The highest governing body of the public bank of the Generalitat de Catalunya has eleven members and maintains the majority of independent members, as required by law.
The Government of Catalonia today gave the green light to the appointment of Carme Hortalà i Vallvé as an independent member of the Governing Board of the Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF), the highest collegiate governing body of public banks, equivalent to a board of directors. In accordance with state and European regulations regarding credit institutions, the Executive has approved her appointment after receiving a favorable report from the Board of Governors regarding her suitability, knowledge and experience.
The appointment of Carme Hortalà, following the internal procedures of the entity that guarantee the independence of the candidates, is a new example of the Catalan Government's commitment to strengthen the public banking of the Generalitat de Catalunya, where the balance between proprietary directors, who represent the executive, and independent directors guarantees a solid, professional and mission-oriented governance of the ICF.
Thus, the ICF's Board of Governors, chaired by Josep Maria Aguirre i Font, is made up of eleven members with a majority of independent members, as required by the legislation that regulates public credit institutions such as the ICF. The five independent members, in addition to Carme Hortalà i Vallvé, are Rafael Abella Martín, Juan B. Casas Onteniente, José Luis Peydró, Javier Puig Pla and Pilar Soldevila Garcia, while the proprietary members are Miguel Puig Raposo, Albert Castellanos Maduell and Núria Cuenca León.
Her trajectory
Hortalà holds a degree in economics from the University of Barcelona and trained in the General Management Program at the IESE Business School of the University of Navarra and at the Wharton Executive Education of the University of Pennsylvania in corporate governance. Since June 2020, the new independent director of the ICF has held the position of General Manager of Risk and Compliance at the financial group GVC Gaesco, where she has worked for more than 26 years.
The new independent member is also a member of the Economic Commission of F.C. Barcelona, an independent director of the Catalan operator Parlem and vice-chair of the Board of Directors of FOGAIN (General Investment Guarantee Fund), among other responsibilities. Hortalà, who began her professional career in 1993 in the Financial Department of the Barcelona City Council, has also been CEO and CCO of the financial advisory company Ceres Global Advisory between 2019 and 2022.
About the ICF
The Catalan Institute of Finance (ICF) is the public financial institution of the Generalitat de Catalunya and its main mission is to boost the growth of companies and other entities. It finances relevant and transformative projects through loans and equity, with special emphasis on ecological transition, reindustrialization and social housing. ICF often complements loans from the private financial sector, offering long repayment terms to facilitate debt repayment.
Since 2014, it has been a member of the European Association of Public Banks (EAPB), which brings together most of the public banks and financial institutions operating in Europe.
For more information: https://www.icf.cat/inici/