Board of Directors
Born 1964
Residence Ueberstorf
Nationality Swiss
In office since 1 June 2017
Expiry of the mandate 31 May 2025
Education Lawyer
Professional career
Alex Geissbühler is a qualified lawyer. After working in the Legal and Compliance department of the Berner Kantonalbank, he handled various responsibilities as a senior partner at KPMG AG and Capco. He is a founding member and partner of Geissbühler Weber & Partner AG and is currently the Chairman of the Board of Directors, with no operational function. Alex Geissbühler is Chairman of the Foundation Board of the Banque Cantonale de Fribourg Foundation and Chairman of the Compensation Committee of the BCF.
Other activities
Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Canton of Fribourg; Director of the DAS “Compliance in der Finanzindustrie” course at the University of Lucerne; member of the Board of the Foundation of the University of Fribourg.
Born 1960
Residence Zug
Nationality Swiss
In office since 1 June 2022
Expiry of the mandate 31 May 2025
Education Degree in economics
Professional career
Urs Peter Gauch has a degree in economics and has completed the Swiss Banking School. He also completed the Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Harvard Business School in Boston and a Breakthrough Program for Senior Executives at IMD Business School in Lausanne. After starting his career at the Banque Populaire Suisse in New York, he led various departments at Credit Suisse beginning in 1995 and was a member of the Executive Board of the Raiffeisen Group, responsible for commercial clients and branches, thereby acquiring key competencies in the banking sector. Urs Peter Gauch is a member of the Foundation Board of the Banque Cantonale de Fribourg Foundation.
Other activities
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Fundamenta Group Holding AG and its subsidiaries and of Metalcolor AG. Member of the Board of Directors of HRS AG, as well as various other mandates.
Born 1962
Residence Fribourg
Nationality Swiss
In office since 1 January 2017
Expiry of the mandate 31 December 2024
Education Economist, PhD in political economy
Professional career
Dominique Jordan Perrin is an economist and holds a PhD in political economics from the University of Fribourg. Between 1999 and 2008, she held various positions at the Swiss Confederation, within the DEFR and the FDFA, including a post as Embassy Counselor in Hanoi, Vietnam. Currently head of the OECD & G20 sector at SECO, she has recognized expertise in international economics. Dominique Jordan Perrin is a member of the Foundation Board and Chairwoman of the Executive Committee of the Banque Cantonale de Fribourg Foundation, a member of the Pension Fund Committee of the Banque Cantonale de Fribourg and of the Compensation Committee.
Other activities
Member of the Board of the Service intercantonal d’entretien du réseau autoroutier Genève / Vaud / Fribourg (SIERA). Chairwoman of the SIERA Audit and Risk Committee.
Born 1969
Residence Murten
Nationality Swiss
In office since 1 January 2017
Expiry of the mandate 31 December 2024
Education Lawyer LL.M./MAS in Taxation
Professional career
Thomas Bachmann is a lawyer and holds an MAS in Taxation / LL.M. from the Kalaidos Fachhochschule Schweiz. He has held the position of chief clerk in the Seebezirk. In 1999, he joined the fiduciary company Fiduconsult as a lawyer, where he was director and head of the legal and tax department from 2014. Since October 2022, he has been Head of Tax & Legal at the fiduciary company CORE Partner AG. Since January 2023, he has been a partner of CORE Partner AG. Thomas Bachmann is Vice-Chairman of the Foundation Board of the Banque Cantonale de Fribourg Foundation and member of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Banque Cantonale de Fribourg.
Other activities
Chairman of the Board of Directors of EdgEvooq Holding SA and Evooq SA in Fribourg and member of the Board of the BAY Foundation.
Born 1968
Residence Plaffeien
Nationality Swiss
In office since 1 October 2015
Expiry of the mandate 31 May 2024
Education Certified public accountant
Professional career
Yves Riedo is a certified public accountant. He held various positions in fiduciary companies before founding axalta Fiduciaire SA and its affiliated companies. Yves Riedo is Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Banque Cantonale de Fribourg and member of the Foundation Board of the Banque Cantonale de Fribourg Foundation.
Other activities
Chairman of the Boards of Directors of axalta Fiduciaire SA and its group companies, as well as of various SMEs. Member of the Digitalization Commission of EXPERTsuisse.
Born 1978
Residence Lully VD
Nationality Swiss and French
In office since 1 January 2017
Expiry of the mandate 31 December 2024
Education System and network security engineer, Lead auditeur ISO 27001
Professional career
Paul Such is a system and network security engineer. After working as a security engineer in various service companies between 1999 and 2002, he founded the company SCRT SA which he managed until 2017. He then created Hacknowledge SA (now Swiss Post Cybersecurity) in 2016, a company he has been managing since then. He is also involved in several cybersecurity training courses at the HEIG-VD (Yverdon), the HES-SO Valais-Wallis, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) and the University of Geneva. Paul Such is a member of the Foundation Board of the Banque Cantonale de Fribourg Foundation, of the Pension Fund Committee of the Banque Cantonale de Fribourg and of the Compensation Committee.
Other activities
Founder of Insomnihack, Swiss cybersecurity conference. Member of the organizing committee of several cybersecurity conferences: Blackalps in Yverdon, Swiss Cyber Hub in Fribourg, Global Security Days in Paris. ISO 27001 Lead auditor and project management professional since 2011. Member of the Board of Directors of EdgEvooq Holding SA and Evooq SA in Fribourg.
Born 1962
Residence Fribourg
Nationality Swiss
In office since 1 June 2022
Expiry of the mandate 31 May 2025
Education Degrees in law and in political economy
Professional career
Jean-Pierre Siggen holds a law degree and a degree in political economics from the University of Lausanne. Former vice-director of the Swiss Union of Arts and Crafts (USAM), then advisor for economic and social issues to Federal Councillor Flavio Cotti and for Federal Council affairs to Federal Councillor Joseph Deiss, he headed the Employers’ Union of the Canton of Fribourg and was deputy secretary general of the Federation of French-Speaking Companies. A member of the Cantonal Parliament of the Canton of Fribourg, he was elected to the Cantonal Council in 2013 and currently heads the Finance Department. He represents the Canton of Fribourg on the Board of Directors. Jean-Pierre Siggen is a member of the Foundation Board of the Banque Cantonale de Fribourg Foundation.
Other activities
As a Cantonal Councillor, he is Chairman of the Committee of the State Personnel Pension Fund and a member of the Confederation of Cantonal Finance Directors, the Latin Conference of Finance Directors and the Latin Conference of Digital Directors.
Election and term of office
Under Article 20, paragraphs 1, 4 and 5 of the Law establishing the Banque Cantonale de Fribourg (BCF Law), the Board of Directors (BoD) is composed of seven members. Three members are appointed by the Cantonal Parliament, three by the Cantonal Council and one by the BoD itself. The members appointed by the Cantonal Council and the Cantonal Parliament are chosen on the proposal of a selection committee governed by articles 27 and 28 of the BCF Law.
This committee, responsible for proposing candidates for the position of member of the BoD to the Cantonal Parliament and the Cantonal Council, is composed of seven members: four members of the Cantonal Parliament, two members of the BoD, including the Chairman of the Board of Directors, and one member of the Cantonal Council. The Chairman of the Board chairs the Selection Committee.
Members of the BoD are appointed for a period not exceeding four years. They may be re-appointed, but their term of office may not exceed twelve years. The term of office of the Chairman is limited to sixteen years if he or she has served as a Board member for at least the first four years of his or her term.
Duties and powers
The powers of the BoD are set out in Article 25 of the BCF Law. The BoD is responsible for the overall management and supervision of the Bank. It decides on the general principles of policy.
In particular, the BoD has the following powers:
- exercises overall supervision over the persons entrusted with managing the Bank, in particular with respect to compliance with the law, regulatory provisions, the articles of association and regulations;
- adopts the general regulations and determines the internal regulations;
- appoints the Chairman of the Executive Board, the employees at all levels requiring registration in the Commercial Register, the Head of Internal Audit and the auditors; determines their initial salary and may dismiss them. It also appoints the members of the Executive Board;
- approves the general organisation of the Bank, drawn up by the Executive Board;
- decides on the opening or closing of branches;
- determines the salary policy and compensation of the Bank’s governing bodies;
- grants powers of attorney to plead matters within its competence and confers powers to deal with specific matters;
- appoints the persons whose signatures may commit the Bank with respect to third parties;
- decides on the purchase and sale of real estate for the Bank’s use, as well as the maintenance and renovation of real estate exceeding the amount fixed by the General Regulations;
- authorizes the Bank to become a member of associations of the banking sector or join Swiss or foreign companies or banks created within the framework of the cantonal banks or similar organisations;
- decides on the acquisition of holdings in public or private companies;
- adopts the general budget and approves the annual financial statements and the Annual Report;
- regularly reviews any loans granted by the Executive Board, the reports of the external auditors and internal audit, and the quarterly financial statements presented by the chairman of the Executive Board;
- appoints the external auditors within the meaning of the Federal Law on Banks and Savings Banks (Banking Law);
- determines authority levels with respect to credit;
- determines the salaries of the Chairman and members of the Executive Board and the Head of Internal Audit within the guidelines of the salary policy. Teh Board may delegate this task to a committee in accordance with article 26 paragraph 2.
Internal organisation
The Board of Directors is convened by the Chairman when circumstances so require, normally once a month, but at least eight times a year. It can take decisions if at least four members are present at the meeting.