Appointments in the insurance sector and at Caixa Enginyers

BarcelonaA week without major changes in the Catalan and Spanish corporate leaderships. The main movements have taken place above all in the insurance sector, in which VidaCaixa has appointed a new proprietary director, Javier Murillo, and the Madrid-based Mapfre has a new CEO at its Portuguese subsidiary. Within the financial world, Caixa Enginyers has ratified several seats on its governing council, to which it has added a new board member.

Abroad, the appointments at Bipi, the mobility subsidiary of the French automotive group Renault, and at Balenciaga, a brand controlled by the luxury fashion group Kering, currently led by the former CEO of Seat Luca de Meo, stand out. Outside the strictly business world, the Spanish government officially presented the candidacy of Pablo Hernández de Cos for the presidency of the European Central Bank.

Javier Murillo

Proprietary director of VidaCaixa

VidaCaixa has added a new member to its board of directors. The insurance subsidiary of CaixaBank has appointed Javier Murillo as a proprietary director, replacing José María Leal Villalba, whose term has ended.

With more than thirty years of experience in the insurance sector, Murillo had previously held senior management positions at Adeslas starting in 1991. Additionally, he was the general manager of that company from 2000 until 2011, when Adeslas merged with SegurCaixa. The executive also held the general management of the new company until this year, although he will remain linked to it until the end of 2026.

Murillo graduated as an industrial engineer from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and earned a Master of Business Administration from IE Business School. He has also trained at the Barcelona business school Iese, Harvard University, the Wharton School (which is part of the University of Pennsylvania), and Insead in Paris. Before making the leap to the insurance industry, he had worked at the consultancy firm Accenture and the media group Prisa.

Javier Flecha

CEO of Mapfre in Portugal

Another insurer, Mapfre, has also published a new appointment. In this case, it is Javier Flecha, who will replace Luis Anula as CEO of its subsidiary in Portugal, as reported by the company in a statement. Anula is leaving the company due to retirement.

For his part, Flecha was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Mapfre in 2022 and, since last year, he had been combining this responsibility with that of director of the group's hub for change management. He holds a law degree from the University of León and joined the Madrid-based insurer in 1993, holding management positions in Spain and Brazil, where he was director of automobile claims between 2004 and 2008. A few years later, between 2014 and 2018, he held the position of director of operations for the group's subsidiary in Argentina.

Mercè Brey

Member of the governing board of Caixa Enginyers

The Catalan banking cooperative Caixa Enginyers has incorporated Mercè Brey Rodríguez as second member of its governing board, the entity's governing body. The appointment, ratified in an extraordinary general assembly, will allow the company to advance "towards parity in the governing bodies and consolidate its commitment to more diverse governance representative of its social base," according to a statement from the company.

"Brey is an organizational consultant, mentor, and expert in leadership, diversity, and inclusion, and has an extensive professional and managerial career in the financial and banking sector," adds the note, which also highlights that she founded BLUE Equitat i Lideratge and has promoted several business projects related to leadership, equity, and organizational transformation. In this regard, she directs "an online school specialized in leadership and professional development for women" and participates in other business boards and committees.

Brey's entry allows for the replacement of Josep Maria Muxí, who is leaving his seat on the governing board after thirteen years. Since 2023, Muxí has chaired the Audit and Risk Commission. In addition to the appointment of the new board member, the Caixa Enginyers assembly also ratified Carme Botifoll, who remains as secretary of the governing board; Antoni Peris as fourth member, and Núria Agell as sixth member.

Louis Baptiste

CEO of Bipi

The mobility company Bipi, a subsidiary of the Renault group, has a new CEO, Louis Baptiste. The executive has more than twenty years of experience in the automotive, mobility, and financial services sector, as the company reported in a statement.

During this time, he has held several positions of responsibility in finance, strategic planning, management control, and corporate development. He was trained at the French business school ESSCA and began his professional career at Renault's subsidiary in the Spanish market in 2008.

Martine Rose

Creative director of Balenciaga

The luxury fashion brand Balenciaga, owned by the French group Kering, has a new creative director. Martine Rose will take up the position starting next week, replacing Pierpaolo Piccioli. Rose, a British national, had founded a clothing brand under her own name in 2007 and will now be based in Paris. The former CEO of Seat and current top executive of Kering, Luca de Meo, highlighted the designer's spirit of disruption and innovation.

Balenciaga was founded in 1917 in San Sebastián and re-established in 1937 in Paris, until it was acquired by Kering, a conglomerate that also controls Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, and other luxury brands.

Pablo Hernández de Cos

Candidate for the presidency of the ECB

Beyond the business world, it is also worth highlighting the candidacy of Pablo Hernández de Cos for the presidency of the European Central Bank (ECB) proposed by the Spanish government to replace the French Christine Lagarde, who is stepping down before finishing her term. The former governor of the Bank of Spain is currently the head of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS, by its acronym in English) and, although he arrived at the Spanish regulator appointed by a People's Party government, he now has the support of Pedro Sánchez's executive.

The Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, formally presented De Cos's candidacy through a letter addressed to the president of the Eurogroup, the Greek Kyriakos Pierrakakis. De Cos's main rival in the race to preside over the monetary institution will be the Dutchman Klaas Knot, considered to have a more conservative profile.

Ignacio Galán

Honorary member of the Madrid College of Economists

Pablo Hernández de Cos was precisely the person responsible for the laudatio of Iberdrola's executive chairman, Ignacio Galán, who was named a new honorary member of the Madrid College of Economists. The executive chairman of the Spanish energy group received the distinction in recognition of his "professional career" and "contribution" to making Iberdrola the leading electric company in the State and the second largest in the world, according to a statement from the collegiate institution.