FIMBank

Simon Lay - Group Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director

Mr. Simon Lay is an internationally recognised authority in trade finance, with extensive expertise in banking, trade finance, forfaiting, and risk management. He has been a speaker at industry seminars and conferences, contributing thought leadership on forfaiting and trade finance solutions, and has authored numerous articles on the subject.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Lay started at Midland Bank/HSBC Banking, gaining experience in international banking and trade finance. In 1991, he joined London Forfaiting Company Ltd (LFC), playing a key role in its expansion into major global markets. His leadership and strategic insight led to his appointment to LFC’s Board of Directors in 1997. Following LFC’s acquisition by FIMBank plc in 2003, Mr. Lay was appointed Managing Director/CEO, overseeing the company’s international operations, subsidiaries, and branches.

In January 2015, Mr. Lay was appointed Acting Chief Executive Officer of FIMBank, and in July that year, took on the role of Deputy Chief Executive Officer. In August 2024, he was appointed Group Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, assuming overall leadership of the Group’s strategy, financial performance, and global operations. With a deep understanding of FIMBank and its subsidiaries, he plays a pivotal role in driving growth, operational efficiency, and strategic development across the whole Group. With a distinguished career spanning decades, Mr. Lay remains at the forefront of innovation and operational excellence in the industry.

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENTS

Andrea Batelli - Group General Counsel, Head of Investor Relations & Company Secretary

Andrea Batelli joined FIMBank in June 2010, as Head of Legal & Compliance of the Group. Andrea has more than twenty years of experience in the banking sector, with a particular focus on trade finance and compliance. Andrea was appointed as FIMBank’s Company Secretary in 2013. Before joining FIMBank, Andrea occupied the position of Head of the Legal Department and General Counsel at Banca UBAE SpA, Rome (Italy), where he also acted as a member of the Oversight Body with a compliance role. During his career at Banca UBAE, Andrea acquired extensive international expertise in the banking sector, particularly within the Mediterranean, Middle and Far East together with a thorough knowledge of these markets, their culture and the associated challenges.

Andrea received his Law Degree from the University of Perugia (Italy) in 1997 and a Masters in International Company Law in 2000. He is certified by the Rome Bar as an eligible lawyer and thus he is qualified for representation and defense before the Italian Courts. Currently, Avv. Batelli is a member of the board of directors of Egypt Factors and BrasilFactors and serves as chairman of the board of FIMFactors BV.

Juraj Beno - Group Chief Financial Officer

Juraj Beno started his banking career in 2002 with Citibank, where he worked in various finance positions in Slovakia. In 2007, he was assigned to a new Citibank franchise setup in Kuwait, where he served for five years, lastly in a Country Financial Officer role. In 2012, he joined Burgan Bank as a Head of Strategic Financial Planning with wide responsibilities covering among others group strategy design and its implementation. More recently, in 2019, he was appointed as Director of Performance Planning in Al Hilal Bank, United Arab Emirates, entrusted with co-leading the Integration Management Office in charge of ongoing M&A transaction workstreams delivery. Juraj Beno joined FIMBank in August 2020 and has as of recently been approved by regulator for the role of Group Chief Financial Officer of the Bank.

Ronald Haverkorn - Advisor to the GCEO

Ronald Haverkorn joined FIMBank in May of 2015 as the Chief Risk Officer and Executive Vice President. He is responsible for the risk related functions in the group. He sits on several board and committees including; Board Risk Committee, ALCO, Group Executive Committee and Credit Risk Committee. Before joining FIMBank Ronald had a 22 year career in the International Division of Wells Fargo Bank where he worked in the United States as well as in the United Kingdom and Germany while managing global teams.

During his career he has held various global positions in financial institutions and corporate banking with a focus on the Emerging Markets. Responsibilities included; trade finance, structured finance, syndications, risk mitigation, asset trading, portfolio management, risk reporting and relationship management. He was a member of several divisional committees, risk committees and ALCO.

Ronald was born in the Netherlands and moved to the USA to go to pilot school and attend university. He graduated from the University of Texas with a B.A. degree in business administration.

Thomas Dodd - Group Chief Compliance Officer and MLRO.

Thomas Dodd obtained his Master of Business Administration with distinction from Warwick Business School, UK and a Bachelor degree with honours in Economics from Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.

Mr. Dodd has more than 20 years’ experience in senior compliance, audit and regulatory banking roles. From 1999 to 2006, he served as a Senior Banking Regulator for the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates where he led teams performing on-site examinations evaluating the capital adequacy, asset quality, management, profitability and liquidity of domestic and international banks with a presence in the UAE. In 2007, Mr. Dodd joined GE Money Czech Republic as Chief Auditor, leading a team of auditors conducting internal audits and risk advisory assignments both domestically and internationally as part of the GE Capital group. In 2015, Mr. Dodd took on the role of Group Chief Compliance Officer where he led the anti-money laundering, anti-fraud, conduct risk and core compliance teams.

He was closely involved in the IPO process that led to the successful spin-off of the business as an independent entity in 2016. Mr. Dodd also served as a Non-Executive Director for the group’s Leasing subsidiary for 3 years and was President of the group’s Volunteer organisation from 2013 to 2018. Mr. Dodd joined FIMBank on 1 July 2021.

Christine Coleiro - Group Chief Human Resources Officer

Christine Coleiro joined the FIMBank Group in 2006 and was appointed as Group Chief Human Resources Officer in 2018 and as an Executive Vice President in December 2022. Prior to joining FIMBank, Mrs. Coleiro worked for KPMG Malta and has over 16 years’ experience in both local and international Human Resources (“HR”) spheres.

Mrs. Coleiro obtained her MSC in Human Resource Development and Performance Management from the University of Leicester.

Modesto Luengo - Group Chief Risk Officer

Mr. Luengo, is a banking and risk management professional with an engineering degree in Computer Science and Electronics from the Universities of Oviedo and Valladolid (Spain), complemented by an MBA (Masters in Business Administration) from IESE (University of Navarra, Spain). With over 25 years of accomplished experience in the banking sector, Mr. Luengo commenced his career at Santander Group, where he exhibited profound international acumen across Latin America, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Asia-Pacific during his two-decade tenure. Notably, he contributed as a member of significant senior management committees both globally and locally, and previously served on several boards of directors.

In 2017, Mr. Luengo assumed the role of Chief Risk Officer at Finalbion, a fintech company, before transitioning to FIMBank in 2019 as Head of Risk and subsequently appointed as Group Chief Risk Officer. Mr. Luengo's diverse professional journey encompasses leadership roles in Risk across Global Banking and Markets, Commercial Banking, Investment Banking, and Asset Management, accentuating his comprehensive understanding of the banking industry.

Executive Management