July 2024: Top five movers and shakers stories of the month
July has brought notable leadership changes across several financial institutions worldwide, with a number of significant hires and departures taking place over the month.
Here, we highlight five of the top movers and shakers stories in July, featuring HSBC, Starling Bank, TymeBank, RTGS.global, and PayU GPO.
HSBC concludes search for new Group CEO with Georges Elhedery appointment
HSBC names Georges Elhedery as new Group CEO (Image: HSBC)
HSBC has concluded its search for a new Group CEO, with the bank’s current CFO Georges Elhedery set to take up the role from 2 September 2024.
The firm had been searching for a new CEO since the announcement in April that Noel Quinn was stepping down after five years in the role.
Elhedery’s promotion follows a “rigorous selection process that considered both internal and external candidates”, according to a company statement. This process was led by group chairman Sir Mark Tucker and the Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee, along with support from an unnamed search firm.
Commenting on the bank’s new CEO, Tucker describes Elhedery as having a “track record of leading through change, driving growth, delivering simplification, containing costs and brings a strong focus on execution”.
Starling Bank founder Anne Boden reportedly steps down from board to focus on new AI venture
Anne Boden has reportedly stepped down from her position on Starling Bank’s board, the UK-based challenger she founded in 2014, to focus on a new AI venture called AI by Boden, according to The Sunday Times.
According to Companies House filings, the platform adopted its identity on 15 May 2023, when Boden, listed as sole director, changed the company’s name from General and Services Limited to AI by Boden Limited.
While specific details of what the new venture may offer are currently unknown, Boden writes on LinkedIn that AI by Boden “is my platform for my personal interests in AI and industry disruption”.
The incorporation of AI by Boden in May last year coincided with the announcement that Boden had decided to step down as CEO of Starling Bank.
Simona Covaliu appointed new CRO of PayU GPO
Simona Covaliu, PayU GPO’s new CRO (Image: LinkedIn)
PayU GPO, the online payment service provider based in the Netherlands, has named risk veteran Simona Covaliu as its new chief risk officer (CRO).
In her new position, Covaliu has been tasked with leading PayU GPO’s second line compliance, risk, privacy and security teams.
PayU GPO says that with the firm’s extensive operations, “increased synergies within the risk team will be essential to ensure a continued smooth roadmap of product development and implementation”.
Speaking on the company’s latest appointment, Daniel Cohen, CEO at PayU GPO, says Covaliu’s “breadth of experience working closely with regulators, together with her deep understanding of the fintech landscape makes her an incredible, strategic addition to the PayU GPO leadership team”.
TymeBank promotes former Retail Capital chief Karl Westvig to CEO
South African digital challenger TymeBank has named Karl Westvig as its new CEO, with co-founder Coenraad Jonker, who has held the CEO position since July 2022, set to step aside and “fully dedicate his expertise to his role as Executive Chairman of Tyme Group”.
Westvig first joined TymeBank in January last year to head its business banking operations from its base in Cape Town. This was after his 12-year tenure as chairman and then CEO of SME funding fintech Retail Capital, which was acquired by TymeBank in December 2022.
The CEO transition will come into effect from 1 October, coinciding with the challenger’s plans to raise $150 million through a Series D funding round in Q4, as first reported by Bloomberg last month.
RTGS.global co-founder and CTO Andrew Smith announces departure
Andrew Smith to depart the firm he founded in 2019 (Image: RTGS.global)
Andrew Smith, co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO) at RTGS.global, a London-based cross-border settlement fintech, has announced he is to leave the firm he helped establish in 2019.
Announcing his decision to part ways with the company on LinkedIn, Smith explains: “As a founder, it’s always hard to step away from a company that you have had the vision to create, build and work so hard on. As the company moves in a new direction, away from that vision, it is inevitable that those behind the vision no longer are a good fit.
“Over the course of my career, especially over these past 10 years, I have learned that you must work on things you are passionate about, with people who share in your vision and are equally as passionate as yourself.”
He adds that over his time at the firm, he was “lucky enough to work with great, talented people who shared in that vision and passion to deliver change to the market”.
