, managing director of Spuerkeess, was destined for a completely different career: the bar. She holds a doctorate in law from Paris, where she also obtained a master’s degree in political science “for the sake of broadening her horizons,” and began her career as a solicitor. It was at this time that she took her first steps in the banking and financial sector, for which she does a lot of work.
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She joined Spuerkeess in the legal department and became the bank’s general secretary in 2004. Although banking was not her first vocation, she quickly came to appreciate the world of banking through practice. “What appealed to me first was the concrete aspect of this job, as well as its all-round and pragmatic nature,” she confided at the time of her appointment.
It was this attraction that prompted her to complete her training in banking law at Harvard, where she obtained an LLM (a post-graduate degree in law equivalent to an MBA for specialists in economics or business). Degrees are good. But the success of a career path is, for her, above all a question of desire, personal will and involvement. “Commitment and enthusiasm,” she sums up.
Françoise Thoma, a decision-maker with “flexible resilience”
Another key value in her professional practice, this time linked to her core business: trust. A trust that has been undermined by the financial crises of recent years, but which remains essential to the survival of the banking profession. A trust that can never be taken for granted and that must be maintained at all times, she believes.
Françoise Thoma is a decision-maker with “flexible resilience.” In her career, she has shown a Darwinian adaptation whose motto could be ‘perceive, adapt and progress.’ Her well thought-out decisions are always based on listening and negotiation, where the group’s interest always takes precedence.
She has a gift for rallying her audience to her cause.
On a daily basis, she willingly shares her opinions and views and has, at the same time, succeeded in amalgamating different points of view to find the best way forward. If she speaks, it is never to say nothing. “I have witnessed on many occasions the extra respect that her peers and employees have for what she says... She has a gift for rallying her audience to her cause,” says a close friend.
“With her quiet, reassuring strength, nothing seems to shake this music lover. It is always in mezza voce mode that she expresses herself... and this, perhaps, to give us time or to invite us to listen attentively to her opinions, whose meaning and scope are always very appropriate,” continues the friend.
Françoise Thoma is also a promoter of inclusive, green and participatory finance. Under her leadership, the Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat (BCEE) has successfully initiated a technological modernisation that takes into account environmental, societal and good governance criteria. “Even if Françoise regularly invokes fintech as the driving force behind the transformations she has undertaken, she always punctuates her speeches with humanistic statements in which cultural and intellectual development and the acquisition of knowledge and the arts are expressed with respect for others, for all women, men, colleagues, partners and clients,” says another.
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Françoise Thoma is also a woman whose network of influence is not limited to finance, since after having been a member of the Council of State, she is also today a member of the Board of Directors of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Cargolux, SES and Enovos...
What about the future? When asked how she sees her future career path, Françoise Thoma's general answer is: “To continue to do my job by constantly questioning myself and trying to progress. It’s a constant challenge. And that's already a lot.”
This article was written for published on 14 December 2022.
This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.