John Maidens
Director

John is Chair of the Board of First European and an Executive Director. He has over 30 years’ experience in senior leadership and finance roles within the insurance industry in Europe, the UK and USA, including as Chief Executive Officer of First European’s sister company, First Title Insurance plc. John is a Chartered Accountant by profession and joined the First American group in 2007.

Oliver Bate
Director

Oliver was appointed Executive Director of First European on its incorporation in 2018. He is an experienced insurance professional, having acted as General Counsel & Head of Compliance of First European’s UK sister company, First Title Insurance plc, since joining in 2010. Oliver is a dual-qualified solicitor (England & Wales and Republic of Ireland) and previously practised in the real estate disputes team of a leading international law firm. He has an Executive MBA from Bayes Business School, London as well as a Modern European Languages degree from Durham University.

Zara Coke
General Manager

Zara joined First European in January 2021, becoming General Manager in June 2022. She is a law graduate with nearly 20 years of wide-ranging experience in the insurance industry across a number of classes of business and jurisdictions. She was formerly an Underwriter with Lloyd’s of London syndicates, and is experienced in the Maltese market having occupied a leadership role within a Malta based entity forming part of a larger multi-national insurance company.

Justin McChesney
Non-Executive Director

Justin is a Non-executive Director of First European. He is a Chartered Accountant and highly experienced finance professional who has occupied a number of senior positions since joining the First American group in 2003, including his current roles as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Risk Officer of First Title Insurance plc and former role as Managing Director of enact Holdings Limited, the UK’s largest conveyancer. Prior to 2003, he was Group Financial Controller of a FTSE-listed business.

John Bonett
Independent Non-Executive Director

John was Director of Insurance with the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) from 1992-2003. At MFSA John was actively involved in the enactment and supervision of the new insurance legislation and the drafting of various amendments to the tax law relating to insurance business. MFSA is a founding member of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) and John sat on its insurance, laws and regulations sub-committee for eight years.

Joseph Demanuele
Independent Non-Executive Director

Joe joined the Board of First European in July 2019. Before retiring from full-time employment, Joe was the Chief Operations Officer of the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) where he chaired the Board of Management and Resources, responsible for all the non-regulatory operations of the MFSA and chaired the Board of a training subsidiary.