IFR Green Financing Roundtable 2018: Roundtable participants

IFR Green Financing Roundtable 2018
6 min read

Julie Becker
Luxembourg Stock Exchange
Julie Becker leads the international primary markets activity at Luxembourg Stock Exchange (LuxSE). Her team is responsible for listing, data services, and the promotion and development of the exchange’s markets for international debt, equities, derivatives and investment funds. In 2016, she was appointed to the EU High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance. The nomination came just months after the launch of the Luxembourg Green Exchange, a project that Becker initiated and supervised. Before joining LuxSE, she held different positions in legal and compliance departments in the banking sector, including at Dexia and the Central Bank of Luxembourg.

Jaspreet Duhra
ISS-oekem
Jaspreet Duhra is senior adviser, responsible investment at ISS-oekem research where she takes care of UK-based clients and prospects, and has responsibility for Nordic and Asia markets. Duhra works with issuers, DCM teams and investors when it comes to Green bonds. Prior to joining ISS-oekem, she spent 10 years at Vigeo Eiris where she worked closely with a wide range of index providers and institutional investors. She also worked as a sustainability analyst at Eiris as well as at Sustainable Finance.

Johan Fredriksson
Vasakronan
Johan Fredriksson is a debt portfolio manager at Nordic real estate company Vasakronan. Fredriksson has been active in the Green bond market since its inception, both in his previous role at Nordea Asset Management and in his current position as an issuer at Vasakronan. Vasakronan has a strong focus on sustainability and in 2013 it became the first corporate issuer in the world to launch a Green bond. Since then, Vasakronan has taken an active role in promoting Green bonds in the Nordic region and last year updated its Green Bond Framework to better reflect the developments of the market and Vasakronan as a Green bond issuer.

Tallat Hussain
White & Case
Tallat Hussain is senior environmental counsel in energy infrastructure, project and asset finance group at White & Case in London. She is an environmental lawyer with over 20 years of public and private sector experience. Her environmental experience includes advising on compliance, environmental and social impact assessments and various international requirements. She has diverse experience with innovative approaches to resource management such as monetising carbon reductions, Green bonds and climate change issues.

Jacob Michaelsen
Nordea
Jacob Michaelsen is head of sustainable bonds at Nordea, the largest Nordic bank and a leading debt capital markets house in the region. Michaelsen is in constant dialogue with investors, issuers and the broader market on all matters related to Green bonds. In his role, Michaelsen’s focus is on raising awareness of Green bonds and contributing to the development of the market not just in the Nordics, but globally. Prior to working with Green bonds, Michaelsen was a part of the bond syndicate team at Nordea.

Nicholas Pfaff
ICMA
Nicholas Pfaff is a senior director in the market practice and regulatory policy team of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA). He is the secretary of the Green Bond Principles (GBP), and coordinates a number of other ICMA initiatives such as the public sector issuer forum (PSIF) and the European corporate debt private placement (ECPP) joint committee. He is also the head of ICMA’s Paris office. Pfaff is a senior banker with extensive international experience in investment banking and capital markets, as well as in development banking.

Irene Sanchez Aizpurua
EIB
Irene Sanchez is head of investor relations and marketing at the European Investment Bank (EIB), one of the world’s largest and most frequent debt issuers. Her responsibilities include coverage of investors and credit rating agencies, as well as promotion of the EIB’s market-leading Green bonds. Prior to joining the EIB, she worked for Abengoa in Spain for 10 years, first in structured finance and then in investor relations and capital markets. Prior to that, she worked at ABB in corporate finance positions in Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Michael Wilkins
S&P Global Ratings
Michael Wilkins is head of sustainable finance, corporate & infrastructure ratings at S&P Global Ratings in London. He is responsible for the firm’s sustainable finance activities globally. At S&P, Michael has spent seven years as head of infrastructure finance ratings, and he was also co-head of the corporate securitisation group. He is a member of the FSB Taskforce on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), the G20 Green Finance Study Group (GFSG), the advisory council of the Smith School Sustainable Finance Programme and the Climate Bonds Initiative.

Nick Herbert
Moderator
Nick Herbert is a freelance journalist and editor, focusing on global capital markets, In recent years, he has written extensively on the subject of sustainable finance, bond markets and infrastructure. He has over 30 years of experience working in and reporting on financial markets in Europe and Asia. His previous media roles include publisher of capital markets publications at Reuters, bureau chief for IFR in Asia, and real-time editor for IFR Markets in London. Prior to financial publishing he worked in London for Gotabanken and for BHF Bank on the bond desk.

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IFR Green Financing RT 2018 Group
Julie Becker
Jaspreet Duhra
Johan Fredriksson
Tallat Hussain
Jacob Michaelsen
Nicholas Pfaff
Irene Sanchez Aizpurua
Michael Wilkins
Nick Herbert