Bard Santner appoints international board to drive diaspora banking strategy

HARARE – Microfinance bank Bard Santner has appointed a 13-member board that includes former executives from HSBC, KPMG and PwC.

The newly-launched institution is targeting Zimbabwe’s diaspora remittance market.

The board comprises executive, non-executive and independent directors from Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mauritius, India and the United Kingdom.

Vinod Bussawah is the chairman, while independent directors include Roger Bennett, Scott Trimble, Brad Shorkend, Peter Wood, Roshan Boodhoo, Niazi Hoolash and Monika Bhatt.

The non-executive directors are Senziwani Sikhosana, Tatenda Hungwe and Lucia Chingwaru. Ngonidzashe Chikowore is the managing director, while Givemore Gomo is finance director.

Several board members have held senior positions in international banking, auditing and financial regulation.

Trimble has more than 30 years of experience in senior and board-level roles at HSBC, HBOS, Grant Thornton and Moore Global, as well as the Isle of Man financial regulator. He was named UK Anti-Money Laundering Advisor of the Year in 2022 and 2023.

Bennett has worked in banking and trust services for 40 years, including at Lloyds Bank, Canada Trust and CIBC. He also founded Fortress Management Services in the Isle of Man.

Hoolash, a former associate director at KPMG and senior manager at PwC, has led central bank-mandated restructurings of commercial banks.

Boodhoo is a former chief executive of the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius and former deputy chief executive of SBM Group. He also serves on the board of a Nasdaq-listed company.

Bussawah, a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, has more than 30 years of experience in finance and corporate governance. He chairs audit committees at two listed companies.

Shorkend is an adjunct faculty member at the Gordon Institute of Business Science and Duke Corporate Education, while Bhatt specialises in corporate law and governance as a practising company secretary.

Wood is a former chairman of BancABC Zimbabwe.

The board also includes Zimbabwean financial services executives Sikhosana, Hungwe and Chingwaru, who are associated with the founding of Bard Santner Inc.

Bussawah said the board’s priorities included protecting depositors’ funds and ensuring the bank was properly managed.

“Our job as a board is simple: to protect depositors’ money and to make sure the bank is run to international standards,” he said.

Chikowore said the institution was seeking to establish a diaspora-focused financial services business with a strong governance framework.

“Zimbabweans deserve a new fintech institution they can trust. That is why we brought together experts with great track records, locally, regionally and internationally, alongside people who know this market well, to build a new diaspora-focused institution from scratch,” he said.

Sikhosana, the group’s chief executive, said customer confidence depended on security, transparency and consistent service.

“Banks are founded on trust. Trust in banking is gradually earned through customer-centred, efficient and consistent service, security, and transparency,” he said.

Bard Santner launched last week, with ambitions to connect Zimbabweans living abroad with financial services and investment opportunities at home.

Zimbabwe receives billions of dollars in remittances annually, making the diaspora an important source of foreign currency for households and businesses.