HSBC veteran joins Shawbrook Bank board

SHAWBROOK Bank is adding some more heft to its board with the appointment of HSBC veteran Paul Lawrence.

The appointment comes after the challenger bank hired former Bank of England regulator and ex-Yorkshire Building Society chief Iain Cornish as chairman.

Mr Lawrence, who takes up the nonexecutive role immediately, is also expected to head the board’s risk commit- tee. He spent more than 31 years at HSBC, including stints as chief executive of North America, head of global banking and markets in the US, and global head of group internal audit.

Mr Lawrence joins his former colleague Roger Lovering. The fellow non-executive director also worked at HSBC as the head of its European cards business, as well as leading Santander’s UK cards arm.

Shawbrook Bank floated on the stock market in March, and offers loans in specialist areas including asset finance and commercial mortgages.

“Paul will be a valuable addition to the board of Shawbrook,” Mr Cornish said.

Challenger banks typically hire senior staff from established lenders as they are being set up, to show regulators that the new firms have sufficient experience of the sector to be trusted with a licence. But the spate of hiring indicates the firms are keen to continue snapping up industry veterans long after receiving official approval.