Panel members

Background 

Matt Hammerstein is the CEO for the UK Corporate Bank and Head of Public Policy & Corporate Responsibility at Barclays.

Prior to this Matt was the CEO for Barclays Bank UK, covering Retail Banking, Business Banking and Barclaycard UK. He was the former Head of Retail Lending, covering both the secured and unsecured lending businesses. 

Matt joined Barclays in 2004 as Director of Group Strategy, later progressing to become the Group Chief of Staff; a key strategic role in which he provided vital support to the Group CEO during the financial crisis. Matt went on to manage Barclays Group Corporate Strategy and Corporate Relations, Barclays Customer and Client Experience in Retail and Business Banking and Barclays UK Retail Products and Segments. 
 
Before Joining Barclays, Matt was a Senior Management Consultant at Marakon Associates where he worked for 12 years in the financial services, consumer products and energy sectors within the Americas and Europe.  
 
Matt graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Yale University, and an MBA from the University of Chicago. 
 
Matt is a member of the Group Executive Committee, UK Finance Board, Charities Aid Foundation America Board and sits on the Money and Pensions Service Adult Advisory Group.  Matt is also Chair of the FCA Practitioner Panel and active ambassador in Barclays for inclusion, wellbeing and anything that makes the workplace more fun.    

Background 

Chira joined Lloyds Banking Group in May 2023, as CEO, Scottish Widows and CEO, Insurance, Pensions & Investments, helping over 10 million customers to plan for unexpected events in life, save for their futures and enjoy retirement. 

Prior to joining the Group, Chira was Global Head of Strategy at HSBC. Chira has extensive experience in financial services having worked as a partner at Mckinsey & Company and Managing Director at Sanford C. Bernstein. Earlier in his career, he held strategy, management and operational roles at Standard Chartered and Citigroup in India.
 

Background 

Debbie Crosbie joined as CEO of Nationwide Building Society in June 2022 and has over 25 years of experience in financial services leadership, including business and retail banking, IT and digital transformation strategy. Prior to this Debbie was CEO at TSB bank and Group Chief Operating Officer and an Executive Board Director at CYBG.

Debbie is non-executive director of the energy and networks company SSE plc and a member of its nomination committee.  She is also a member of the Glasgow Economic Leadership Board and the Strathclyde University Business School Advisory Board.

Debbie holds an honours degree in Industrial Relations from the University of Strathclyde and is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.

Background 

Alasdair Haynes is a financial services innovator and disrupter.  He is the founder and CEO of Aquis Exchange PLC, a stock exchange challenger.  Prior to establishing Aquis, Alasdair was CEO of Chi-X Europe (now Cboe), which was the first successful entity to break up the monopoly of the national exchanges, and before that CEO of ITG International (now Virtu), where he introduced the concept of dark pools into Europe.  Alasdair began his 30 plus-year career in the City with Morgan Grenfell and has held senior positions at a number of investment banks, including HSBC and UBS.  In addition to running Aquis, Alasdair is the Chairman of the CityUK’s new business council.

Background 

Christopher is a senior adviser to Boston Consulting Group and a non-executive director of Quilter plc.  He is the former CEO of Hargreaves Lansdown and led the business for 7 years between 2016 and 2023.  He has considerable strategic, leadership and operational skills and experience from a number of business sectors as well as extensive finance and accounting experience as Chief Financial Officer at Hargreaves Lansdown, and prior to that at IG Group Holdings plc and Travelex.  He qualified as an accountant with Arthur Andersen in 1993 and spent time GE Capital in a number of leadership roles.  He is an associate member of the Association of Corporate Treasurers and a member of the 30% Club. He is a member of the Advisory Panel for IA Engine, a fintech network run by the Investment Association and a trustee of the Just Finance Foundation, a financial education charity. 

Christopher is passionate about improving the financial resilience of individuals and launched HL's Financial Resilience Barometer which is published every 6 months in conjunction with Oxford Economics.   

Background 

Nasreen Kasenally was appointed Global Chief Operating Officer for UBS Asset Management (AM) in May 2023. She is responsible for all business support functions for the division, encompassing Operating, Accounting & Control, the Chief Data Office, AM’s Transformation and Change portfolio, Business Risk Management and AM Tax, as well as those provided by UBS’s Group Functions, such as AM CDIO. She is Chair of the UBS Asset Management Operating Forum.

In addition to her role as COO, Nasreen was appointed Country Head AM UK in May 2023, responsible for overseeing all AM business conducted in the UK and promoting cross-business collaboration in the location. She was approved as SMF1 Chief Executive and SMF3 Executive Director of UBS Asset Management (UK) Ltd on 13 September 2023.

Previously, Nasreen held senior Risk roles across the firm both in the US and the UK. Most recently, she was the Chief Risk Officer for UBS Asset Management from January 2017, overseeing financial risks across active and passive funds, multi-asset, hedge funds, real estate, private equity and infrastructure, and held the additional posts of CRO for the UBS Group EMEA region and for Group Sustainability.

Nasreen has been a member of the UBS Asset Management Management Team since 2017 and a member of the UBS Asset Management AG Board of Directors for the past five years.

Nasreen is an active champion of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at UBS, with external interests in mentoring female social entrepreneurs tackling microfinance in developing countries.

Background

David joined NatWest Group as CEO, Retail Banking in September 2020. He joined from Westpac Banking Corporation where he worked for 8 years in a number of senior roles, including CEO of the Commercial and Business Bank, Chief Product and Digital Officer, and most recently as CEO of the Consumer Division across the Westpac, St.George, BankSA, Bank of Melbourne, BT, and RAMS. 

 
Prior to this he was Executive General Manager, Cards, Payments and Retail Strategy at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). He was also Managing Director, Strategy, Marketing and Customer Segmentation at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ), and before this Vice President for First Manhattan Consulting Group (FMCG) based in New York

Background 

Andy is the founder and CEO of Chetwood Financial Limited a UK digital bank focussed on consumer lending and retail savings.  

Prior to starting Chetwood, Andy worked for HSBC for a number of years in various roles across Product and Proposition, latterly as Head of Distribution for HSBC UK, with responsibility for the branch network, call centres and financial advisors. Prior to HSBC he was CFO of Marks and Spencer Bank.

Andy is a Chartered accountant.

Sector 

Andy was appointed Chair of the FCA Smaller Business Practitioner Panel from 1 June 2022 and represents the interests of small firms as an ex-officio member of the FCA Practitioner Panel.

Background 

Cristina Nestares is CEO of Admiral UK, a UK market leader of general insurance and renowned Great Place to Work.

Cristina joined Admiral Group in 2005 following the completion of her MBA at INSEAD Business School. She began her Admiral career by founding Admiral’s Spanish Insurance operation (Admiral Seguros) which she successfully ran for 7 years. Cristina then expanded her remit, managing both the group’s Insurance and Price Comparison businesses in France, Italy and Spain, before taking on her current role of Admiral UK CEO in 2016. 

Before Admiral, she worked as a management consultant at Monitor, at the UN World Food Programme, at Oxfam, at Citibank private bank and as a journalist in Rwanda, Libya and Ecuador.

In total, Cristina has over 18 years’ international experience predominantly gained within the financial service sector, with other areas including consulting and non-profit organisations.

In her free time she is a volunteer and trustee of ‘The Wallich’ a charity tackling homelessness in Wales, and has completed an Advanced Management Programme at Harvard University.

Background 

Paul became Chief Executive of Rathbone Brothers Plc in May 2019. Prior to this, he was group finance director from 2008 to 2018 and Managing Director of Rathbone Investment Management from May 2018.

He qualified as a chartered accountant with PriceWaterhouse in 1992. In 1999 he joined Old Mutual Plc as group financial controller, becoming director of finance in 2001 and finance director of Gerrard Limited eight months later. Two years after the sale of Gerrard in 2005 he left to work initially for Euroclear and, subsequently, as a divisional finance director of the Phoenix Group. He was formerly a non-executive director of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.