Zurich – After more than eleven successful years as CEO of Cembra Money Bank, Robert Oudmayer has expressed his wish to step down as CEO and take early retirement in the course of 2021. The Board of Directors of Cembra Money Bank will be sorry to see him go, but respects Robert Oudmayer's wish and has initiated the search process for a successor. The Bank will inform about the appointment of a successor in due course. Robert Oudmayer will lead Cembra until the handover, ensuring a smooth transition phase.

Robert Oudmayer was appointed as CEO of Cembra Money Bank (formerly GE Money Bank) in 2009. Among his key achievements are the successful IPO at the Swiss Stock Exchange in 2013, the positioning of Cembra as a leading consumer finance provider in Switzerland, also thanks to the acquisition and integration of cashgate, and most recently, the sound handling of the covid-19 pandemic during its outbreak. Under his leadership, the Bank recorded healthy growth and created sustainable value for employees – reflected among others in the certification of Cembra as a Great Place to Work^® – as well as for investors by paying attractive dividends and more than doubling the company value since the IPO.

“On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I would like to thank Robert already today for his outstanding leadership and contribution to the success of Cembra. Together with the Management Board, Robert positioned Cembra as a leading Swiss player in financing solutions and services, serving more than one million customers. We wish him all the best for his private future. We continue to expect a resilient business performance for 2020 and are very well positioned for 2021 and beyond,” says Dr Felix Weber, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cembra.

Susanne Klöss-Braekler and Martin Blessing proposed for election to the Board of Directors

The Board of Directors will propose Susanne Klöss-Braekler and Martin Blessing as new members of the Board of Directors at the next Annual General Meeting in 2021. They will replace Prof Dr Peter Athanas and Urs Baumann who will not stand for re-election.

Susanne Klöss-Braekler, a German national, specialises in finance, investments, marketing and product management. She has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. Until October 2020, she was a member of the Management Board of Deutsche Privat- und Firmenkundenbank AG (PFK AG), lately overseeing the areas of Products, Process Management and Digitalisation. Earlier in her career, she was a member of the Management Board and held various management roles at Deutsche Postbank AG and Deutsche Bank AG. She holds a Master in Business Administration and was a Partner at Accenture PLC for more than 20 years.

Martin Blessing, a German national, has more than 30 years of experience in the financial services sector. He was a member of the Group Management from 2016 to 2019 and Co-President Global Wealth Management of UBS Group AG. Prior, he served as CEO of Commerzbank AG. Martin holds a Master in Business Administration and is a former Principal of McKinsey.

Dr Felix Weber, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Cembra on the changes to the Board of Directors: “In Susanne Klöss-Braekler and Martin Blessing, the Board of Directors is proposing to the Annual General Meeting of 2021 two proven, very experienced, internationally recognised finance experts for election as part of the normal succession planning. Their broad experience in managing a banking business and the strong background in digitalisation of Susanne Klöss will be highly beneficial to develop and grow Cembra's business in the future. At the same time, I wish to thank Peter Athanas and Urs Baumann for their outstanding commitment and contribution during their long-standing Board Membership. Their leadership in strengthening the governance framework as well as building a state of the art compensation model contributed significantly to the business performance of Cembra.”