EMERGING FUNDING FOR THE REAL ECONOMY
Fourth edition

Florin Ilie

Managing Director, Head of Financial Markets Corporate Sales for CEE, ING Bank

Florin Ilie is Managing Director, Head of Financial Markets Corporate Sales for CEE with ING Bank. He joined ING in 2004 and held the positions of Director for Business Strategy, Retail Banking CFO, and Head of Equity Markets. Prior to that, Florin held various positions in banking, consulting and diplomacy. He was ranked as a top 3 Central and Eastern Europe financial analysts in the June 2012 Extel voting by international institutional investors organized by Thomson-Reuters. As a diplomat, Florin participated in the coordination of the EU accession negotiations, the drafting of the first National Mid-Term Economic Strategy and was Romania's Eurodiplomat before the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council in 2002. He has a particular passion for education and has held teaching assignments in economics, finance, strategy and leadership at Harvard University, Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, the Maastricht School of Management and the Entrepreneurship Academy. Florin has also published several research papers and case studies, and has co-authored textbooks on public policy and economics, in addition to technically contributing to the set-up of an improved system for EU funds absorption for private companies and large projects in Romania. He is a founding member of the Harvard Club of Romania and Moldova and of the Aspen Institute Romania. Florin earned a two-year Master in Public Administration specializing in Financial Markets & Analysis from Harvard University, a Master in European Politics & Policy with Distinction from the University of Manchester, an Advanced Degree and a BA in Economics from the Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies, and holds a PhD in Economics from the same university. He also took courses at the University of Alcala and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Horia Brau-Erdei

Chief Economist and Head of Research, BCR

Horia Braun-Erdei is Chief Economist and Head of Research with BCR. Horia was Chief Investment Officer of NN Investment Partners Czech Republic and previously had a dual role of General Manager and Chief Investment Officer in the Romanian branch of NN Investment Management. Before that, Horia held the position of Chief Investment Officer of ING Pensions, being in charge of managing the largest mandatory pension fund in Romania. Horia joined ING in 2007 as a fixed income portfolio manager. He is also a CFA charter holder since 2006. Before working in the investment industry, Horia has started his career at the National Bank of Romania, holding various positions in the Monetary Policy Department and the Modelling and Forecasting Department. As Head of the Macro Modelling Division, Horia was part of the team which has set up the implementation of inflation targeting at the Romanian central bank and which has built the bank’s first macro forecasting model. Horia’s economics credentials also include an MA degree in Economics from the Central European University in Budapest, Hungary, where he graduated in 2002.

Dragos Neacsu

CEO Erste Asset Management

Dragos Neacsu is Chairman of the Management Board & Chief Executive Officer of Erste Asset Management since its establishment in 2008. Hehas 20 years of experience on the Romanian and international financial market as senior executive of Tier 1 institutions, ranging from central depository, brokerage, asset management and consulting. He was an active member of the Bucharest Stock Exchange Board and of the BCR Pensii Supervisory Board. He is a strong promoter of the activity of professional bodies, as one of the founding members of the Romanian Pension Funds Association and of the Romanian Association of Financial and Banking Analysts. Dragos took a public office position as Secretary of State within the Ministry of Public Finance and was official representative of Romania in various international financial institutions, member of the negotiation team concerning the strategic partnership with the World Bank, negotiator of the agreement concerning Iraqi debt resolution. He was responsible for the relationship with rating agencies when Romania obtained for the first time its sovereign investment grade status from all the major ones (2005). Dragos has served twice as President of the Romanian Association of Asset Managers, and represents it as member of the Board of European Fund and Asset Management Association, since June 2013. As member of the Romanian Business Leaders Foundation, Dragos is an active member of the Capital Market task force of the Coalition for Romania's Development, the most important private business advocacy organization in the country. He is actively promoting social entrepreneurship and crowdfunding initiatives.

Ioana Filipescu

Partner, Corporate Finance, Financial Advisory Service, Deloitte

Ioana Filipescu has over 20 years of experience in financial services and investment banking working for Filipescu Visa Financial Advisors, Raiffeisen Investment, KPMG and EBRD. During her career Ioana has contributed to the closing of over 30 transactions. Ioana holds a post graduate degree from École Nationale d’Administration – ENA as well as masters’ degrees in business administration and engineering.During her career Ioana has contributed to the closing of over 30 M&A transactions wither on the seller side, or the buyer side. Ioana is ranked second among M&A consultants in Romania between 2004 – 2014 based on the number of transactions closed, according to independent research company MERGERMAKET. Ioana has a graduation certificate from École Nationale d’Administration - ENA as well as a master in business administration and a degree in engineering.

Dan Matei

General Director, Macroeconomic Analysis, Research and Financial Policies, Ministry of Public Finance

Dan Matei has been General Director in the Ministry of Public Finance of Romania since March 2016. Dan Matei is responsible for the overall coordination of the department, the macroeconomic and budget forecasts, tax policy, including impact assessment on different tax proposals and supplementary budgets, economic and structural reform analysis, design of medium and long term related strategies. Between February 2011 and February 2016 , Dan Matei was Economic Analyst, Economic and Financial Affairs (ECFIN) at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium. His main responsibilities included forecast, economic and budgetary analysis and advice with a particular focus on Bulgaria and Finland, notably in the context of stability programmes and the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines; formulation of economic policy conditions within the framework of the Balance of Payment assistance; coordination with horizontal units responsible for public finance and microeconomic developments and policy.

Valentin Lazea

Valentin Lazea, Chief Economist, National Bank of Romania

Serban Roman

Country Director, Enterprise Investors

Serban Roman is Country Director at private equity firm Enterprise Investors since June 2015. He coordinates the activity of the Romanian office of Enterprise Investors and is also in charge of deal development. Serban joined Enterprise Investors in 2008 as an analyst and was promoted to investment director after the successful acquisition of Profi Rom Food in 2010. Serban is now a member of the boards of directors of Profi (retail chain) and Macon (construction materials producer). Prior to joining EI, Serban worked for Ernst & Young (now EY) and for Unicredit CAIB (the M&A arm of Unicredit). He graduated from the Romanian Academy of Economic Studies and is a fellow member of ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants).

Cornel Marian

Partner, Oresa

Cornel Marian started his career with Oresa as Investment Officer in 1997 when the company opened a local office in Bucharest. In early 1999, Cornel was promoted to head up Oresa’s Romanian office and has since led or co-led most of the investments in Romania and Serbia, including Flanco, Credisson, La Fantana, Kiwi Finance, Somaco or RTC Proffice. During 2005 and 2006, he also took the role of CEO of Flanco. Cornel holds a B.Sc. in physics from Babes-Balyai University of Cluj Napoca and an MBA from Durham University. He sits on the Advisory Boards of Somaco, Fabryo – Atlas Paints, RTC Proffice, Kiwi Finance and RBC Group.

Antonia Colibasanu

Senior Analyst, Geopolitical Futures

Antonia Colibasanu is a senior geopolitical analyst, focusing on strategic competitive intelligence analysis angle. She has recently joined Geopolitical Futures team as VP for Strategic Relationships and Senior Analyst, after working for more than 10 years with global analysis firm Stratfor in various positions, including Partner for Europe and Vice-President for International Marketing. She works closely with bestselling authors George Friedman and Robert D. Kaplan and serves as Honorary Adviser to Romania’s Minister of Energy. Dr. Colibasanu is also an associate professor at the Romanian National Intelligence Academy and Bucharest University. She frequently speaks on international economics and security topics at conferences and events in Europe, and since 2012, she has served on the educational board of the International Academy of Advanced Studies in Greece, a summer program that brings together students from Eurasia and the Middle East. Prior to joining Stratfor in 2006, Dr. Colibasanu held a variety of roles with the World Trade Center Association in Bucharest. Among other academic credentials, she holds a doctorate in international business and economics from Bucharest's Academy of Economic Studies, where her thesis focused on country risk analysis and investment decision-making processes within transnational companies. She also holds a master's degree in international project management. She is an alumna of the International Institute on Politics and Economics, Georgetown University.

Cristina Reichmann

Partner, Head of Banking, FIS and Structured Finance, CMS

Cristina Reichmann is an experienced Partner and Head of Capital Markets, FIS and Structured Finance in Romania at CMS Cameron McKenna. She has over 15 years of experience advising on corporate law, banking, capital markets, financial instruments and services. Cristina acted for a wide range of leading financial institutions and corporates in all areas of equity and debt capital markets, including Eurobonds, convertible and covered bonds, collateralised debt obligations, structured finance and derivatives transactions, public offerings, including IPOs/SPOs on the local or international markets, takeover public offerings and squeeze-out procedures, acquisition and disposal of financial instruments (on regulated markets, as well as through ATS/ MTF and OTC). She has advised a large client base which includes most of the high street banks, a number of leading investment banks, funds and assets managers, pension funds, insurers, local and international depositaries and clearing houses, Bucharest Stock Exchange, Romanian securities regulator, IFC, EBRD as well as a variety of large corporates. Cristina is a member of the Arbitration Chamber of the Bucharest Stock Exchange. She is also a frequent speaker in conferences in Romania and internationally on various banking, FIS and capital markets-related topics, as well as a regular lecturer at the Bucharest Stock Exchange and the Romanian Banking Institute. Cristina is recognised by clients and legal directories as a leading banking, capital markets and FIS lawyer in Romania and is ranked in the top tier by IFLR 1000 and Legal 500 and recognised as leading practitioner by Chambers 2014.

Irek Piecuch

Partner, Head of Telecoms, CEE, CMS

Irek Piecuch is a partner and the Head of Telecoms in CEE. He coordinates our telecoms, new technologies, e-commerce and IoT services across 6 offices in CEE. Irek specialises in complex and sophisticated legal projects. His experience with Management Boards of international corporations and companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange allows him to combine acute understanding of business and sector with regulatory experience.

Daulat Sen

Daulat Sen, Senior Advisor, Arthur D Little

Daulat Sen is Senior Advisor at Arthur D Little and has over 20 years experience in technology and innovation strategy and management, focusing on Financial Services. Prior to joining Arthur D Little, Daulat was COO with a Global Investment Bank, a Strategy Consultant and a Software Engineer & Manager. Daulat graduated from the Imperial College in London and holds an MBA from London Business School.

Daniela Nemoianu

Senior Partner, Nemoianu Consulting and AmCham Board Member

Sebastian Tcaciuc

Director, Auris Capital

Sebastian Tcaciuc, CFA, is an independent private equity advisor and consultant to various investment funds. He has 17 years of private equity, corporate finance and investment experience, while also having served on the Board of Directors of nine companies active in the pharmaceutical, industrial, healthcare and energy sectors. As a Director with Advent International (2005-2014), he worked on large a number of transaction processes, including all Advent’s investments in Romania and Turkey. Prior to joining Advent, Sebastian worked with ING Corporate Finance & Equities, Alpha Bank and Delta Lloyd Investment Research. Sebastian holds a Master’s degree in Economics and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Horea Popescu

Partner, Head of Corporate and M&A in Romania, CMS

A Bucharest-based corporate partner, Horea has broad experience in advising on all aspects of corporate and M&A transactions in Romania and CEE region and has worked on some of the most significant transactions to take place in Romania in recent years. Horea was recently ranked in band 1 in Chambers Global and Chambers Europe being described as a "commercial, smart and fast" M&A lawyer, who "anticipates the issues that may come up in a case." While the International Financial Law Review’s guide to leading law firms states: Horea Popescu is ‘very quick, attentive, intelligent, a good coordinator with very good communication skills’. Horea advises a variety of international clients on transactional and regulatory matters with respect to their acquisitions or divestments in Romania. He specialises in M&A, capital markets transactions, corporate transactions, competition law, private equity, privatisations, restructuring and commercial transactions, and tax. Horea has substantial experience in working on complex, multi-jurisdictional M&A transactions throughout Eastern Europe, and beyond, regularly working with colleagues throughout CMS and elsewhere.

Rodica Manea

Counsel, Corporate and M&A, CMS Romania

Rodica Manea is a counsel in the Corporate and M&A team of CMS Romania with extensive experience in mergers & acquisitions, corporate transactions, investment and corporate reorganisations, privatization, and tax advice, as well as post-acquisition restructuring and regulatory compliance. With over 15 years’ experience, Rodica has advised a number of clients on their acquisitions in Romania and new entrants into the Romanian market on various matters including numerous technology transactions. Rodica has a wealth of experience advising on all aspects of corporate and M&A transactions in Romania and the wider region. She has advised a wide variety of international clients on transactional and regulatory matters with respect to their acquisitions in Romania and has worked on some of the most significant M&A deals in Romania in recent years.

Alexandra Popa

Investment Banking Director, BT Capital Partners

Alexandra joined BT Capital Partners in September 2016 acting as Director, Head of the Investment Banking Department. She has over 10 years of experience in investment banking and private equity. She is also a mentor in the MVP Academy Acceleration Program supporting startups in business development and obtaining pre-seed or seed financing. Previously, she was advisor to the State Secretary and to the Deputy Prime Minister, within the Ministry of Economy, regarding the improvement of the State-owned enterprises and redefining the State’s role as shareholder. Prior to this she was a part of the investment team of Abris Capital Partners, private equity firm managing around EUR 800m of capital in CEE. She participated in over 10 projects in various stages of the investment process, with values between EUR 20 to 100 million. Previously, she was part of Alpha Bank Investment Banking division for six years where she advised on merger & acquisition transactions covering telecom, IT, retail, energy and healthcare sectors. Prior to this, she worked for Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking in Paris in their Merger & Acquisition team covering Emerging Markets. Alexandra graduated the Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest and UPEC - Université Paris-Est Créteil, France and has a Master’s Degree from Université Paris-Sud, France. Alexandra is also a Certified Executive Coach.

Amelia Tanase

Deputy General Counsel, BitDefender

Dorin Alexandru Badea

Executive Director, Head of Capital Markets, Treasury and Financial Institutions EximBank Romania

Dorin Alexandru Badea holds the position of Executive Director, coordinating the Treasury, Capital Markets, Cash Management and Financial Institutions activities with EximBank Romania. Dorin has 15 years of experience in the Romanian banking and financial markets, having managed financial markets trading, sales and derivatives structuring activities, ALM and treasury, as he previously activated in UniCredit Tiriac Bank, Bancpost, Atrium Capital, BRCI and Citibank. He has been involved in some of the early and some of the largest risk hedging and Debt Capital Markets transactions in Romania, structuring and closing an M&A transaction, DCM activities, and representation in international bodies. Dorin is a CFA Charterholder since 2005 and is involved in actions promoting the development of capital markets with CFA Romania, part of CFA Institute - the global association of investment professionals that sets the standards for professional excellence and credentials. The organization is a champion for ethical behavior in investment markets and a respected source of knowledge for the global financial community. Dorin has been the President of CFA Romania between 2011 and 2013 and has served before for two mandates as Vice President. Dorin Alexandru Badea has developed a solid track record of achievement and pioneering work in terms of supporting the development of the financial markets during his professional activity in Romania.

Imre Rokob

Business Development Director, Dorsum

Holding a Masters’ Degree in IT and Banking Information from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Imre arrived at Dorsum as a specialist in 2002. He has a long and successful track record of managing several projects in the CEE region, including SK/OTP Bank in Sofia, ING Bank, Citibank, Allianz Bank and Erste Asset Management in Bucharest. Imre has worked as Project Director of Dorsum Group since 2009 and as Managing Director of Dorsum Romania since 2011. As a project director with a strong IT and financial background, he is responsible for the Project Office which is made up of 6 project managers and more than 30 financial IT experts, with a project delivery of €3m per annum. Through the effective management of expectations and objectives, Imre has built strong relationships with stakeholders in all of our projects. Beyond that, he also provides professional support for sales activities, product development, and the control of high priority integrated projects. Leveraging his broad experience in brokerage, asset management, wealth management and integration of banking systems he has recently started to supervise product development projects for next generation tablet/smartphone trading and private banking applications. Imre is known to be a flexible leader, who easily adapts to the ever-changing environment of the financial markets. He appreciates his colleagues and believes in continuous learning, a conviction that he would like to instill in his three small children from an early age.

Horia Velicu

Head of Innovation Lab, BRD - Groupe Societe Generale

Horia Velicu is Head of Innovation Lab at BRD Groupe Societe Generale where it experiments new technologies in finance. He has over 20 years experiece in the banking industry as risk management consultant for Reuters and more recently as COO for Financial Markets division in BRD Groupe Societe Generale. He has indepth experience and a Stanford diploma in Machine Learning.