Wealth Management & Private Banking Summit - Russia & CIS

Maxim Alekseyev is a co-founder and Senior Partner of ALRUD, head of ALRUD Private client and Tax practices. He graduated from the Moscow State University of International Relations.

Maxim is an expert in foreign economic and business activity, investments, corporate and commercial issues. Maxim Alekseyev leads projects dealing both with Russian and foreign partners within the territory of Russia and abroad. In his private client practice, Maxim Alekseyev has extensive experience in advising high wealth individuals on various types of issues to help them manage and secure their assets, business and family relations. He advises clients on different aspects of estate planning and administration, personal wealth management, as well as family business governance, risk management in respect of assets protection. Maxim is also highly recognized in domestic and international taxation projects, including resolution of tax disputes. Maxim Alekseyev is acknowledged as a leading Russian expert focusing on private wealth planning, succession, on-shore and off-shore structures, private banking and individual taxation.

Maxim is an author of numerous publications, including Russian chapters for Thomson Reuters' Private Client Tax and Art Collecting Legal Handbook editions, STEP - Family Office and Getting the Deal Through - Private Client.

Maxim Alekseyev is a member of the International Bar Association (IBA), the American Bar Association (ABA), the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA) and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). He is also a frequent speaker at foreign and domestic conferences and seminars.

Evgenia Tyurikova was appointed Head of Sberbank Private Banking in March 2016. Evgenia is responsible for the Sberbank Private Banking development strategy. Her goals include enhancing the quality of customer service, developing the philosophy and annual review of Sberbank Private Banking’s investment strategy, and expanding the product suite through internal resources and by broadening partnership programmes. Evgenia reports directly to Alexander Torbakhov, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank.

Evgenia has more than two decades of financial sector experience. She joined Sberbank Private Banking from Summa Group, where she was Vice President for Finance and Economics (CFO) since 2009. Prior to that she was Director of the Treasury, Accounting and Tax Planning Department at West Siberian Resources Ltd (Alliance Oil Company). From 2005-2006 she was CFO at Kommersant publishing house. Evgenia began her career at BFG Credit Commercial Bank in 1994, and left the bank as CFO.

Evgenia graduated from Moscow State Law Academy with a major in Law, and received a certificate from the professional tax advisor of the Russian Ministry of Finance, as well as an IAS certificate from ACCA. She also holds an MBA in Financial Management. Evgenia is a member of the Russian Association of Independent Directors, and a member of the board in a number of companies.

Svetlana Grigorian majored in finance and also has a degree in social psychology. She started her career in the banking sector in 1996, and managed relationships with institutional partners for leading commercial banks in Moscow. In 2007 Svetlana became the head of funding and capital management division of Raiffeisenbank Russia and was responsible for investor relations and funding transactions. She has been the head of Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen since 2011. This division of Raiffeisenbank Russia specialises in financial solutions for HNWIs.

Elena Andrianova is a Managing Director and Head of Rothschild Trust Russia, Ukraine & CIS. Her focus is on business strategy development and key client relationships in this region.

She joined Rothschild Trust in 2012 from a leading Swiss bank, UBS (Zurich office), where she was a Client Advisor for Ultra High Net Worth clients from the Russia/CIS region. Before joining UBS in 2008, Elena was a Senior Attorney at PricewaterhouseCoopers Moscow for five years.

Elena has over 10 years’ experience of advising wealthy families on private and corporate asset ownership structuring, complex matrimonial and succession planning, protection of assets and preservation of wealth for the next generations.

Elena has a PhD in international private law (Russian School of Private law, Leiden University). She is a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and holds a Diploma in International Trust Management (London).

Elena is a native Russian speaker and fluent in English.

Rustam began his career as a legal advisor at Dialog Optim LLC.

• From 2002 to 2009 worked at Financial Bridge Investment Company, starting as a senior legal consultant and eventually becoming the company’s President and CEO;
• joined the asset management division of Fleming Family & Partners in 2010 as its CEO;
• was appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Fleming Family & Partners Russia in 2011;
• in 2012 in collaboration with Mark Garber, Ian Hannam and Denis Sukhanov, bought out the Russian division of FF&P to establish GHP Group;
• has been the CEO of GHP Group since 2012.

Rustam Iseev graduated from the Higher School of Economics, specialising in financial legislation. Mr Iseev holds a PhD in legal studies.

Evgeny Sivoushkov is a Director in Human Resource Services group in PwC Moscow, and is an Executive MBA.  Evgeny has over 22 years of experience working within the tax departments of Big 4 auditing firms including the last 18 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Evgeny specialises in the provision of advice on personal income tax, payroll issues and social security, international tax planning for individuals.

Evgeny is one of the most recognised and well known Russian experts on the individual taxation.  Evgeny is frequently  invited to take part in various  governmental committees and expert groups involved in work on amendments to the Russian Tax Code  and other legislative reforms.

Evgeny has participated in a number of international conferences and has contributed several articles to the tax related journals. Evgeny is a regular speaker on PwC briefings and round tables.

Professional qualification:

1980-1985 Moscow State Lomonosov University, Economics

1996-1997 Ecole Nationale Des Ponts et Chaussees, University of Bristol, Executive MBA

Dmitry Klenov joined UFG Wealth Management in 2005 as a legal Counsel. In his current position as UFG Wealth Management Partner, Mr. Klenov oversees law practice. His area of responsibilities include capital structuring, inheritance, tax and immigration law, and also legal support of M&A deals. Dmitry specialises in international corporate law and has advised clients on acquisition of real estate, structuring of investment projects, development projects, real estate financing, leasing of commercial property and property management.

Prior to taking up his position, he worked for one of the leading development companies in Moscow. The position entailed a wide range of responsibilities in optimising real estate management, analysis of construction investment projects and the reorientation of real estate to match development objectives. From 2000 to 2003, Mr. Klenov held the position of project manager of construction company, working on such significant construction projects as the Lefortovo tunnel (on Moscow's third ring road), the bridge over the Moscow river (by Christ the Saviour Cathedral).

He holds a Master's degree in International and EU Law from Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Since 2015 Svetlana Fyodorova has been working as a marketing director at Prime Property Group (Cyprus). She has more than 10 years of experience in marketing, advertising and PR. As a part of the position, she is responsible for developing the company's marketing strategy and promoting its services in such markets as  CIS, China, United Kingdom and the Middle East. Prime Property Group has been operating since 2003. The main directions of Prime Property Group's work are: Property Development (dozens of own development projects); Real Estate Brokerage ; Immigration To EU by Investment( Cyprus permanent residency permit for property buyers and EU citizenship by investment in real estate); Rentals and rental management and Technical maintenance of your property . Thus, the work of the company is aimed at providing an extensive service for investors and property buyers in Cyprus.

2013 - 2015 - head of PR department of the international holding company (Cyprus)

2005 - 2010 - PR Director and Head of Projects Department in Media Holding (Latvia)

2003 – 2007  – Social Psychology (BA)

George Campanellas is a member of the Board of Directors of the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency since 2015.

A highly motivated, creative and versatile professional with a wide range of technical skills and expertise, he has gained valuable management experience from the various demanding positions he served in the public sector.  

George started his career as an Economist at the Commission for the Protection of Competition in 2002, handling a number of anti-trust and merger cases with National and European dimension and representing Cyprus to various European and International competition networks and forums. In 2008, was assigned to the Ministry of Health where he served as the Head of the Office of the Minister. Since 2013, he has been working with the Minister of Energy, Commerce, Industry & Tourism and is amongst others responsible for the coordination of investment and energy affairs.

He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International and European Economic Studies, a Master’s Degree in Public Sector Management and an MBA in Oil, Gas & Energy Management, all under scholarships. During the span of his 14-year career, he has attended numerous conferences, seminars and in-house training programs, and has participated in various staff exchange programs of the European Commission and other EU member-states.   

As Head of Pafilia Office in Moscow, Sergey Filatov represents one of the largest privately owned companies in Cyprus Pafilia Property Developers LTD since 2012. Sergey specializes in Cyprus Citizenship Through Investment Program. He runs professional consultations on investments, property acquisition, citizenship application process,  documents and eligibility criteria.

In March 2014 the Cyprus Government announced changes to the legislation that enables foreign investors to become Cypriot (EU) citizens. Pafilia has 100% approval rate and provides legal guarantees to its customers for returning the investment in case if citizenship is not approved.

 In 2017 Cyprus citizenship program remains the fastest in Europe. Pafilia values its clients’ time and money and provides services of the highest level.

Les Khan, PMP, MSOC, BBA, is Chief Executive Officer of the St Kitts and Nevis Citizenship Investment Unit. He has over 20 years of experience with large financial organizations and risk management companies globally. For the last two years, Mr. Khan has been intimately involved in the revamping of the Citizenship by Investment Unit in St. Kitts and Nevis, and has become a resident expert on citizenship programs within the Caribbean.

Familiar with instituting risk management practices in numerous organizations internationally, Les’ experience in leading teams in phases of transition brings valuable experience to corporate, financial clients and governments across the globe. Les has also led initiatives to automate the CBI programs and has been instrumental in leading regional conferences, bringing representatives from the various regional CIU’s together with representatives from the US, UK, Canada, EU and the IMF.

Prior to working with the Government of St Kitts and Nevis, Les was the Senior Director, Program Management at IPSA International. He was a Senior Vice President and Director of Operations for Northern Operating Services; a Vice President and Head of Operations for Northern Trust Company; a Managing Director for Financial Software Systems; and the Head of Global Business/Technology Services for the National Australia Bank. And other senior positions at major financial institutions within the United States.

Originally from Trinidad, Les is a member of the Project Management Institute and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) in addition to being a member of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) and the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). Les earned his Master’s Degree in Counseling from the University of South Australia and his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and Finance from Baruch College, New York.

Alexander joined Barclays Private Bank as Director /Private Banker in 2015.

He has over 20 years of experience in investment and private banking solutions to UHNWI and their Corporates in Russia and the CEE region. Prior to joining Barclays, in the early part of his career, he worked as Director for Eastern Europe for the biggest Russian steel producer, based in Germany and Austria. In 2006 Alexander moved into banking as Head of Metals and Mining (Investment Banking) at Standard Bank and later joined Unicredit Bank as Management Director and Head of Metals and Mining. In 2013 he moved to London to join Citi Private Bank as Director for Russia and CIS, working with UHNW clients.

Alexander graduated from Moscow State Lomonosov University in 1996. He is an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Securities & Investment and holds CISI Diploma.

Mr Ryabov joined UniCredit Bank as Head of Private Banking Russia in 2011 from the position of the Head of Business Development at Allianz ROSNO Asset Management. He started his career in finance at CitiBank in 2002, where he gained a wide experience of operating with private equity. In 2005 from the position of Senior Citi Gold Executive Mr Ryabov assumed his new responsibilities as Mutual Funds Sales Director at UFG Asset Management where in 2008 he was transferred to the position of Director at Deutsche UFG Capital Management.

Mrs. Sakharova has more than ten years of experience in private banking and wealth management industry, building up and managing Swiss offices for Russian-based investment companies, banks and private clients. Mrs. Sakharova has been working as a Vice President at Renaissance Group, overseeing private banking and wealth management business processes in Zurich, Moscow, London, Guernsey and Luxembourg, and prior to Renaissance, - in Citigroup Moscow.

Mrs. Sakharova holds a banking degree from the Financial Academy under the Government of the RF and a law degree from Moscow State Law Academy. She also graduated from BPP Law School in London, GDL. Mrs. Sakharova is a Member of the Association of the Independent Directors.

Stefano has been practicing law since 1994. After graduating from University of Milan in Italy, School of Law, he attended the Master in tax law at Ipsoa in Milan. He started practicing tax law at a prominent Italian law firm and then worked for two years at ENI as in-house tax counsel in charge of the restructuring of the foreign corporate structure and planning of large oil projects. Then, he moved to Freshfields and, subsequently, became tax partner in Ashurst LLp and Bryan Cave LLp, assisting large domestic and international clients on both domestic and cross border transactions. Since 2016 he joined Belluzzo & Partners in Milan where he practices tax law and is focused on tax advice and planning for private and corporate clients. He is the author of contributions on tax magazines and speaker in tax events

Anastasia Soldatova is the Wealth Management Head for Citi Russia leading the product lines which include Liabilities products, Transaction Banking, Investments (Structured products, International and Local Mutual funds, Brokerage), Life Insurance, PPI, Foreign exchange and Treasury. Anastasia oversees wealth management business development, new product launches, vendor relations, client advisory, portfolio and performance analysis since 2010 covering Emerging Affluent, Affluent and Private Client segments. Under her leadership, Citi got recognized as one of the top banks of choice for High Net Worth Individuals both in terms of product proposition and service. Recently Citi got prestigious award from Frank Research Group as one of the best bank for affluent clients, which is true testimony of the quality of products and services we provide. 

Anastasia has 16 years very diverse banking experience in Business, Commercial Banking and Credit Risk. Prior to her current role she was Commercial Bank Business Development and Portfolio Management Head. She was one of the founding members to launch Citi Commercial bank in Russia in 2007 establishing strong product proposition for SME/MME client segments, making sure productivity and efficiency targets are met.  

Anastasia joined Citi in 2002 and worked across variety of leadership roles in Consumer and Commercial Bank in Russia. She was instrumental in setting up Consumer business in Russia (worked in Credit Risk and Franchise expansion departments).

Anastasia graduated from Plekhanov Russian University of Economics and holds Master degree in Finance of Middlesex University of London, UK.

May 2015-present:  Managing Director of Phoenix Advisors, a new Ruben Vardanyan business project providing complex services to transfer wealth to clients’ successors, including family governance, legal and tax structuring, contingency planning, co-management of clients’ business and private assets, and protection of client holdings and management structures.

2009–2015: Co-Founder, Board member, COO and Head of the multi-family office Third Rome, an international investment group with offices in Switzerland, London and Moscow providing family office, asset management, and private equity services  to UHNWIs.   

2004-2009: Director and Head of Structured Solutions at Renaissance Investment Management (the largest independent asset management group in Russia before the 2008 crisis). Responsible for the development of all Group products, consulting, asset structuring and protection and M&A deal structuring and execution.

Started his career in 1997 in tax and legal department of Big 4 (Arthur Andersen/EY), in 2000-2004 worked as a Co-head of single family offices for couple of UHNWIs.

Graduated with honours  Russian Economic Academy in 1997, PhD

Jan van Bueren, LLM, TEP, is Head Wealth Planning Zurich at the Swiss private bank Union Bancaire Privée (UBP) and Co-Founder of UBP’s family office advisory service - FOSS Family Office Services Switzerland (FOSS).

Jan holds a Master’s degree in Tax Law (1997). He worked, among others, as a tax advisor at PricewaterhouseCoopers with a focus on large family-owned companies and their owners, and as a senior legal counsel with the financial supervisory authority in the Netherlands. He joined ABN AMRO Bank (Switzerland) AG in 2006, which was acquired by UBP in 2011.

Jan van Bueren deals, on a daily basis, with complex international wealth planning issues for internationally oriented affluent families, tax efficient corporate structures, universal life insurance, international relocation schemes and (wealth protection) structures such as trusts and family foundations. He has been a full member of STEP since 2010.

Through FOSS Jan assists families with the establishment of a single-family office or alternatively supports them with the selection of a multi-family office in Switzerland or abroad. FOSS also regularly supports affluent families with relocation to fiscally (more) attractive jurisdictions.

Victoria  Vella  is  a  law  professional  fluent  in  Russian  and  English,  with  years  of  experience working in immigration. Her core area of expertise lies in advising high net worth individuals (HNWIs) on global immigration matters.

Mrs Vella, a qualified Russian lawyer, also holds an LLM in International Trade and Commercial Law from the United Kingdom.  She also obtained a degree in Public Administration and Interpretation, with a focus on Russian, English, and German.

Mrs Vella currently works at CS Global Partners, where she is both a Legal Advisor and the Head of the Russia and CIS Desk. She frequently travels to Russia and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries to meet with clients and partners. She is also regularly invited to attend and give speeches at immigration-related events.  Mrs Vella is highly practised in helping high net worth individuals looking to obtain a second citizenship or an alternative residence, in particular in the countries offering citizenship by investment in the Caribbean, and in European countries offering similar citizenship or residence programmes.

Dmitry Vodchits

Dmitry takes part in projects for development of secure business structures, protection of assets, bankruptcy, maintenance of tax audits and consulting on tax, corporate and civil laws.

KSK group

KSK group is the only company in the Russian market rendering comprehensive business consulting services. Our clients represent medium and large businesses. For 22 years, KSK group experts have implemented 4,000 projects for 1,000 clients.

KSK group is a team consisting of 500 professionals. The company offers a full range of services and solutions for business:

• audit according to Russian and international standards;
• tax and legal consulting;
• outsourcing and automation of business processes;
• solutions to attract funding;
• marketing solutions and development of business strategies;
• management and human resources consulting;
• assessment and expert examination;
• support of capital operations;
• due diligence.

In 2015, the company was ranked 14th on the largest audit and consulting groups list (according to Expert RA). The company is the leader in Russia in the following areas:
• legal consulting – 1st place;
• tax consulting – 3rd place;
• strategic consulting – 6th place;
• IT-consulting (management consulting) – 9th place;
• assessment activity – 10th place

Group-IB is one of the global leaders in preventing and investigating high-tech crimes and online fraud. Since 2003, the company has been active in the field of computer forensics and information security, protecting the largest international companies against financial losses and reputation risks. Group-IB has a wealth of experience solving cybercrimes around the world, with a profound and unparalleled expertise regarding Russian‑speaking criminal groups. Our mission is to protect clients in cyberspace with innovative products and services.

Ayshat is a Russian qualified tax lawyer and a UK qualified tax technician. She is a key member of the Russia & CIS team at Withers and has over seven years of experience in international tax consulting for UHNW. Is and wealthy families from Russia and the CIS. Ayshat focuses on international cross border complex tax and succession issues. She has particular expertise in UK pre-immigration tax planning, structuring inbound UK real estate investments and international family wealth and governance planning. Advised a number of prominent Russian and Ukrainian families on international private wealth structuring matters.Advised Russian and CIS HNWIs on UK tax relocation matters and UK residential and commercial property complex ownership structures.Advised a large Ukrainian consumer products and retail group on an international holding and financing corporate structure.Advised a number of Swiss banks, multi-family offices and international fiduciaries on Russian tax, wealth planning solutions and succession issues for Russian clients.Advised a large investment fund on the Russian tax implications of investing in Russian financial instruments.Coordinated international multi-function teams on complex international corporate restructuring projects and real estate acquisitions in the EU and the United States.

For the last 10 years Alexey has been holding top positions at the leading Russian banks. He is engaged in building and developing effective service system for local HNW clients within Russian banks and private banking/ private wealth managemеnt/ family office/ mass affluent technologies. His acedemic portfolio includes a range of works on Russian HNW clients services (including the first book in Russia on VIP-clients services), adapting and implementing private banking and family office technologies in Russia.

Yelena’s primary focus over the past years has been international tax consulting and tax structuring for UHNW and multinational companies from various jurisdictions, including CIS and Russia.

Having both financial and legal degrees and practising in several jurisdictions (starting with UK, moving to Austria and recently focusing on structuring involving Liechtenstein foundations and trusts), Yelena has been dealing with complex issues to propose tax efficient cross-border structures for her clients. Apart from the tax and legal advisory practice, her daily work involves a coordination of various parties to complex international corporate restructuring projects, such as family offices, international trust companies, tax, finance and legal professionals from all parts of the world.    

Furthermore, Yelena is a qualified compliance specialist (CAMS), Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP), a member of the IBA and IFA, holding degrees in Business Law (Kings College London), Economics (London School of Economics), LL.M. in international tax law (Vienna University of Economics and Business) and a M.Sc. in Finance (UBC Vancouver).

Described as very professional and with a strong personality and an uncanny ability to understand client needs, Josef brings a wealth of knowledge and over a decade of experience to the company. This includes asset management, private banking, portfolio management, and export and trade finance to name a few. His knowledge of the Russian market extends to the language, culture and mentality of the people. This was gained while reading Eastern European history and literature at the University of Zurich and from his career start in Yekaterinburg in the Ural in the early 1990s. His network of contacts in Switzerland extends to banks, financial institutions and beyond. He is a recognized private banking expert and pioneer in introducing the asset manager-client-bank idea to the Russian and Eastern European market. Prior to his chairmanship at AXIOMA, Josef was Director for Regional Development at Renaissance Investment Management. He also worked at UBS AG in Zurich as a client advisor. Josef is a member of the Swiss Association of Asset Managers. He is married and has a daughter. Apart from Russian, Josef is also fluent in German, English and French.