Bernd until recently was the Chief Compliance Officer at the EBRD.  He was responsible for leading the Office of the Chief Compliance Officer in its mission of protecting the integrity and reputation of the Bank and promoting ethical standards of behaviour in countries of operation.  He has overall accountability for a wide range of topics; from issues of integrity arising from Bank financed projects, combatting financial crimes, staff conduct, investigations, whistleblowing and policy implementation; to detailed issues arising from Bank investments. He is an Austrian national, is a highly experienced Chief Compliance Officer and regulator with a wealth of experience managing compliance and financial crime for global financial institutions, with particularly strong experience within Central and Eastern Europe. Most recently he served as Chief Compliance Officer at Erste Group, one of the largest financial services providers in Central and Eastern Europe.

Prior to this, he was Head of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs at Western Union International Bank and Head of Compliance Europe for a corporate business division at Western Union where he also held a range of other leadership roles. He has also previously worked at the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) leading high profile investigations as banking regulator and representing the Austrian FMA within the Committee for European Banking Supervisors. He holds a doctorate in law from the University of Salzburg.