Senior management
Chief Executive Officer
Benedikt Gíslason
Benedikt was born in 1974. Benedikt was appointed CEO on 1 July 2019.
Benedikt joined FBA (later Íslandsbanki) in 1998, held a variety of managerial positions at Straumur-Burdarás, was managing director of capital markets at FL Group and was managing director of the investment banking division of MP Bank. Benedikt worked as a senior advisor for Iceland’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs and was vice-chairman of a government task force on the liberalization of the capital controls between 2013 and 2016. He served on the board of directors of Kaupthing from 2016 to 2018 and was an advisor to Kaupthing on matters relating to Arion Bank. Benedikt was elected to the Board of Directors of Arion Bank in September 2018 and served on the Board until his appointment as CEO.
Benedikt gained a C.Sc. in mechanical and industrial engineering from the University of Iceland in 1998.
Organizational chart 2023
Business segments
Deputy CEO and Managing Director of Retail Banking
Ida Brá Benediktsdóttir
Ida Brá was born in 1976. Ida Brá was appointed Managing Director of Retail Banking in July 2017 and Deputy CEO in April 2022.
Ida Brá has worked for Arion Bank and its predecessor since 1999 when she joined the research department. She has held various positions within the Bank including Head of a department within treasury and Head of Corporate Communications. Ida Brá was Managing Director of Investment Banking from 2016 to 2017. Ida Brá served on the board of numerous companies, including Ólafsfjördur savings bank, AFL – savings bank, Landfestar and HB Grandi hf. Ida is the vice chairman of the Board of Directors at Vörður tryggingar hf.
Ida Brá graduated with a degree in business administration from the University of Iceland in 1999 and has a Master's in finance from the Erasmus Graduate School of Business. She is also a licensed securities broker.
Managing Director of Corporate & Investment Banking
Hákon Hrafn Gröndal
Hákon Hrafn Gröndal was born in 1988. He was appointed managing director of Corporate & Investment Banking in April 2022.
Hákon Hrafn Gröndal joined Arion Bank in 2012, initially working at the Bank’s Höfði branch in Reykjavik. Since then Hákon has held various financial advisory and credit roles at the Bank and served on several boards of directors and committees on the Bank’s behalf. Since 2013 Hákon has worked in Corporate & Investment Banking.
Hákon is a business graduate from Griffith University, has an MSc in corporate finance from the University of Iceland and is a licensed securities broker.
Managing Director of Markets
Jóhann Möller
Jóhann was born in 1979. He was appointed managing director of Markets in May 2022.
Jóhann Möller has been the managing director of Stefnir since 2020. Jóhann has worked in the financial markets for more than 20 years and joined Stefnir in 2006, managing domestic equities funds and he was head of the company’s equities team between 2017 and 2020.
Jóhann is a business graduate from the University of Iceland and is a licensed securities broker.
Support units
Chief Operating Officer
Birna Hlín Káradóttir
Birna Hlín was born in 1978. She was appointed General Counsel of Arion Bank in September 2019 and joined the Bank’s Executive Committee in June 2020. In September 2023 she was appointed Chief Operating Officer.
From 2016 until joining the Bank, Birna Hlín was a partner and general counsel at Fossar. She was general counsel at Straumur fjárfestingabanki from 2011 to 2015. Birna Hlín worked for Straumur-Burðarás Investment Bank hf. between 2007 and 2011 and was the company’s general counsel from 2009. She has taught financial market law at the Reykjavík University and the University of Iceland. She has served on the boards of directors of several companies and organizations in Iceland and abroad.
Birna Hlín has completed an Advanced Management Program at IESE Business School Barcelona and has a Cand. Jur. degree from the University of Iceland. She is a district court attorney and a licensed securities broker.
Managing Director of Information Technology & CIO
Björn Björnsson
Björn was born in 1980. He was appointed Managing Director of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at Arion Bank in March 2023.
From 2015, until joining the Bank, Björn worked for Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Australia and the Nordics, with focus on financial institutions, information technology strategy and transformation. Before joining BCG, he held several executive roles in the Icelandic financial services sector, including Chief Risk Officer at Byr Savings Bank.
Björn has a BS in computer science and an MS in industrial engineering from the University of Iceland and an MBA from Melbourne Business School.
Chief Financial Officer
Ólafur Hrafn Höskuldsson
Ólafur Hrafn was born in 1981. He was appointed Chief Financial Officer in September 2021.
Ólafur Hrafn joined Arion Bank in 2019 as head of strategy and development in the CEO’s Office. Between 2010 and 2016 Ólafur Hrafn worked for Royal Bank of Scotland in London and New York. In 2016 he was appointed managing director of the investment company Títan, a position he held until 2019. He previously worked for CreditInfo in Germany and Straumur Investment Bank. Ólafur Hrafn sits on the boards of directors of Vörður and Landey.
Ólafur Hrafn graduated with a cand.oecon. from the University of Iceland in 2006, majoring in accounting and auditing. He is an FSA approved person in the United Kingdom and has passed the FINRA Series 79 exam in the United States.
Managing Director of customer Experience
Steinunn Hlíf Sigurdardóttir
Steinunn Hlíf was born in 1974. She was appointed managing director of Customer Experience in September 2021.
Steinunn Hlíf was managing director of customer service and advice at Vörður and was on the company’s executive committee from 2008 until 2021. She worked at Kaupthing/KB Bank from 1999-2005 where her roles included managing director of marketing. Between 2005 and 2008 she was marketing director at Sjóvá and held a management role within sales and marketing at Landsbankinn.
Steinunn has a BA in Business Administration from Flagler College in Florida.
Internal control
Compliance Officer
Andrés Fjeldsted
Andrés Fjeldsted was born in 1984. He was appointed Compliance Officer of Arion Bank in April 2022.
Andrés joined Arion Bank’s Legal division in 2015. His key assignments were in the fields of asset management, senior management and he was secretary to the Board of Directors for several years.
Andrés has a Master’s degree in law from the University of Iceland and has a BA in politics, philosophy and economics from the University of Essex.
Chief Audit Executive
Anna Sif Jónsdóttir
Anna Sif was born in 1971. She was appointed Arion Bank’s Internal Auditor in September 2022.
Anna Sif was Kvika Bank's internal auditor from 2013. Prior to that she was chief financial officer at Reginn hf. from 2009 to 2013 and at Landic Property Iceland from 2007 to 2009. Anna was a specialist and team manager at KPMG from 2000 to 2006.
Anna Sif has a BA degree from the University of Iceland and a cand. oecon from the same university. She is licensed as a State Authorized Public Accountant and a licensed securities broker.
Chief Risk Officer
Úlfar Freyr Stefánsson
Úlfar was born in 1981. He was appointed Chief Risk Officer in May 2020.
Úlfar joined the Bank’s Risk Management division in 2013 after having worked at Kaupthing since 2010, where his positions included Head of Risk Management. Úlfar was Head of Portfolio Risk at Arion Bank from 2013 to 2015, when he took over as Head of Balance Sheet Risk.
Úlfar has a doctorate and a master’s in mathematics from Georgia Institute of Technology. He also has a BSc in mathematics from the University of Iceland and is a licensed securities broker.
Changes in 2023
In March, Björn Björnsson took over as managing director of Information Technology & CTO from Styrmir Sigurjónsson. No further changes to the Executive Committee took place during 2023.