Dutch executive returns to Romania as CEO of First Bank

Dutch executive Henk Paardekooper, a former CEO of RBS Bank Romania (the local subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland), officially took over as CEO of Romanian lender First Bank after the central bank cleared him for this position.

“My mandate at First Bank is to lead it through a transformation process that will result in a stronger and more efficient entity for the whole ecosystem it is part of: customers, employees, shareholders, communities, society. Our mission is to adopt and use the benefits of digitization so as to provide customers with an easier approach to banking services. We will use the technology, without losing the human interaction that our customers value so much. We believe in modern and efficient banking, customer-centered, transparent and fair,” Henk Paardekooper said in a press release issued by First Bank.

First Bank is the former Piraeus Bank Romania, which rebranded after being bought by U.S.-based investment fund J.C. Flowers. The bank has 59 units and almost 1,000 employees, serving about 130,000 active clients.

Henk Paardekooper, 55, has almost 30 years of experience in the international banking sector, most of which he has spent working for ABN Amro and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). He also worked in Romania from 2011-2014, as Country Executive of RBS.

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