Cecilia Hermansson

Cecilia Hermansson is Chief Economist at Swedbank, and has been with the bank since 1999. Before that she held a position as director in Sweden’s Ministry of Finance. She started her career after graduating from Stockholm School of Economics with international assignments, joining the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida. She worked in Nairobi 1992-95 at the Swedish Embassy. In addition to the work at Swedbank, Cecilia Hermansson is currently doing research at the Centre for Banking and Finance, which is part of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Håkan Berg

Group Chief Risk Officer, CRO. Born 1955. M. Sc. in Law. Employed since 1985.
2009 – 2011 Head of Baltic Banking, Swedbnak
2003 – 2009 Head of Internal Audit, Swedbank
2001 – 2003 Head of Retail Business Area, FöreningsSparbanken
1999 – 2001 Manager of the Stockholm Region, FöreningsSparbanken
1997 – 1999 Local Bank Manager Uppsala, FöreningsSparbanken
1995 – 1997 Juristbyrån
1984 – 1995 Various Manager positions, Nya Sparbanken Gävle
1981 – 1984 Federal Lawyer, LRF

Seppo Honkapohja

Seppo Honkapohja, D.Soc.Sc., has been a Member of the Board of the Bank of Finland since 1 January 2008, with responsibility for research, investment of financial assets and the administration function.

Dr Honkapohja joined the Bank of Finland from the academic world. He was Professor of International Macroeconomics at the University of Cambridge in 2004–2007. His prior career included work with the Academy of Finland, University of Helsinki and Turku School of Economics and Business Administration.

Kathleen Stephansen

Senior Investment Strategist & Global Head of Sovereign Research, AIG Asset Management

Kathleen Stephansen is Managing Director and Head of Economic Strategy at AIG Asset Management. Her role is to identify major economic trends and translate these into investment advice to enhance investment performance. In addition, she leads economic research efforts focused on sovereign, currency and interest rate risks.

Scott MacDonald

Dr. MacDonald had served as the Chief Economist and Director at KWR International, consulting for the Korean and Japanese governments and private sector investors prior to joining Aladdin. Previously he was Director of Sovereign Research at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ). Before joining DLJ Dr. MacDonald was the Sovereign Analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston focusing on Asian sovereign and state-owned companies. From 1995 through 1999 he was consistently rated as one of the top analysts by Institutional Investor. Dr. MacDonald has also worked for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Brady Plan debt re-schedulings for Argentina and Brazil, and European and Canadian banking issues. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Connecticut, his MA in Far Eastern Studies from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, and his BA in Political Science (with Honors) and History from Trinity College. Dr. MacDonald has authored, co-authored and edited sixteen books, and has been a commentator on both television and in the financial press.

Pekka Sutela

Pekka Sutela is a nonresident senior associate in the Carnegie Endowment’s Russia and Eurasia Program, where his research focuses on the economies of Eurasia, especially Russia. Sutela is also the principal adviser for monetary policy and research at the Bank of Finland.

Prior to joining the Bank of Finland in 1990, he was senior researcher at the Academy of Finland (1986–1990), visiting researcher at the Bundesinstitut für Ostwissenschaftliche und internationelle Studien in Cologne (1989–1990), and visiting researcher at the Centre for Russian and East European Studies at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom (1989).

Sutela has published several monographs on Soviet and Russian economic affairs, including Economic Thought and Economic Reform in the Soviet Union (Cambridge University Press, 1991) and Rossiya I Evropa: Nekotorye aspekty vzaimootnoshenii (Carnegie Moscow Center, 2003).

Stefan Ingves

Governor, Sveriges Riksbank

Stefan Ingves was appointed Chairman of the Executive Board and Governor of the Riksbank on 1 January 2006 for a term of six years. Mr. Ingves is also a member of the ECB General Council and a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). He is Sweden’s governor in the International Monetary Fund.

Erkki Liikanen

Personal details
Born in Mikkeli, Finland, 19 September 1950
Married, two children

Education
Masters Degree in Political Science (Economics), University of Helsinki 1975

Present position
Chairman of the Board (Governor) of the Bank of Finland, 12 July 2004–

Other positions
Member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, 2004–
Governor of the International Monetary Fund for Finland, 2004–
President of the Finnish Red Cross, since 8 June 2008–

Career
1999–2004 Member of the European Commission for Enterprise and Information Society, Brussels

1995–1999 Member of the European Commission for Budget; Personnel and administration, Brussels

1990–1994 Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Head of Finnish Mission to the European Union, Brussels

1987–1990 Minister of Finance for Finland

1983–1987 Member of the Parliamentary Supervisory Council of the Bank of Finland (Vice-Chairman)

1981–1987 Secretary-General of the Social Democratic Party

1980–1989 Member and subsequently Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Outokumpu Corporation

1978, 1982, 1988 Elected as Member of the Electoral College to select the Finnish President

1972–1990 Member of Parliament; member of Cultural Affairs Committee (1972–1975), Agriculture and Forestry Committee (Vice-Chairman) (1977–1979), Foreign Affairs Committee (member 1975–1982; Chairman 1983–1987)
Honorary doctorates
D.Sc. (Tech.), Helsinki University of Technology, Finland, 2003
D.Sc. (Econ.). Aalto University School of Economics, Finland, 2011

Michael Drury

Chief Economist, McVean Trading & Investments

Michael Drury is the Chief Economist for McVean Trading & Investments, LLC. He joined the firm in 1992, after serving for five years as Vice President and Senior Economist with Allen Sinai at Shearson Lehman Brothers and his successor firm, The Boston Company Economic Advisors (both subsidies of American Express). Michael began his career in New York in 1982 as Senior Economist at A. Gary Shilling and Company. He completed his undergraduate education at the Georgia Institute of Technology and did his graduate work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Christian Noyer

Governor, Banque de France

Christian Noyer has been Governor of the Banque de France since November 2003. In November 2009, he was reappointed for a second six-year term. He is a member of the Governing Council and General Council of the European Central Bank (ECB).

Christian Noyer was born on 6 October 1950 in Soisy-sous-Montmorency, near Paris. He studied law and subsequently graduated from the Institut d’études politiques de Paris and the École nationale d’administration.

Charles I. Plosser

President & CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Dr. Charles Plosser is president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. In his current role, he participates on the Federal Reserve System’s Federal Open Market Committee, which is responsible for conducting our nation’s monetary policy.

Dr. Plosser joined the Philadelphia Fed in 2006. During his term, he and his colleagues have faced the challenges of a global financial crisis followed by a severe recession. The Federal Reserve took unprecedented actions, in both monetary policy and in its lending operations, that helped mitigate the effects of the financial crisis and address deteriorating economic growth.