Thierry Philipponnat

After graduating from Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and training as an economist (Master’s degree in economics), Thierry Philipponnat started a career in finance in 1985, holding different positions in commercial and investment banking, working successively for BFCE, O’Connor & Associates, Exane, UBS Ltd and BNP Paribas. In 2004 he was appointed global head of equity derivatives of Euronext.liffe and a member of the executive committees of Euronext in Paris and LIFFE in London.

After leaving the finance industry, Thierry crossed into the NGO world, campaigning and lobbying on behalf of Amnesty International, with a particular emphasis on corporate social responsibility and on the impact of the financial sector on human rights. He was later elected as an Executive Board member of Amnesty International France.

In 2011, he co-founded the European NGO Finance Watch in Brussels, which he managed as its first Secretary General until 2014. Subsequently, he became Chairman of the French Sustainable Investment Forum (FIR), a Board member of the European Sustainable Investment Forum (EUROSIF) and Director of the economic think tank Institut Friedland.

Thierry Philipponnat was a member of the Board of the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) between 2013 and 2022 where he chaired the Climate and Sustainable Finance Commission and the Market consultative Commission, and a member of the Sanctions Committee of the French Banks and Insurance Companies Supervisor (ACPR), of its Scientific Committee and of its Climate and Sustainable Finance Commission between 2015 and 2024.

He was also a member of the European Commission’s first Platform on sustainable finance between 2020 and 2022. He is a member of EFRAG’s Sustainability Reporting Board.

Thierry is the author of several books and numerous articles on finance, financial regulation, sustainable finance, socially responsible investment and corporate social responsibility.

In October 2019, Finance Watch appointed Thierry Philipponnat as Head of Research and Advocacy. In January 2022, he was appointed Chief Economist.