City of London Group (COLG) has appointed Monica Velasquez-Torres (pictured above) as chief technology officer to support its banking licence application.
Monica took up the role on 1st October and joins the business from PwC where she was a technology consultant supporting more than half a dozen new entrant banks to secure their banking or payments provider licences.
The appointment comes after COLG acquired Echo Financial Services Ltd – currently rebranding to Recognise – which is applying for a banking licence.
If successful, Recognise – which is being led by Jason Oakley, who previously worked at Metro Bank – will be a UK-based SME bank and will become a key element of COLG’s future strategy.
Michael Goldstein, CEO at COLG, said it was delighted to have Monica on board to support the Recognise team.
“Not only does she have a quite incredible academic and technical background, Monica has unique experience of taking new entrants through the licence application process.”
Monica added: “Having worked with the COLG and Recognise management as part of the wider PwC banking consultancy, this was an exciting opportunity to join a talented, very experienced team on their licence journey and to deliver the technology vision.”
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