Personalities
IMF to get new Deputy Managing Director from China
Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), announced today her proposal to appoint Mr. Tao Zhang as Deputy Managing Director, effective August 22, 2016. Mr. Zhang is currently Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). He will succeed Mr. Min Zhu, who steps down on July 25, 2016
In announcing her selection of Mr. Zhang, Lagarde said: “I am very pleased to propose Tao Zhang as the next Deputy Managing Director. Mr. Zhang brings a strong combination of international economic expertise, public sector policymaking, and diplomatic skills. He also has extensive experience with international financial institutions, excellent communication and negotiating skills, and a superb knowledge of IMF policies and procedures. Indeed, he is very well known and highly respected here at the Fund, having served as Executive Director for China from 2011 to 2015.”
Prior to his current position as Deputy Governor of the PBOC, Mr. Zhang headed the Legal Affairs Department there. Over the course of his career, he has held various positions at the PBOC, including as Director General of the Department of Financial Survey and Statistics, and then Director General of the International Department.
Zhang has also worked at the World Bank (1995-1997) and at the Asian Development Bank (1997-2004). During this time, he gained significant experience in country operations, with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region and small-island economies.
Zhang has an M.A. and Ph.D. in International Economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and B.S. Electrical Engineering and M.S. Finance degrees from Tsinghua University in Beijing.
EU Commison President Juncker to interview candidate for Commissioner from the United Kingdom
Following the nomination by British Prime Minister David Cameron of Sir Julian King as the candidate to replace outgoing Commissioner Lord Jonathan Hill, President Jean-Claude Juncker will receive him on Monday, 11 July at 11:00 (CET) for an interview. The purpose of the interview will be to determine the candidate’s ability to serve as a European Commissioner, particularly in light of Article 17(3) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), which states that: “The members of the Commission shall be chosen on the ground of their general competence and European commitment from persons whose independence is beyond doubt.” Procedurally, the appointment of a new Commissioner of UK nationality requires common accord between the President of the Commission and the Council after the consultation of the European Parliament (Article 246, subparagraph 2 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union). In addition, the Interinstitutional Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission requires the President of the Commission to “seriously consider” the results of the consultation of the European Parliament – which will audition the candidate – before giving his accord to the decision of the Council to appoint the new Commissioner (para 6 of the Framework Agreement). Following the decision of Commissioner Lord Hill to resign from the European Commission and on the transfer of the Financial Stability, Financial Services and the Capital Markets Union portfolio to Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, which will take effect on 16 July, Prime Minister Cameron informed President Juncker on 7 July of his wish to nominate Sir Julian King as the member of the European Commission of UK nationality.
Bremen Cotton Exchange with new President
The association of the Bremen Cotton Exchange held its 142nd Ordinary General Assembly of its 144th fiscal year in the association’s headquarters in the heart of the historic Hanseatic League City of Bremen, Germany, on June 30th, 2016.. After the Assembly, the presidium of the international association was elected
Henning Hammer, Managing Director of Otto Stadt- lander GmbH, Bremen, became President of the Exchange.
Christopher Bailey at Burberry is to be replaced as CEO by Marco Gobbetti
Burberry Group has named luxury veteran Marco Gobbetti on July 11, 2016 as its new chief executive, replacing Christopher Bailey who has attracted strong criticism during his two-year tenure as the British fashion label’s CEO and creative head.
Shares jumped 6.4% in recent trading in London.
Bailey has been demoted to Burberry’s president and chief creative officer, after failing to turn around the company’s declining sales.
Gobbetti is currently CEO and Chairman of Céline, the influential LVMH -owned fashion and accessories brand. He will start as Burberry’s CEO next year, a pertinent date was not indicated.
Burberry Group PLC has named luxury veteran Marco Gobbetti as its new chief executive, replacing Christopher Bailey who has attracted strong criticism during his two-year tenure as the British fashion label’s CEO and creative head.
The company is also replacing its Chief Financial Officer Carol Fairweather, who has worked closely with Bailey since he became CEO in May 2014, with the CFO of global medical technology business Smith and Nephew PLC, Julie Brown. Smith and Nephew said the search for a new CFO is under way.
Burberry’s surprise announcement—which comes after investors have for months groused that the 45-year-old Mr. Bailey was ill-equipped to juggle the dual roles of CEO and creative head of a company Burberry’s size—sent shares up 6.4% in afternoon trading in London to GBP 12.36.
Gobbetti has worked in luxury for the past 20 years on brands such as Givenchy, Moschino and Bottega Veneta. His appointment comes as Burberry has seen sales hammered in key markets such as Greater China and the U.S. for a string of quarters, with little respite. The company’s shares have dropped 22 % since Bailey replaced longtime CEO Angela Ahrendts at the helm.
Bailey—who has been demoted to Burberry’s president and chief creative officer—recently announced a cost-cutting program and a share buyback but the moves did little to quell disquiet about the company’s long-term prospects.
Burberry has a large store footprint in China where sales have been hit by an anticorruption drive, and in Hong Kong where sales have fallen following unfriendly visa policies that have discouraged visitors from mainland China.
Relative to peers such as LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE and Prada SpA, Burberry is underrepresented in Europe and Japan, which have seen an influx of Chinese shoppers.
The company last month said Bailey had received a 75 % pay cut for fiscal 2016, following a year in which the trench-coat maker reported an 8 % fall in full-year profit.
The July 11, 2016 arrangement, should it last, is something of a coup for Burberry since Bailey—who has been with the company since 2001—is widely known as being the face of the brand and losing him entirely would have been a significant blow for the British trench coat maker.
While Marco Gobbetti will become CEO of Burberry, Bailey will become “president”—an unusual title in Britain-—as well as retaining his chief creative function. Both men will report to Chairman Sir John Peace. Meanwhile, Chief Financial Officer Carol Fairweather is being succeeded by a bone fide cost-cutter from the embattled health-care industry, Julie Brown.
This looks like an attempt to restore the old division of labor—Bailey as architect of the Burberry brand working closely with a commercial boss—under which the company previously thrived. At the same time, Burberry is making clear its comitment to cost control in a more austere climate for luxury spending. A strategic review in May forecast 2 % to 3 % market growth in the future, down from 7 % historically.
The obvious risk is that the dual leadership structure doesn’t work out. There is a reason co-bosses are unusual, and it is also unusual for a chief executive to arrive just in time to implement his predecessor’s strategic review, particularly when his predecessor remains at the company. If Bailey ends up clashing with Gobbetti and leaves, the shares might lose more than 4 %.
https://www.lvmh.com/houses/fashion-leather-goods/celine/
Change at the top of Sympatex Technologies
As of July 11, 2016 the company named Dr Rüdiger Fox (50) as new CEO and speaker of the management of Sympatex Technologies GmbH, whereas Haiko Stüting remains commercial managing director. The since 2010 acting CEO and speaker, Michael Kamm, has left the company under “mutual agreement”
Dr Rüdiger Fox is an experienced CEO and manager. He looks back to over 25 years management experience in sectors such as automotive, telecommunication and aerospace industries. He worked also as a counseler and lately he was guest lecturer on Industry 4.0 at the German universities of Munich, Berlin and Hamburg. Fox is a graduate engineer and economist in management leadership. He is also the founder of the GCH Institute in Hamburg, Germany.
Sympatex Chairman August von Joest stated: “With Dr. Rüdiger Fox we could acquire a highly qualified professional manager with social competence. He will enhance internationally and strartegically and propel the ecological our three fields of activity, namely apparel, footwear and contract & workwear and propel the ecological alignment of the Sympatex brand”.
Joest continued “we thank Mr. Kamm for his work in the past six years. Under his leadership the brand Sympatex has been placed as an ecological alternative among functional specialists in the market. We wish him only the best for his future.”