Governance & Funding

Governance

Finance Watch is committed to transparency, independence and good governance. Our full governance arrangements are contained in the Articles of Association and summarised here:

The General Assembly is Finance Watch’s highest governance body and comprises all Finance Watch members. It meets at least once a year to debate and approve Finance Watch’s key action priorities, approve the budget and accounts, elect board directors, approve members of the Committee of Transparency and Independence and other business.

The Board of Directors comprises nine members elected from the General Assembly of Members including six representatives of Member Organisations and three individual Qualified Members. Directors sit for three years, renewable once. The current Board (see below) was elected at the inaugural General Meeting in Brussels on 30 June 2011 and will serve until 2014 (see press release from that meeting).

The Committee of Transparency and Independence contains between three and five members, proposed by the Board and approved by the Assembly for a term of three years, renewable once. The Committee must approve all applications from new Finance Watch members and all funding proposals. It is responsible for safeguarding the independence of Finance Watch’s advocacy and avoiding conflicts of interest concerning membership and funding.

Board members and Committee members are not paid for their services.

The Secretary General is appointed by the Board of Directors for a term of five years, renewable once. The Secretary General reports to the Board and can be dismissed by them. The Secretary General has day-to-day responsibility for the staff, strategy, operations and output of Finance Watch. The Secretary General for the period 2011-2016, Thierry Philipponnat (biography), was appointed on 30 June 2011.

The Board of Directors for 2011-2014 are:

 Ieke van den Burg, Member of the Scientific Committee of the European Systemic Risk Board, former Member of the European Parliament (chair)
 European Consumers’ Organisation (BEUC), represented by Monique Goyens, BEUC Director General (vice chair)
 European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), represented by Andreas Botsch, ETUC Special Advisor
 UNI Europa, represented by Oliver Roethig, UNI Europa acting Regional Secretary
 Friends of the Earth Europe (FOEE), represented by Paul de Clerck, coordinator of FOEE’s Economic Justice Program
 Transparency International EU Office, represented by Jacques Terray, Vice-President of TI France and member of TI International Board of Directors
 Philippe Loumeau, Independent consultant, former Chief Operating Officer of Montréal Exchange, former Board member of Boston Options Exchange
 Wolfgang Koehler, freelance journalist and author, former business and financial editor of “Die Zeit” and former financial editor of “Wirtschaftswoche”

The Committee of Transparency and Independence for 2011-2014 are:

 Michael Wiehen (German), who has been associated with Transparency International since 1995 and has served on the Boards of both Transparency International and Transparency International – Germany for several terms. Previously he held a number of executive positions at the World Bank and worked for two years at Dresdner Bank in Frankfurt.

 William Dinan (Irish), who teaches at the University of Strathclyde (Sociology) and is an expert in lobbying practice and governance. He is a member of the steering committee of the Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU).

 Genevieve Ferone (French), who is a lawyer specialized in corporate sustainability and social responsibility. She founded ARESE, a leading French CSR rating agency. She is currently Director of Sustainable Development at Veolia Environnement, after holding the same position at Eiffage from 2006 to 2008 and has previous experience at, among others, the International Energy Agency, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Funding

Finance Watch relies on membership fees, grants and donations for its work and welcomes all suitable funding approaches and ideas. If you would like to join the many generous individuals who have supported us so far please visit the secure online donations page, where you can become a regular supporter or make a one-off donation. If you would like to discuss an institutional funding proposal, please contact Sylvie Delassus on +32 (0)2 401 8707 or sylvie-delassus@finance-watch.org.

List of Finance Watch’s current funders (as of 1 December 2011):

 Adessium Foundation
 Maecenata Stiftung
Fondation pour le Progrès de l’Homme
Novethic
 Private donors (c.200)
 Members (54)

Please note that Finance Watch does not accept money from the financial industry or its lobby. All institutional funding must be approved by the Committee of Transparency and Independence to ensure that it:

 is unconditional,
 does not divert Finance Watch from its mission, and
 has no negative impact on Finance Watch’s independence.