OakNorth appoints Cristina Alba Ochoa as new chief financial officer

By Bridging Loan Directory 4th April 2017

OakNorth – the bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs – has appointed Cristina Alba Ochoa as its new Chief Financial Officer and a member of its board. Cristina replaces Nick Price who had been Interim CFO since June last year.

At GE Capital International, Cristina – who has over 20 years’ experience in senior management – led a team of experienced senior finance managers and analysts who facilitated the management of over $100Bn worth of sales across multiple jurisdictions. She also oversaw the creation of GE Capital’s Centre of Excellence dedicated to cost analysis and forecasting, leading to a cost base reduction of $2Bn over three years. The strong governance framework she incorporated enabled transactions to be completed at speed whilst still ensuring security – much like the debt finance transactions between OakNorth and its borrowers.

Cristina will be responsible for developing and maintaining a robust control environment across the bank’s Finance and Treasury functions, as well as leading the day-to-day financial controllership, tax compliance, Treasury, and financial planning activities. She will also lead OakNorth’s annual and multi-year budget and financial reporting process, including providing support to Rishi Khosla, the co-founder and CEO, in driving cost control and overall adherence to financial plan.

Rishi Khosla, CEO and co-founder, OakNorth Bank said:

“The last 18 months have seen phenomenal growth for the company – we tripled our loan book in the six months following the Brexit vote last summer and this trend has continued in Q1 of this year, with our loan book now standing at £450m*. We want to continue building on this success. Cristina is a perfect fit for this role given her past experience as CFO for GE Bank’s $5Bn European leveraged finance division.”

Cristina Alba Ochoa, Chief Financial Officer, OakNorth Bank said:

“I’m very excited to be joining OakNorth – the bank has already proven its proposition in the UK market and established itself as a credible contender to the larger high-street banks. It has built its own IP around origination and credit and created an efficient business model which enabled it to break even in just 11 months. I look forward to joining the team and helping to lead the bank in its ongoing success.”