Planet Finance France

Cedric Olivestone, Chairman

Born in England, Cedric Olivestone emigrated to Israel in 1966. After his arrival, Cedric joined Bank Leumi, starting a 40 years bank career from which he retired only in 2006. In his 40 years in Bank Leumi, Cedric held several key positions, among which, from 1988 till his retirement, the position of Executive Vice President responsible for the International Banking Relations Department. This included managing and controlling the department responsible for the Bank's overall Global counter party and country risk in billions of dollars within appropriate credit limits. During this time, Cedric worked closely with risk management and dealing room staff, accompanying the Chairman and CEO on foreign travel while travelling to over 75 countries including Arab capitals, hosting foreign bankers and delegations.

Other previous positions of Cedric include Senior Manager responsible for FX Dealing Room, Head Office TA, Chairman of the Israel FX Association, Manager of Bank Leumi, Beverly Hills, CA and Executive Vice President in charge of Leumi Securities, NY.

Today, Cedric is involved in philanthropic matters in Israel, principally through the Olivestone Trust, and PlaNet Finance Israel.

Gil Erez, Vice Chairman

Gil is currently working as Advocate and CEO for a single family office, representing international clientele in global investments and providing comprehensive solutions to their wealth management needs both on investment and legal aspects.

Before establishing investment policies through diversification and strategic planning, Gil worked for Amit, Pollak, Matalon & Co., a leading Israeli law firm specializing in corporate law headquartered in Tel Aviv.

Before that, and after completing a LLB at the University of Tel Aviv and a LLM at the Pantheon-Sorbonne in French and European Law in Paris, Gil Erez worked in the wealth management sector by joining the Evens Group in Paris, managing the family’s investments worldwide.

Since 2003, Gil has been very active in a number of philanthropic organizations, among which PlaNet Finance Israel, an Israeli amuta which Gil co-founded with Gilles Darmon in 2007, as well as the Olivestone Trust, which Gil founded and in which he now holds the position of Executive Director.
The Olivestone Trust supports projects and initiatives the field of co-existence between Jews and Arabs in Israel, with a focus on education, culture and entrepreneurship.

Among other directorships in investment and private real estate companies and funds, Gil is also a Director at the Mydas Investment Fund (MYDS – Tel Aviv Stock Exchange), an Israel-based company engaged in investment in real estate in Israel and worldwide.

Jacques Attali, Director

Professor, writer, Honorary Member of the Council of State, Special Adviser to the President of the Republic from 1981 to 1991, Founder and first President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London from 1991 to 1993, Jacques Attali is currently CEO of A&A, an international consulting firm specialised in new technologies, based in Paris.

Jacques is also the Founder and President of PlaNet Finance Group, an international non-profit organisation advising and assisting microfinance institutions.

Jacques Attali further founded Action Contre la Faim in 1980 and the European programme Eurêka, a major European programme on new technologies that invented, among others, the MP3. In 1989, Jacques also launched an international program addressing the disastrous floods in Bangladesh.

Arnaud Ventura, Director

Arnaud Ventura is currently President of MicroCred S.A.'s Board of Directors and Vice-President of PlaNet Finance Group. Arnaud founded MicroCred in 2005 and served as CEO of the organization. Prior to founding MicroCred, Arnaud co-founded and managed the NGO PlaNet Finance Group from 1998 to 2005.

As CEO of PlaNet Finance, Arnaud led the development of PlaNet Finance from a modest provider of microfinance services to a diversified microfinance group providing consulting and technical assistance as well as rating and specialized financial services. The organization also includes FinanCités, a venture capital company serving vulnerable urban neighborhoods in France, and PlaNet Guarantee, a microinsurance provider.

Before co-founding PlaNet Finance, Arnaud worked for BNP Paribas in France and Argentina from 1995 to 1998. Prior to that, Arnaud participated in the creation of two leading Internet service providers in France and in Thailand.

Arnaud holds a diploma of EFREI (Ecole Française d'Electronique et d'Informatique) in Paris.

François Durollet, Director

As PlaNet Finance Group's Managing Director, François Durollet is in charge of managing and supervising the activities of the NGO and its international network: the provision of technical assistance to the microfinance sector, the entity PlaNet University and all internal support services.

Previous to joining PlaNet Finance, François Durollet worked for twenty years within the financial institution Dexia Crédit Local, where he held a variety of management positions, ranging from important commercial functions, to support function management, including Risk, Finance, Internal Audit, and network management. Before he left Dexia for PlaNet Finance, François managed the international network of Dexia Crédit Local, creating and coordinating new subsidiaries and branches in many countries.

François Durollet started his career in public interest, and urban decentralisation planning, serving as Managing Director of Services in a town of 40,000 inhabitants close to Paris and working in a ministerial cabinet.

François Durollet holds a Postgraduate degree in Law and Public Finance from the University Panthéon-Sorbonne in Paris.

Gilles Darmon , Director

Former Vice President of the Fantine Group and Founder of Coronis Bio Development, Gilles is currently the CEO of TEO Life, and is responsible for more than 100 management consulting projects throughout Europe.
At the end of the 1990's, Gilles decided to enter the life sciences industry after identifying the lack of consulting services in this thriving sector. Beyond his business activity, Gilles is a philanthropist who regards his activities in the medical industry as a modest contribution to life sciences. As a talent scout, he has taken part in the launching of dozens of revolutionary medical discoveries.

In addition to his responsibilities as head of Teo, Gilles serves as the special French foreign exchange market advisor to Israel, in charge of the life sciences sector.

Gilles Darmon is also the Founder and Chairman of Latet, the Israeli international humanitarian aid organization. He holds an MBA from the Sorbonne University, Paris.

Nissim Bar El

Nissim Bar-El is the Founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Comsec Consulting. With more than 20 years experience in the information security field to global multi-national organizations, Nissim has managed and conducted large-scale security projects for leading organizations worldwide including international banks, telecom operators, major industrial corporations, government entities, and leading insurance companies.

Nissim actively participates and lectures on security-related subjects at key international conferences such as Computer Security, Cyber Terror, Security Market Trends, National Infrastructures Security, and International Security Standards & Regulations. In his function as security expert, Nissim further served as the first Israeli member of the Permanent Stakeholders' Group of the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), the leading organization in setting the Pan-European Information Security agenda. As a member of the Information Security Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Chairman of the Israeli Banking Association Security Committee, Nissim Bar-El is an integral part of diverse national information security committees, personally contributing to the development and formulation of legislation, standards, regulations, and methodologies in the field of information security.

Mr. Bar-El is a Board member of LATET, the Israeli international humanitarian aid organization.

Pierre Besnainou, Director

Born in Tunisia, Pierre Besnainou began his career as business entrepreneur first in electronic goods and then in internet services.

Since 2001, Pierre has fully devoted his time to the European Jewish Community, ‘unity’, ‘solidarity’ and ‘dialogue’ being the main themes of his work. In 2004, Pierre founded the foundation AMI to support French Jews in their emigration to and absorption process in Israel.

On June 19th, 2006, succeeding David de Rothschild, Pierre was elected President of the United Jewish Appeal & President of Unified Jewish Social Fund, an association representing Jewish associations in the fields of social, cultural, educational and youth matters.
While acting as the former President of the European Jewish Congress from 2005 to 2007, Pierre helped fight anti-Semitism, develop the dialogue between Jews and Muslims and federate the Jewish communities of Europe.

In 2007, Pierre was decorated with the ‘Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur” by French President Jacques Chirac.

Among others, Pierre also holds the following positions: President of French Judaism Foundation; member of the Board of Governors for the Jewish Agency for Israel and member of the Board of Governors for the Shimon Peres Center for Peace.

Nissim Zvili, Director

Born in Tunisia, Nissim Zvili emigrated to Israel at a young age. Nissim graduated from an agricultural high school after which he took courses in political sciences at Bar-Ilan University and in public administration at Oxford and Cambridge.

Nissim began his political career during the 1980s and was elected as secretary general of the Moshav movement. As a member of the Labor Party, Nissim was a keen supporter of Shimon Peres as party leader. Among his public appointments were his memberships in the executive of the Jewish Agency and of the Histadrut's central committee.

Nissim Zvili entered the Knesset as a representative for Labor in the 1992 elections, where he was re-elected in 1996. Shortly after entering the Knesset, in October 1992 Nissim was also elected Secretary General of the party, maintaining the post until January 1998. In 1999 Nissim broke from the Labor parliamentary group to become a founding member of the Center Party.

Between 2002 and 2005 Nissim served as Israel's Ambassador to France, as a political appointment by Minister of Foreign Affairs Shimon Peres.

In 2009, Alstom, the French global infrastructure group, appointed Nissim Zvili President of Alstom Israel.