The association has appointed the following 12 senior practitioners have been appointed as members of the board for a two- year term running until October 2016:

• George Ashworth, managing director, ABN AMRO Leasing UK
• José Coronel de Palma, managing director, Caterpillar Financial Renting
• Neil Cunningham, general manager, Hertz UK & Europe Off Airport
• Vahid Daemi, CEO, LeasePlan Corporation
• Marie-Christine Ducholet, CEO, Societe Generale Equipment Finance
• Enrico Duranti, CEO, Iccrea BancaImpresa
• Arkadiusz Etryk, CEO, Idea Leasing
• Morten Guldhaug, executive vice president, DNB
• Jan Kusters, member of the Executive Board, De Lage Landen International
• Hugues Rougier, CEO, Fraikin Group
• Alexander Schmidecker, CEO, Raiffeisen Leasing
• Dr Martin Starck, chairman of the Management Board, LBBW Leasing

Meanwhile Enrico Duranti, Vahid Daemi and Martin Starck have been elected as chair and vice-chairs, respectively, of the Federation.

Outgoing chair Jukka Salonen, COO, Nordea Group Simplification, commented: ‘It has been a privilege to work with the Board of Directors, Leaseurope’s Member Associations and the Secretariat staff in Brussels and I would like to thank everybody for their continuous support. Thanks to everyone’s commitment, we were able to actively represent the interests of the industry across a wide range of policy issues at European and international level and we were able to achieve many successes.’

‘Following our road map, we strengthened our role as the primary source of data, analysis and research on and for the industry at European level. Beyond our advocacy and research work, we have also continued to act as the leading platform for the European industry, thanks amongst others to Leaseurope’s Business Councils and workshops, all serving as fora for senior-level industry practitioners and those working to represent the industry to come together. It is with great pleasure and confidence that I hand over the Chairmanship to Enrico Duranti, CEO, Iccrea BancaImpresa.’

Incoming chair Enrico Duranti added: ‘It is an honour to take over as chair and on behalf of the Federation I would like to thank Jukka for having contributed to bringing Leaseurope to the next level. It will be a tough act to follow but it is my ambition to continue to promote our industry on all fronts, highlight its contribution to sustainable economic growth in Europe and position leasing and automotive rental companies as solution providers, whether in the field of mobility or otherwise.’