About IMIA

President

Gerhard Starsich

(CEO of the Austrian Mint)

The commercial science graduate began his career in the accounting department at Austrian Airlines. As of 1988, he worked for the audit firm Arthur Andersen. In 1991, he transferred to the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), from where he was appointed, in 1994, to the European Monetary Institute, today’s European Central Bank, as head of controlling and organisation. Back in Vienna he worked as of 1997 as Director for finance and controlling at the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity. In 1999, he worked again for the Oesterreichische Nationalbank as deputy head of the payments division. As of 2002, he was, as Managing Director, responsible for the successful restructuring of APSS GmbH (Austrian Payment Systems Services) and Austria Card Plastikkarten und Ausweissysteme GmbH.
Since he joined the Austrian Mint in 2008, he held several positions within national and international committees like the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, the Mint Directors Working Group (MDWG) and the Mint Directors Conference (MDC). Since 2022, he is president of the International Mint Industry Association (IMIA).

Vice President

Marc Schwartz

(Chairman and CEO of the Monnaie de Paris)

Marc Schwartz started his career as an Auditor at the Cour des Comptes in 1988 and joined the Treasury Department in 1992 before his appointment as Economic and financial Counsellor for South-East Asia at the French Embassy in Singapore in 1994.
He was advisor to the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry and the Secretary of State for the Budget from 1997 to 2000. He then joined France Télévisions, as Chief Financial Officer before being promoted to Deputy Chief Executive Officer. In 2010, he became a partner within the audit and consulting firm Mazars, in charge of Public Sector and Media. He returned to the Cour des Comptes in 2014 and has carried out numerous official missions. From May 2017 to January 2018, he was Chief of Staff to the French Minister of Culture.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Public finance (Sciences Po Paris) and a master’s degree in Corporate finance. He also graduated from Ecole Nationale d’Administration the French School for Public administration.

Secretary

Dr. Reinhard Riffel

(Managing Director of the Bavarian State Mint)

Reinhard Riffel studied Industrial Engineering and graduated with a Master of Science in Economics and a Master of Engineering in Production Technology. After his studies, he worked for a short time in management consulting before moving to the automotive supply industry for around eight years. There he worked for NSK, Japanese Tier-1 automotive supplier, as well as for Feintool, Swiss automotive supplier and technology leader in the field of fine blanking, in various functions, including Head of Supply Chain Management and Production Manager.

Treasurer

Pascal Rencker

(Head of Innovation R&D and International Affairs of the Monnaie de Paris)

His work focuses on international exchange in best practice, market and research studies on technical, environmental and economic topics of the mint industry.
Prior to his current role, he was the Industrial Director at the Monnaie de Paris, with operational and strategic responsibility for the end-to-end delivery to customers on four continents, for several years.
His background and expertise are in the metal forming industries from gold and silver refineries up to copper based cold metal rolls, as well as jewel makers. He also specialises in global commerce and international sourcing.

Martina Horakova

Martina has over 18 years of experience as a central banking and regulatory specialist. She previously spent a decade at Central Banking Publications, working across journalism and editorial content, before founding her own independent editorial business focused on cash, payments and central bank digital currencies.
She has produced numerous analytical articles, as well as a book ‘Financial independence and accountability’ for central banks. She studied economics at FU Berlin and holds an MSc in development economics from SOAS University of London.