Georges Ugeux – Keynote Speaker

Georges Ugeux is the former Group Executive Vice President, International & Research at the New York Stock Exchange, is a widely sought after and internationally renowned expert in global finance and economics, with more than four decades of experience spanning from public to private sector, commercial to investment banking in Europe, Asia and the United States. He is founder and CEO of Galileo Global Advisors in New York City and teaches International Banking and Finance at Columbia Law School.

As a thought leader, speaker and author, Georges offers a unique and humanistic perspective on the financial, social and political issues surrounding complex topics in the world of global finance and economics. He addresses the factual and technical aspects of these issues as well as their more societal significance and consequences. Additionally, his experience in the regulatory and political dimensions of financial issues provides insight into the complexity of the “new” world of finance that is currently being structured by authorities.

Georges Ugeux is founder and CEO of Galileo Global Advisors. Founded in 2003, Galileo is a New-York based advisory investment bank specializing in cross border advisory services, Mergers and Acquisitions and capital raising with a strong focus on Asia and emerging markets. Prior to founding Galileo, Georges was Group Executive Vice President, International & Research at the New York Stock Exchange. He built and managed the Exchange’s International Group and spearheaded the listing of 308 companies from 43 countries of the 470 non-US companies listed on the NYSE with an aggregate value of $2.7 trillion. During this same period, the NYSE’s international trading moved from 40 to 140 million shares a day.

Georges teaches “International Banking and Finance” at Columbia Law School and is a visiting professor at Sorbonne University Paris I. He has held teaching positions at the Catholic University of Louvain, the College of Europe in Bruges and had associations with the program on International Financial Systems of Harvard Law School. These positions led him to publish “The betrayal of Finance: Twelve reforms to restore confidence” in French, English and Flemish in 2011. In 2017, this book was updated and published in Chinese by Oriental Publishing in Beijing, China. “International Finance Regulation: The Quest for Financial Stability” was published in 2014 by John Wiley & Sons as part of Wiley & Sons’ Finance Series.

After studies in philosophy, economy and law and the Catholic University of Louvain, Georges embraced an impressive and diverse career: head of investment banking and trust at Société Générale de Banque (now BNP Paribas Fortis) in Belgium, Managing Director at Morgan Stanley International and Kidder Peabody in London, Finance Director of Société Générale de Belgique (now part of the French utilities group GDF Suez), President of the European Investment Fund, and Chairman of the Kingdom of Belgium’s privatization commission.

Prior to the financial crisis of 2008, Georges Ugeux was critical of the optimism of bankers and authorities. After the collapse, he became a voice in the international media and is frequently interviewed as an expert on a variety of global topics. He was invited by Le Monde.fr to write a regular blog on “Demystifying Finance,” which was immediately awarded “best economic blog” by Challenges, a leading French magazine. Subsequently, Georges was invited to blog on Huffington Post.com in the United States.

Georges Ugeux is fearless in his desire to address difficult and complicated topics and is praised by audiences for his candor, clarity and ability to deconstruct complex issues while offering a perspective that is both fresh and forward thinking.