Finance Monthly Global Awards 2018 Edition

ENERGY LEGAL ADVISER OF THE YEAR NICOLE ISEPPI Associate Director at ENGIE About Nicole Iseppi Nicole is the only professional in the international legal and finance industry (to date), who has worked directly in-house as a senior legal and strategic adviser in both the world’s largest IPP global energy company - ENGIE (formerly known as GDF Suez) and also one of the world’s largest project finance lenders - Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). She assists and advises such leading international companies in the successful delivery of their respective energy related interests, strategies and infrastructure investments. Prior to joining ENGIE, Nicole was also mandated to act as the adviser for establishing and implementing, on behalf of the Japanese Ministry of Finance and JBIC - Japan Carbon Finance, Ltd (JCF) (a new financial institution created for the development of greenhouse gas reduction financings). Nicole’s career to date specialises in providing a complete legal and strategic advisory & project management formof service, in relation to global energy infrastructure related projects. She has had substantial experience in the strategic formulation, structuring, financing, execution and operational phases of energy infrastructure projects within the IPP, IWPP, Renewable What inspired you to become an energy lawyer and pushed you to pursue this life? I am originally from Melbourne, Australia, and have been extremely fortunate to always have strong mentors in my life who have inspired me early on to work hard. My parents instilled in me that if you are fortunate to have access to a good education and the chance to be exposed to a variety of opportunities, you also have a responsibility to do something useful with such knowledge and experiences, and return the favour by giving back positively in some way to society. It all started from the time I was working as a trainee lawyer at Freehills (Melbourne) in the Projects & Energy Group, where I was exposed from day one to this world of “energy infrastructure and finance,” and as the saying goes, the rest is history. I have worked in such sector ever since, around the globe, including having the opportunity to live and work in cities such as Tokyo, Abu Dhabi and Dubai as a senior female professional. It has been this pure passion for the work itself, and having a deep enjoyment of constantly being intellectually challenged & playing a role in contributing to the business acumen and direction of a company, that has led me to take this career path for the past 17+ years and never look back; whilst also at the same time undertaking work that adds value back to society by doing something that assists to bring energy access and energy security to various communities around the globe. Q Firm Profile ENGIE is a global energy player and an expert operator in the business of electricity, natural gas and energy services. It develops its businesses around a model based on responsible growth to take on the major challenges of energy’s transition to a low-carbon economy: access to sustainable energy, climate-change mitigation & adaptation and the rational use of resources. The Group provides individuals, cities and businesses with highly efficient and innovative solutions largely based on its expertise in four key sectors: renewable and low Co2 emission energy, energy efficiency, liquefied natural gas and digital technology. ENGIE employs 154,950 people worldwide, with operations in 70 countries around the globe. It is the No.1 IPP in the world; has 21.5 GW renewable power production capacity installed with a further 1.5 GW currently in construction; No.1 importer of LNG in Europe; No.1 distributor of natural gas in Europe and No.1 supplier of energy efficiency services in the world. www.engie.com Finance Monthly Global Awards 2017 www.finance-monthly.com 98 UAE