[IMA&ABSL] Future of Finance

Alain Mulder, Senior Director Europe Operations – IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants)

Alain Mulder is IMA’s Senior Director Europe Operations and is based in IMA’s Amsterdam office. Alain is responsible for the European operations of IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants) and the growth of the CMA® (Certified Management Accountant) program in Europe. IMA® (Institute of Management Accountants) is the worldwide association of accountants and financial professionals in the business. Founded in 1919, we are one of the largest and most respected associations focused exclusively on advancing the management accounting profession.  We are committed to empowering our 140,000+ members—and those throughout the rest of the profession—to strengthen on-the-job skills, better manage companies, and accelerate careers.

Prior to joining IMA, Mulder worked at the Institute of International Research, where he conducted market research on developments in the accountancy, finance, and IT markets. He also worked for several U.S. organizations in a pan-European business development role, where he was focusing on market and client research, and growth of the client portfolio.

Odysseas Christodoulou – CEO of Globaltraining

Odysseas Christodoulou worked in the accounting profession as an auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers and in the banking sector with Lombard Natwest Bank and Cyprus Popular Bank.  He served as a member of the Board of Directors of various listed companies for over a decade and as a non-executive Director of Ancoria Bank.  His areas of expertise include cost and management accounting, financial management and performance measurement.

Odysseas is co-founder and CEO of Globaltraining, an international organization specializing in professional education for the financial sector. He is a member of the Board of Directors of EDEX – Educational Excellence Corporation, operating the University of Nicosia, Globaltraining, Intecollege, St George’s University of London Medical School and UNIC Online. He is an elected Council member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Cyprus (ICPAC) and was also representing Cyprus for six years in the International Assembly of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), as an elected member.

Grete Buivydaite, Business Development Europe – IMA^®

Grete Buivydaite is a Business Development specialist at IMA’s Amsterdam office, responsible for creating and maintaining long term relationships with customers and the growth of CMA candidates within Europe region. Previously, Grete worked in various sales and consultancy positions, such as portfolio management and the analysis and implications of renewable energy market development. Grete holds a MSc degree in Sustainable Development from Utrecht University and BSc in Environmental Engineering.

Mihai Vladescu is CFO of Societe Generale European Business Services, company located in Bucharest, Romania, with over 2500 employees. SG EBS provides high-quality professional services in various fields of activity to Group entities around the world (finance / accounting, procurement, human resources, IT and Know Your Customer).

Mihai is a finance professional, with over 18 years of experience in this field. Prior joining SG EBS, for the last 7 years, Mihai held different executive positions within leading companies of the industry where he was responsible for creating and maintaining the financial strategy and control of multiple regions.

He holds a MBA degree from CNAM Paris/ASE and Bachelor of Economics from Academy of Economical Studies in Bucharest, Romania.

Liana Hanganu,  Senior Finance Manager, Bucharest Site Lead, Finance – DXC Technology

Liana Hanganu is the lead of Finance decision support team of DXC Technology, a highly qualified team of professionals providing finance services to customers from various locations in Europe.

DXC Technology is a global IT service leader with about 6.000 private and public-sector clients and presence in 70 countries helping customers to modernize IT, optimize data architecture through IT outsourcing, cloud and security, applications, analytics and engineering.

Liana has over 20 years of experience in finance with more than 12 years spent in various finance leadership roles in banking and IT services industries.

She is ACCA, CIA certified and holds a Master degree in Finance and Management accounting from IAE Orléans France.

Mihaela Ionescu – Director Markets, KPMG Romania

Mihaela has a long-standing experience with international companies in various industries such as IT&C, pharma, retail, advertising and tobacco, of which last 10 years in executive finance roles.

After experience gathered within real business, covering all areas from Accounting and Tax towards Controlling and CFO roles, leading major transformational projects such as changing the business model, insourcing vs outsourcing, she decided to do a challenging step towards enriching other business with her relevant professional and leadership experience and joined KPMG Romania as Director, Markets.

Previously, she was Regional CFO Microsoft Romania, Greece, Cyprus and Malta, CFO Boehringer Ingelheim and Head of Finance & Accounting with Metro Cash & Carry.

Mihaela’s belief is that any business is an infinite game and thus, only building sustainable strategies and engaging the right teams to execute these strategies can ensure long-term success of the business, meaning team being proud for continuously achieving the next step.”