Programme

Ruben Vardanyan, a well-known entrepreneur and philanthropist, is Advisor to the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Sberbank of Russia. Prior to the merger with Sberbank in January 2012, he served as CEO, Chairman of the board at Troika Dialog, one of the oldest and largest investment banks in Russia and the CIS. Mr. Vardanyan is a Board member at AvtoVAZ, KAMAZ, SIBUR, Joule Unlimited, Inc (U.S.), Rosgosstrakh, and AmeriaBank (Armenia). He is a member of the Economic Advisory Board at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. Mr. Vardanyan is a member of the Investment Committee of Avica Property Investors International. He was Chairman of the board at Sukhoi Civil Aircraft from 2005-2009 and Chairman of the board at Rosgosstrakh from 2004-2005 and from August 2011 through October 2013. Mr. Vardanyan is a member of the Presidential Council for National Priority Projects, a Founding Partner of the SKOLKOVO Moscow School of Management and Vice-Chairman of its International Advisory Board. He also chairs the school’s Institute for Emerging Market Studies and oversees its Wealth Management and Philanthropy Center. Mr. Vardanyan is a member of the International Advisory Boards of the International Christian University (Japan) and Fundação Dom Cabral (FDC, Brazil). He is also a member of the Supreme Religious Council of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Mr. Vardanyan graduated from the Moscow State University. His post-graduate resume includes training at different international institutes and schools including INSEAD, the Harvard Business School, Yale University and Stanford.

He studied Economics and Social Sciences at the University of St. Gallen, and in 1977 – after obtaining his doctorate – he joined Schweizerische Kreditanstalt (SKA). In 1990, Ackermann was appointed to the Executive Board of SKA, becoming its President in 1993. In 1996, Ackermann joined the Management Board of Deutsche Bank, where he was responsible for the investment banking division. In 2002, he became Spokesman of the Management Board and Chairman of the Group Executive Committee. He was appointed Chairman of the Management Board on February 1, 2006. Under his leadership, the investment banking business became one of Deutsche Bank's principal sources of revenue, joining the top tier of global investment banks within a few years. Ackermann is a member of the Supervisory Board of Siemens AG, a non-executive member of the Board of Directors of Royal Dutch Shell plc and a member of the Board of Directors of Zurich Financial Services Ltd. He is a Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute of International Finance, also а Co-Chairman of the Foundation Board of the World Economic Forum.

Maria Bartiromo is the anchor of CNBC’s Closing Bell and host and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo, recently rated the most watched financial news programme in America. It is a nationally syndicated business, financial and economic news programme. Bartiromo joined CNBC in 1993 after five years as a producer and assignment editor with CNN Business News. In 1995, Bartiromo became the first journalist to report live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on a daily basis. In May 2008, Bartiromo received a Gracie Award® in the category of Outstanding Documentary for her documentary “Greenspan: Power, Money & the American Dream.” She was also awarded a 2008 News and Documentary Emmy for her “Bailout Talks Collapse” coverage. In December 2009, Bartiromo was featured in the Financial Times as one of the “50 Faces that Shaped the Decade.” Bartiromo’s latest book, “The 10 Laws of Enduring Success,” was released by Crown Business, a division of Random House, Inc., in late March 2010. Bartiromo is a member of the Board of Trustees of New York University.

David Bonderman is a founding partner of TPG. TPG generally makes significant investments in companies across a broad range of industries all over the world. TPG and its affiliates have approximately $49.4 billion of capital under management. Prior to forming TPG in 1992, Mr. Bonderman was COO of the Robert Bass Group, Inc. (now known as Keystone Group) in Fort Worth, Texas. Prior to joining RMBG in 1983, Mr. Bonderman was a partner in the law firm of Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in corporate, securities, bankruptcy and antitrust litigation. From 1969 to 1970, he was a Fellow in Foreign and Comparative Law in conjunction with Harvard University and from 1968 to 1969, he was Special Assistant to the US Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division. From 1967 to 1968, he was Assistant Professor at Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans. Mr. Bonderman graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard Law School in 1966. He was a member of the Harvard Law Review and a Sheldon Fellow. He is a 1963 graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle.

Herman Gref was born on February 8, 1964, in the village of Panfilovo, Irtysh District, in the Pavlodar Region of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. 1990: graduated from the Law Faculty at Omsk State University, specializing in Jurisprudence. He also holds a PhD in Economics. 1991–1992: legal counsel, category 1, for the Committee for Economic Development and Property of the Administration for Petrodvorets and St. Petersburg. 1992: appointed head of the Petrodvorets District Agency of the Committee for the Management of Municipal Property, St. Petersburg Mayor’s Office. 1992–1994: Chairman of the Property Management Committee, Deputy Head of Petrodvorets Administration. 1994: became Vice-Chairman and then Senior Vice-Chairman of the Committee for the Management of Municipal Property, St. Petersburg Mayor’s Office. 1997–1998: Deputy Governor, Chairman of the Committee for the Management of Municipal Property, St. Petersburg Mayor’s Office. 1998–2000: Senior Deputy Minister for State Property of the Russian Federation. 2000–2007: Minister for Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation. Since November 2007: CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board of OAO Sberbank of Russia. Awarded orders “For Merit to the Fatherland”, 3rd and 4th degrees, Order of Honour, order of Alexander Nevsky, the P.A. Stolypin medal, 2nd degree, the order of Faithful Saint Prince Daniil Moskovsky, 1st degree, the Certificate of Merit and Gratitude from the President of the Russian Federation. He was awarded the highest French distinction, and was made an Officer of the Légion d'honneur. For special achievements in the banking sector and his personal contribution to the development of Sberbank, he was awarded the Golden Sign of Sberbank of Russia.

Robert (Bob) Kelly is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BNY Mellon, a global financial services growth company operating in 36 countries and serving institutions and high-net-worth individuals in more than 100 markets worldwide. The company has 50,000 employees and is a worldwide leader in asset management and securities servicing. As of March 31, 2011, the company had total assets of $258 billion and a market capitalization of $37 billion. Mr. Kelly is Chairman of the Financial Services Forum and President of the Federal Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Board. He is a member of the Boards of Directors of the Financial Services Roundtable and the Institute of International Finance (IIF) and a member of the Trilateral Commission and the Partnership for New York City. Bob previously served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of Mellon Financial after five years as chief financial officer of Wachovia. Mr. Kelly was named one of America's Best CEOs for 2009 by Institutional Investor magazine and a top 10 bank CEO in 2006 and 2007 by U.S. Banker magazine.

Alexey Kudrin is currently Dean of School of Liberal Arts and Sciences of St. Petersburg State University. Since May 2000 till September 2011 he served as Finance Minister of Russia. His financial policies received international recognition; he was named "Finance Minister of the Year 2004" by The Banker magazine and "Finance Minister of the Year 2010" by Euromoney magazine. In years 2000-2003 and 2008-2011 Alexei Kudrin also held the post of Deputy Prime-Minister. In 2005 he was awarded the Order of Merit for the Fatherland.Before joining the government, Alexei Kudrin worked for Saint-Petersburg City government, holding positions of Deputy Mayor of St. Petersburg and Chairman of the Committee for Economy and Finances.Alexei Kudrin has academic degree of Candidate of Economic Sciences (PhD in Economics). He is professor, author of more than 30 research papers and articles on economics and finance, delivering lectures in many universities and colleges around the globe and providing his expertise to the government of Russia.

Duncan L. Niederauer is Chief Executive Officer and a Director of NYSE Euronext. He is a member of the company’s Management Committee. Prior to his current position, Mr. Niederauer was President and co-Chief Operating Officer of NYSE Euronext with responsibility for U.S. cash equities. Before joining NYSE Euronext in April 2007, Mr. Niederauer was Managing Director and co-Head of the Equities Division Execution Services franchise at Goldman, Sachs & Co. His career at GS spanned 22 years. Mr. Niederauer has served on the board of Archipelago Holdings, LLC and Colgate University, and now serves on the board of Operation Hope. His current memberships include the G100, the British-American Business Council International Advisory Committee, the Partnership for New York City, the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy, the Shanghai International Financial Advisory Committee, the Museum of American Finance, and Fundacao Dom Cabral in Brazil. He earned an MBA from Emory University and a BA from Colgate University. He and his wife have three children and reside in New Jersey.

In April 2009, Elena Salgado was named the vice president and minister of economy and financial affairs of Spain. Previously, Salgado was the minister of public administration from July 2007 to April 2009. Salgado has also served as the minister of health and consumer affairs from April 2004 to July 2007. Prior to holding these Ministerial positions in the Spanish government, Salgado held top-level managerial posts in various private companies in the technology sector, including Chair of the Board of Directors of Telegate Spain and Chief Executive Officer of Vallehermoso Telecom. From 1966 to 1972 Salgado studied at the Polytechnic University of Madrid as an industrial engineer, specializing in energy and organization. She received her graduate degree in economic science from the University of Madrid in 1977 and her master’s degree in business administration from the Escuela de Organización Industrial (EOI Business School) in 1973. In 1987 Salgado was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Military Merit in peace time and in 1996 she was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Civil Merit.

Lars H. Thunell is leading IFC in its mission to promote sustainable private sector development. Since joining the Corporation in January 2006, Mr. Thunell has advanced growth of IFC's business and its mission to create opportunities in emerging markets and improve people's lives. He has visited 84 countries, including 60 developing countries, to see firsthand how IFC can best help its clients with financing and advisory services. Mr. Thunell joined IFC after a successful career in the financial services industry. Most recently, he was the CEO of SEB. In the 1990s, Mr. Thunell served as the CEO of Trygg-Hansa. As President and CEO of Securum, an asset management company established by the Swedish government, he played a key role in the government's strategy for resolving the country's banking crisis of the 1990s. He has also held numerous board positions with international companies and nongovernmental organizations. Mr. Thunell graduated with a doctorate from the University of Stockholm and was a research fellow at the Harvard University Center for International Affairs.

Richard Hunter, based in London, is the group managing director responsible for Fitch’s corporate rating practice in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific. The international corporate rating group provides rating and research coverage from 27 offices on over 1,000 industrial, commercial, utility and other corporate entities in more than 40 countries. Prior to this, Richard served for four years in London as the Regional Credit Officer for Europe and Asia. Between 2002 and 2005, Richard managed the agency’s global power practice in New York, prior to which he spent six years in lead analytical roles covering a variety of industrial and commercial entities across Europe and Asia. Richard is a regular speaker at financial market and policymaker forums addressing credit risk. He is a graduate of Lincoln College, Oxford University, and, before joining Fitch, worked in credit roles in Frankfurt and London at the central liquidity institution for the German cooperative financial system.

Studied at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, University of Fribourg and Harvard University. Degrees include doctorates in Mechanical Engineering and Economics (summa cum laude). 1971-2003, Professor of Business Policy, University of Geneva; academic contributions include: 1971, first ever publication describing Stakeholder Theory and 1979, new approach to concept of global competitiveness. 1971, founded World Economic Forum as not-for-profit foundation and built it into foremost global partnership of business, political, intellectual and other leaders of society committed to improving state of the world; 1998, Co-Founder, with his wife Hilde, of Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, supporting social innovation around the world; 2004, Founder, Forum of Young Global Leaders. Academic distinctions include honorary professorships and numerous honorary doctorates. Honorary Knighthood (KCMG) and recipient of international and national honours for initiatives undertaken in the spirit of entrepreneurship in the global public interest and for peace and reconciliation efforts in several regions.

He has been involved in all phases of the firm's development since its founding in 1985. Mr. Schwarzman began his career at Lehman Brothers, where he was elected Managing Director in 1978 at the age of 31. He was engaged principally in the firm's mergers and acquisitions business from 1977 to 1984, and served as Chairman of the firm's Mergers & Acquisitions Committee in 1983 and 1984. Mr. Schwarzman is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations and The Business Council. He is on the board of The New York Public Library, and The Asia Society. He serves on The JP Morgan Chase National Advisory Board, The New York City Partnership Board of Directors and The Advisory Board of the School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing. Mr. Schwarzman is a Trustee of The Frick Collection in New York City and Chairman Emeritus of the Board of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He also was awarded the Légion d'honneur. Mr. Schwarzman holds a B.A. from Yale University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He has served as an adjunct professor at the Yale School of Management and on the Harvard Business School Board of Dean's Advisors.