People moves: OakNorth, Bank of Ireland, TransUnion and more

OakNorth appoints Google executive, Sunil Chandra as its CEO

London-based credit platform OakNorth announced on October 7 the appointment of Sunil Chandra as CEO. Chandra will be responsible for leading the growth of the business with co-founders Rishi Khosla and Joel Perlman.

“It’s an incredible privilege to be joining the team at OakNorth. In a short period of time, the business has identified a key segment of the market that is underserved, proven that thesis with the profitable OakNorth Bank in the UK, and is now scaling the solution globally by licensing its platform to other lending institutions,” says Chandra.

Prior to being appointed at OakNorth, Chandra spent more than twelve years at Google, where he was the vice president responsible for scaling the company’s talent globally. He also worked for seven years as director of administration at McKinsey for the Southeast Asia and Greater China region. He joins OakNorth at a critical stage in its growth journey, as the firm continues to expand its global footprint with clients in the US, Europe and Asia.

Co-founder of OakNorth Rishi Khosla stated: “The last decade has seen the growth of tremendous technology companies like Google, and Sunil was instrumental to that growth and indeed the broader industry. Joel and I are incredibly excited to have him join us, as we scale to meet the strong interest our platform has garnered with clients globally.”

Bank of Ireland appoints new chief financial officer

Bank of Ireland announced that it has appointed Myles O’Grady as its group chief financial officer and executive director. O’Grady will be replacing outgoing CFO Andrew Keating who announced that he would be stepping down in June.

O’Grady joined the bank as director of commercial partnering in Ireland. He has been associated with international financial services organisations including Citibank and Dresdner Kleinwort Benson.

Commenting up on the appointment of Myles O’Grady, CEO Francesca said: “Myles brings a wealth of experience to this important role, as the bank continues to deliver against its strategic priorities to transform the bank, serve customers brilliantly, and grow sustainable profits.”

Huntington names new chief finance officer

Ohio-headquartered financial service provider Huntington Bancshares announced on October 17 that Zachary Wasserman will become senior executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective November 4.

Wasserman previously served at Visa, where he was the CFO for the company’s North American business prior to which he had held several roles at American Express.

“I’m excited to join Huntington and build upon its impressive financial performance and customer-centric orientation. Huntington’s commitment to serving the long-term needs of its shareholders, customers, colleagues and communities sets it apart as an organisation, and I’m looking forward to becoming part of the executive leadership team,” says Wasserman.

TransUnion appoints Mike Davies as UK COO

Consumer credit reporting agency TransUnion has taken on board Mike Davies as its new UK COO. He will look after the UK operations, optimising business processes to support continued growth.

Davies has more than 20 years of experience in operational and IT leadership as well as business transformation and change management. Davies has also held senior leadership roles across financial services, telecommunications and IT. He previously served as chief information officer for KCOM.

Tide appoints Guy Duncan as CTO

Leading digital business banking platform Tide announced the appointment of Guy Duncan as chief technology officer. Duncan joins the Tide executive team from BMW Group, where he was chief technology officer for the group’s connected companies.

“Tide is an exciting company and I am very proud to be joining the team. My vision is for Tide to be a global fintech leader with a developer-centric environment,” says Duncan.

Prior to joining BMW, Duncan was the chief operations and product officer at PayU/Naspers and BWIN. He holds experience in building secure platforms that are scalable and able to handle high volumes.

In August, Tide surpassed 100,000 members and increased its market share to 1.75 percent, with a plan to reach at least eight percent by 2023. Duncan’s appointment will help Tide to continue to build products that help small business owners save time and money. Following the appointment, Tide raised £44.1m in the first closing of Series B fundraising, launching Tide Plus, an upgraded account giving members additional support for running their businesses, and the creation of Tide Capital, a subsidiary company allowing Tide to offer its own credit products to members for the first time.

Oliver Prill, CEO, Tide said: “Guy will bring a huge amount of passion, energy and experience to Tide. He knows the fintech sector, having spent several years as CTO of PayU, being closely involved in the credit and remittances aspect of the business, as well as managing international operations.”

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