The Catalan Institute of Finance renews part of the board with business profiles

BarcelonaThe Catalan Institute of Finance is renewing part of its board with four relevant appointments within the country's business ecosystem. Meanwhile, Renault Trucks Iberia announces who will be its new general manager for Spain and Portugal, while Cegasa Energía incorporates a brand new product development director. In the international ecosystem, the online fashion platform Zalando hires an ex-Amazon and Uber executive to occupy the senior vice presidency of B2B.

Cristina Alba

Member of the ICF governing board

The Catalan Finance Institute (ICF), the public promotional bank of the Government of Catalonia, has renewed four of the independent members of its governing board. As agreed by the Catalan executive last Tuesday, the new members joining the ICF's highest governing body are the former CEO of Pronovias, Cristina Alba; the Human Resources Director of Ricoh Spain and Portugal, Gloria Ausió; the independent director of Andbank and Estabanell, Albert Rosés; and the former CEO of Andbank, Ricard Tubau.

The four new members will take over on the ICF board from Joan B. Casas, José Luis Peydró, Xavier Puig, and Pilar Soldevila. In a statement, the Institute thanked the outgoing members for "their dedication, their commitment, and their decisive contribution to the consolidation of the ICF." With these four appointments, the Catalan Finance Institute maintains a majority of independent members within its highest decision-making body, in line with state and European regulations applicable to credit institutions. The new independent members join Pere Cots and Carme Hortalà.

For their part, the proprietary directors, who represent the Government, are the Secretary General of the Department of Economy and Finance, Juli Fernández –who chairs the body–; the Secretary General of the Department of the Presidency, Eva Giménez; the Secretary for Economic Affairs and European Funds, Francesc Trillas; and the Secretary for Business and Competitiveness, Jaume Baró. The board is completed by the CEO, Vanessa Servera.

The Institute highlights Alba's more than 25 years of experience in finance, credit risk, and business transformation at companies of the caliber of General Electric or OakNorth Bank. Ausió, for her part, has held the position of Human Resources Director at Ricoh Spain and Portugal since 2010 and has accumulated more than 35 years in change management and people strategy. Rosell stands out for his more than 40-year business career in auditing and finance, and Tubau was CEO of Andbank until 2021, where he led the institution's international expansion.

Eduardo López Santamaría

Corporate communications and digital marketing manager for Fujifilm in Spain

Fujifilm has appointed Eduardo López Santamaría as the new head of corporate communication and digital marketing in Spain. López Santamaria has accumulated more than 30 years of experience at the company, and will add communication responsibilities to his current role as director of the imaging and recording media division.

A telecommunications technical engineer by training, López also holds an MBA from EADA Business School, among other qualifications related to business management. In a statement, the general manager of Fujifilm for Spain and Portugal, Pedro Mesquita, highlighted López's "business experience," as well as his "great technological knowledge" in the sector. "Eduardo has known Fujifilm, our culture, and our various businesses for more than three decades," Mesquita emphasized.

Tom Christenson

SVP of B2B at Zalando

The online fashion platform Zalando has appointed Tom Christenson as the new senior vice president for the B2B business. Christenson, who has held positions of responsibility at companies such as Amazon and Uber, joined Zalando on October 15th with the goal of driving a "single operating system for the fashion and lifestyle industry." The company's B2B segment, they recall in a statement, opens up logistics, software, and service capabilities to brands and retailers.

Zalando highlights the new executive's "great track record" in "building technology-enabled businesses and marketplaces." David Schröder, co-CEO of Zalando, has praised the new senior vice president, who he believes "fits perfectly into the company considering they are accelerating the B2B vision to build an operating system for fashion e-commerce." For his part, Christenson celebrated the company's strategy, which he considers "visionary." "There is a great amount of talent and ambition here, and I am eager to listen, learn, and work with the team to build the future of B2B at Zalando".

Miriam Carrió

Commercial Delegate for the central area of Mutua Propietarios

Mutua Propietarios, an entity specialized in the comprehensive protection of property owners and their real estate, has appointed Miriam Carrió as the new commercial delegate for the central zone. Carrió arrives at the new position with the goal of "boosting the development and growth of a key and strategic area." A graduate in business sciences from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and with an MBA in business management and administration, the new commercial delegate brings "an extensive professional track record in the insurance sector," having assumed various responsibilities in companies on the scale of Catalana Occident and AMA Agrupación Mutual.

Carrió will occupy the commercial delegation in the central zone replacing Pedro Junquera, who has retired after more than eight years at the group. In a statement, the commercial director of intermediated business of Grup Mutua Propietarios, Albert Martí, describes the incorporation of the new executive as "an important reinforcement to advance in the objective of positioning ourselves as a benchmark in insurance protection in the real estate sector".

José Antonio Mannucci

General Manager for Spain and Portugal at Renault Trucks Iberia

José Antonio Mannucci will be the new managing director for Spain and Portugal at Renault Trucks Iberia. The company confirmed this in a statement this week, in which it also reported that the executive will lead the French brand's operations in Spain and Portugal starting January 1, 2027. According to the company, Mannucci's focus will be fixed on "the development of services, commercial, and people." With more than 25 years of career linked to the industrial and commercial vehicle sector, Mannucci will take on the general management of Renault Trucks Iberia after having held positions of maximum responsibility in areas such as commercial and financial operations.

He holds a degree in business administration and finance from the Universidad del Pacífico, in Lima, has participated in senior management programs at the IMD and the Stockholm School of Economics, and will now take over from François Bottinelli, who concludes nine years of "successful management" in Spain and Portugal and will assume the general management of Africa, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific for Renault Trucks International. In the same statement, the new managing director for Spain and Portugal has committed to "continue forging lasting and successful relationships with current clients and those who will join along the way".

Carlos Freire

Product Development Director at Cegasa Energía

Cegasa Energía has appointed Carlos Freire as the new director of product development. The energy storage solutions company is strengthening "its ability to identify opportunities" at a time it describes as "key to growth". In a statement, the company highlights the new executive's "extensive track record" in "engineering, battery technology, and the development of projects linked to mobility, both land and marine". In fact, they consider Freire's knowledge of the naval sector to be "especially relevant," as Cegasa "expands the scope of its solutions to new applications and markets".

According to Freire, "energy storage has enormous potential to drive electrification and develop new applications in various sectors". "To take advantage of it, it is essential to understand the needs of each project and work from an engineering perspective to offer reliable solutions adapted to each case," adds the new director of product development. For his part, the CEO of Cegasa Energía, Iñigo Atutxa, assures that the executive's "experience and business vision" will help the company to "turn the challenges of this new stage into opportunities".