from South Africa, and the Immediate Past President is Tonya Manning, USA. Jan Kars has been involved in the IAA since 2013 as a member of the Pensions and Employee Benefits Committee and has since been part of various committees within the IAA. He was also the President of the Dutch Actuarial Institute from 2013 to 2017.

Monitoring Group

Jean-Paul Servais, Chairman of the FSMA, has been re-elected last June as vice-president of the board of OICV-IOSCO (the global organization of securities regulators). The Belgian national also chairs the Monitoring Board of the IFRS Foundation.

Jean-Paul Servais has also been chosen as Co-Chairman of the Monitoring Group, alongside Mr. Sagar Teotia, Chief Accountant of the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Monitoring Group is a body that brings together different international institutions and financial regulators to promote the public interest in areas related to international auditing standard setting and audit quality. Its members include the World Bank, the European Commission, the Basel Committee and the Financial Stability Board (FSB).