Career Biography

Besma Boumaza is Accor’s Group General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, overseeing legal, corporate secretary, ethics, compliance, risk management and insurance. She leads a team of over 140 professionals and is a member of the Group’s Executive Committee. Additionally, she serves as General Counsel for the Premium, Midscale & Economy Division of Accor.

Besma joined Accor Group in 2012, initially holding the position of Legal Manager for Corporate & Securities Law. In 2017, she was promoted to Senior Vice President, Corporate & Compliance General Counsel, and Deputy Secretary of the Board of Directors. She was appointed Group General Counsel and Secretary of the Board of Directors in 2019. Besma has been heavily involved in different mergers and acquisitions expanding the number of brands and played an active role in Accor’s asset-light transformation.

Her career began as an associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges in Paris. In 2004, she joined the French Ministry of Justice as a project manager within the Direction des Affaires Civiles et du Sceau. She later moved to the legal department of the French Bank Société Générale, where she worked as a corporate lawyer.

Besma is also independent Director of Dassault Aviation, a listed aerospace company, and serves as Vice-President and member of the Board of the French association of in-house counsels (Association Française des Juristes d’Entreprise).

She is a qualified lawyer admitted to the Paris Bar and holds a Master 2 in international law from Paris II – Assas (France) and an LL.M. in international law and arbitration from Tulane Law School (LA, United States).