LBMA Board

Peter Zoellner is an Austrian citizen. He earned a doctorate degree at the Vienna University for Economics and Business in 1983.

He joined Oesterreichische Nationalbank (the Austrian central bank) in Vienna and built experience both in the dealing room and in analytical units with regards to FX/gold reserves and monetary policy.

After establishing the Representative Office of Oesterreichische Nationalbank in New York and leading it for four years, Peter Zoellner was invited to become the Economic Advisor to the Austrian Federal Chancellor Franz Vranitzky. During this period (1991-1996), Austria joined the European Union and successfully prepared for participating in the European Monetary Union.

In 1996, Peter Zoellner returned to the Central Bank of Austria and served first as the Treasurer and then for three terms as Member of the Governing Board and Executive Director for the banking operations (1998-2013). He had extensive exposure to the gold markets by managing Austria's gold reserves and through his function at the Austrian Mint, as a Vice Chair of the Supervisory Board. At the time, the Austrian Mint held a 25% stake at the gold refiner Argor-Heraeus in Switzerland.

In 2013, Peter Zoellner joined the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland and served as a member of the Executive Board and Head of the Banking Department until 2024. In this capacity, he shaped the strategy and implementation of the banking activities and supported a strong expansion of global operations and the FX and gold franchise of the BIS.

Currently, Peter Zoellner advises central banks and global international banks on strategic and operational capital market issues through his consultancy firm.

Ruth was appointed Chief Executive of the LBMA in January 2014. She is responsible for the success and strategic development of the LBMA, in partnership with the Chairman and the Board. She is also responsible for maintaining accountability to, and the quality of, the Association's Membership and Good Delivery Refiners as well as representing the interests of the Association in relation to regulators, investors, media and international precious metals markets.

Before being appointed Chief Executive, she spent seven years working at LBMA, initially as Commercial Director and then as Deputy Chief Executive, where she acted as the main lead on Governmental Affairs. She was also responsible for LBMA's work on supply chain due diligence, with particular regard to the creation and implementation of LBMA’s Responsible Gold Guidance. She has represented LBMA at industry, governmental and multi-stakeholder regulatory forums. She continues to serve as Vice Chair of the OECD Multi-Stakeholder Governance Group for Responsible Minerals. As Commercial Director, she oversaw the development of the LBMA Conference, the LBMA's quarterly publication the Alchemist and the LBMA website.

Prior to joining LBMA, she worked in bank finance and US corporate law at the law firms of White & Case and Norton Rose, and also acted as a monitor at the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. She has an MSc in History of International Relations from the London School of Economics and a degree in English Literature from Kenyon College in Ohio.

Joseph Bowden brings 20 years of trading experience across different products, regions and banks demonstrating strong strategic instincts and long term support for the industry and clients. Joe has worked with the LBMA and CME on regulatory, physical and market structure issues and as part of the board would continue to bring new ideas and advocate for the long term interests of clients and strengthening the metals market as a whole. He is committed to serving with integrity, accountability, and respect for diverse perspectives.

Vincent has been in the precious metals market for over 17 years, having transferred from Interest Rate Trading at Societe Generale in 2008. Vincent’s initial focus was on precious metals forwards before increasing his scope to include spot and options. He became Head of Trading for Societe Generale in 2012, which gave him a complete overview of the business.

In 2019, Vincent joined the HSBC Precious Metals team; first as Head of Trading in London before becoming Global Trading Head in 2022. Thanks to HSBC’s full service presence in the Precious Metals eco-system, Vincent has a unique panorama of the market from a Clearing, Financing, Physical and Trading point of view.

He has used this knowledge to embed himself in the wider market by co-chairing an FMSB Precious Metals working group and joining the Management Committee of the LPPM. Vincent is passionate about Precious Metals and improving the understanding of our asset class within the broader financial markets landscape.

Martin has over 30 years’ experience in global commodities, with senior roles at Rothschild & Co, JP Morgan, Dresdner Kleinwort, CME and S&P Global Platts - where he was President and CEO - as well as Chair of Pexapark AG and VAKT Global, and former NED of the LME and CRISIL.

Nick joined ABC Refinery in 2016 and drives international business development and structured finance. Nick is an experienced precious metals spot and swaps trader who also has experience in developing business in Europe and Asia. Prior to joining ABC Refinery in Sydney, Nick worked for the Bank of Boston, Sumitomo Corporation, RBS Sempra Commodities, Triland Metals and Mitsui Precious Metals, working in London, Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

Nick has a Masters in Finance, majoring in Economic Policy from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, and a Diploma in Statistics from the Open University. Nick gained a Distinction in the Diploma of Technical Analysis from the UK Society of Technical Analysts.

Nick is Chair of the Gold Forum at the Minerals Council Australia. He also co-hosts the ABC Refinery ‘Pod of Gold’ podcast and speaks widely at various domestic and international conferences as both keynote and panellist.

Raj joined Morgan Stanley in April 2024 as the Head of Metals Strategic Development. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Raj held senior positions at ICBC Standard Bank, Deutsche Bank including the Global Head of Clearing and Vaulting, Head of Precious Sales and Physical Trading. Raj also represented DB on the LBMA Physical Committee and was a Director of the LPMCL. Prior to DB, Raj worked at Goldman Sachs supporting the Metals and Commodities business in various roles.

Omar Liess is Chief Commercial Officer of MKS PAMP and a member of its Executive Committee. As a member of the third generation of the family behind the MKS PAMP GROUP, he spent his entire life in the precious metals industry and brings more than 15 years of professional experience across the full value chain, spanning finance, operations, refining, and commercial management.

As a former CEO of PAMP, he oversaw manufacturing and refining operations in Ticino, Switzerland, playing a key role in the Group's strategic development and international growth.

Omar founded GoldAvenue.com, one of Europe's leading online precious metals investment platforms, helping make physical precious metals investment more accessible to a new generation of investors. Currently as Chief Commercial Officer, he oversees relationships with clients across the entire global ecosystem, including producers, recyclers, watchmakers, jewellers, government mints, banks, central banks, trading houses, bullion wholesalers and retailers, and individual investors.

Omar also serves on the boards of several precious metals organizations, and remains actively engaged in initiatives that promote transparency, market integrity, and responsible sourcing.

Bringing deep industry expertise, a genuine commitment to the sector's long-term development, and the drive and energy to make a real difference, Omar is standing for the LBMA to help shape the standards and strategy that matter most.

Matt is a 25 year veteran of the precious metals markets, joining the UBS PM Trading after several years in the UBS Interest Rate Derivatives business. His career has primarily focused on the OTC PM Forwards space while coordinating closely with the UBS Physical, Options and Spot teams to deliver the full product suite to UBS’ client base.

Since 2020 Matt has led the UBS PM STIR Trading team globally covering the PM linear (ex-spot) and Physical product suite. In addition to Risk Management and Market Making in these spaces he is responsible for the UBS IB PM Clearing and Custody business and manages UBS global physical liquidity including UBS “Three Keys” bullion production and capital optimization. He has been instrumental in developing UBS control frameworks for Conflict Minerals as well as Gold Sanctions.

UBS PM business has a uniquely broad footprint giving Matt a wide perspective on global PM markets. UBS remains on the cutting edge of product development with recent innovations touching on both the digital gold and Sustainability/ASM space.

Matt sits on the LBMA Financial Services User Group and a was participating panellist at the 2022 LBMA Lisbon conference. He holds a degree in Engineering from The University of Birmingham, UK.

Isabelle Strauss-Kahn is an international consultant in Financial Asset Management as well as being an Advisory Board member of the World Gold Council and the Treasurer/ Board member of the Paris Institute of Advanced Studies. She also provides advisory services for public asset management covering a range of issues including governance, strategic asset allocation, portfolio management and operational procedures. From 1999 to 2008, she was Deputy and then Director (2003) of Market Operations at the BDF, overseeing monetary policy implementation and reserve management of foreign exchange and gold. From 2008 to 2018, she was Lead Financial Officer in the Treasury division of the World Bank, providing financial services, technical assistance and training to many central banks and global sovereign wealth funds. Prior to this, she held managerial positions in supervising risks successively at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and at the BDF. She was a member of several international European Committees including the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. She has spoken at numerous conferences organised by public and private financial institutions and has published several articles on reserve management. She graduated in Economics (PhD Core) at the University of Chicago (USA), in Business at HEC (Haut Enseignement Commercial, Paris) and in Law (Paris-I).