Martin Vial,
Chief Executive Officer of the Europ Assistance Group
Martin Vial joined Europ Assistance on October 1, 2003, as Chief Executive Officer
of the Europ Assistance Group. He is also chairman of several boards of directors
in Group companies.
After beginning his career as administrator of Post Offices and Telecommunications
in the Financial Office at the General Management of the French Post Office, in 1986
he joined the Treasury Department at the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, where
he was responsible for overseeing activities of banks and stock flotations.
In 1988 he was appointed technical advisor and later deputy director to the Office
of the Minister for Post Offices, Telecommunications and Space, where he was responsible
for the institutional reform of the post office and France Télécom.
From 1991 to 1993, he was successively deputy director and then director in the Office
of the Minister of Infrastructure, Housing, Transport and Space, before going on to
become director in the Office of the Minister for Post Offices and Telecommunications.
In 1993, Martin Vial was appointed chairman and managing director of Aéropostale.
In 1996 he was elected chairman of the CSTA (French air transport association) and
of the FNAM (National Federation of Commercial Aviation.
In late 1997, he became managing director of the La Poste Group before taking up the
chairmanship in December 2000. At the same time he was a member of the Supervisory
Board (1998), then vice chairman (2002) of the National Welfare Fund (CNP) and director
of Assurposte, an insurance company, co-company of CNP and the La Poste Group.
In September 2002, Martin Vial joined the Court of the Exchequer as counsel.
From 1999 to 2004, he was also a member of the Economic and Social Council and a member
of the Strategic Council on Information Technologies under the authority of the Prime
Minister.
Martin Vial, age 52, is a graduate of the ESSEC Business School and the ENSPT (National
College of Post Offices and Telecommunications). He is a knight of the Legion of Honour
and has been awarded the National Order of Merit. He is the author of the book “The
Letter and the Canvas”, devoted to the development of the Internet in France.
