About

Richard Price is the Legal & Corporate Affairs Director of Anglo American plc, one of the world’s largest mining companies.

Anglo American has a globally diversified range of mines and exploration properties across a number of commodities including copper, diamonds (through De Beers), platinum, iron ore and coal. Prior to joining Anglo American Richard was a corporate partner at a leading international law firm where he practiced as a New York qualified lawyer in London, Singapore and Toronto. In private practice, he advised clients in relation to capital markets offerings (raising well in excess of $50 billion), disclosure issues, corporate governance, compliance and mergers and acquisitions.

Caroline Cox was appointed Chief Legal, Governance & External Affairs Officer for BHP in November 2020.

In that role, Caroline leads a global team across Europe, North and South America, Australia and Asia, covering Legal, Governance, Compliance, Ethics, Sustainability, Corporate Affairs and Communications.

Prior to BHP, Caroline was a Partner at Herbert Smith Freehills specialising in cross-border transactions, disputes and regulatory investigations. Earlier in her career, Caroline was a solicitor at the Canadian law firm, Osler Hoskin & Harcourt and clerked for Judges at the Alberta Court of Appeal and Court of Queen’s Bench.

Caroline is focused on BHP’s contribution to social value, particularly around the rights of Indigenous peoples, climate change, transparency and anti-corruption. She led the development of BHP’s social value framework and 2030 social value goals.

Caroline is the Chair of the Australian Corporate Counsel GC100, an Executive member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors Legal Council and a Director of the Canadian Australian Chamber of Commerce and the European Australian Business Council. Caroline is also a member of Chief Executive Women.

Donny Ching was formerly Legal Director of Shell plc. He was appointed Legal Director  in 2014 and in that role oversaw a global legal and compliance team of around 1000 staff. He joined Shell in Australia in 1988 and worked for Shell companies in Hong Kong, London and Singapore before moving to The Hague in 2011 to become the General Counsel of Shell’s Project & Technology business. Donny retired from his role at Shell in August 2023. Donny stepped down from his role at Shell in June 2023.

His passion for DE&I is reflected in his membership of the Advisory Board of the Transforming Women’s Leadership in the Law programme sponsored by Thomson Reuters and as one of the founding sponsors and currently Chair of the GCD&I initiative. He is the recipient of Chamber Europe’s 2021 Outstanding Contribution to Diversity & Inclusion Award. Donny is a member of the ACC’s Global Board and Executive Committee.

Tom Shropshire is the General Counsel and Company Secretary of Diageo plc (LSE: DGE / NYSE: DEO), and a member of its Executive Committee.

Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with brands across spirits and beer, operating in over 180 countries and an outstanding collection of over 200 brands, including Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Smirnoff, Tanqueray, Casamigos and Don Julio. Tom is also a Member of the Court (Non-Executive Director) of the Bank of England, a trustee of the New York University School of Law, a director of General Counsel for Diversity & Inclusion and a trustee of the global charity, Comic Relief.

Tom is a former partner of Linklaters LLP, where he was Global Head of the US Practice and co-head of the Risk & Resilience Practice. Tom is a recognized leader in Inclusion and Diversity, having been a member of the steering group and a principal author of the review of ethnicity on FTSE boards led by Sir John Parker in the UK. Tom has been identified as a leading ethnic minority executive in the US and UK over a number of years, and in 2021 Tom was identified as a top 10 “Executive Role Model” by Empower. Tom was also the author of the UN Global Compact’s “Guide for General Counsel on Corporate Sustainability”.

Nassib is an internationally-recognised legal authority, with particular specialisms in governance, corporate
and commercial law, as well as advocacy for equity, inclusion and diversity.

He has extensive experience in the corporate environment, having served between 2019 and 2022 as Nokia’s Chief Legal Officer. He joined Nokia in 2014 as head of Legal & Compliance for the Middle East and Africa region, later becoming General Counsel for Customer Operations and Deputy Chief Legal Officer, Business. Nassib led the compliance integration planning work for Nokia’s acquisition of Alcatel Lucent, developing and implementing the initial combined company’s compliance programme. Before joining Nokia, Nassib was Head of Public Policy for EMEA and General Counsel for MEA at Yahoo! He also held roles at GE Oil & Gas, Etisalat and TMF Netherlands.

Nassib was named one of the 20 top corporate legal officers by the Financial Times in June 2021. His work on equity, inclusion and diversity was, in 2019, recognised by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, which named Nokia “Employer of Choice”. Nassib was also included in the top 2019, 2020 and 2021 OUTstanding LGBT+ role model lists. In April 2022, Chambers and Partners presented him with an award for outstanding contributions to diversity and inclusion.

During his time with Nokia, Nassib was the executive sponsor of the company’s LGBT+ employee resource group, EQUAL! He became Nokia’s first out-leader and took part in the launch of the company’s OUT leaders programme. Under Nassib’s leadership, Nokia’s legal department launched its equity, inclusion and diversity scorecard aiming at advancing equity, inclusion and diversity in the legal profession.

An admitted lawyer at the Ontario Bar and in England & Wales, Nassib holds a BA in Political Sciences and Civil Law (LL.L.) and Common Law (LL.B.) and Master of Law (LL.M) degrees from the University of Ottawa, the latter including a year’s study of European law at the Université de Louvain la Neuve in Belgium.

Nassib takes a strong interest in the role of technology as a facilitator. He has been a faculty member of the Digital Legal Exchange since October 2020, working on advancing innovation and digitisation in the legal profession.

Nassib’s other business interests include a Board seat at the Global Legal Entity Foundation, which he took on in August 2021. There, he is vice-chair of the Governance Committee and a member of the Risk Committee.

In his spare time, he enjoys contemporary art; classical music, including opera; and hiking in the countryside, particularly in the Alps. He is a member of the jury for the 15th edition of the Guerlain Foundation drawing prize and he is a member of the global acquisition committee of the Musée National d’Art Moderne – Centre Pompidou and the Tate Modern.

Maaike de Bie

Group General Counsel and Company Secretary and Executive Committee member, Vodafone

Maaike de Bie was appointed Group General Counsel and Company Secretary on 1 March 2023. She previously served as General Counsel and Company Secretary of easyJet plc and before that as General Counsel of Royal Mail plc.

Maaike has also held senior roles with EY LLP, General Electric, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development LLP as well as with law firm White & Case in New York.

An experienced international lawyer, Maaike is dual qualified in both the US and UK, with almost 30 years of experience.

Maaike is currently a Board Member of General Counsel for Diversity & Inclusion (GCD&I), an organisation which promotes greater diversity, equity and inclusion in the legal sector. She is also a Trustee for Blueprint for Better Business, which is an independent charity that helps businesses to be inspired and guided by a purpose that respects people and contributes to a better society.

As of May 1, 2021, Matt was appointed Group General Counsel and Chief Compliance/Human Rights Officer of BASF SE in Germany. Matt leads a global team of legal, compliance and insurance professionals, as well as supports the BASF Board of Executive Directors, and its Supervisory Board of Directors. Matt is also a member of the BASF Global Executive Team.

From June 2018 until May 1, 2021, Matt was SVP and Global Head of Legal for BASF SE, and from 2014 until June 2018 he was General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer of BASF Corporation, the North American affiliate of BASF SE.

Before coming to BASF, Matt was the Corporate Secretary & Chief Governance Officer for Pfizer, Inc., a Partner with DLA Piper US LLP in Washington DC, and a Trial Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice

Anne-Marie Poliquin was appointed Group General Counsel at the end of March, 2021. Anne-Marie reports to Alexandre Ricard and is a member of the Executive Commitee and the Executive Leadership Team, based in Paris.

Anne-Marie, a Canadian citizen, has over thirty years of experience in legal departments of various large international groups. She graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Montreal and pursued a Masters degree (LL.M.) at Harvard Law School. Member of the Quebec Bar, she began her career in a top 5 Canadian law firm before joining Valeo and General Electric Healthcare.

In 1998, Anne-Marie joined Mars, Incorporated as General Counsel in Europe covering all product categories (food, drinks, confectionery and petcare); during her tenure at Mars, she carried out several major reorganization and acquisition projects. Anne-Marie was promoted General Counsel Europe before being appointed in 2012 as General Counsel for the Global Petcare division based in Brussels, where she also became a member of the Executive Committee. After almost 20 years at Mars, Anne-Marie joined JDE Peet’s in 2019 in Amsterdam, one of the global leaders in the manufacture and distribution of tea and coffee, as General Counsel, Legal and Corporate Affairs, in charge of Legal, Communication and S&R.

Louise Waldek joined IMI in July 2021 as Group General Counsel & Company Secretary.  She is a member of the IMI Executive Committee and sponsors the IMI Better World team. Prior to joining IMI, Louise was General Counsel & Company Secretary at Victrex plc.  She has held legal roles in Speedy Hire plc, United Utilities plc and DLA Piper. She brings extensive experience in legal, risk and compliance matters to support IMI’s growth.   Louise is a Board Member of General Counsel for Diversity & Inclusion and leads its Social Mobility Community.

Raj was appointed Interim Group General Counsel & Company Secretary with effect from 1 October 2020, and subsequently appointed as the permanent Group General Counsel & Company Secretary on 3 March 2021.

Raj has overall responsibility for legal, regulatory, compliance and secretariat activities across the Group, the effective operating of Centrica plc’s Board and advising on key issues of corporate governance and compliance. Raj joined Centrica in 2014 as the Legal Director for Residential Energy, before becoming General Counsel for the UK and Ireland region in 2017.  He has led legal, regulatory and compliance teams at Centrica in various formations across the UK and Ireland region or the Consumer division. Prior to joining Centrica, Raj spent 9 years at Vodafone, holding a number of senior in-house legal roles in the Group and UK legal functions.  Raj started his career in private practice, qualifying as a solicitor at Slaughter and May in London and subsequently working for Freshfields in Brussels.  Raj obtained his legal qualifications from City University and BPP Law School, London.  He holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in history from Exeter University and the College of William and Mary, USA, as a well a Ph.D. in political economy from the London School of Economics.   A passionate believer in the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace to drive societal change more broadly, at Centrica, he is Executive Sponsor of the organisation’s ethnicity network, VOICE, and also acts as a sponsor to the company’s external mentoring initiative to promote gender diversity in the work environment.