Executive board

Rémy Jacob, member

Born in France in 1950, a graduate from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce et d’Administration des Entreprises de Dijon, Rémy Jacob joined the Finance directorate of the European Investment Bank (EIB) in 1973. At the EIB he held a series of senior positions including Head of Personnel Administration, Director of information technology, Director of General Affairs, Deputy Secretary General, and Director General of the Strategy and Corporate Centre. From 2000 to 2012 he was an alternate member of the Board of the European Investment Fund, the venture capital and guarantee arm of the EIB Group. In 2012, he contributed to the creation of the EIB Institute, which supports European initiatives for the common good and of which he was Dean until his retirement in 2014.

He is presently member of the Board of the non-governmental organization ADA-Appui au Développement Autonome, which specializes in poverty reduction and microfinance.

Rémy was President of microlux's Executive Board for its first 5 years, until June 2021.

Achim Gehlen, member

Achim Gehlen is in charge of the restructuring and recovery department at BGL BNP Paribas.

Achim obtained a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Liège and completed his studies with a degree in Business Administration at the University of Louvain. Before joining the bank, he worked as a project engineer in a Luxembourgish company. Within the bank he held various positions in different fields: responsible of performance management, implementation of the contact centre and creation of the internal control function for the payment department.  

He joined microlux in July 2018 as a boardmember.

Karin Schintgen, member

Karin was CEO of the HOST (House of Start-ups) in 2018 and 2019, she was also the founder and CEO of lux future lab and has been director of the CSR Accelerator, the sustainability department of BGL BNP Paribas. With an international education background in law and finance and a broad career path in banking, media and public affairs, Karin has occupied leading positions at Citibank in New York, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Luxembourg and at RTL Group.

In 2010, Karin was given the mission to define a sustainability strategy for BGL BNP Paribas and impact the social and economic dynamics of Luxembourg. After launching lux future lab, the first incubator created by a bank in Europe, Karin was intensively engaged in setting up microlux, the first microfinance institution for Luxembourg.

Peter Vermeulen, member

Peter Vermeulen is Director of Legal and Compliance at Groupe Foyer, an insurance and asset management company. He is Secretary of the Board of Foyer S.A. and chairs the Corporate Social Responsibility ("CSR") Committee. Before joining Foyer, he worked as a lawyer in law firms in Brussels, Frankfurt and Luxembourg and as a lawyer with a Luxembourg bank.

He joined microlux in October 2018 as a board member.

Matthieu Barrier, member

Matthieu has more than 20 years of experience in a microfinace institution. He was first Loan Officer for Adie and became regional director when Adie opened its regional office in Corsica. He also opened Adie in Burgundy Franche-Comté, then in overseas France (Reunion Island and Mayotte). He has led projects to develop information systems, implement a quality and satisfaction approach throughout the network, and worked on risk prevention and reduction. He is also involved in support missions for microfinance institutions in Europe and develops Adie's technical assistance missions for microfinance institutions in Europe and overseas. -

Matthieu joined microlux in October 2018 as a Board member.

Samuel Clause, observer

Samuel joined the European Investment Fund in 2010 as a senior member of the microfinance team. A mathematician and financer by training, his professional experience combines banking in project and leverage finance, two creations of companies – of which one social enterprise – and working for an NGO where he launched and led a team investing worldwide in MFIs. This vast experience acquired in a variety of situations concretized in the microfinance field where Samuel found his professional passion and is active since 2006.

He now concentrates at EIF on the structuring of guarantees and funding transaction to foster the microfinance and social enterprises sector in Europe in the view to help creating more opportunities for vulnerable people and foster job creation in the continent. Samuel also represents EIF in a series of Board of Directors of MFIs and Funds and is a regular speaker on the microfinance and inclusive finance topic in a leading French business school.