Following the announcement 15 November 2017 that Heikki Ilkka is leaving Nordea the process to secure the future CFO of Nordea has now been completed with the appointment of Christopher Rees (46), currently Deputy Head of Wholesale Banking and Head of Nordea Markets, as new Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Head of Group Finance & Treasury and member of Group Executive Management (GEM) from 1 March 2018.  

Christopher Rees joined Nordea in 2015 as COO for Wholesale Banking and most recently held the roles of Deputy Head of Wholesale Banking and Head of Nordea Markets. 

Christopher has had an impressive career in the financial services sector since 1996. Before joining Nordea he held senior positions in investment banking, capital markets and risk at Barclays, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. 

- In Christopher we have found the ideal CFO for Nordea. Christopher has significant sector experience and a truly global perspective given his experience. Furthermore, he has a proven track record of driving top performing teams. The recent transformation completed in Markets speaks to Chris’s abilities to build for the future. A capability that will also be valued in completing the transformation of Group Finance & Business Control. I am pleased to see that we can nurture and foster talent internally and look forward to welcoming Christopher to GEM, says Casper von Koskull, Group CEO of Nordea.   

Christopher will step into his new role as of 1 March 2018, but will start the transition and handover from Heikki Ilkka immediately. 

- I very much look forward to this challenge and to continuing the exciting journey to shape the future of Nordea in this new capacity, says Christopher Rees, future CFO of Nordea.

The process to identify a successor in Markets has been initiated. In the meantime, Martin A. Persson, Head of Wholesale Banking, will take on the interim role as Head of Markets with Christian Fink Karas, COO of Markets, as interim Deputy Head of Markets.