Meet the team

Recognise Bank’s leadership team is made up of highly talented individuals with a wide range of exceptional experience. Get to know them below, and if you like what you see, why not check out our live vacancies?

Join the team

165 years and counting

That’s how many collective years of financial services experience our executive team has.

You’re in safe hands with us.

Jean Murphy

Chief Executive Officer
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Ronelle Arbib

Chief Operating Officer
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Mark Bampton

Chief Commercial Officer
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Georgina Behrens

General Counsel, Company Secretary, MLRO
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Sahil Thapa

Chief Technology Officer
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Marina Gosling

Chief Financial Officer
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James Royle

Chief Risk Officer
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Tricia Halpin

Chief People Officer
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Our Board

We’ve built a strong and reliable team of board members

Steve Pateman

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Simon Wainwright

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Richard Gabbertas

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Philip Jenks

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Moorad Choudhry

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Christopher Kraft

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Ruth Parasol

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Jean Murphy

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Check out our careers page for live opportunities at Recognise Bank.

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PRODUCTS
COMPANY
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1Currently, only LLPs and Limited Companies can deposit over £85,000. 

2FSCS Protection up to £85,000 on your eligible deposits.

Recognise Bank reserves the right to withdraw any of their products from sale at any time.

Recognise Bank Limited is a company registered in England and Wales, registration number 10603119 with its registered office at Augustine House, 6a Austin Friars, London, United Kingdom, EC2N 2HA. Recognise Bank Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Our Financial Services Register number is 849404 

Loan facilities offered by Recognise Bank Limited are non-regulated contracts under the Financial Services and Markets (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 and the Financial Services and Markets Mortgage Credit Directive Order 2015. Your property is at risk if you fail to make payments on a mortgage contract.

© Recognise Bank 2024

Jean Murphy
Chief Executive Officer
Jean has over 25 years of banking and capital markets experience at leading global institutions. She’s an investor, entrepreneur, and founder of a successful wealth management business. She previously held senior roles at several international banks, including Director of Private Banking at Morgan Stanley and Executive Director of Goldman Sachs Wealth Management Division. Jean serves on the boards of Barts Charity and the Old Vic Endowment Trust.
Ronelle Arbib
Chief Operating Officer

Ronelle has worked in several senior management and operational roles across the investment, real estate, and financial services sectors, both in the UK and overseas and has led complex financing of over £500m in debt.

Ronelle volunteers as a Senior Project Manager for The Parasol Foundation Trust, a charity helping disadvantaged women succeed in the business world, and she also leads the Bank in its partnership with Women in Banking and Finance (WIBF).

Prior to this, Ronelle spent five years in operational roles within the Air Force – managing large teams, projects, and operations.

Mark Bampton
Chief Commercial Officer

Mark has over 30 years of banking, business lending and credit experience. He has been involved in Recognise Bank’s journey from the beginning as part of the founding team that obtained the banking licence originally in the role of Chief Credit Officer. Prior to joining Recognise Bank, he held various senior executive positions in Nationwide Building Society’s commercial division, including National Head of Commercial Property Finance. Mark is also the Managing Director of Credit Asset Management Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Recognise Bank, specialising in asset finance, commercial loans and leasing finance.

Georgina Behrens
General Counsel, Company Secretary, MLRO

Georgina qualified as a Real Estate solicitor with Linklaters in 2004 before joining Citigroup in 2006 where she held senior legal and compliance roles within Corporate Finance and in Financial Crime across all business lines.

Following her stint in a big bank environment she joined the challenger bank community in 2014, first at Tungsten, then B&C Plc where she held positions of CRO, General Counsel, Company Secretary, Chief Compliance Officer & MLRO. She was a Board Director in both institutions.

Sahil Thapa
Chief Technology Officer
Sahil has 15 years’ experience in financial services having worked with multiple tier one banks. He has experience leading and managing tech driven product development and change programmes across customer and transaction life cycles. Sahil combines his work experience with his deep understanding of technology and role of data driven analytics to create transformative impact across customer and business objectives for organizations.
Marina Gosling
Chief Financial Officer
Marina, a highly accomplished professional in the financial services industry, joined Recognise Bank at the beginning of 2023 following a 25-year career in some of the world’s largest banking institutes. Before joining Recognise Bank, Marina spent 15 years at Goldman Sachs, the last 10 years as a Managing Director in the Investment Banking Division. Prior to that, Marina was with Deutsche Bank and BNPP in Strategic Equity and Equity Derivatives groups. She qualified (ACCA) with PwC and holds an MBA from INSEAD.
James Royle
Chief Risk Officer

James is a banking and risk professional with deep-rooted experience in financial and non-financial risk management, leadership, commercial & corporate banking, transformation and regulatory engagement. James joined Recognise Bank in 2023 from HSBC, where he was a Managing Director responsible for the successful leadership and delivery of a major regulatory change programme. James joined HSBC as a graduate and during a 22 year career enjoyed client-facing and leadership roles around the UK and overseas, managing credit, operational, conduct, financial crime and prudential risks, both in commercial banking and as a senior risk steward.

Tricia Halpin
Chief People Officer

Tricia has over 25 years’ experience in financial services covering global matrixed structures, corporate and retail banking and start-ups.

She started her career as a banker and covered a variety of roles both in branch banking and head office before specialising in HR.

She has extensive experience in all aspects of Human Resource Management in highly regulated environments and brings a wealth of experience to Recognise Bank.

Steve Pateman

Steve has had an extensive executive career in banking leading corporate and commercial banking businesses at RBS/NatWest, managing Santander’s UK banking businesses and as CEO of Shawbrook Bank, Hodge Banking Group and most recently successfully leading the banking licence application for StreamBank.

He is a non-executive Director at Bank of Ireland both in the UK and Dublin and Thin Cats, a specialist SME lending business and is retained as an advisor to Black Lion Ventures. He was previously President of the Chartered Banker Institute.

Steve took up the role of Chair (subject to regulatory approval) at Recognise Bank in November 2024, having served as an Investor Non-Executive Director since January 2024.

Simon Wainwright

Simon Wainwright holds the position of MD for the UK and Ireland, as well as COO for Europe, Middle East, and Africa at global reinsurer Reinsurance Group of America (RGA). Prior to this role, he occupied senior positions at HSBC, including CEO of HSBC Ireland, Head of Business Banking for the UK, and COO of Corporate and Structured Finance.

Additionally, Simon serves as a Non-Executive Director (NED) of National Counties Building Society. Within Recognise Bank Limited, he chairs the Recognise Risk Committee and is a member of the Nomination Committe.

Richard Gabbertas

Richard Gabbertas, who joined KPMG in 1980 and later became a partner in 1995, brings extensive expertise in financial services to Recognise Bank. Throughout his career, he led KPMG’s Regional Financial Services Practice, offering audit and advisory services to a wide spectrum of institutions within the sector. Richard’s deep understanding of banking regulation has contributed to his significant role.

Currently, Richard chairs the Audit Committee at Recognise Bank and is also a member of the Risk Committee. He is also Recognise Bank’s Consumer Duty Champion.

Philip Jenks

Philip Jenks boasts a notable banking career, culminating in his involvement with Recognise Bank starting in 2019. He served as an independent Non-Executive Director and Chairman at Chartercourt FS Group, deeply engaged in a successful banking licence application. Philip was instrumental in the launch of Charter Savings and its subsequent IPO in 2017.

He plays an active role within Recognise Bank, as Chairman from May 2019 until November 2024, and today is a Non-Executive Director and a member of the Nomination Committee, the Assets and Liabilities Committee, and the Remuneration Committee.

Moorad Choudhry

Professor Moorad Choudhry contributes his expertise as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the Loughborough Building Society, and he holds an Honorary Professorship at the University of Kent Business School. He has an extensive career history, including roles as Treasurer, Corporate Banking Division at The Royal Bank of Scotland, Head of Treasury at KBC Financial Products, and vice-president in EMEA structured finance at JPMorgan Chase Bank.

Moorad’s affiliations span various esteemed institutions, including being a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment and the London Institute of Banking and Finance. Within Recognise Bank, he leads as the chair of the Assets and Liabilities Committee and serves on the Risk Committee, Audit Committee, and Remuneration Committee.

Christopher Kraft

Christopher is Chief Commercial Officer at atomos (formerly Sanlam Wealth), a position he has held since March 2022. Previously, he was Chief Operating Officer of True Potential LLP, a financial service and technology firm servicing the IFA market in the UK. Prior to joining True Potential LLP in 2019, Christopher spent 10 years at Perella Weinberg Partners, a leading global independent investment banking firm, covering the wealth and asset management market in the UK and Europe. Christopher started his career at Lehman Brothers in London.

Christopher holds a Master’s Degree from École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP Business School).

Christopher joined Recognise as an Investor Non-Executive Director in November 2024.

Ruth Parasol

Ruth Parasol is a distinguished global entrepreneur and savvy investor with a remarkable self-made portfolio exceeding $1 billion. Leading an international team in Real Estate, Asset Management, and Private Equity, Ruth embarked on her entrepreneurial journey after law school in 1993, swiftly becoming a pioneer in Fintech and Gaming, including software development in India by 1995.

In 2005, Ruth made history, guiding Party Gaming Plc to a monumental IPO on the LSE FTSE 100 as the world’s largest online poker room. Beyond business, Ruth passionately advocates for women’s advancement in science and technology. As Principal Benefactress of The Parasol Foundation Trust, she has committed over £40 million since 2004 to champion this cause globally. Within Recognise Bank she holds the position of Alternate Investor Non-Executive Director.

Jean Murphy
Jean has over 25 years of banking and capital markets experience at leading global institutions. She’s an investor, entrepreneur, and founder of a successful wealth management business. She previously held senior roles at several international banks, including Director of Private Banking at Morgan Stanley and Executive Director of Goldman Sachs Wealth Management Division. Jean serves on the boards of Barts Charity and the Old Vic Endowment Trust.