Francis Gross

Head of External Statistics, Directorate General Statistics
European Central Bank

Francis’ Division, located within the Directorate General Statistics of the ECB, is responsible for the external statistics of the euro area (balance of payments, international investment position, foreign direct investment, etc.) and coordinates their harmonisation across the EU. It also runs and further develops the Centralized Securities Database (CSDB), which holds reference and price data for individual securities used for producing euro area statistics. The Division also manages the provision of all market data services for the ECB.

Before joining the ECB in 2001, Francis worked for 15 years in the automotive industry. He joined Mercedes-Benz in 1986, and later moved to Mannesmann-VDO as Head of Strategic Planning. His roles ranged from materials research to globalization, with a focus on Asia. He subsequently worked at Rieter AG, focussing on post-merger integration and process development. Francis joined the ECB as Head of the Organisational Planning Division; he moved to his current position in 2006.

An engineering graduate of Ecole Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, Paris, Francis also holds an MBA from Henley Management College, UK.

Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Francis.

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Day 1

Thursday, December 11th, 2014

10:45 DROP-IN CLINICS – Spend 15 minutes with an expert!

These bespoke sessions run by proven leaders on key subject matters provide you with the opportunity to address your specific concerns in the privacy of a 1-2-1 meeting. Book your clinic in advance on the topic that is highest on your priority list. Prepare your questions for the clinic leader in advance to best benefit from your exclusive 1-2-1 time. You'll leave your personalised session armed with fresh inspiration, a bespoke, practical toolkit and an action plan.

1. Data governance: Expert -Emma Ede, Head of Data Governance & Operations, Investment Operations, M&G Investments

2. Structured and unstructured data: Experts: Llew Nagle, Head of Data Quality & James Longstaff, VP, Data Architecture, Deutsche Bank

3. MiFid II Expert: Silvano Stagni, Group Head of Marketing & Research, Hatstand

4. Licensing of index data and commercial policies: - Graham Downie, Market Data Relationship Manager, Standard Life Investments

14:10 Flash Panel: Assessing the strategic development and direction of Global LEIs – the true implications to your data business

Everyone agrees LEI is good for businesses, good for customers and good for the regulators. Ever since FIMA conference started 11 years ago the issue of standards and standardisation has been core to every data manager’s agenda. Banks and buy side have been pushing to adopt one legal entity identifier to get rid of huge inconsistencies, silos and the overload of data processing work. LEIs are now on the regulator’s agenda and seem to be getting close to reality. Find out the latest by joining this informative panel.