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FUNCTIONS

Richard TOBIN
Chief Financial Officer and IT
Nationality
American
Date of birth
1963
Richard was appointed the SGS Group Chief Financial Officer in 2004 after holding the position of Chief Operating Officer SGS North America since 2002. Prior to joining SGS, he held business general management positions with Alcan Aluminium of Montreal, Canada and the Alu-Suisse Lonza Group of Zurich, Switzerland from 1995. Previously, he spent seven years with the GTE Corporation of Stamford Connecticut in international marketing. A former army officer, he holds a BA degree from Norwich University and a Masters of Business Administration degree from Drexel University.
Jean-Luc de BUMAN
Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications & IR
Nationality
Swiss
Date of birth
1953
Jean-Luc spent the first part of his career in the financial industry. He joined SGS in 1998 and is responsible for all aspects of internal and external communication as well as for the relationship between the company and the investor community.
Olivier MERKT
Senior Vice President, Legal & Compliance
Nationality
Swiss
Date of birth
1962
Olivier was appointed General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for SGS in August 2008. Previously, he was vice president corporate development for the group. He has joined SGS in 2001 as in-house counsel. Prior to joining SGS, he was active in private practices, ultimately with Ernst & Young Legal in Geneva. Olivier holds a Doctorate degree in law from the Université of Neuchâtel Switzerland and an LLM degree from Cambridge University.
Francis LACROZE
Senior Vice President, Strategy & Continuous Improvement
Nationality
French
Date of birth
1953
Francis is Senior Vice president in charge of Continuous Improvement a position he has held since 2007. In 2004 Francis was made Executive Vice President Agricultural Services and prior to this was allotted the role of Executive Vice President for Systems and Services Certification for SGS from 2002. In 1998 he worked as Regional Sector Manager for Consumer Services Europe Africa & Middle East after having been appointed General Manager for Consumer Testing Services and Quality Services (Certification Services) in 1997. He was Division Manager and General Manager for Coprod (France) before this from 1990. It is in 1987 that Francis started with SGS in the Agricultural Services department as an Assistant Division Manager. Francis received a doctorate in Economics in 1981 and before this a degree in Agronomy in 1977.