Corporate governance

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Corporate governance of ABC arbitrage

ABC arbitrage and ABC arbitrage Asset Management are both French Sociétés Anonymes with a Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is a collective decision-making body, determining the business strategy and general policy of the company and the group. It controls and oversees the group’s management policies and reports to shareholders. It approves the resources required to achieve the strategic objectives it sets. It oversees implementation of the group’s management and control program and reports to the shareholders.

Have a look at the internal rules of the ABC arbitrage's board of directors, click here.

For more information about the board of Directors, please read the chairman's report-fiscal year 2012, click here.

ABC arbitrage is a member of IFA – Institut Français des Administrateurs, the French Institute of Directors (http://www.ifa-asso.com/). The aim of this professional network is to promote the best corporate governance practices in France. IFA is also member of the European Confederation of Directors’ Associations (ecoDa) which intends also to disseminate best CG practices across Europe and to lobby their interests before European institutions.

The governance of ABC arbitrage is based on a balance between strategy, operations and control and between individual contributions and collective determination, as well as between formal processes and informal relations.

Its “Partners“ structure is a perfect illustration of this. This informal forum, without any legal status, is the source of many of the key strategic decisions of a group that implements very formal and strict control processes in its governance policy.

By definition, one can only be a founder when a company is first created, but then certain committed individuals are capable of thinking and acting in this spirit. Thus, the Partners project emerged as a natural outgrowth of the company’s activities. There are currently three Partners: the two founders and a senior manager who joined the group at a later date, bringing his skills and ideas to share in a vision of building a world-class player in the arbitrage business, in qualitative terms.

Corporate governance’s organisation

Group’s partners

Chairman of the Board - Chief Executive Officer

Dominique Ceolin

Co-founder of ABC arbitrage in 1995
First elected: October 10, 1997
End of mandate: General shareholders’ meeting reviewing the accounts for 2014

ABC arbitrage:
Chairman of the Board (elected at the Shareholders’ meeting of May 28, 2010), Chief Executive Officer, Partner
ABC arbitrage Asset Management:
Chairman of the Board - Chief Executive Officer
Other directorships and offices:
Chairman of the Board of Financière WDD

After qualifying as an actuary (Institut des Actuaires Français) and obtaining a graduate degree (DEA) in mathematics and information technology (DEA) in 1994, Dominique Ceolin joined ABN AMRO Securities France where he participated in developing its “Domestic Arbitrage“ department. He joined ABC arbitrage at the time of the company’s formation in 1995 as head of the “Statistical Analysis and Modeling“, “Information System“ and “Market Risk Supervision“ departments. Dominique Ceolin is a member of the “Institut des Actuaires Français“ (association of French actuaries).

Vice-Chairman, Chief Operating Officer

David Hoey

Joined ABC arbitrage in 1996
First elected: December 11, 1998

ABC arbitrage:
Partner
ABC arbitrage Asset Management:
Vice-Chairman, Chief Operating Officer
ABCA Funds Ireland Plc:
Director

After obtaining a degree in business (BBS in Ireland), with majors in finance and information technology, David Hoey worked for the Caisse Nationale du Crédit Agricole (CNCA Group-Paris) from 1992 to 1996, where he was originally an account manager and later had responsibility for a number of different areas of CNCA Group-Paris custody operations. In 1996, David Hoey joined the founders of ABC arbitrage (the parent company of ABC arbitrage Asset Management), to organize the “Financial operations“ department. As an executive member of the Board of ABC arbitrage, David Hoey contributed to the strategic development of the group and to the growth of its core business.

Assistant Director - Trading Strategies

Franck Durin

Joined ABC arbitrage in 1998

ABC arbitrage:
Partner

ABC arbitrage Asset Management:
Assistant Director - Trading Strategies

An engineering graduate of École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Industries Textiles, Franck Durin joined ABC arbitrage in 1998. After serving as Information system Manager from 2000 to 2006, he has headed up the “Statistical analysis and modeling“ and “Market risk“ units since 2002.

Permanent representative of Aubépar Industries SE

Xavier Chauderlot

Co-founder in 1995 of ABC arbitrage
First elected: October 10, 1997
End of mandate: General shareholders’ meeting reviewing the accounts for 2015

ABC arbitrage:
Permanent representative of Aubépar Industries SE (elected at the Shareholders’ Meeting of June 1, 2012)

Other directorships and offices:
Chairman and Managing Director of Aubépar Industries SE
Representative of Aubépar Industries SE on the Board of Directors of Aubépar SE
Representative of Aubépar Industries SE on the Board of Directors of Financière de Bailli SA

Xavier Chauderlot is a qualified actuary (Institut des Actuaires Français) and engineering graduate (Ingénieur Civil des Mines). He also has a post-graduate degree in company law. He has held different positions in several financial entities (CPR, Société Générale, MFK). He founded ABC arbitrage in 1995 in partnership with Grégoire Bouguereau. Now independent, he provides ABC arbitrage with the benefit of his experience and technical expertise.

Permanent representative, ABC participation et gestion

Jean-Christophe Estève

First elected: September 9, 2010
End of mandate: General shareholders’ meeting reviewing the accounts for 2014

ABC arbitrage:
Permanent representative, ABC participation et gestion

Other directorships and offices:
Executive director of ABC participation et gestion
Managing director of Biotope SARL and Aerotope SARL
Chairman of SAS Galerie du Lion (Biotope's subsidiary)
Director of Unitas Ltd / Papalagage Ltd / BT PWATG Ltd (Biotope's subsidiaries)
Director of Biotope Botswana (Biotope's subsidiary)

Jean-Christophe Estève holds postgraduate degrees in law and economics. He joined ABC participation et gestion in 2009 as legal adviser before being appointed Executive Director. From 2005 to 2009, he worked as a wealth management adviser in both banking and private practice.

Independent Director

Jean-François Drouets

First elected: April 11, 2006
End of mandate: General shareholders’ meeting reviewing the accounts for 2014

ABC arbitrage :
Independent Director (elected at the Shareholders’ Meeting of May 28, 2010)

Other directorships and offices:
Chairman of Catella Valuation Advisors

Jean-François Drouets is a graduate of HEC business school, has a post-graduate diploma in conveyancing law and is a qualified chartered surveyor. His entire career has been focused on real estate consulting and investment. He is the founding Chairman of Catella Valuation Advisors, the real estate appraisal and consulting subsidiary of Sweden’s Catella group.

Independent Director

Sabine Roux de Bézieux

First elected: March 11, 2011
End of mandate: General shareholders’ meeting reviewing the accounts for 2014

ABC arbitrage:
Non-voting Director (appointed by the Board of Directors March 11, 2011) – Independent Director as of the General Shareholders’ meeting of May 27, 2011

Other directorships and offices:
Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Entrepreneurs du Monde association
Member of the Supervisory Board of ANF Immobilier
Member of the Supervisory Board of SAS Microfinance Solidaire

Sabine Roux de Bézieux is a graduate of ESSEC business school in 1986. She began her career with CCF’s investment banking arm from 1986 to 1988. She then spent fourteen years with the Arthur Andersen Group, initially leading audit and consulting assignments in both France and abroad. She then set up the marketing, communications and business development department. In 2005, she created Advanceo, her own strategic consulting firm, specialized in corporate strategy and growth issues.

Independent Director

Didier Ribadeau Dumas

First elected: April 10, 2000
End of mandate: General shareholders’ meeting reviewing the accounts for 2015

ABC arbitrage:
Independent Director (elected at the Shareholders’ Meeting of June 2, 2012)
ABC arbitrage Asset Management :
Representative of ABC arbitrage (since October 4, 2011)

Other directorships and offices:
Member of the Supervisory Board of La Banque Postale
Member of the Board of La Mondiale
Director of SGAM Ag2r La Mondiale

Didier Ribadeau Dumas is a graduate of the École Nationale d’Administration (ENA). He held various positions within the French Ministry of the Economy and Finance from 1971 to 1984, before joining CIC to head up the bank’s international subsidiary. In 1989, he joined an international strategic and management consultancy, where he was Senior Vice-President until December 2006, when he created DRD Conseil.

Censor

Jacques Chevalier

First elected: October 5, 1998

ABC arbitrage:
Non-voting Director (appointed by the Board on December 11,2007)

Other directorships and offices:
Director of SGP Cogitam

Jacques Chevalier is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, a professor of mathematics and a qualified actuary. In parallel with his university career, he works as a consultant, advising banks and insurance companies.

Censor

Marie-Ange Verdickt

First elected: January 24, 2013

ABC arbitrage:
Non-voting Director (appointed by the Board on January 24, 2013)

Other directorships and offices:
Member of the Supervisory Board of Solucom

Marie-Ange Verdickt is a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Bordeaux (1984) and a member of the SFAF. After having gained expérience as an auditor at Deloitte and as an analyst at Euronext, in 1998 she joined Financière de l'Echiquier, a portfolio management company where she was a mutual fund manager for 15 years. She has also developed Socially Responsible Investment practices during that time.