Howard Rosen

Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to British business in Switzerland

Howard Rosen was born in 1955 and grew up in London. He studied law at Exeter College,
Oxford University, and was awarded his degree in Jurisprudence in 1978. He qualified as an
English solicitor in 1980. Post qualification, he initially worked in private practice in a London
solicitors’ firm. From 1981 to 1988, he was in-house counsel for international leasing
companies specialising in the legal and tax aspects of international finance. In 1983, he was
moved to Zurich by his then employer
At the beginning of 1989, Howard returned to private practice as an English Solicitor and
established Howard Rosen Solicitors, an English law firm, in Zug, Switzerland. He specialises
in international commercial and finance law, international leasing law and trusts. Aside from
being the principal of Howard Rosen Solicitors, he is also founder and Managing Director of
Rosetrust AG, Zug, a commercial trust company, and Aviation & Transport Services GmbH,
both also based in Zug.
Since 1996, Howard Rosen has been the chairman of the Rail Working Group, a global NGO
constituted by UNIDROIT, the International Institute for Unification of Private Law, which is
focused on the adoption around the world of the Luxembourg Rail Protocol to the Cape Town
Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment. He has been actively involved in
the development, drafting, and ratification of the Cape Town Convention itself and the Aviation
and (Luxembourg) Rail Protocols thereto. He has participated in various diplomatic
conferences and taken a leading role in drafting and negotiating contracts, regulations for the
international registry, and the UN Model Rules on permanent identification of railway rolling
stock, all relating to the operation of the Luxembourg Rail Protocol. He works closely with
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governments, parliamentarians, academics, and international organisations including
UNIDROIT, OTIF, the OECD, the European Union Commission, the African Union, and the
United Nations Economic Commissions in Europe and Africa, as well as with financiers,
operators, manufacturers, and professional advisers in the rail industry.
Howard Rosen is a contributor to numerous journals and books on asset finance, railways, and
trusts, and is a regular speaker and moderator at rail workshops, seminars and conferences
around the world.
Howard is a member of the Law Society of England and Wales, the International Bar
Association, and the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. He is also enrolled as a Solicitor
in the Republic of Ireland. He is a correspondent of UNIDROIT, a member of the Institute of
Directors, London, and a former president and now honorary councillor of the British-Swiss
Chamber of Commerce. He was president of the Council of British Chambers of Commerce in
Europe (COBCOE) from 2005 to 2012 and continued to run its Public Affairs Commission
until 2016.
In the 2003 Queen’s Birthday Honours, Howard was made a Commander of the Order of the
British Empire (CBE) for services to British business in Switzerland.
He has British and Swiss nationality, is married with two sons, lives in Zurich, and in his
spare time, sings in a local choir, skis, and is a keen aquarist.

Farai is an energy transition, climate and sustainability specialist with over 10 years’ experience working at the intersection of strategy, policy

and implementation. He advises governments, international organisations and private-sector partners on translating sustainability and climate ambitions into practical, measurable and investment-ready outcomes.

His expertise spans sustainability and climate mitigation across the energy, transport, industrial and agri-food value chains. Farai leads and contributes to policy and business case development as well as regional collaboration initiatives that align decarbonisation objectives with economic development, energy security and long-term competitiveness.

With deep experience in African and emerging market contexts, he supports institutions in designing credible sustainability frameworks, aligning with international standards and structuring resilient value chains that deliver both environmental integrity and socio-economic impact. He is actively engaged in advancing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) value chain development in Africa, particularly through linking low-carbon fuels to regional agricultural and industrial systems.

Farai holds a master’s degree in chemical engineering and is finalising his PhD focused on developing SAF value chains linked to South Africa’s sugarcane industry. His combined technical, policy and market expertise positions him as a recognised knowledge leader in sustainability and climate-aligned industrial development.