Charlotte Philipps, a fully trained German lawyer, has been a banker, private equity professional and investor in emerging markets for over thirty years.

Starting her career at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development she was responsible for heavy industries and natural resources financing primarily in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Following on from EBRD, she became President and CEO of AIG’s private equity platform for the Former Soviet Union, as well as being part of AIG’s emerging markets investment committees covering Africa, MENA and parts of South America.

Most recently Ms Philipps has held a variety of non-executive directorships and runs a small advisory boutique providing growth, turnaround and succession planning advice to companies in the creative industries such as Zaha Hadid Design and John Pawson Architects. Having worked in emerging markets for most of her life, Ms Philipps has a deep understanding of the challenges for clients posed by compliance teams that gather information from false or rudimentary public sources.

Ms Philipps lives and works in London.

Ellen Quirk is a Partner at Scarlet Capital Ltd, an affiliate of BTG Pactual, the global investment bank ($40B Market Cap), where she advises global corporations on M&A transactions. She is also the Founder and President of Kismet Impact LLC (founded in 2018) which invests in blockchain and datacenters, is a Partner at Aurion Capital, and the CEO of new payments technology start-up Hiba Inc. (in stealth). She is also a Partner at General Resilience, which she co-founded with the former Assistant Secretary General of NATO and the former Head of ISR and Innovation at NATO.

Ellen serves on the boards of anti-corruption group Ethic Alliance, the Edward R Murrow Center for a Digital World at the Fletcher School at Tufts University and Agreefy Technologies, of which she is a founding investor. She is a judge for the University of Chicago’s annual New Venture Challenge (since 2018) and has advised groups such as NATO on the launch of its Innovation Fund, the BBC (on Youth Programming and MyWorld, executive produced by Angelina Jolie), Global Thermostat and GovCoin, the world’s first blockchain-based government-backed welfare distribution protocol, backed by Barclays and the Bank of England – among others.

Ellen began her investment career at Guggenheim Partners in New York (2006-2014), where she was a macro analyst and managed hedge fund and impact investments for ultra-high net worth clients ($25M- $3B AUM), and later helped launch and as PM co-managed 5 hedge fund of fund portfolios seeded by Guggenheim, all with top-tier performance. From 2014-2018 Ellen managed partnerships and direct investments at two family offices out of Hong Kong and Rio, where she worked on multi-billion-dollar transactions across verticals and oversaw deal teams at Blackstone (HK) and BAML (NY) and oversaw sovereign partnerships across Asia and the GCC.

Passionate about conservation and humanitarian causes, Ellen has raised millions for and managed complex humanitarian missions, most recently rescuing hundreds of women and children from Afghanistan (post-US departure), in coordination with USAID. She is an advisor to various foundations and conservation efforts globally, including the White Lion Trust in South Africa. Ellen is a global speaker on various topics including blockchain and impact, and has been invited to speak at LG’s Innovation Festival, COP and various blockchain and family office conferences globally. She most recently spoke on stage to founders with former Apple CEO Gil Amelio at LG’s Innovation Festival. She holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, Masters in International Strategy & Diplomacy from the London School of Economics & Political Science, and BS in Finance and BA in Business from the University of Colorado. She is a former 5-time Junior Olympian alpine ski racer, and has lived and worked in New York, Chicago, London, Hong Kong, Rio, Paris, Monaco and Singapore.

Michel Nassif is ACAMS’ Head of Middle East and Africa and Global Head of Strategic Alliances and Partnerships with a focus on helping client organizations leverage ACAMS’ resources to address their compliance obligations and align with similar international organizations who are keeping at the forefront of regulatory and industry developments.

Prior to joining ACAMS, Michel held a number of senior positions with Global Compliance and Risk Mitigation, AML and CFT Solutions, and KYC and Specialized Due Diligence firms over the past 20 years. In his most recent position as Chief Commercial Officer at The DataFlow Group in Dubai, the leader in Primary Source Verification, background screening and Immigration Compliance Solutions, he led a team to scale the company’s growth in both core GCC and International Markets.

Prior to DataFlow, Michel was part of the core teams of Wealth-X (now part of Delinian, formerly Euromoney) and World-Check, the risk intelligence database which helps organisations across the world to meet their regulatory obligations (now part of LSEG, Refinitiv-Thomson Reuters) where he held positions from AFC strategic services marketing, data intelligence sales, to SaaS sales. Both these companies have become the established leaders in their specialized fields.

Michel was an Investment Officer at the Presidency of The Council of Ministers of Lebanon before joining World-Check, responsible for the due diligence around high net worth investors and initial selection of investment projects.

Michel earned an MBA in MIS from Concordia University – The John Molson School of Business, in Montreal and a BS in Computer Science Applied to Business from Saint-Joseph University – Université de Lyon.

Siddharth Mehta is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Bay Capital Partners, an India-focused investment firm he established in 2006. With over 22 years of experience in asset management and fund investing, Siddharth is a recognized expert in Indian financial markets and has played a significant role in advising global institutional investors on their investments in India.

Before founding Bay Capital, Siddharth held senior positions at Kotak Mahindra UK, where he contributed to building Kotak’s international investment business. Under his leadership, Bay Capital has grown to become a key player in supporting long-term structural growth in India, particularly in sectors like technology, financial services, consumer and specialized outsourcing. The firm has partnered with many substantial enterprises that have had a significant impact on the Indian Economy and created substantial value for all its stakeholders. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Finance from King’s College, University of London.

Frédéric Crickx has been a director of public and private companies for almost 35 years, specialising in the various areas of private and professional property, from brokerage since the early days to investment and development.

Frédéric has helped a number of partners to develop major property portfolios and projects, which quickly exposed him to the world of banking and its framework. He was thus able to observe and measure the respective developments.

As a self-made man, Frédéric gained much of his experience on the ground, by immersing himself directly in the realities of the property market and his legal environment. At the start of his career, he undertook a number of internships abroad, notably in Frankfurt, London and Hong Kong. These are experiences that he is now putting to good use as his career develops internationally.

At the same time, Frédéric took an interest in public affairs, particularly in the fields of security and the work of European law enforcement agencies, until he became a partner at Captis Intelligence Int'l in 2017.

The experience he has acquired over the years, his enthusiasm and his humanism make Frédéric a partner of choice for MRR. His motto is to treat each person, case and matter with deep involvement, goodwill and honesty.

A philanthropist, Frédéric also supports a number of good causes for which he makes and collects donations.

Richard Bruens (b. 1967) is a highly regarded international financial services executive with over three decades of leadership experience across global markets, private wealth management, and institutional strategy. With a career that spans ABN AMRO, Renaissance Capital, and Van Lanschot Kempen, he has built a reputation for steering complex organizations through transformation while staying deeply attuned to client needs, market trends, and long-term value creation. He is known for his long-term vision, integrity, and people-oriented leadership style with a strong belief in values-based growth.

After starting his career at ABN AMRO, Bruens took on successive leadership roles in London, Athens, and Riyadh, where he was responsible for Treasury & Markets activities. His ability to align commercial performance with cross-cultural leadership quickly positioned him for broader mandates. In 2007, he joined Renaissance Capital in Moscow, serving on the Executive Committee and overseeing global strategy, marketing, investor relations, and communications—during a period of rapid expansion into frontier markets.

In 2010, he returned to ABN AMRO to lead its global Private Wealth Management and Products & Solutions activities. This set the stage for his appointment to Van Lanschot Kempen in 2013, where he took over as a member of the management board & Head of Private Banking.

At Van Lanschot Kempen, Bruens played a defining role in repositioning the firm as a modern, client-centric wealth manager—blending heritage with innovation. He championed long-term strategic planning, built integrated private and asset management capabilities, and was instrumental in expanding the brand’s public presence through values-based sponsorships such as the partnership with Olympic sailor Marit Bouwmeester.

In June 2024, after more than a decade at Van Lanschot Kempen, Bruens transitioned into a Senior Advisor role and also joined the Advisory Board of Mercier Van Lanschot in Belgium. He now focuses on non-executive directorships and strategic advisory roles, amongst others European Merchant Services, Pythagoras Music Fund, The Dutch Sport Tech Fund and AMDAX.