MUFG Bank (Europe) N.V. (MBE) has appointed Harm Bots as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 April 2022*. He succeeds Hideaki Takase who returns to Japan to take up a new assignment.

Mr Bots joined MUFG in October 2021 as Deputy President and Chief Business Officer of Global Corporate and Investment Banking (GCIB) and Global Markets; a new role which had been established to drive growth of MUFG businesses in Europe.

Mr Bots was previously CEO of NatWest Markets N.V., the European investment banking arm of NatWest. Within this role, he was responsible for setting up and successfully running NatWest Markets N.V. as the European bank of the NatWest Group.

In his new role, Mr Bots will continue to drive business growth across continental Europe and create and shape an effective and operationally sound business in the region.

MUFG is investing into its European platform and today is also announcing the appointment of Dragi Dimitrijevic* as Chief Risk Officer and a member of the Management Board of MBE. She succeeds Maarten Rosenberg who will be leaving the organisation in the coming months.

Ms Dimitrijevic joins from ABN AMRO where she has acquired over 20 years' experience, fulfilling a variety of senior leadership roles within Commercial and Corporate & Institutional Banking, ranging from Financing Solution and Structured Finance to Transaction Banking and Portfolio Management.

Concurrently, MUFG is pleased to announce the appointment of Tania Smith as the Head of Legal and Governance covering both MBE and MUS (EU), the securities businesses in Europe.

Ms Smith will join the EMEA Legal management team to support the Co-General Counsels in strategic matters across the region. Ms Smith joins from LeasePlan, where she was the Head of Regulatory Affairs, having held previous senior legal roles at LeasePlan and ING. She started her career as a lawyer working for Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance.

Wietze Reehoorn, Chairman of MUFG Bank (Europe)'s Supervisory Board, commented:

"Since joining us last year, Harm has already made a significant, positive impact and has been quick to earn the respect of the Board and the wider employee base. His strong leadership is evident at every level and I am delighted to be confirming him as our new President. I also look forward to welcoming Dragi and Tania to our leadership team; two accomplished professionals whose experience will go a long way towards growing and strengthening our business."

Harm Bots commented:

"I would like to thank Hideaki Takase for his partnership and for leaving me a strong foundation on which to build, as well as Maarten Rosenberg for building a strong risk organisation. As one of the world's largest global banks, I see many opportunities for MUFG to create real value for our clients. I am also delighted to appoint two exceptionally strong female leaders, Dragi and Tania, into key senior roles. Today's appointments are an important statement of intent of our ambitious plans to grow our business in Europe and build a diverse and strong leadership team to implement those plans."

*Subject to all required regulatory approvals