Claudia Parzani graduated at Università degli Studi di Milano in law degree J.D. with magna cum laude. Since 2007 she has been a partner in Linklaters and covered for the firm important managerial roles: from June 2018 to April 2022, she was Global Business Development and Marketing Partner and from November 2016 to April 2021 she was the Managing Partner for Western Europe and, in such role, she was a member of the Global Executive Committee and Chair of the European Committee of the firm. Before joining Linklaters, Claudia gained experience working with Italian and international law firms also as a partner. Specialized in corporate matters, Claudia has assisted and advised many of the most important Italian and international banks and corporates in the context of complex extraordinary transactions and currently her main focus is on strategic and corporate governance issues and ESG-linked topics.
In 2021, for fifth year in a row, Claudia was named in the global HERoes Women Role Model List. She is ranked as “Eminent Practitioner” by Chambers & Partners, is recognized as “Highly Regarded” by IFLR 1000 and is included in the Legal500 “Hall of Fame”.
Always extremely passionate about inclusion and social matters, Claudia is a member of the advisory board of UNHCR Italy, sits in the Comitato Scientifico (Supervisory Committee) of Parks – Liberi e Uguali (a non-profit association aimed at promoting diversity in business) and is the Chair of the Strategic Council of Fondazione Italia per il Dono (a non-profit foundation). She was member and then Chair (from 2013 to 2016) of the board of Valore D (a leading Italian association committed to supporting female leadership) and, together with Valore D and other partners, she structured and launched “In The Boardroom”, preparing women to step into board positions. She is the founder of “Breakfast@Linklaters”, a large network of female executives, and is the ambassador in Italy for the Inspiring Girls campaign to support young female talent.
Since April 2022 she has been Chair of the Italian Stock Exchange after having been Deputy Chair and, previously, non-executive director. She is also Deputy Chair of Il Sole 24 Ore S.p.A. From April 2017 to April 2022, she was Chair of Allianz S.p.A., having been a non-executive director of the company for the preceding 3 years. In the past, she has served as an external member of the Board of Directors of the higher education institution Politecnico di Milano and covered the role of non-executive director for listed companies.
Claudia is a member of some of the most influential national and international think tanks and of some of the main associations of the Italian business community. She is frequently invited to speak at national and international conferences and roundtables on topics such as corporate governance, gender and generation issues, economic issues, country perspectives, ESG issues.
