14 March 2023
Flow Traders announces the nominations of Karen Frank, Paul Hilgers and Delfin Rueda for election as new Independent Non-Executive Directors and the re-election of Rudolf Ferscha as Chairman of the Board. Roger Hodenius and Olivier Bisserier, both presently serving as Non-Executive Directors, have decided not to stand for re-election.
Nomination of Karen Frank as Independent Non-Executive Director
Karen Frank brings considerable financial industry experience and most recently served as Executive Managing Director, Global Head of Equities at Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. In 2012, she joined Barclays as Managing Director, where she was co-head of the Financial Sponsors Group. Karen was appointed as CEO of Barclays Private Bank & Overseas Services business in 2016 and served as a member of the Barclays Consumer Banking & Payments Executive Committee. Previously, she had worked for Goldman Sachs in their Financial Sponsors business.
Nomination of Paul Hilgers as Independent Non-Executive Director
Paul Hilgers has an extensive and proven track record within global financial markets, particularly within trading, clearing and market infrastructure. He previously worked at Deutsche Boerse AG as Managing Director, heading the firm's cash market business. He had previously served as CEO of Optiver, a global trading firm, from 2014 until 2017. Prior to that, he had served as CEO APAC and as Director Market Structure for Optiver.
Nomination of Delfin Rueda as Independent Non-Executive Director
Delfin Rueda brings a wealth of experience in finance, strategy and financial markets. He is currently a member of the Supervisory Board of Adyen and Chair of its Audit and Risk Committee, as well as Non Executive Director of Allfunds. He previously served as CFO and Vice-Chair of the Executive Board and Management Board at NN Group. He was also the CFO and CRO and member of the Management Board at Atradius and held leadership positions at J.P. Morgan, UBS and Andersen Consulting.
Nomination to re-elect Rudolf Ferscha as Chairman
Rudolf Ferscha was initially appointed as Chairman in March 2021 and has served on the Board since 2015. He is also a member of Flow Traders' Audit Committee, Remuneration and Appointment Committee, Risk Committee and Trading and Technology Committee. He is currently a partner at Gledhow Capital Partners and Chairman of the Advisory Board at Mainberg Asset Management. He has more than 25 years of board-level experience, including executive roles on the Management Boards of Goldman Sachs Bank in Germany and of Deutsche Boerse AG. He previously served as CEO of Eurex and Chairman of the Management Board of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Board composition
Flow Traders will propose these appointments to its shareholders at the upcoming AGM, scheduled for 26 April 2023 and following receipt of these shareholder approvals, the Board intends to appoint Paul Hilgers as Chair of the Risk Committee and Delfin Rueda as Chair of the Audit Committee. The proposed composition of the Board complies with Flow Traders' Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Policy.
The Board will comprise the following members:
- Rudolf Ferscha - Independent Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Board
- Paul Hilgers- Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Risk Committee
- Linda Hovius - Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Remuneration & Appointment Committee
- Delfin Rueda - Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee
Karen Frank - Independent Non-Executive Director - Jan van Kuijk - Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Trading & Technology Committee
- Mike Kuehnel - Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director
- Folkert Joling - Chief Trading Officer and Executive Director
Rudolf Ferscha, Chairman of the Board, commented: “On behalf of the Board, I would like to welcome our new Board members Karen Frank, Paul Hilgers and Delfin Rueda, whose extensive professional experience and diverse backgrounds will add a wealth of additional competence and symbiotic strength to the Board going forward.”
"Our deepest gratitude goes to Roger and Olivier for their significant contributions to Flow Traders during their tenures. As co-founder, Roger has served in executive and non-executive roles on Flow Traders Boards for a total of over 18 consecutive years and has been instrumental in developing and building the foundation for Flow Traders' success since the inception of the firm. Following his tenure as Co-CEO from 2004 to 2014, he has continued to be committed to the firm's growth in his role as a Non-Executive Director. We would also like to express our gratitude to Olivier for his dedication and his outstanding contributions and in particular, for serving diligently as Chair of the Audit Committee and of the Risk Committee. We wish Roger and Olivier all the best in their future endeavors. Furthermore, we are convinced the proposed nominations will help further strengthen and develop the Board and hope our shareholders will support their elections at the upcoming ACM"
Roger Hodenius, Non-Executive Director, added:
"As a founder I am honored to have been able to build this amazing firm alongside so many talented and passionate people. Flow Traders would not have existed without them. It makes me especially proud that we have kept to our principles and shared a significant part of our financial success with everyone. I personally believe sharing economic growth through sharing profits should be strongly considered by more companies that take social responsibility seriously. I would like to wish the entire Board and everyone at Flow Traders all the best and! look forward to continuing to support them as a shareholder for many years to come."
Olivier Bisserier, Non-Executive Director, Chair of the Audit Committee and Chair of the Risk Committee, added:
"It has been a huge privilege to serve as a member of the Board. I would like to thank my fellow Board members for their collaboration during my tenure, as well as the entire Flow Traders community for their dedication and hard work. I believe Flow Traders is strongly positioned for future growth and uniquely equipped to achieve its mission of bringing greater transparency, efficiency and innovation to financial markets."