Education
He graduated in Commercial and Financial Sciences at the Institut Catholique des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (ICHEC) in Brussels in 1973. In addition he obtained a special degree in Business Strategies and International Management.
He graduated in Commercial and Financial Sciences at the Institut Catholique des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (ICHEC) in Brussels in 1973. In addition he obtained a special degree in Business Strategies and International Management.
He was replaced by Herman Verwilst as of 14 July 2008 but who was subsequently replaced shortly thereafter by Filip Dierckx. In 1975 he started his career at Unilever, where he had management responsibilities in international sales, marketing and general management. He joined Citibank in 1991, where he worked in different positions in Europe and the United States of America. At Citibank he was President of Citibank Belgium and Marketing Director for Europe, Director of Marketing and technology United States of America and Europe Consumer Bank, Director Insurance in the United States of America, Head of United States of America Investment Business (Chicago), and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Citibank Financial Stability Board, a branch network in the United States of America. He left Citibank in 1997 and joined Algemene Bank Nederland-AMRO as Senior Executive Vice-President International Consumer Banking and East-Commerce until 2001 when he rejoined Citigroup.
On 11 October 2004, he joined Fortis as its Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Anton van Rossum and was responsible for the day-to-day management of the group and proposing strategic proposals to the Board.
With the onset of the world financial crisis and the exposure of banks to the United States sub-prime issue Fortis became one of the first European banks to suffer and in July 2008 Jean-Paul Votron stepped down as Chief Executive Officer.
In 2002, he was appointed as a member of the Management Committee of Citigroup and until 2004 Jean-Paul Votron was its Chief Executive Officer Retail Bank for Western Europe, Central Europe, Russia, Middle East and Africa.