Maoiliosa O’Culachain is the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Global Shares, which he established in December 2005 along with the other principals.

Previously, he founded Active Capital Strategies in June 2004, a firm dedicated to promoting employee ownership and employee financial involvement.  He advised a number of ESOP trustees in Ireland, including the eircom ESOP Trustee and was Company Secretary of An Post ESOP Trustee Limited. 

Prior to establishing Active Capital Strategies, Maoiliosa was the eircom ESOP Manager from May 1998 to May 2004 with responsibility for establishing and running all aspects of the day-to-day operations of one of the largest ESOP’s outside the US.  In this role, he advised and supported the eircom ESOP Trustee through a number of significant corporate transactions including:

• the implementation of the ESOP from May 1998 to May 1999
  
  
• the IPO of eircom in July 1999
  
  
• the disposal of eircom’s mobile business to Vodafone in May 2001
  
  
• the Leveraged Buy Out of eircom in November 2001 by the Valentia Consortium

• the corporate reorganisation and refinancing of eircom in July 2003 and distribution of €512m to the shareholders in August 2003 and
  
  
• the IPO of eircom in March 2004.

From February 1997 to April 1998, he was a HR Manager and a member of the eircom management team that concluded the ESOP and transformation agreement with the Union Coalition in April 1998.

From July 1989 to January 1997, Maoiliosa worked with PricewaterhouseCoopers in London where he developed his knowledge of employee stock plans. A barrister (non-practicing) and a member of Lincoln’s Inn, he was Chairman of the Irish ProShare Association (IPSA) from 2000 to 2003 and has been a member of the Executive Council since 1997.

He was Development Director of the Global Equity Organisation (GEO), which promotes the development of global employee share plans from October 2004 until April 2006.  He is also Director of the Foundation for Education and Research into Profit-sharing and Employee Ownership, which forms part of the International Financial Services Institute (IFSI) based at the National College of Ireland (NCI) in Dublin.

Maoiliosa has also served as an Army Officer in the Irish Defence Forces, including a six month tour of duty with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon in 1987.