Georges Ugeux is currently Chairman and CEO of Galileo Global Advisors, a New-York based boutique advisory investment bank. Georges has embraced a 40 year financial career as a commercial and investment banker, a CFO as well as a European public sector operator and advisor.
His career has led him from commercial banking at Société Générale de Banque (now BNP Paribas Fortis) in Belgium, to investment banking at Morgan Stanley International and Kidder Peabody in London. Georges then became the finance director of Société Générale de Belgique, a leading European conglomerate and took part in a corporate restructuring that transformed the conglomerate into an integrated element of the French energy Group. His tenure as President of the European Investment Fund, a public-private partnership between the European Investment Bank, the European Commission and 76 European banks, transformed the Fund from a concept into a specialised business throughout the European Union. He chaired the privatisation commission of the Kingdom of Belgium when the Belgian Government privatised its telecom business, gas company and industrial development bank.
In 1996, Georges was appointed Group Executive Vice President in charge of international and research at the New York Stock Exchange. During this time, he spearheaded the listing of 390 new international companies capitalizing $ 3 trillion. He left in 2003 to create Galileo Global Advisors, a New-York based boutique advisory investment bank specialising in cross border advisory services, Mergers and Acquisitions and capital raising with a strong focus on emerging markets.
George has become a prominent interviewee and commentator for French speaking media outlets in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada. He was invited to blog for Le Monde, the largest independent newspaper in France as well as for The Huffington Post in the US after he helped solidify his position as an outspoken commentator during the financial crisis of 2008.
In 2010, Georges published a book entitled “The Betrayal of Finance: twelve reforms to restore confidence” in France and Belgium. The English version was published in July 2011.
He was a lecturer at the Catholic University of Louvain’s law school after graduating and culminated in his appointment by Columbia Law School as Lecturer in Law, teaching “European Banking and Finance”.
This unique combination of experiences in the international financial world makes Georges a sought after expert for a number of companies and Governments. He provides a different, yet articulate, vision of the past and current international crisis and suggests inspiring yet unusual solutions, while keeping a constructive approach to the most difficult issues. He is passionate about pedagogy, and is a fascinating, articulate and exhilarating public speaker.