(L-R) Laurent Zahles, future Chairman of the Management Board; Guy Hoffmann, Chairman of the Board of Directors; Yves Biewer, current Chairman of the Management Board; Credit: Banque Raiffeisen

Banque Raiffeisen has announced changes to its Management Board, which will take effect on 1 November 2023 and 1 January 2024.

At the end of 2023, Yves Biewer is due to retire from his position as Chairman of Banque Raiffeisen’s Management Board. Yves Biewer holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of Liège and has held several management positions in Luxembourg-based banking institutions (UBS, ING and BIL). After serving as CEO of Experta Corporate and Trust Services, he joined Banque Raiffeisen in 2013. Before joining the Management Board as a Member in October 2014 and being appointed its chairman on 1 November 2020, Yves Biewer was responsible for retail clients.

During his chairmanship, the bank was confronted with several major crises affecting the national, European, and global economies, including the COVID-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine. According to Banque Raiffeisen, Yves Biewer, with the support of the other members of the Management Board and the bank’s staff, adopted a cautious policy and succeeded in safeguarding the continuity and solidity of the company’s business model, while preserving its ambition to support ethical and sustainable economic development, in accordance with the values of the cooperative bank.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and the entire bank, Guy Hoffmann expressed his gratitude towards Yves Biewer for his "exceptional" performance and "exemplary" commitment to serving Banque Raiffeisen, its employees, partners and customers.

Following the retirement of Yves Biewer, Laurent Zahles, currently a member of the Management Board, will take up the position of Chairman of the Management Board of Banque Raiffeisen on 1 January 2024. Laurent Zahles holds a Master’s degree in Business Economics and Management from the Université Louis Pasteur (Strasbourg) and has spent his entire career in banking. After starting his career at Banque Générale du Luxembourg, Laurent Zahles joined Banque Raiffeisen in 2007, where he took charge of various departments. In February 2009, he was appointed Head of the Corporate Department, in April 2011, he became Deputy Director of Banque Raiffeisen; in August 2013, he became Deputy Director, in charge of the Specialised Business Customers Department and in January 2016, he was appointed Director of Banque Raiffeisen, in charge of the commercial bank. He became a member of the Management Board of Banque Raiffeisen in April 2020.

Guy Hoffmann, Chairman of the Board of Directors, welcomed the appointment of Laurent Zahles, saying: “Mr Zahles’ experience and know-how are invaluable to our bank and will enable us to develop our position in the Luxembourg banking market, as well as to meet the many challenges that await us in the coming years.”

Two months prior to the handover of responsibilities from Yves Biewer to Laurent Zahles, Sandrine De Vuyst will join Banque Raiffeisen’s Management Board as a member. Sandrine De Vuyst holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the European University of Antwerp, a Financial Analyst certification (Algafi, Luxembourg) and also participated in various training courses at IMD (Lausanne). She has spent her entire career at ING Luxembourg, where she held different positions in portfolio management and investment funds before taking charge of private banking, and then joining the Management Board as an Associate Member in 2013. Her responsibilities have been enlarged to include responsibility for Retail & Private Banking, including corporate services,  since 2023.

As the current Chairman of the Management Board of Banque Raiffeisen, Yves Biewer welcomed Sandrine De Vuyst to the Management Board of Banque Raiffeisen on 1 November 2023: “Her professional experience in commercial banking and her deep sense of human values are undoubted assets for our Management Board and for the entire Bank.”

Guy Hoffmann expressed his delight at seeing that continuity will be assured: “As Luxembourg’s only cooperative bank, Raiffeisen aims to develop its activities while remaining faithful to its cooperative values. I am convinced that Laurent Zahles will be able to guide the Bank through its next phase of growth and help it to become more responsive to customer requirements in a constantly changing environment.”