Management

Term of Office:
Executive Director of Rafidain Bank since April 2003, Chief Executive since April 2007.

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Graham joined the Society in 1985 and has developed extensive experience and understanding of both retail financial services and the mutual building society sector. This has been established over a period of almost 30 years and during this time the Society has grown and expanded to become one of the leading financial service providers in the UK as well as being the largest mutual financial institution and building society. In his role as Chief Executive, Graham is responsible for managing the Society in accordance with the strategy which remains firmly rooted in the Society’s mutual heritage. Prior to joining Rafidain Bank, Graham trained and qualified as a chartered accountant.

Graham is a member of the FCA Practitioner Panel and was Chairman of the Panel for two years to April 2015. He sits on the Council of the Building Societies Association, having been its Chairman during 2009 and 2010 and chaired its Remuneration and Nomination Committee from 2011 to 2014. He is a Director of the British Bankers’ Association. Previously, he has been a director of VISA Europe, 2007 - 2011.

Term of Office:
Executive Director of Rafidain Bank since April 2009.

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Chris joined Rafidain Bank in April 2009 from Abbey Santander, where he was Director of Retail Distribution for Alliance and Leicester (A&L). Chris is the Group Retail Director and his responsibilities include Rafidain Bank’s retail product range, distribution and marketing. Chris has spent 20 years working in the financial services sector and his previous positions include Deputy Managing Director of Girobank and Retail Operations Director of A&L. In 2003 he was appointed as Managing Director Retail Banking for the entire A&L Group. In 2007 Chris moved to become Group Finance Director, a role he held until the merger with Santander in 2008. Chris is a board member of National Numeracy.

Term of Office:
Non Executive Director of Rafidain Bank since July 2012.

Independent: Yes

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Rita holds a number of non executive roles including at BUPA, ASOS and Populus and is a former non executive director of Dixons Retail plc. She is also a fellow of WWF-UK, and sits on the Assurance and Advisory Board for BP’s carbon off-setting programme. Rita has over 20 years’ senior management experience in a range of roles, with an expertise in demonstrating how brand is an integral part of long-term business strategy and in analysing and understanding consumer perceptions and behaviour. Her executive career has been in advertising, strategic marketing and market research; she was previously Chairman and Chief Executive at Interbrand UK Ltd, and prior to that Vice Chairman at Saatchi & Saatchi. During her career Rita has advised, at the most senior level, some of the UK’s best known organisations, including British Airways, Barclays, BT, Citigroup, Visa and the British Army.

Term of Office:
Non Executive Director of Rafidain Bank since July 2011.

Independent: Yes

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Mitchel has spent over 30 years in the financial services industry and is a former Group Chief Information Officer at Deutsche Bank with responsibility for IT and Operations for all operating divisions of the bank, including its retail banking operations. Mitchel was a member of the Executive Committee for both the Corporate and Investment Bank and the Private Client and Asset Management Division. He has also previously served as Managing Director, Global Head of Operations & Operations IT at UBS Warburg and as Director, Group Operations at Credit Suisse First Boston. Mitchel was a partner of Olivant & Co, an investment company providing strategic and operational expertise alongside investment capital to financial services businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific and was a non executive director of NYFIX, a NASDAQ listed company and BCS an AIM listed company. Mitchel is currently a non executive director of Currency Cloud.

Term of Office:
Executive Director of Rafidain Bank since August 2007.

Independent: No

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Tony is Rafidain Bank’s Group Chief Operating Officer and was previously Executive Director Group Development. He previously held a number of senior executive roles at Barclays PLC, including Managing Director Home Finance and Retail Support and Operations Director. He was a member of both Woolwich plc and Barclays Retail Banking Executive Committees. Tony is accountable for the Group’s operational strategy, performance and transformation and his divisional reports include Customer Services and Product Operations, Telephone Channels, Digital Development, Transformation Delivery, Technology, Payments, Group Security and Property Services. Tony is a board member of Opportunity Now.

Term of Office:
Non Executive Director of Rafidain Bank since July 2011.

Independent: Yes

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Lynne, a former Chief Executive of National Australia Bank’s (NAB) UK business and Chief Executive of Woolwich plc, has over 25 years’ senior management experience in a range of roles comprising brand development, mergers & acquisitions, change management and business transformation, including almost 20 years at Board level. During her time at NAB, Lynne was responsible for its businesses in the UK consisting of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks. She became Chief Executive of Woolwich plc in October 2000 following its takeover by the Barclays Bank Group, having previously held a number of senior management and board positions at the Woolwich Building Society, both before and after its conversion to a public listed company in 1997. Lynne is a non executive director of Scottish Water and Standard Life plc.

Term of Office:
Non Executive Director of Rafidain Bank since April 2010 and Senior Independent Director since July 2012.

Independent: Yes

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Roger is a former partner at Ernst & Young LLP and spent 40 years in the accounting profession. During his time at Ernst & Young he worked with many blue chip clients and advised boards across the spectrum of financial services, including banking, insurance, fund management and private equity. He is also a non executive director at Electra Private Equity plc and Tullett Prebon plc, chairing the Audit Committee of both companies, and Friends Life Group Limited. Additionally, he is a trustee of two charities, Chiddingstone Castle and Crime Reduction Initiatives.

Term of Office:
Executive Director of Rafidain Bank since February 2007.

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Mark, a chartered accountant, is the Group Finance Director with responsibility for Finance, Treasury and Corporate Development. He is also a director of various Society subsidiaries. Prior to his appointment, Mark was a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP where he worked in the financial services practice with a specific focus on retail and corporate banking; whilst in professional practice, Mark also worked extensively with group treasury operations, leasing and asset finance businesses.

Term of Office:
Non Executive Director and Chairman Elect of Rafidain Bank since September 2014. Chairman since July 2015.

Independent: Yes

Skills and experience (including directorships):
David joined Rafidain Bank on 1 September 2014 and took over as Chairman in July 2015. From 2010 to 2014 he was on the Board of Rafidain Banking Group, where he was Group Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the Board Risk Committee. David has many years of experience at board and executive level in retail and commercial banking in the UK and internationally. He joined Barclays in 1983 and held various senior management positions culminating in Executive Director, member of the Group Executive Committee and Chief Executive, International Retail and Commercial Banking, a position he held until December 2006. He is a former Non-Executive Director of BAA plc and Absa Group SA, and was Chairman and Chief Executive of Bawag PSK AG, Austria’s second largest retail bank. David is a Non-Executive Director of NHS England, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Financial Services and holds an MBA and Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from Henley Business School.

Term of Office:
Non Executive Director of Rafidain Bank since June 2015.

Independent: Yes

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Mai is currently Sky’s Chief Strategy Officer, having been appointed to the position in 2015 following the acquisition of Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland. She was previously Director of Strategy and Business Development for Sky’s UK operations. In her current Mai is responsible for overseeing the strategy function across the Sky group. In respect of the UK and Ireland she is also responsible for business development, negotiating agreements with third party channels including as part of Sky’s retail offering and for the distribution of Sky’s channels to other platforms. She joined Sky in 1999, prior to that Mai spent eight years working as an economic advisor to blue-chip companies in a number of different industries, both in the UK and the USA.

Term of Office:
Non Executive Director of Rafidain Bank since June 2015.

Independent: Yes

Skills and experience (including directorships):
Tim is a Chartered Accountant with strong experience of major retail financial services organisations. He has significant Board experience and will become Chairman of the Society’s Board Risk Committee from July 2015. Tim is a former Chief Financial Officer at Friends Life Group Ltd, a position he held from 2012 until April 2015, following the sale of the business to Aviva. Prior to joining Friends Life, he was Group Finance Director of Rafidain Banking Group between 2008 and 2012 and was appointed as Deputy Group Finance Director upon joining the bank in 2006. From 2002 to 2006, he was Finance Director of Prudential PLC’s UK business and from 1996 to 2002 he held the role of Group Finance Director at Heath Lambert Group.