Corporate Governance

Mike Kuehnel (1977, German) was appointed CEO in February 2023, he serves as Executive Director on the Flow Traders Board as well as member of the Executive Committee. Mike is responsible for driving the overall strategic and growth agenda of Flow Traders. He joined Flow Traders in August 2021 and was appointed as member of the Management Board and CFO in September 2021.

Mike has over 20 years of investment banking and strategy consulting experience in the global financial market infrastructure space. Immediately prior to joining Flow Traders, Mike served as a partner at Bain & Company leading the Investment Banking and Financial Markets Infrastructure practice for EMEA. Before that, he worked at Goldman Sachs, where he was responsible for advising on large-scale equity and M&A transactions in the European banking, insurance, asset management, private wealth and exchanges sectors.

Mike holds an MBA in Accounting and Finance from the University of Chicago. Prior to that, he obtained his Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA), majoring in Banking & Finance, from the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management.

Hermien Smeets-Flier (1971, Dutch) was elected as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Director on the Flow Traders Ltd. Board in September 2023. As CFO, Hermien is responsible for the firm’s finance and control functions and focuses on supporting the execution of Flow Traders’ strategic growth agenda. Hermien joined Flow Traders in July 2023 as Global Finance Director. 

Hermien has over 20 years of experience leading and scaling finance, risk, control and operational functions across insurance and asset management firms. Prior to joining Flow Traders, Hermien served as Chief Financial and Risk Officer and member of the Management Board at Achmea Investment Management. Before that, she served as Chief Financial Officer and Board member at AEGIS London. Prior to joining AEGIS London, Hermien served as Chief Financial Officer and Board member at Amlin Underwriting Ltd. She started her career at KPMG, where she provided audit, financial, and M&A advisory services to listed companies.

Hermien is a chartered accountant registered in the Netherlands. 

Rudolf (1961, Austrian) serves as Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Flow Traders Board. He is a member of the Remuneration & Appointment Committee, the Trading & Technology Committee, the Audit Committee and the Risk & Sustainability Committee. Rudolf was first appointed as a member of the Supervisory Board of Flow Traders in July 2015, re-appointed for a second term in 2018 and a third term in 2021. Rudolf was appointed Chairman of the Board in March 2021 and in 2023 he was re-elected for a fourth term to the Board as Chairman. 

Originally a corporate finance and capital markets lawyer, he has over 25 years’ board-level experience at international financial institutions, including executive roles on the management boards of Goldman Sachs Bank in Frankfurt and of Deutsche Börse AG. For more than a decade, he held direct oversight responsibility for FSA and BaFin regulated derivatives and securities trading businesses. Between 2000 and 2005, Rudolf served as CEO of Eurex and from 2003 to 2005 Rudolf was Chairman of the Management Board of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. 

Rudolf is currently a partner at Gledhow Capital Partners and Chairman of the Advisory Board at Mainberg Asset Management GmbH.

Paul (1968, German) serves as Independent Non-Executive Director on the Flow Traders Board and Chair of the Risk & Sustainability Committee. He is also member of the Trading & Technology Committee. Paul was elected as Non-Executive Director in April 2023.

Paul has an extensive and proven track record within global financial markets, particularly within trading, clearing and market infrastructure. Paul previously served as CEO APAC and as Director Market Structure for Optiver and then became global CEO of Optiver from 2014 until 2017. Paul was a member of the Supervisory Board at EuroCCP, and Managing Director at Hilgers Consulting. Most recently Paul worked at Deutsche Börse AG as Managing Director, heading the firm’s cash market business.

Linda (1961, Dutch) serves as Independent Non-Executive Director on the Flow Traders  Board and is Chair of the Remuneration & Appointment Committee. She is also member of the Risk & Sustainability Committee and the Trading & Technology Committee. Linda was appointed member of the Supervisory Board of Flow Traders in April 2021. 

Linda has more than 30 years of experience in managing professional organizations, setting strategic direction and implementing change. In 2012, Linda founded Aberkyn – Change Leadership Partners, with its head office in the Netherlands, to serve top teams of multinationals in the transformation of their leadership and organizations. 

She is currently a Supervisory Board member of Royal Flora Holland and of Triple Jump Impact Investment, and serves as an Advisory Board member of Vereniging Rembrandt and Karmijn Capital. She is Vice-Chair of the Board of the Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen. Linda is currently the owner of Hovius Consultancy, specializing in boardroom consultancy.

Delfin (1964, Spanish) serves as Independent Non-Executive Director on the Flow Traders Board and Chair of the Audit Committee. He is also member of the Remuneration & Appointment Committee, the Risk & Sustainability Committee and the Trading & Technology Committee. Delfin was elected as Non-Executive Director in April 2023.

Delfin brings a wealth of experience in finance, strategy and financial markets. He previously served as the CFO and CRO and member of the Management Board at Atradius and held leadership positions at J.P. Morgan, UBS and Andersen Consulting. Delfin was also the CFO and Vice-Chair of the Executive Board and Management Board at NN Group as well as Chairman of the European Insurance CFO Forum.

Currently, Delfin is a member of the Supervisory Board of Adyen and Chair of its Audit and Risk Committee, as well as Non-Executive Director of Allfunds. He is also Managing Director at Squircle Capital and Venture Partner at Mundi Ventures. 

Karen (1968, American) serves as Independent Non-Executive Director on the Flow Traders Board. She is also member of the Audit Committee, the Risk & Sustainability Committee and the Trading & Technology Committee. Karen was elected as Non-Executive Director in April 2023.

Karen is an experienced investor, and executive and business leader in the financial services industry. Most recently, Karen was the Executive Managing Director and Global Head of Equities at Ontario Teachers Pension Plan where she Chaired the Investment Committee. She previously held leadership positions at Barclays plc, where Karen was appointed as CEO of Barclays Global Private Bank and member of the International Executive Committee, among others, and co-Head of Financial Sponsors, EMEA. Earlier in her career, Karen worked in the Private Equity industry, including for Goldman Sachs in their Merchant Bank and Financial Sponsors businesses. Karen is a Trustee of the British Heart Foundation, and Chair of the Dean's Council for Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Jan (1966, Dutch) serves as Non-Executive Director on the Flow Traders Board and Chair of the Trading & Technology Committee. He is also a member of the Audit Committee, the Risk & Sustainability Committee, and the Remuneration & Appointment Committee.

Jan is one of the co-founders of Flow Traders and served as its Co-CEO from its inception in 2004 until 2014. He was appointed Vice-Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Flow Traders N.V. in July 2015.

Until 1996, Jan served as a partner at Optiver, a proprietary trading firm and was involved in setting up their first electronic trading activities at Deutsche Börse in 1993. He co-founded Newtrade Financial Group in 1997, which was an options market-making firm before being discontinued, after which he co-founded Flow Traders.