22 •
The Lion King
• July - September 2017
Operatingan
AfricanBankin
London
By Nonso Nduanya
Growing the Seed
Please tell us about your career jour-
ney and how you were recruited for
this role?
Having qualified I joined SG Warburg
the premier UK merchant bank, where
I worked through “Big Bang” and
“Black Monday.” I then joined Daiwa
Europe Bank, the banking subsidiary
of Daiwa Securities, as CFO/CRO for
c. 6 years. I was then approached to
join ABSA, London Branch, becoming
General Manager. After 10 years and
following the takeover by Barclays I
closed the London operation of c. 70
people. I was then approached to
become the CEO of Zenith Bank in the
UK. After 7 years I left Zenith to be the
CEO of British Arab Commercial Bank
before joining UBA Capital (Europe)
Limited (“UBACE”) in January 2015
having been approached by Clive
Carpenter a long-time acquaintance
and a non-executive director of
UBACE.
How does it feel to work for and repre-
sent an African bank in the West?
I thoroughly enjoy it having worked in
the African Banking sphere for over
20 years.
How does UBACE operate?
UBACE is not currently a regulated enti-
ty – although we expect it to become
so before the end of the year. It is
predominantly a trade finance house
although complemented by a sophis-
ticated treasury offering with further
products and services being rolled out
post authorization.
How synergised are your operations
with the UBA Group?
We work closely with the Treasury,
correspondent banking and trade
finance teams in UBA Plc. The Group’s
strategy is to consolidate its interna-
tional business within UBACE as its UK
U
nited Bank for Africa (UBA)
is one of Africa’s largest
financial institutions with
operations in 19 African countries
and 3 global financial centres;
New York, London and Paris. The
London operations of the bank
have to some extent provided
an alternative route to North
Africa, South Africa and Middle
Eastern business opportunities,
leveraging Group expertise
of African banking and trade
finance. In these interviews,
Andrew Martin, the CEO of UBA
Capital (Europe) Ltd (UBACE)
and Paul Savaker, the Head of
Compliance and MLRO for UBACE
provide insight on the operations
of the bank in London and the
practice of compliance in the
United Kingdom.
ANDREW MARTIN
Andrew Martin has worked in the banking industry for about 35 years having origi-
nally qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Whinney, now EY, in the
early 80s. Andrew’s work and family are the main drivers of his life. He is happily
married with two grown up children. He also enjoys sports having actively played
rugby, tennis and athletics in his earlier life, and now focussing on golf, tennis and
skiing. Until recently, Andrew has been a season ticket holder at Chelsea and
Wasps (rugby).
