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Board of Directors

Chairman of the Board

Mr Carmel (k/a Charles) Borg was appointed as the Chairman of the Issuer in April 2017. He spent his professional career of 34 years at Bank of Valletta plc during which he occupied various senior management positions, including that of chief executive officer between 2011 and 2015. He has occupied directorship positions of listed companies in Malta and was appointed chairman of the Housing Authority during the period 2008 to 2011. He also chaired the audit board of the European Investment Fund, which is a subsidiary of the European Investment Bank, and of MAPFRE Middlesea p.l.c.. Mr Borg also served as a director on the World’s Savings Bank in Brussels and was also the president of the Institute of Financial Services and the president of the Malta Bankers Association. Mr Borg is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (UK) and holds a banking degree and a Masters degree in financial legislation from the University of Malta

Members of the Board

Mr Jorma Jokela is the Chief Executive Officer and the founder of Multitude SE. He studied accounting at the Commercial College of Kuopio and the Helsinki Business College and has an eMBA from IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is the founder of Jokela Capital Oy in Helsinki where he headed the company as chief executive officer from 1998 to 2000. He subsequently sold the Jokela Capital business in 2004. In 2005, he founded Ferratum Group, which was subsequently renamed Multitude and has been its chief executive officer and member of the board of directors since then. Mr Jokela is currently a member of the board of JT Capital Limited, Jokela Capital OÜ and Jokela Capital Oy.

Ms Lea Liigus, is the Chief Legal and Compliance Officer of Multitude SE. She has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2006. She studied law at the University of Tartu in Estonia and completed a Master of Laws (LL.M) programme in contract and commercial law at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Before she joined Multitude SE in 2006, she worked as a lecturer for commercial law and EU law at the Estonian business school in Tallinn and as an attorney-at-law specialised in commercial, financial and EU law at Sorainen Law Offices in Estonia.

Dr Clemens-Matthias Fritz Krause was appointed as a member of the Board of the Issuer in May 2018. Dr Krause is a member of the Audit Committee, chairman of the ALCO and Chairman of the reserving committee. He originally joined Multitude SE in 2012 as the company’s chief financial officer and the managing director of Ferratum Germany GmbH. Between 2018 to 2020, he acted as the chief risk officer of the Group. He was re-appointed to the position of chief risk officer of the Group in 2021. During his professional career he has held various management positions at companies including Bankgesellschaft Berlin AG, Deutsche Bahn, E-Loan Europe, E*Trade Germany, GE Money Bank (General Electric) and Commerzbank. He studied business administration at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster and in 1992, completed his PhD thesis about credit rating with artificial intelligence at the Institut für Rechnungswesen in Münster.

Mr Esa Tapani Teräväinen has served as a member of the Board of the Issuer since its incorporation in late 2012. He is the chairman of the Audit Committee. Mr Teräväinen has 25 years of international banking experience in Finland and in Russia. In Finland, he has worked for several Finnish and Scandinavian banking groups and has been responsible for their Eastern European correspondent banking and businesses development in the Eastern European countries. He has also worked for 12 years in different banks in Moscow, including at the Moscow representative office of Postipankki Ltd, International Moscow Bank, Orgresbank, and as a managing director of a subsidiary bank of Svenska Handelsbanken. Following his banking career, during his consulting career, he remains involved with several Russian projects. He has also served as board member of companies with business interests in Russia. Mr Teräväinen has a Masters of Science (International Economics) from the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration, and he has further banking education at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.

Mr Erik Mikael Ferm was elected to the Board of Directors of the Issuer in April 2017, and chairs the risk management committee. From 2012 to 2019, he acted as the chairman of the board and non-executive director at Multitude SE. Mr Ferm has had a long career in financial services and organisational development, spanning over 20 years across the UK and Europe. From 2002 to 2012, he worked as a partner at Palamon Capital Partners, a private equity firm investing in growth companies across the EU. Between 2000 and 2002 he acted as investment director at UBS Capital, focusing on private equity investments in Nordic region. He has also worked in advisory services on mergers and acquisitions, as well as management reporting and cash management. He holds a Masters degree of Science in business administration from the Stockholm School of Economics.

Mr Victor Denaro was appointed as a non-executive Director of the Issuer in April 2018 and is a member of the risk management committee. He served as an I.T. consultant in various local entities and boasts a career with significant national and international successes in major I.T. transformation projects. He occupied various senior level roles within Bank of Valletta plc from 1993 to 2015 where he provided executive guidance on all aspects of I.T. as the Group Chief Information Officer. He successfully positioned the bank to attain national market leadership with the successful implementation of new technologies and systems, which include, but are not limited to, core retail banking (1999), treasury and wholesale (2001), internet banking (2002) and mobile banking (2009). Mr Denaro implemented a new I.T. division structure comprising of 120 professional staff and five technical and operational units. He successfully introduced industry-acknowledged methodologies, such as service structure management, roles, capacity management and risk assessment. He also managed international and national relationships with key vendors, consultants and licensees and was responsible for an annual budget of circa €10 million to €12 million. He holds a Masters in Business Administration from Business School of Grenoble, specialization in Business Consultancy.

Senior Management

Chief Executive Officer

Mr Antti Kumpulainen, joined Multitude SE in 2016 as country manager for Finland. He joined the Issuer in 2018 as chief commercial officer. Mr Kumpulainen has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Issuer since April 2021. He was deputy and acting chief executive officer from March 2019, before being appointed in his current role. Mr Kumpulainen started his career in banking at Sampo Bank Plc in 2003 as service manager for credit cards and consumer lending. In 2007, he moved to Ab Compass Card Oy Ltd where he worked as credit manager and department manager before becoming the chief risk officer of Elisa Finance in 2014. Mr Kumpulainen has a Bachelor of Agriculture and Forestry in Forest Economics at the University of Helsinki in Finland.

Money Laundering Reporting Officer

The Bank refers to the Company Announcement [MUL25 - Appointment of MLRO] published on the 9th of September 2024, wherein reference was made to the appointment of Mr Isaac Degaetano as the Bank’s Money Laundering Reporting Officer (“MLRO”), subject to the necessary approval by the Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”). On the 24th October 2024 the Bank was notified by the MFSA of its regulatory approval of Mr Degaetano as the Bank’s MLRO, with effect from the 21st October 2024.

Head of Legal & Compliance
Head of Internal Audit

Ms Iveta Stoyanova joined the Issuer as Head of Internal Audit in August 2018 and she is responsible for organising and managing the whole internal audit activity of the Issuer by reviewing the Issuer’s processes, systems, policies and procedures. Ms Stoyanova has professional experience as head of internal audit for more than 14 years and more than 25 years professional experience in the banking and financial sectors. Her work experience covered the areas of accounting, tax, payments, finance, financial control and internal auditing. Prior to joining the Issuer, Ms Stoyanova held a number of senior management positions with international bank and financial institutions operating in Bulgaria, namely Piraeus Bank Bulgaria AD (Head of Internal Audit) and Transact Europe EAD (CFO) in which Ms Stoyanova also held a board member’s position. Ms Stoyanova is a member of the institute of internal auditors. She graduated from the Executive Master of Business Administration program in Cotrugli Business School and has a Masters degree of Economics in the University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria.

Chief Risk Officer

Mr Louie Scicluna joined the Issuer as Chief Risk Officer in 2018. Mr Scicluna brings banking experience of over a decade and a half to bear in overseeing the Issuer’s risk strategy and appetite, including the development and implementation of risk management protocols which are used across the Issuer. In this role he promotes the building and sustenance of a strong culture in which all employees understand the importance of managing risk to ensure responsible growth and the satisfaction of client requirements. As the chief risk officer, Mr Scicluna reports both to the Issuer’s Board of Directors as well as to the board committees. He is a non-voting member of the Issuer’s executive committee and voting member in the credit committee, the reserving committee, ALCO as well as being a voting member of the Group’s credit forum and Group’s I.T. risk committee. His position also requires him to attend both the Issuer’s and Group’s risk committees. Before joining the Issuer, Mr Scicluna worked for Bank of Valletta p.l.c. where he held a number of senior positions within the bank’s risk management department. Mr Scicluna holds an Honours degree in banking and finance and a Masters in financial services from the University of Malta.

Chief Operations Officer

Mr Darko Popovic has been with the Issuer since March 2019 where he joined as a Head of Customer Service, responsible for customer support, on-boarding processes and direct sales operations. Since May 2022, Mr Popovic has been appointed as Chief Operations Officer (subject to regulatory approval). Mr Popovic is a member of the Issuer’s executive committee and is responsible for the Bank’s operations, including customer services, back-office and mid-office. Before joining the Issuer, he was customer experience director at Melita plc, a leading telecommunication company in Malta. Mr Popovic has more than 20 years’ experience in leading customer service functions, customer experience management and has held a number of positions within the Deutsche Telekom group. He focuses on digitalization, the impact of new technologies such as artificial intelligence on service models, technology and self-service innovations, as well as effortless customer experience. Mr Popovic studied law at the Pan-European university in Slovakia and continued with LL.M studies at CEM University in Prague, Czech Republic with diploma work from law in a consumer protection area..

Chief Banking Officer & Deputy CEO

Mr Dario Azzopardi joined the Issuer in February 2015 to set up the treasury function and worked within the financial planning and analysis team. Mr Azzopardi was appointed as Chief Operations Officer in July 2018, steering the operations department which covers payments, controls, regulatory reporting, vendor management and correspondent banking relationships. In May 2022, Mr Azzopardi was then appointed as Chief Banking Officer (subject to regulatory approval), driving the Bank’s deposit platforms and new business units, including business banking and external financing. He is a member of the executive committee and ALCO. Mr Azzopardi is an experienced professional with over 15 years’ experience in the banking and assurance fields. His work experience covers finance, business, process improvements, leadership, and payments. Mr Azzopardi started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers where he worked in various industries, locally, as well as in London and New York. Mr Azzopardi is a warranted certified public accountant and holds a practicing certificate in auditing, both issued by the accountancy board in Malta. He is a member of the Malta Institute of Accountants. He holds an Honours degree in accountancy and a degree in commerce from the University of Malta.

Chief Financial Officer

Mr Kenneth Zammit joined the Issuer as the Chief Financial Officer in October 2012, and is responsible for leading the finance, treasury and correspondent banking functions of the Issuer. He is a member of the executive committee, ALCO, the credit committee and the reserving committee. Mr Zammit is also appointed as the managing director of Vector Procurement Solutions Inc, a global procurement centre for the Group, based in Canada and holding a branch in Malta. Mr Zammit is an experienced finance professional with over 25 years’ experience in the banking, insurance, assurance, and other fields. His work experience covered the areas of finance, financial control, internal and external auditing, risk management, treasury management, correspondent banking, international payments, insurance and AML. Prior to joining the Issuer, Mr Zammit held a number of senior management positions with international banks operating from Malta, namely Renault Bank and Novum Bank. He also held senior management positions with Hal Mann group in Malta and Ernst & Young Malta. PAGE 15. Mr Zammit is a warranted certified public accountant and holds a practicing certificate in auditing, both issued by the Accountancy Board in Malta. He is a fellow of the Malta Institute of Accountants and the Malta Institute of Management. He holds an Honours degree in Accountancy and a degree in Commerce from the University of Malta.