Board of Directors

Thomas Leysen became Chairman of Umicore in November 2008 after having served as Chief Executive Officer of Umicore since 2000. Since October 2011 he is Chairman of the board of KBC Group, a banking and insurance group. He is also Chairman of Corelio, a Belgian media company, and a member of the supervisory Board of Bank Metzler, Germany.

Director since : 10 May 2000
Expiration of mandate : Ordinary General Meeting of 2015
Chairman since : 19 November 2008
Chairman of the Nomination & Remuneration Committee since: 19 November 2008

Marc Grynberg was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Umicore in November 2008. He was head of the Group's Automotive Catalysts business unit from 2006 to 2008 and served as Umicore's CFO from 2000 until 2006. He joined Umicore in 1996 as Group Controller. Marc holds a Commercial Engineering degree from the University of Brussels (Ecole de Commerce Solvay) and, prior to joining Umicore, worked for DuPont de Nemours in Brussels and Geneva.

Director since: 19 November 2008
Expiry of mandate: Ordinary General Meeting of 2015
Chief Executive Officer since: 19 November 2008

Uwe-Ernst Bufe was CEO of Degussa until May 2000. He is a member of the Advisory Board of Akzo Nobel N.V. (Netherlands).

Director since : 26 May 2004
Expiration of mandate : Ordinary General Meeting of 2014

Ines Kolmsee holds several degrees in engineering (TU Berlin, Germany and Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne, France) as well as an MBA degree (Business School INSEAD – France/Singapore). Since 2004 she has been CEO of SKW Stahl-Metallurgie Group, a specialty chemicals company with operations worldwide. She is also a member of the Supervisory Board of Fuchs Petrolub AG. In the past she occupied different positions, including as CFO at Arques Industries AG.

Director since : 26 April 2011
Expiration of mandate : Ordinary General Meeting of 2014
Member of the Audit Committee since: 26 April 2011

Shohei Naito started his career at the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the Ministry he served as Director General for Consular Affairs & Migration and as Chief of Protocol. Mr Naito has filled several diplomatic functions overseas and he was appointed as ambassador in 1996. Since that date he has served as Japan’s ambassador to Cambodia, Denmark concurrently with Lithuania and Belgium. He left the diplomatic service at the end of 2006.

Director since: 25 April 2007
Expiry of mandate: Ordinary General Meeting of 2014

Mr. Thomaes, of Belgian nationality, studied law at the University of Antwerp. From 2004 to 2012 he was the Chief Executive Officer of the Belgian employers’ federation (FEB-VBO). He previously served as Managing Director and Chairman of the management committee of Alcatel Bell. He is currently Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce in Belgium and is a member of the Board of Regents of the National Bank of Belgium. His other mandates include being Chairman of RESTORE, an Antwerp-based energy technology start-up company as well as serving as Chairman of Healthcare Belgium, a non-profit organization promoting the internationalization of the Belgian medical sector.

Director since: 24 April 2012
Expiration of mandate: Ordinary General Meeting of 2015
Member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee since: 24 April 2012

Mr. Frans (baron) van Daele, of Belgian nationality, joined the Belgian diplomatic corps in 1971. His most recent post prior to retirement in 2012 was as Chief of Staff to Herman Van Rompuy, the President of the European Council. Between 2007 and 2009 he served as Belgium’s permanent representative to NATO and between 2002 and 2006 he was Belgium’s ambassador to the United States. His diplomatic career also included postings to the United Nations, Greece, Italy and a period as Director General of Political Affairs at the Belgian Foreign Ministry. He has a Master’s Degree in Philosophy and Arts from the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL) where he is currently a Board member and President of the Alumni Association. He advises Deloitte as Senior Advisor for International and Government Affairs and holds Board positions in several cultural organizations and think tanks.

Director since: 30 April 2013
Expiration of mandate: Ordinary General Meeting of 2016
 

Isabelle Bouillot holds a diploma of the French “National School of Administration”. She has occupied different positions in French public administrations, among them economic advisor for the President of the Republic between 1989 and 1991 and Budget Director at the Ministry of Economy and Finance between 1991 and 1995. She joined the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations as Deputy Chief Executive Officer in 1995 and was in charge of financial and banking activities. Between 2000 and 2003, she was Chief Executive Officer of the Investment Bank of the Group CDC IXIS. She is presently President of China Equity Links and a member of the board of Saint-Gobain.

Director since: 14 April 2004
Expiration of mandate : Ordinary General Meeting of 2016
Member of the Audit Committee since: 13 April 2005
Member of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee since: 13 April 2005

Arnoud de Pret was with Morgan Guaranty Trust Company in New York from 1972 until 1978. From 1978 until 1981 he was group treasurer of Cockerill-Sambre, and until 1990 he was group finance manager and member of the Executive Committee of UCB. He was Chief Financial Officer and member of the Executive Committee of Umicore from 1991 until May 2000. He is a member of the Board of Sibelco, UCB and L’Intégrale. He is a member of the Supervisory Board of Euronext Amsterdam N.V.

Director since : 10 May 2000
Expiration of mandate :Ordinary General Meeting of 2014
Member of the Audit Committee since: 1 January 2001
Chairman of the Audit Committee since: 26 April 2011

Jonathan Oppenheimer joined the De Beers Group in 1994 and was a Director of De Beers S.A. from 2006 to August 2012. He was Managing Director of De Beers Consolidated Mining between 2004 and 2006,  a member of the Executive Committee of De Beers S.A., as well as chairman of De Beers Canada Inc. and of Element Six Abrasives Group of companies until 2012.

Director since : 5 September 2001
Expiration of mandate :Ordinary General Meeting of 2014

Klaus Wendel, after a career in financial management with General Electric (USA), Siemens, Cockerill Sambre and CBR, joined Société Générale de Belgique in 1988 as member of the Executive Committee, responsible for group control. Since 2000 he has been an independent consultant.

Director since : 28 December 1989
Expiration of mandate :Ordinary General Meeting of 2014