Ilan Jacobs

Managing Director, Head of UK Government Affairs at Citi

Speaker

Ilan joined Citi’s Global Government Affairs team in February 2015 and made Managing Director in December 2022.

A government affairs professional, with over twenty five years experience in financial services policy and regulation, Ilan leads Citi’s public policy and political engagement in the UK.

Prior to joining Citi, Ilan held a variety of roles at GE, including developing GE UK’s public affairs programme and leading Government Affairs and Policy work for GE Capital across Europe, supporting GE's financial services businesses in their engagement with policymakers.

Ilan joined GE as Head of UK Government Relations at GE Money in May 2006, after two years as Head of Public Affairs, at the Internet Bank Egg, campaigning for reform of personal finance laws to make money simpler for consumers.

In the 1990s, Ilan worked as an aide to Peter Mandelson, where he was one of the researchers for Mandelson's definitive book on New Labour, 'The Blair Revolution'. Ilan also worked for Philip Gould, Labour's senior campaign strategist during the 1997 election that brought Tony Blair to power.

An expert in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) regulation and policy, Ilan regularly writes and speaks on ESG developments, creating Citi’s thought leadership and representing Citi at client, trade association and policymaker events.

Ilan is currently Vice Chair of the Financial Services Committee and of the Sustainable Finance Task Force of the American Chamber of Commerce to the European Union, and Co-Chair of the International Regulatory Strategy Group’s (IRSG) Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Working Group.

Ilan is a Governor and former Chair of Alma Primary, a local state school in the London Borough of Barnet, where he lives with his wife and 2 daughters.