Risk Europe

Jeremy Arnold joined NatWest Markets as chief risk officer in September 2018 and is responsible for leading the organisation's risk function by defining and delivering risk, conduct, compliance and financial crime strategies to support its ambition, strategy and risk appetite. He has extensive experience, spanning a variety of roles in trading and risk management over the past 30 years at a number of leading global financial institutions.

Nick Silitch was recently senior vice president, chief risk officer of Prudential Financial, Inc. In this role, Silitch oversaw Prudential’s risk management infrastructure and risk profile across all business lines and risk types. Under his direction, his team developed models, metrics, frameworks and governance to manage risk, and works with internal corporate partners and business groups to identify, assess and prioritize risk across the company. He was chairman of the organization’s Enterprise Risk Committee that evaluates current and emerging risks relevant to the company, and is a member of Prudential’s Senior Management Council.

Silitch also worked with external stakeholder groups to forward industry interests. He was head of the International Affairs Committee for the North American Chief Risk Officers’ Council, and a member of the Advisory Council for the International Association of Credit Portfolio Managers.

Silitch joined Prudential in 2010 as chief credit officer and head of investment risk management, overseeing Prudential’s general account and other proprietary investment risks globally, as well as maintaining and approving Delegations of Authority and Investment Policy Statements.

Prior to joining Prudential, Silitch held the position of chief risk officer of the Alternative Investment Services, Broker Dealer Services and Pershing businesses within Bank of New York Mellon. He also served on the Pershing Executive Committee.

Silitch joined Bank of New York Mellon in 1983 as a credit trainee. Throughout his career at the bank, he held senior positions in client management, investor relations, risk management, loan restructuring, credit portfolio management and Basel compliance.

He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Colby College.

Chris Knight took the role of group chief risk officer (CRO) in May 2021. For the previous three years he had been the chief executive of Legal and General’s retail retirement business, where he led the expansion of annuity propositions, developed one of the leading providers of lifetime mortgages and launched our financial advice and care businesses. Knight also serves as Legal and General’s customer champion, representing retail customers’ interests across the whole product range, a perspective he brings to his CRO role. He has previously held positions at Legal and General of finance director of the international division, and chief financial officer of Legal & General Assurance Society. Knight has a first-class economics degree from King’s College, Cambridge and has worked on four continents in a career spanning more than three decades. He is a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

Hanna Sarraf is a senior risk management executive, with over twenty five years’ experience in developing and implementing risk and regulatory management frameworks that deliver effective results in the financial services industry. He is currently the Chief Risk Strategy Officer at Starling Bank and was previously the Group Chief Risk Officer at Bankmed, a regional corporate, retail and private banking organisation with operations across the EMEA region. Prior to joining Bankmed, Hanna was the Group Executive, Head of Risk Strategy at Bank of Ireland and previously held senior risk and regulatory management consulting roles at Ernst & Young, KPMG and Accenture in the UK and globally.

Hanna’s international industry and client consulting experience spans a wide range of risk and regulatory management roles both at the strategic and execution levels gained with leading financial services organisations across all major industry segments in a wide number of geographic markets.

He holds a Specialised Master’s degree in Financial Engineering from the École Supérieure des Sciences Économiques et Commerciales (ESSEC) and an MSc in Finance from Dauphine University in France. He has authored many articles on financial risk management and is a frequent speaker at leading UK and international conferences.