Launch of the Bucharest International Arbitration Court (BIAC)

November 2, 2016

Proposed Agenda:

09:30 Registration & welcome coffee

10:00 Welcoming Remarks

Ms. Anca Harasim, Executive Director, AmCham Romania (moderator)

Mrs. Anda Todor, Member of AmCham Board

10:15 Presentation of the Bucharest International Arbitration Court

Mr. Dan Vișoiu, Secretary General, BIAC

Mr. Adrian Iordache, Member of the Administrative Council, BIAC

10:40 Keynote Address

Mrs. Annet van Hooft, Honorary President, BIAC

11:00 Q&A Session

11:10 Practitioners Panel (tbd)

11:30 -12:30 Networking Session & light refreshments

Speakers:

Annet van Hooft

Renowned for her international arbitration work, Annet’s experience is further strengthened by her time spent as Counsel for the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris.
Annet co-heads our international dispute resolution group and is based in Paris.
Annet specialises in international commercial arbitration. She represents clients in arbitrations under the rules of various international arbitral institutions, including the International Court of Arbitration (ICC), the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), as well as in ad hoc proceedings. Annet is experienced in several different legal systems, e.g., French, German, and Dutch law, and a wide variety of sectors, including construction, energy, and life sciences.
Annet regularly sits as arbitrator in international disputes.
She is a Vice-Chair of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR.
Admitted to practice in both common and civil law jurisdictions, she has practiced at major U.S. law firms in Brussels, New York, and Paris. Annet also worked as Counsel at the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris, where she oversaw numerous international arbitrations, with a particular focus on Asia and Eastern Europe.
Annet regularly speaks and writes about international arbitration and is the co-author of ‘Arbitrating under the 2012 ICC Rules: An Introductory User’s Guide’, which aims to do away with the mystique of arbitration so that non-specialist lawyers, whether in-house counsel or external counsel, and others may have a clear understanding of ICC arbitration and how to make it work for their clients.
She is admitted to the bars of Rotterdam (the Netherlands) and New York (U.S.A.) and registered with the Paris bar (Directive 98/5/CE). She is fluent in Dutch, English, French and German.

Anca Harasim

Executive Director, AmCham Romania

Anca is the Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Romania (AmCham Romania) since 2000, Vice-President of Harvard Club Romania-Moldova and a founding member of Aspen Institute Romania.
With a Master Degree of Bucharest Polytechnic University in Electrical Engineering, she has contributed to the design of Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant, the first NPP (nuclear power plant) in Romania.
Since 1990, Anca has fulfilled assignments in major non-governmental organizations in Romania, as Executive Director of the Soros Foundation for an Open Society, Fulbright Commission and AmCham Romania.
In 1999, she obtained a Master of Public Administration from John F. Kennedy School of Government – Harvard University, as a Mason Fellow and Associated Kokkalis Fellow.
Between 1999-2001 she was a World Bank consultant for Albania’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Program, as well as for the European Commission’s largest PHARE Program in Romania reforming the Local Public Administration.
With over twenty years senior-level experience in managing and developing non-profit organizations, of public policy and program strategic planning, management development and implementation of innovative reform projects in Central & Eastern Europe, she is currently serving on various Boards of non-profit organizations in Romania.

Anda Todor

Managing Partner, Dentons Bucharest

Anda has over 20 years of experience in the legal profession and has been involved in many pioneering transactions on the Romanian market. She has been a Partner with Dentons – the world’s largest law firm – since 2005 and Managing Partner since 2008. Throughout her career she has supervised numerous large transactions, providing advice in complex deals involving multiple jurisdictions.

Anda is a Member of the AmCham Board and also the Chair of the Corporate Governance and Healthcare Committees. As an active member of AmCham in Romania, over the past years, she has led various important projects aimed at the local business community such as the lunch of the first AmCham Community Investment Guide (2015), the preparation of the AmCham Romania Anti-Corruption Guidelines (2012), The Competitiveness Report (2011) or AmCham Romania Code of Corporate Governance (2010), AmCham being the first business association on the Romanian market to have prepared such important documents.

Anda’s strong academic background includes an LLM from the Georgetown University Law Center (Washington, D.C.) and a law degree suma cum laude from the University of Bucharest Law School. She was Assistant Professor and a Visiting Professor at the American Bar Association. Anda is a member of the Bucharest Bar and of the Law Society of England and Wales.

Dan Vișoiu, Esq., B.C.S. (International Law), has been a member of the Florida (USA) Bar since 1997, and has been registered with the Bucharest Bar (a European Union (EU) jurisdiction) since 2006. He is also a Board Certified Specialist in International Law (www.visoiu.com).

Daniel has been involved in numerous cross-border/M&A transactions having assisted well-known multinationals, investment funds, founders/entrepreneurs and high-net worth individuals. Daniel also has substantial arbitration experience, including ICSID and ICC disputes. He is an arbitrator with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland (www.tas-cas.org) and is the Secretary General of the Bucharest International Arbitration Court (BIAC / www.bucharestarbitration.org). Daniel’s main areas of expertise include commercial and corporate law, corporate governance/shareholders’ disputes, mergers and acquisitions, FIDIC, infrastructure, PPPs, venture capital/private equity, ecommerce and sports law.

Daniel was also a founding member of the leading Romanian law firm, Biris Goran, and formerly an associate with Moquet Borde & Associes (currently the U.S.-based law firm Paul Hastings), in its Paris and Budapest offices.

Daniel obtained Bachelor of Science and Juris Doctor degrees from the University of Florida. Daniel speaks English and Romanian.

Adrian Iordache

Adrian is a well respected international business lawyer with a wide and diverse experience in international contracting in a variety of industries. He is licensed to practice in New York State Bucharest and is currently a Managing Partner of Iordache Partners in Bucharest, a Mackrell International member firm.
Adrian is active in International Arbitration mainly as counsel and has a solid experience with assisting parties under different rules and procedures, including ICC, ICSID or ad hoc procedures under Romanian law., as well as in specialized mediation proceedings. He is a full Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration in London, as well as Chair of the Romanian Chapter of NYSBA International Section.
Adrian holds advanced degrees from University College London in the UK and Mount Allison University in Canada and is currently a Doctoral Researcher in Public Law at University of London’s School of Advanced Studies.
Adrian speaks English, Romanian and French.