Seasoned treasurer Jean-Marc Servat has taken over from Richard Raeburn as chairman of the European Association of Corporate Treasurers (EACT).
One of Europe’s most influential professional bodies, the EACT represents 21 national treasury organisations, comprising around 13,000 members who work in more than 6,000 companies or groups.
In the run-up to his presidency, Servat carved out an impressive private-sector career that began with various financial positions at Dow Chemical.
Following those roles, he went on hold treasury and foreign exchange positions at Nokia, Citibank and Lukoil, before joining Cisco Systems in 2008.
He left as head of global credit in July 2013 to become principal at Finance Lighthouse Sarl.
With that wealth of corporate experience under his belt, Servat went on to represent ACTSR on the EACT board – making his new role a natural transition.
Raeburn has welcomed his successor’s appointment.
“There is still an enormous opportunity for the EACT to contribute to strengthening the treasury profession in Europe,” he said, “and to influence the development of policy as this impacts treasury management. I’m confident that Jean-Marc will do an excellent leadership job at the head of the EACT.”
Servat added: “I’m very excited to be taking over as EACT chairman at a time when our voice continues to be vitally important in helping to build strong treasury management and careers for European treasurers.
“Against this background, I will continue to seek to provide a unifying focus for issues that, on a European level, affect how the members of the national associations can operate.”