Supervisory Board

Piero Novelli is the chairman of the Supervisory Board, chairs the Nomination and Governance Committee and is a member of the Remuneration Committee. He was appointed to the Supervisory Board in 2021.

Mr Novelli has been Co-President of the Investment Bank of UBS and a member of UBS Group Executive Board since October 2018. He was appointed Co-Executive Chairman of Global Investment Banking in 2017 and in 2016 became sole Global Head of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A). Mr Novelli was a member of the UBS Deutschland AG Supervisory Board from 2013 to 2016. Mr Novelli rejoined UBS in 2013 as Chairman of Global M&A and Group Managing Director. From 2011 to 2012, he was Global Co-Head of M&A at Nomura, having worked as Global Head of M&A at UBS between 2004 and 2009. Before that he worked for Merrill Lynch and held the position of Head of European M&A and Head of European Industrials. Over the course of his 27-year career in investment banking, Mr Novelli has advised corporate boards on many large and complex M&A transactions across all sectors and geographic areas. In particular, Mr Novelli has advised the largest Italian corporates on many cross border strategic transactions. He is a lecturer at Imperial College London, the MIT Sloan School of Management and LUISS University in Rome.

Mr Novelli was active in supporting the Italian health care system during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis. He holds a master’s degree in management from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza.

Dick Sluimers is the vice-chairman of the Supervisory Board, chairs the Audit Committee and is a member of the Risk Committee. He was appointed to the Supervisory Board in 2016. He is also the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Euronext Amsterdam N.V.

Mr Sluimers is the former CEO of APG Group. He currently is the chairman of the Supervisory Board of NIBC B.V. and a member of the Supervisory Board of AkzoNobel N.V., as well as a member of the board of directors of FWD Group Limited. He is a senior advisor of Bank of America, a member of the advisory boards of Quore Capital and Hemingway Corporate Finance, a member of the European Advisory Board of Equitix Investment Management Ltd., and an advisor to Arrow Global Group Plc. Furthermore, Mr Sluimers is a member of the board of Governors of the State Academy of Finance and Economics and a Trustee of the Erasmus University Trust Fund.

Mr Sluimers was CFO and later CEO in the management board of pension fund ABP from 2003 to 2008. Between 1991 and 2003 he held various positions at the Dutch Ministry of Finance, most recently as Director General of the Budget. Prior to that he was Deputy Director General at the Ministry of Public Health and held senior positions at the Ministry of Social Affairs and the Ministry of Finance. In addition, he was a member of the Supervisory Boards of Fokker N.V., the National Investment Bank N.V., Inter Access N.V. and ABP Insurance N.V. He was also Trustee of the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation (IFRS), a member of the Advisory Board of Rabobank, Chairman of the board of Governors of the Postgraduate Programme for Treasury Management at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, a member of the Advisory Board of Netspar and a Board member of Holland Financial Centre.

He studied economics at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam and read politics at the University of Amsterdam for several years.

Diana Chan is a member of the Supervisory Board, a member of the Audit Committee, a member of the Risk Committee, a member of the Nomination and Governance Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee. She was appointed to the Supervisory Board in 2021.

Diana Chan was most recently an Independent Director of Euroclear SA/NV. Prior to that, she was Chief Executive of European Central Counterparty Limited and European Central Counterparty N.V. (EuroCCP) from 2007 to 2018. Since the start of pan-European equities central counterparty (CCP) clearing in 2007, Ms Chan has played a leading role in transforming the industry through competitive clearing. She built EuroCCP to become the largest equities CCP in Europe: by 2012, when competitive clearing was introduced through four-way interoperability, EuroCCP cleared over 50% of all equities trades in Europe. When she left EuroCCP in 2018, it had become the most connected central counterparty for equities trades, with access to around 30 national stock exchanges and multilateral trading facilities where nearly 90% of equities trades are executed.

Ms Chan has worked in the post-trade sector almost her entire career – gaining experience from all segments of the post-trade value chain, from market infrastructures to intermediaries serving clients investing worldwide. From 2003 to 2015, she was an active member of various industry expert groups set up by the European Central Bank, European Commission and European Securities and Markets Authority to consult and advise on post-trade issues.

Prior to 2007, Ms Chan worked at Euroclear Operations Centre, JP Morgan, Bank of New York, and Citi. At these institutions, she had a variety of global and regional management roles in Europe, America and Asia, with responsibilities for strategy, market policy, product management, network management and financial control.

Ms Chan was born in The People’s Republic of China and is a graduate of the University of Hong Kong and Harvard Business School.

Rika Coppens is a member of the Supervisory Board, a member of the Remuneration Committee and a member of the Nomination and Governance Committee. She was appointed to the Supervisory Board in 2021.

Rika Coppens obtained a master’s degree in commercial engineering at the University of Leuven, whereafter she kicked off her career as audit manager at PWC and CFO at Bureau Van Dijk Computer Services. Next to that, Ms Coppens was CFO at Zenitel (Brussels) and EFR Group (Breda), where she became CEO. In 2017 she moved to the HR-world as CEO at House of HR and Accent Jobs. Since October 2020 she is fully concentrating on her CEO-role at House of HR. Under her guidance, the group realised a strong growth strategy and high profitability, with a focus on specialized niche markets and innovative HR-applications.

Ms Coppens has gained a vast experience in international mergers and acquisitions, audit and finance, with a keen eye for innovative business development, female entrepreneurship and ‘human resourcefulness’. She calls herself ‘missionary of work’, holding a warm plea for work as the driving force behind wellbeing and welfare. She is a sought-after speaker and opinion leader in the world of entrepreneurship and HR.

Ms Coppens started in 2016 as independent director at House of HR, where she held the position of chairman of the audit committee. She was also active as Board member and member of the audit committee In Realdolmen, until it was acquired by GfI Group. She currently is a non-executive board member at Colruyt Group and chairman of the Audit Committee and a non-executive board member at La Lorraine Bakery group. She is fluent in Dutch, English and French.

Alessandra Ferone is a member of the Supervisory Board, a member of the Audit Committee and a member of the Risk Committee. She was appointed to the Supervisory Board in 2021.

Alessandra Ferone is Chief Risk Officer at Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) Group. In addition she is a Non-Executive Director at CDP Immobiliare S.r.l., CDPI Sgr and Saipem, where she is also a member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee. From 2016 to 2019 she served as Chief Financial Officer for the real estate business of the CDP Group. Prior to that, from 2012 to 2016 she headed the Public Interest Financing at CDP business at CDP Group. Previously, she held a number of positions within CDP, Banca OPI (Intesa SanPaolo Group), SanPaoloIMI Private Equity, BancaIMI, Telecom Italia Mobile and Coopers & Lybrand. From 2017 to 2019 she was a Non-Executive Director at SACE, the Italian Export Credit Agency.

Ms Ferone holds a degree in Economics and Business (summa cum laude) from the University of Naples and obtained the chartered accountant professional qualification in Italy.

Manuel Ferreira da Silva is a member of the Supervisory Board, a member of the Risk Committee and a member of the Audit Committee. He was appointed to the Supervisory Board of Euronext N.V. in 2012.

Mr Ferreira da Silva is Vice-Chairman of the board of the SERRALVES Foundation, Museum of Contemporary Art. He served for thirty-five years as a banker at Banco BPI where he was executive member of the Board for the last sixteen years and the CEO of its wholly-owned investment bank. He was a member and, between 2012 and 2014, Chairman of the council of the University of Porto School of Economics and is the Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Porto Business School. He is also a member of the Audit Board of ITAÚ BBA Europe. Mr Ferreira da Silva was member of the board of the Lisbon and Porto Stock Exchanges between 2000 and 2001 and a member of the advisory board of the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM) between 2001 and 2005. Between 1980 and 1989, Mr Ferreira da Silva lectured at the University of Porto School of Economics and spent two years as an assistant director of the Navy’s Centre of Operational Research.

He graduated with a degree in Economics from the Universidade do Porto in 1980 and holds a MBA from the Nova School of Business and Economics (Lisbon, 1982).

Padraic O’Connor is a member of the Supervisory Board, a member of the Nomination and Governance Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee. He was appointed to the Supervisory Board in 2018. He previously was the Chairman of the Irish Stock Exchange.

Mr O’Connor is non-executive Chairman of U.S. Bank Global Fund Services (Ireland) Ltd and non-executive director of Ananas Anam Ltd. Mr. O’Connor was the Managing Director of NCB Group between 1991 and 1999 prior to which he was Chief Economist at the firm. Before joining NCB, Mr O'Connor worked at the Department of Finance and the Central Bank of Ireland. In his non-executive career, Mr. O’Connor served as Chairman of ACC Bank, Director of Rabobank Ireland, Director of Eircom Ltd, Director of Beazley plc, Chairman of LGIM Europe Ltd and director of a number of other asset management companies.

Mr O’Connor holds primary and postgraduate degrees in Economics from University College Dublin.

Nathalie Rachou is a member of the Supervisory Board, chairs the Remuneration Committee and is a member of the Nomination and Governance Committee. She was appointed to the Supervisory Board in 2019.

Ms Rachou is a Non-Executive Director at Veolia Environnement (since 2012) and UBS Group (since 2020). In 1999, she founded Topiary Finance Ltd, an asset management company based in London, of which she remained the CEO until its merger with Rouvier Associés in 2015. She stayed on at Rouvier Associes-Clartan as a Senior Advisor till 2020.
Prior to that, from 1978 to 1999, she held a number of positions within Banque Indosuez and Crédit Agricole Indosuez, mostly in capital markets. She was a Non-Executive Director at Laird plc from 2016 to 2018, at Societe Generale from 2008 to 2020 and at Altran from 2012 to 2020.

Ms Rachou has a Masters in Management at Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) and completed an executive program at INSEAD.

Olivier Sichel is a member of the Supervisory Board. He was appointed to the Supervisory Board in 2021.

Olivier Sichel is a graduate from ESSEC Business School, Paris Institute of Political Science (Sciences Po Paris) and an alumnus of the ENA (National School of Administration).

Starting out in 1994 as a Finance Inspector in the Ministry of Economy and Finance, he became director of a France Télécom agency in 1998. In 2000, he was appointed Chairman and CEO of Alapage.com, a pioneering e-commerce company and subsidiary of Wanadoo, whose Chairman and CEO he later became in 2002. He then oversaw the integration of the French Internet access leader into the parent company, France Télécom, where he became Executive Director of the Landline & Internet Europe Division. Having made it the number two ADSL provider worldwide, he left the company in 2006, after launching the triple play services with Livebox and VOIP.

As a Partner of the venture capital firm Sofinnova from 2006 to 2012, he supervised investments in innovative tech businesses. He particularly worked on developing diverse platforms and open source stakeholders. He also performed a range of financial transfers or IPO transactions. In 2012 he became Chairman and CEO of the European leader for online shopping guides, LeGuide.com, which he sold to Kelkoo in 2016.

Mindful of the oligopolistic development of the Internet, he has since committed to championing an open and humanistic European perception of the web. As such, in 2015, he founded the Digital New Deal Foundation, a think-tank dedicated to the tech sector which proposed a Digital Pact to the presidential election candidates. Since January 2018, he has been Deputy CEO of Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, overseeing the group’s strategic subsidiaries and holdings (seating on the Board of some of them including La Poste, Transdev, or CDC Habitat). In May 2018, he also became Head of CDC’s Banque des Territoires, providing financing and advisory to local administrations, corporates, and projects throughout France.

Morten Thorsrud is a member of the Supervisory Board, chairs the Risk Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee. He was appointed to the Supervisory Board in 2019..

Mr Thorsrud is the President and CEO of If P&C Insurance Company, a position he has held since 2019. He has been with the company in various roles since 2002. In addition, he has been a member of the Sampo Group Executive Committee since 2006, and a member of the Sampo Managing Directors Committee, a member of the Board of Finance Norge and a member of the Board of Topdanmark, all since 2019, as well as member of the Board of Hastings Group since 2020. Previously, from 1996 to 2002, he was with McKinsey & Company, most recently as an Associate Partner.

Mr Thorsrud has a Master of Business and Economics from the Norwegian School of Management.