Board of directors

Vice chairman

Paul Horner

Paul was born in 1962. He was first elected as a Director at a shareholders’ meeting on 8 August 2019, and is a non-executive director. He is not a shareholder in Arion Bank and is an independent candidate. Paul is Vice Chairman of the Board, Chairman of the Board Credit Committee and member of the Board Risk Committee, the Board Audit Committee and the Board Tech Committee.

Paul graduated with M.A. Honours in music from the University of Oxford in 1983 and is an associate of the UK Chartered Institute of Bankers. Paul has extensive experience of risk and general management in retail, commercial, investment and private banking, gained across various international markets. Paul held various executive and risk management roles at Barclays PLC between 1988 and 2003. In 2003 Paul joined The Royal Bank of Scotland Group and served as an executive and senior manager of Royal Bank of Scotland PLC and was appointed to various senior risk and general management roles until June 2019. In 2012 to 2017, Paul was the chief risk officer of Coutts & Co Ltd. and CEO of Coutts & Co Ltd., Zurich, in 2016-2017. In 2018 Paul was chief risk officer of Ulster Bank DAC, Dublin, and a non-executive director at Coutts & Co Ltd. in Zurich from 2018-2021.

Today Paul serves on the board of AIB (UK) P.L.C., chairs its risk committee and is member of its audit and operational resilience committees. He also serves on the Board of LHV (UK) Ltd. and chairs its risk committee, as well as sitting as a member of its audit, remuneration and nomination committees. Finally, he serves on the Board of the UK subsidiary of The National Bank of Kuwait, chairs its Risk Committee and serves on its Audit Committee.

Director

Gunnar Sturluson

Gunnar was born in 1967. He was first elected as a Director at a shareholders’ meeting on 8 August 2019, and is a non- executive director. He is not a shareholder of Arion Bank and is an independent Director. Gunnar is a member of the Board Credit Committee and the Board Risk Committee. He was also appointed to the Board Audit Committee in May 2020, which he is currently chairing.

Gunnar graduated as Cand. Jur from the University of Iceland in 1992, gained an LL.M. degree in Law from the University in Amsterdam in 1995 and received a license to practice before the District Court in Iceland in 1993 and before the Supreme Court in 1999.

Gunnar has practiced law at LOGOS legal services since 1992 and a became partner in 1995. He was the managing partner of LOGOS from 2001-2013. Gunnar has been the president of the International Federation of Icelandic Horse Associations since 2014 and a board member of the Performing of the Arts Center in Iceland since 2021. Furthermore, Gunnar serves on the Board of Harpa Conference Center.

Gunnar has previously held various directorships, including the board of directors at Gamma hf. in 2017-2019, chairman of the board of directors of the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service (RÚV) 2016-2017, director at the Nordic Arbitration Center, chairman of the board of directors of the Icelandic Dance Company 2013-2016 and was voted by ALTHINGI the Icelandic parliament to serve on the National Electoral Commission in 2013-2017. Gunnar also lectured in competition law in 1995-2007 at the University of Iceland, Faculty of Law.

Director

Kristín Pétursdóttir

Kristín was born in 1965. She was first elected as a Director at Arion Bank’s Annual General Meeting on 15 March 2023, and is a non-executive director. She is not a shareholder in Arion Bank and is an independent Director. Kristín is a member of the Board Risk Committee, the Board Remuneration Committee and the Board Tech Committee.

Kristín graduated as an economist from the University of Iceland in 1991 and with an MBA from Handelshøyskole in Norway in 1993.

Kristín was a co-founder of Audur Capital and served as chief executive officer of the company from 2007 to 2013 and as Chairman of the Board of Directors from 2013 to 2017 (later Virðing hf.). Kristín was also a Chairman of the Board of Directors at Kvika hf. from 2018 to 2020, CEO at Mentor hf. from 2015 to 2017, Managing Director of Treasury at Kaupthing Bank from 1997 to 2005, and Deputy CEO at Singer & Friedlander from 2005-2007. Kristín has also served as a board member at Ölgerdin, Tal, Yggdrasil, Singer & Freidlander, Vidskiptarád, Eyrir Invest, Samtök atvinnulífsins and Samtök fjármálafyrirtækja. Kristín has also served as a member of investment committees of Edda, Freyja, and Audur I initiative funds.

Today Kristín is a self-employed Leadership Consultant and Coach and serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Grid ehf. and Miðeind ehf.

Director

Liv Fiksdahl

Liv was born in 1965. She was first elected as a Director at Arion Bank’s Annual General Meeting on 20 March 2019, and is a non-executive director. She is not a shareholder in Arion Bank and is an independent Director. Liv is chairman of the Board Remuneration Committee and the Board Tech Committee and member of the Board Audit Committee.

Liv holds a degree in finance and management from Trondheim Business School (today NTNU) in 1986. In 2018, Liv completed programs at Stanford University in Big Data, strategic decisions and analysis, and the Innovative Technology Leader. She has also completed an advanced management program for executives in management, innovation and technology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Liv has held various senior roles at DNB and was part of the executive management team for 10 years, and her most recent role was as the Group EVP, CIO/COO, for IT & Operations. Liv has a broad experience from DNB and has held different positions across the value-chain within the bank. Before DNB she had key account roles for corporate clients within Danske Bank/Fokus Bank, and Svenska Handelsbanken. Liv has served on numerous boards, including Scandinavian Airlines SAS AB, Intrum AB, BankAxept, Sparebankforeningen, Doorstep, Finans Norge and Trondheim Kommune Bystyret.

Today, Liv is a Vice President within Financial Services at Capgemini Invent, Norway, and serves on the boards of Posten Norge AS and Hexagon Purus ASA.

Director

Steinunn Kristín Thórdardóttir

Steinunn was born in 1972. She was first elected as a Director at a shareholders’ meeting on 30 November 2017, and is a non-executive Director. She is a shareholder in Arion Bank (her shareholding is 12000 shares) and is an independent Director. Steinunn is the chairman of the Board Risk Committee and a member of the Board Remuneration Committee and the Board Tech Committee.

Steinunn holds a master’s degree international management from Thunderbird, Arizona, and a BA in international business and politics from University of South Carolina. Steinunn has previously held several directorships in Europe and was a board member at the Icelandic State Financial Investment (ISFI). Steinunn was previously a partner and CEO of Beringer Finance Norway in 2015-2017 and interim CEO of Beringer Finance in Iceland and global head of food and seafood in 2017. She founded Akton AS and Acton Capital AS, a management consulting and investment company in Norway, where she works with investments and consulting. Steinunn worked at Íslandsbanki (later Glitnir) as the managing director and head of the bank’s UK operation and prior to that she was an executive director heading the international corporate credit and syndications.

Today Steinunn works actively with tech companies in Norway both as an investor and advisor in regard to strategy. The software companies she works with are international scale-up companies. She is also the chairman of the board of Acton Capital AS, and the chairman of the board for the Norwegian-Icelandic Chamber of Commerce. Steinunn is a member of the nomination committee of Síminn and serves as a board member at YES-EU AS and Alda hf. Finally, she is a mentor to young talented women and founded Women Empower Women and is the chairman of a charitable organization in Norway.