In the 21st century, financial institutions operate in an increasingly sophisticated environment. Financial instruments have proliferated and gained new layers of complexity, while information technologies have revolutionized the speed and manner with which business is conducted. Each of these developments creates new challenges, each, new opportunities.

To excel in this environment, the finest specialised knowledge is essential. Experience and expertise are the keys to protecting capital and unlocking profits in this constantly changing environment. BANK MEDICI's chairman and founding partner, Sonja Kohn, has both.

Fluent in five languages, she blends European values with sophisticated American financial know-how. In 1987, she founded a New York-based broker dealer active in proprietary trading, arbitrage and executions for hedge funds. In 1990, also in New York, she created Eurovaleur, an investment banking firm specialising in devising innovative products and services for leading financial institutions. 1994 saw Mrs. Kohn launch Medici Finanz, a joint venture with Länderbank, a predecessor to Bank Austria Creditanstalt based in Vienna. Medici Finanz rapidly exhibited the same excellence in innovative product development and market strategy as Eurovaleur and formed the basis for BANK MEDICI.

Successful in building her own businesses, Mrs. Kohn also developed significant ventures with partners Jupiter, Commerzbank's asset management company, and BSCH, the leading Spanish banking group. She was also a founder of FundsWorld, a European leader in online investing that is today owned by Banca Intesa.

Having served as an official advisor to the Minister of Economic Affairs of the Federal Republic of Austria from 1996-2000, Mrs. Kohn was awarded the Grand Medal of Honour for Service to the Republic of Austria in 1999. She has been as well advisor to the Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Vienna Stock Exchange for which she initiated MOUs with the Dubai Financial Markets and the Shanghai Stock Exchange