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Michael Reiss von Filski

Divitias Governance.

Divitias Board

Vice-President of the Board

reiss@divitias.org

“Thinking ahead and communicating accordingly are my key strengths”

Michael Reiss von Filski comes from an international family and studied law in Zurich, Manchester and London. He holds an LL.M. in Corporate Law and a MA in European Law from King’s College London, as well as a diploma in negotiation from the MIT.

Initially, Michael worked in the diplomatic service before becoming the Executive Director of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Switzerland. He joined a Swiss family office firm and became simultaneously the Global CEO of the largest multidisciplinary network of accounting and law firms. Michael has been in the Advisory Committee of EGIAN and was in the Editorial Board of the International Accounting Bulletin. He is the current Chairman of AILFN, the Association of International Law Firm Networks. For many consecutive years, Michael is listed amongst the 1000 Global Leaders of the Legal Profession.

He is involved in M&A, strategic planning, consulting and legal advice for families, corporations and international clients. As such, Michael is a non-executive director of several companies, mainly in the financial sector but also in the luxury industry, real estate and in trading and industrial companies.

Michael has received several awards, knighthoods and recognitions. He is also the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Estonia for the German and Italian speaking parts of Switzerland. In his free time, he enjoys art, antiques, literature and clay shooting. Michael is a global communicator and a rainmaker; the clients dealing with him see him as part of their family


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Claudio Cocca

Divitias Governance.

Divitias Board

President of the Board

cocca@divitias.org

“Creating new business is my passion; protecting values and connecting people”

Claudio Cocca is a serial entrepreneur, who started his career as an accountant and economist in Zug. He established GGI Global Alliance www.ggi.com in 1995, which today is the largest multidisciplinary network of law firms, accounting firms and consulting firms. The origins of this network formed the basis of the Family Office founded by Claudio: an international platform of reliable professional service providers for demanding clients. He has been instrumental in transnational estate planning for High Net Worth and Ultra High Net Worth individuals.

Claudio’s activities include several international mandates as consultant to major companies (turn-around, strategic development, corporate communications, financial planning). He was a regulated and fully licensed trustee, approved by the Swiss Ministry of Finance, and has established regulated Funds (Luxembourg) in cooperation with major Banks. Claudio is very active in M&A advisory and in international Real Estate transactions (commercial and private).

He held or holds several selected Board memberships of both national and international companies, including banks, holding companies, trading companies, financial services providers, real estate companies, tourism companies, and consulting. He is also the founder of GCG www.gcg.com a leading global M&A network.

In his free time, he enjoys modern art and is actively involved in a modern art gallery in Austria and one in Switzerland, he loves reading about macro-economic topics, driving classic cars and traveling to meet with new people and to discover new places. Claudio is a member of the Board of the Hayek Institute and has received several awards and distinctions, including some from the Republic of Austria, as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award from the President of the United States. Claudio has been consistently ranked amongst the leaders of the Accounting Industry.

Claudio is a one-of-a-kind, relentless and resilient serial entrepreneur.


Would you like to find out more?

Don’t hesitate to contact us to see how your family office may benefit from Divitias membership.

Divitias Governance.

Divitias unites Family Offices and Trusted
Partners through its experienced and
dedicated leadership team.

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Trust and Estate Planning

Family Offices cooperate closely with experts in the trust and estate profession to be able to identify cross-border issues. The purpose of our Trust & Estate Planning Competence Group is to provide a focus for with any of the planning, creation, management of and accounting for trusts and estates, executorship administration, and related taxes.

Fostering discussion of aspects of tax, accounting, administration statute and case law that are of general concern is another important component of this Competence Group. Furthermore, advanced training and learning and to promote the practical aspects of cross-border trust and estate planning and administration is provided.

Succession Planning

Affluent families need to plan ahead to ensure continuity of their business legacies. This Divitias Competence Group consists of experts in succession planning for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial families. The focus is not necessarily on taxation and legal matters, but also on aspects of communication, of defining a family constitution, of sourcing external CEOs for family companies, on exchanging practicable concepts of handling internal family matters for the benefit of coming generations.

Communication and mediation are key to ensure smooth transitions. External experts with a known track record bring in their knowledge to guarantee the right solution for successful succession planning.

Start-up / Seed Investing

Family Offices and their clients often support young entrepreneurs and their start-ups. Weather through angel investing or through seed investing, this Competence Group serves as centre of know how. We specialise in sourcing the best advice for start-ups following their foundation, especially on financing rounds, employee participation plans, exits and IP rights.

This Competence Group covers the following fields: legal structure (corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship); Preliminary review and consulting on IP rights (trademarks, copyrights, company name protection etc.); Development and examination of constitutive documents (articles of association, organisational regulations, shareholders’ agreements etc.); Advice on all types of financing (equity, debt, mezzanine), Assistance and coordination of due diligences, Exits (trade sale, IPO, licensing), Advice on due diligence and negotiations, Employee participation plans, shares, options, phantom stock, stock appreciation rights.

Reporting & Compliance / Corporate Governance

Reporting and Compliance are essential parts of the daily business of Family Offices, both for their respective clients as well as for regulatory purposes. In this Competence Group, participants keep themselves updated with the latest technologies, tools and solutions for adequate reporting. In a constantly changing legal environment, KYC and compliance are vital to all family offices to uphold fully compliant status of their operations. A continuous dialogue between members of this Competence Group facilitates the capacity to understand trends, developments and their implementation.

A fitness for purpose of all compliance requirements for family offices is the desired objective of this Divitias Group. Forensic, fraud and investigative components are also shared between members. Additionally, Corporate Governance Codices (CDC) developed on an international level are an important instrument to safeguard compliance of companies with applicable laws and regulations for the benefit of their stakeholders.

Relocation, Residency and Mobility Services

The international mobility of the wealthy and their assets, looking for countries that offer financial security, lower taxation, good educational facilities, safe cities, and other amenities, is the core of this Divitias Competence Group. Members of this Competence Group share valuable information and cooperate closely with the best experts globally in the fields of: residency and relocation services, taxation and legal support, strategic advice, citizenship and naturalization services, investors visas, golden visas.

This Competence Group also covers global mobility services of executives and staff, both for clients of family offices as well as for the firms owned by HNWI’s.

Real Estate and Facility Management

The Competence Group Real Estate and Facility Management consists of Family Offices and leading brokerage and service providers in the area of real estate at large. Both commercial and residential real estate investments, maintenance, but also valuations, and trends are handled for the benefit of international active families. Investment aspects in real estate through SPV’s, funds and corporations are one aspect of this competence group.

The residential part, both for personal use of international families as well as for lending purposes, are the other part. Together with service providers, facility managers, tax and legal advisors, this Competence Group of Divitias is the one stop shop for Family Offices, their clients and everything related to property.

Private Equity

Private Equity has become an indispensable investment aspect for family offices and their clients. The Divitias Private Equity Competence Group supports family offices and their private equity clients with market leading expertise and knowledge across a range of disciplines including the ability to: Execute across all financing structures in coordination with leading experts.

Help clients raise funds for club deals; exchange insights regarding tax and executive compensation and employee benefits advice; Provide comprehensive information encompassing restructuring, governance, antitrust, employment, litigation, and intellectual property.

Philanthropy

Managing philanthropy through the family office is an important aspect of family legacies, particularly if there are multiple branches to the family and if they are using a number of charitable vehicles. This Competence Group covers solutions regarding structure and governance of philanthropic entities and activities, understanding and balancing the goals and values of the family. Through the dense networks of professional advisory firms of Divitias, leveraging the strengths of each charity and philanthropy is assured.

The Competence Group enables its members to provide legal, taxation and structural advice for establishing and smoothly running philanthropic projects for greater impact in the community and greater satisfaction for the family. Philanthropy is an excellent avenue through which to explore and build a culture of shared purpose. Philanthropy is the ultimate purchase. It connects you to your values and allows you to positively influence the world for this generation and future generations.