The new C-Suite hire, who has a solid career in banking and academic credentials, will add more international authority to the bank, it said.

Bank Aston has appointed Michael Eichhorn (pictured) as its chief risk and compliance officer as it continues to build out its senior team ahead of its full launch later this year. He will be joining Paul Gorman, CEO, and Will Davey, CFO in the C-Suite, with more additions to come.

Dr Eichhorn joins from the German bank, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg, where he spent the last 18 months as group head of traded risk, operating across London and Stuttgart, leading five local and three international teams. Previously, he spent a decade at Credit Suisse (now UBS), most recently as country CEO for Ireland. Before that, he was chief risk officer for Credit Suisse entities in Ireland and Germany and from 2015 to 2020 he was head of global treasury and liquidity risk. Prior to that, he spent eight years at Royal Bank of Scotland Group, leaving as chief risk officer for group treasury in 2014. Before that, he was head of market risk for RBS Wealth Management, where he dealt with offshore banking in the Channel Islands.

Outside his career, Dr Eichhorn has been a lecturer for 25 years: a professor at Harz University of Applied Science, Germany, and a visiting lecturer at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH). He is also a faculty member for The Certificate of Bank Treasury Risk Management as well as a member of the European Risk Management Council, a London-based executive risk forum. He has (co-)authored over 50 publications on risk subjects and is the lead editor of the book Reverse Stress Testing in Banking (De Gruyter, 2021).

“Having Michael join us is a significant coup for Bank Aston. He is a genuine global leader in his field and adds more international authority to the bank,” Gorman said. “We continue to build out a strong team ahead of taking on our first customers later this year. The C-Suite is full of experience and offshore know-how, with the desire to tackle a cumbersome offshore banking market and bring it into the 21st century."

Last June, Bank Aston became the first home-grown Guernsey bank in a generation to be awarded a banking licence by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. This news service interviewed the co-founders, Gorman and James Bennett. The bank also has plans to expand to Jersey.