Karel Baert is van opleiding master in de rechten aan de KU Leuven en behaalde ook een master in financieel management aan de Vlekho (nu KU Leuven campus Brussel). 

Hij startte zijn carrière als advocaat aan de Brusselse balie,  maar werkte nadien 10 jaar in verschillende managementfuncties bij Deutsche Bank in België en Duitsland. Midden jaren 90 stapte hij over naar bpost, waar hij als directeur retail de leiding had over het postkantorennetwerk. Hij stond ook mee aan de wieg van bpost bank, in 1999 was hij daar even gedelegeerd bestuurder.

De voorbije 20 jaar was Karel Baert aan de slag bij Egon Zehnder, waar hij managementadvies gaf aan financiële bedrijven en overheidsorganisaties.

Wim Mijs (1964) was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the European Banking Federation in 2014.

Between 2007 and 2014 Wim served as CEO of the Dutch banking association NVB. During this tenure he transformed the NVB into a modern industry association, positioning it as the key representative of the banking sector in the wake of the financial crisis.

Wim studied law at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, specialising in European and International law. After his studies he worked at the International Court of Arbitration at the Peace Palace in The Hague. In 1993 he joined ABN AMRO in Amsterdam before moving to Brussels to head up the bank’s EU liaison office. Wim moved back to The Hague in 2002 where he became the Head of Government Affairs for ABN AMRO.

Wim is a member of the Advisory Board of the BBVA Center for Financial Education and Capability, the Industry Chair of the European Parliamentary Financial Services Forum and member of the Advisory board of Leiden Law School.

Between 2011 and 2018, Wim held various institutional roles within the international and European financial/banking community: chairman of the International Banking Federation; chairman of the Executive Committee of the EBF; and chairman of the Board of Euribor, now known as the European Money Market Institute.