Nordea, a Finland based financial service provider with well established presence in Northern Europe recently revealed the appointment of new c-level executive. As per official press release from the firm, it has on-boarded Mr. Ian Smith to serve as the new Chief Financial Officer and Head of Finance for the group.
His new role makes him a member of the financial service provider’s top most executive committee and is expected to take on his new role with the firm effective from 6th May 2020 subject to regulatory approval. The incoming executive is a veteran with more than three decades of experience in financial services industry and has held senior level roles in several leading multinational banking and financial service providers. Ian is currently serving as the Group Chief Financial Officer for Virgin Money UK PLC and has held the role for nearly five years now.
Aside from his role at Virgin Money UK, he is also serving as Chief Financial Officer at CYBG PLC which he had been serving in for five and a half years now as per information in his LinkedIn account. Virgin Money UK PLC was formed when it acquired and merged with CYBG PLC an LSE/ASX listed leading player in UK financial services market. While the firm continues to operate under Clydesdale bank’s banking license at the moment, Virgin Money UK PLC is expected to phase out CYBG PLC’s firms in favor of Virgin Money brand by late 2021.
Aside from his role with Virgin Money, Ian has served as a Partner at Deloitte LLP – one of the big four accounting organizations for four and a half years prior to which he also served as Deputy Group Finance Director for Lloyds Banking Group for two years. Earlier in his career, he had served as Manager at Coopers & Lybrand for seven years.
Commenting on Ian’s addition to the firm’s senior management and leadership team, Frank Vang-Jensen the group CEO and President said, “I am pleased to welcome Ian to Nordea. He brings leadership, expertise and a strong track record. With his background and experience in the financial services sector focused on finance, treasury, business planning, cost management and M&A he is the ideal CFO for Nordea. The appointment supports Nordea’s new phase and our key priorities – optimize operational efficiency, drive income growth initiatives and create great customer experiences and I look forward to working with him across the business and in the Group Leadership Team”.
Commenting on his new role, Mr. Smith said, “Nordea is the leading bank in the Nordic region. I am excited to join Nordea’s new phase and look forward to working with the Group Leadership Team to drive financial performance and help unlock the potential of the bank”.
It should be noted that Mr. Christopher Rees who is currently serving in the role of CFO will retain his post until Ian takes on his new role post which he will cut ties with the firm at the earlier in order to relocate from Finland to UK while ensuring seemless transition of responsibilities. However, the statement failed to mention the exact date of Mr. Rees’s departure from the firm.
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