BUREAU VERITAS - Changes to Bureau Veritas’ corporate governance

PRESS RELEASE

Neuilly-sur-Seine, France – 22 June 2023

Changes to Bureau Veritas’ corporate governance

• Hinda Gharbi is appointed Chief Executive Officer
• Laurent Mignon is appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors
• Pascal Lebard is appointed Lead Independent Director and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors
• Creation of a CSR Committee¹ within the Bureau Veritas Board of Directors

Following the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting on June 22, the Board of Directors of Bureau Veritas, chaired by Aldo Cardoso, has decided to appoint Hinda Gharbi as Chief Executive Officer of Bureau Veritas with effect from today, succeeding Didier Michaud-Daniel.

Aldo Cardoso said: "The Board of Directors of Bureau Veritas would like to express its sincere thanks to Didier Michaud-Daniel for the tremendous work he has accomplished at the Group over more than 10 years, and the major role he has played in shaping Bureau Veritas' success. Under his leadership, Bureau Veritas has grown from strength to strength, with sales up by more than 65% over the period, over 80,000 employees with renowned expertise, 400,000 clients worldwide, and extremely strong financial structure. Bureau Veritas has reinforced its international presence, particularly in Asia and North America, and has become a key player in corporate sustainability services. On behalf of the entire Board of Directors,
I would like to wish Hinda Gharbi every success in her new role.”

Aldo Cardoso has resigned from his positions as Chairman of the Board and Director of the Company following 17 years on the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors has unanimously resolved to appoint Laurent Mignon as Chairman of the Board with effect from today.

Aldo Cardoso has played a key role in all Bureau Veritas' major strategic moves. He joined the Board of Directors as a non-voting member in 2005 and became a Director and Chairman of the Audit & Risk Committee in 2009, before being appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2017.

Laurent Mignon said: "The Board of Directors would like to pay tribute to Aldo Cardoso's commitment throughout his years as Chairman in leading the work of the Board and its committees, together with management, to support Bureau Veritas' development for the benefit of the Group and its shareholders. The role he has played in supporting the management transition from Didier Michaud-Daniel to Hinda Gharbi was particularly valuable. I am extremely honored to be appointed Chairman of the Board of Bureau Veritas to serve all shareholders, as a new chapter in the Group's history opens with the appointment of Hinda Gharbi."

On the recommendation of the Nomination & Compensation Committee, the Board has appointed Pascal Lebard as Lead Independent Director and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors. Pascal Lebard has sat on the Bureau Veritas Board as an independent director since 2013, and is Chairman of the Nomination & Compensation Committee.

The Board also decided to set up a CSR Committee, which will be chaired by Ana Giros Calpe.

The Board also decided to appoint Julie Avrane as Chair of the Strategy Committee, replacing Laurent Mignon.

All Bureau Veritas Board Committees are now chaired by an independent director.

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Biography: Hinda Gharbi

Hinda Gharbi joined Bureau Veritas as Chief Operating Officer and member of the Group Executive Committee on May 1, 2022. On January 1, 2023, Hinda Gharbi became Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Bureau Veritas.
With a degree in Electrical Engineering from the École Nationale Supérieure d’Ingénieurs Électriciens de Grenoble, and a Master of Science in signal processing from the Institut Polytechnique de Grenoble, in 1996 Hinda joined the Schlumberger group, a global technology leader in the energy sector. During her 26 years with the Group, Hinda held a variety of general management positions in operations for Schlumberger’s core business activities at a global and regional level. She also assumed cross‐functional responsibilities including Human Resources, Technology Development and Health, Safety and Environment. From 2017, she was a member of the Executive Committee of Schlumberger and from July 2020, she was Executive Vice President, Services and Equipment. In this role, she headed all oil services divisions and digital topics for the group.

Biography: Laurent Mignon

Laurent Mignon has been Chairman of the Executive Board of Wendel since December 2, 2022, and joined the Board of Directors of Bureau Veritas on December 15, 2022. Prior to joining Wendel, Laurent Mignon held various positions within Groupe BPCE from 2009 to 2022, where he was Chief Executive Officer of Natixis and a member of BPCE's General Management Committee (including member of the Executive Board from 2013) from 2009 to May 2018, and Chairman of Groupe BPCE's Executive Board from May 2018 to December 2022. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Natixis, as a Director of CNP Assurances and as a non‐voting member of the Board of Fimalac.
Laurent Mignon worked for Banque lndosuez for more than 10 years, first in capital markets, then in corporate and investment banking. In 1996, he joined Schroders bank in London, before joining AGF (Assurances Générales de France) in 1997 as Chief Financial Officer. He was appointed to the Executive Committee of AGF in 1998, becoming Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of Banque AGF, AGF Asset Management and AGF Immobilier in 2002, then in charge of life insurance, financial services and credit insurance in 2003. In 2006, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Committee. From 2007 to 2009, he was Managing Partner at Oddo & Cie.
In addition to his role within the Wendel Group, Laurent Mignon sits on the Board of Directors of LVMH. He is also a non-voting Board member of Oddo BHF.
Laurent Mignon graduated from HEC in 1986, and has also completed Stanford's Executive Program.

Biography: Pascal Lebard
Pascal Lebard was co‐opted as a Director of the Company by the Board of Directors on December 13, 2013. He began his career as Business Manager at Crédit Commercial de France (1986‐1989), before joining 3i SA as Managing Partner (1989‐1991). In 1991, he became Director of Ifint, now Exor Group (the Agnelli group). In 2003, he joined Worms & Cie (which became Sequana in 2005) as a member of the Supervisory Board (2003‐2004) and as a member and then Chairman of the Executive Board (2004‐2005). He was a Board Director of SGS from 2004 to 2009. He became Deputy Managing Director of Sequana in 2005 and Chief Executive Officer in 2007. He was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in June 2013. He was CEO of Arjowigggins and Antalis from 2007 to 2020 Pascal Lebard is a graduate of EDHEC business school. He has been Chairman of Equerre Capital Partners since 2021.

Biography: Ana Giros Calpe

Ana Giros Calpe has been a member of the Board of Directors since May 16, 2017. Ana Giros Calpe is Deputy Managing Director of the EQUANS Group (a subsidiary of the Bouygues Group) in charge of Strategy, Development and CSR, and Executive Chairman BELUX - ANZ. 
Ana Giros Calpe is a graduate of the UPC engineering school in Barcelona, of INSEAD business school in France, and of Switzerland’s IMD business school. She held various positions within the Suez group, including Executive Vice‐President in charge of International Affairs, and within Alstom Group, as Chief Executive Officer of Alstom Transport France.

Biography: Julie Avrane

Julie Avrane was appointed a director of Bureau Veritas on June 25, 2021. Julie Avrane is a former Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company in France, specializing in high technology, advanced industries and talent/ future of work. She has worked with major clients across Europe in the high-tech, aerospace and defense, transportation and mobility sectors. She has 25 years' experience in management consulting, with expertise in digital, corporate strategy, growth, organization, transformation, mergers, culture and change management. A graduate of the École Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications de Paris and the Collège des Ingénieurs, Julie Avrane also holds an MBA from INSEAD. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Valeo, representing FSP, and is also a Director of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Exail Technologies, Groupe Monnoyeur and Crouzet.

About Bureau Veritas

Bureau Veritas is a world leader in laboratory testing, inspection and certification services. Created in 1828, the Group has more than 82,000 employees located in nearly 1,600 offices and laboratories around the globe. Bureau Veritas helps its 400,000 clients improve their performance by offering services and innovative solutions in order to ensure that their assets, products, infrastructure and processes meet standards and regulations in terms of quality, health and safety, environmental protection and social responsibility.

Bureau Veritas is listed on Euronext Paris and belongs to the CAC 40 ESG, CAC Next 20 and SBF 120 indices. Compartment A, ISIN code FR 0006174348, stock symbol: BVI.
For more information, visit www.bureauveritas.com, and follow us on Twitter (@bureauveritas) and LinkedIn.

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ANALYST / INVESTOR CONTACTS		MEDIA CONTACTS
Laurent Brunelle		Caroline Ponsi Khider
+33 (0)1 55 24 76 09		+33 (0)7 52 60 89 78
laurent.brunelle@bureauveritas.com		caroline.ponsi-khider@bureauveritas.com
Colin Verbrugghe		Primatice Conseil
+33 (0)1 55 24 77 80 colin.verbrugghe@bureauveritas.com		Thomas de Climens thomasdeclimens@primatice.com
		Armand Rigaudy armandrigaudy@primatice.com

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1 CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility

 

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