Moscow – Xavier Rolet has been nominated as a candidate for election to the Board of Directors of PhosAgro ("PhosAgro" or "the Company") (Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR), one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, by the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders scheduled for 30 May 2018.
The list of candidates for the new Board of Directors was reviewed at a recent meeting of the Remuneration and Human Resources Committee of the Board of Directors of PhosAgro as part of a discussion on the assessment of professional qualifications and independence of candidates nominated to the Board of Directors.
In addition to Xavier Rolet, who has not previously served as a member of the Company’s Board of Directors, the other candidates who have been nominated as Independent Directors on the basis of their strong reputation among investors are Sven Ombudstvedt, Chairman of PhosAgro’s Board of Directors; Marcus Rhodes, Chairman of the Audit Committee of PhosAgro’s Board of Directors; Irina Bokova, the first female Director-General of UNESCO, who held this position for two four-year terms from 2009 to 2017; legendary international investor Jim Rogers; world-renowned scientist Natalia Pashkevich; and Andrey Sharonov, who has extensive experience both in government and the investment business.
Xavier Rolet successfully headed the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), Europe’s leading exchange group, for nine years. Under his leadership, LSEG successfully implemented a strategy that developed the exchange as a global financial institution and established a strong management team. Under Xavier’s leadership, LSEG has become a truly diversified player in the global financial infrastructure, whose market capitalisation has grown from £800 million to £14 billion. In 2017, the Harvard Business Review included him in their list of the best-performing CEOs in the world.
Xavier, with his extensive professional experience, would strengthen the Company’s Board of Directors, helping to further diversity the mix of skills and experience its members bring. He will also contribute to the further improvement of PhosAgro’s corporate governance system. The Company intends to continue to develop its corporate governance in line with global best practices.
PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev said:
“We would be delighted to welcome Xavier Rolet to the Board of Directors. Under his successful leadership, Europe’s leading stock exchange significantly increased its market capitalisation. He has invaluable capital markets experience thanks to his long tenure at the head of a large international financial institution with a UK listing. His exceptional knowledge of best practices in corporate governance and information disclosure for financial markets would also be useful to our company.”
Biographical information
Xavier R. Rolet was the CEO of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) from May 2009 to December 2017. Under his leadership, the company acquired MillenniumIT (2009), Turquoise Holdings Ltd (2010), FTSE Group (2011), TRS (2011), GATElab Srl (2012), EuroTLX Srl (2013), LCH.Clearnet (2013), Bonds.com (2014), Exactpro(2015), XTF (2015) and the Frank Russell Company (2014) from Northwestern Mutual, which in October 2015 sold its asset management division to TA Associates and Reverence Capital Partners. In 2016, he acquired Mergent, Inc. and the Yield-Book & Citigroup’s Global Fixed Income Index Business from Citigroup, making FTSE Russell the largest index company in the world with ca $15 trillion of assets under benchmark. In October 2015, LSE Group launched Curve Global, a new futures exchange co-owned with Barclays Bank, Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Société Générale, BNP Paribas and the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Under his tenure, the value of the London Stock Exchange Group increased from £800 million to £14 billion. Prior to joining the London Stock Exchange Group, Xavier Rolet worked for Lehman Brothers, Kleinwort Benson, CS First Boston and Goldman, Sachs & Co.
After graduating from the KEDGE Business School with an MSc in management science and finance in 1981, Xavier served as a second lieutenant and instructor at the French Air Force Academy, and earned an MBA from Columbia Business School in 1984 and a post-graduate degree from Paris-based IHEDN (Institute of Advanced Studies in National Defence) in 2008.
Xavier then became a member of the European Securities Markets Expert Group of the European Commission, a member of the French Government’s Conseil Stratégique de l’Attractivité(“Strategic Council for Attractiveness”), a board member of the American Chamber of Commerce in France, and a member of Chatham House in London.
Xavier is a member of the Board of Overseers of Columbia University Business School, an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investments FSCI (Hon), and was a member of the Financial Services Trade and Investment Board of HM Treasury (FSTIB). Since Oct 2017, he has been a member of the Committee of Expert Advisers at the Department for International Trade. He was also a member of Prime Minister David Cameron’s Business Advisory Group and was a member of the Governor of the Bank of England’s Financial Services Forum and of the Bank of England’s Open Forum. In October 2015, he was appointed an Honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In December 2015, he was appointed Echansonnier ‘A Camera Paramenti’ of the Echansonnerie de Châteauneuf-du-Pape. In January 2016, President of France Francois Hollande made him a Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour of the French Republic. In July 2016, he was made an Officer of the Royal Sharifian Order of Al-Alaoui (Order of OuissamAlaouite) by His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco. In 2017, the highly respected Harvard Business Review included him on their list of the best-performing 100 CEOs in the world. Futures & Options World awarded him its 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award. He received the same Lifetime Management award in 2018 from both Risk Magazine and the City of London Wealth Management Association.
He was awarded the Order of Friendship of the Russian Federation (Орден Дружбы) by Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko on behalf of Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Lavrov.