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To Paris, where the annual International Capital Market Association conference took place at the end of May. The meeting heralded the announcement of a new chairman for Icma, BarCap vice-chairman Cyrus Ardalan. Ardalan replaces retiring Icma chairman Hans-Jörg Rudloff, who has been in the role since 2005.
The process does not seem to have attracted the same level of focus as the recent election of Christine Lagarde to the head of the IMF, but it had a similarly streamlined outcome. Whereas the IMF leadership passed from a French man to a French woman, the chairmanship of Icma has passed from one BarCap banker to another.
But unlike the IMF, the election of the next Icma leader did involve a cracking party at the Musée Rodin for his predecessor.
The evening was a celebration of the career of Rudloff, whose near half-century in the capital markets has spanned tumultuous events at home and abroad. The glittering event was further adorned by a selection of Euromoney covers from the earlier years of Rudloff’s life as a banker. While the cover artwork might have changed over the years, it seems that developments in global finance haven’t. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.