Monzo’s Chief Risk Officer Lisa Nowell Departs, Joins Ashman Finance

Lisa Nowell, the former Chief Risk Officer(CRO) of Monzo bank, has joined upstart SME lender Ashman Finance as its CRO.

According to her Linkedin profile, Lisa joined the bank in October 2019 as its first CRO, which she spent for nearly 14 months.

Lisa has been replaced at the challenger bank by Iain Laing on November, subject to regulatory approval. Laing was formerly the chief risk officer at TSB Bank and before that Nationwide Building Society.

Ashman Finance describes itself as "an ambitious new entrant into the SME Lending and Consumer Deposit Markets" and "pioneering financial services that enrich the customer and the planet".

Established by a team of passionate entrepreneurs and seasoned bankers, the company aims to launch in 2021 and is currently in the process of applying for a UK banking licence.

Commenting on Lisa's departure, Monzo's CEO TS Anil said: "We're extremely grateful to Lisa who's been an integral part of Monzo and helped us build a world-class risk and compliance team. She continued to lead our risk and compliance function and support our executive team to hire a successor. Iain has over 20 years' experience managing risk at some of the UK's most established retail banks and lenders, and today we're fortunate to welcome him as our CRO (subject to regulatory approval). The range of his experience and depth of his expertise will be crucial as we continue to build out our business."