Who's Who

Simon Thompson was appointed as Chief Executive of the Chartered Banker Institute in 2007 after working for the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in Central & Eastern Europe, and for the International Federation of Accountants. Under his leadership, the Institute has grown to become the largest professional body for bankers in the UK, with nearly 35,000 members and students in more than 100 countries.

Simon is the author of Green & Sustainable Finance: Principles and Practice, published by Kogan Page (www.koganpage.com/product/principles-and-practice-of-green-finance-9781789664546) and leads the Institute’s work in this area. He chairs the UK’s Green Finance Education Charter on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and is a Board member of the UK’s Financial Services Skills Commission (FSSC).  Simon is a former Vice President of the European Bank Training Network. 

You can visit Simons LinkedIn profile here.

Steve has worked in banking for over 40 years and is currently a Non Executive Director at Bank of Ireland where he chairs the Remuneration Committee. He sits on the Advisory Board of The Arora Group and Kingsley Healthcare and was previously on the Financial Capability Board of the Money Advice Service. 

During Steve’s banking career he was CEO of The Hodge banking and life assurance businesses and Shawbrook Bank. 

Prior to joining Shawbrook in 2008, he led the UK banking businesses of Santander UK sitting on the UK Board of the Holding company and various UK subsidiaries. He also represented Santander on the Board of its US businesses. 

Prior to joining Santander in 2008, Steve spent eight years at RBS, where he was CEO of Business Banking, Retail Markets and Managing Director of Commercial Banking and Corporate Banking, Corporate Markets.  

Steve was presented with an Honorary Degree of Doctor of the University of Kent in 2016 for his contribution to Banking and the University. He has a young family and in his “spare time” likes to follow Everton football club and Sussex county cricket team. 

David brings over 38 years of experience within Financial Services spanning executive leadership of strategic and operational teams across multiple markets and jurisdictions, together with Trustee and Board memberships. He spent the last 10 years on the Royal Bank of Scotland HR Board working directly with the Group CEO and Executive Committee and was closely involved in the successful turnaround changes. During this period, he was Director of Learning and Development, responsible for Leadership, Talent & Succession, Culture, the establishment of the RBS Business School and the creation of an internal coaching practice with 150 coaches, winning several Princess Royal Training awards.

David’s Financial Services experience includes managerial roles in insolvency, retail & business banking and Head of IT and Change for NatWest Insurance Services. He was also Head of Diversity for NatWest. He is a Fellow, Trustee and Board member of the Chartered Banker Institute and Chair of its Global Membership Forum, where he leads on members’ interaction with the Institute’s Board on strategy, professionalisation and membership benefits.