Hat-trick of hires at bridge property finance provider

The UK's first Sharia-compliant bridge property finance provider Offa have announced the arrival of Ben Reeves as head of operations and Svetlana Ghadiri as the head of compliance, along with Ginny Wong as a compliance and risk analyst.

The trio, whose finance backgrounds include stints at NatWest, Al Rayan Bank and the Bank of Communications, bring more than 55 years of combined experience in operations and compliance to the Solihull-based business. All three will be reporting into Offa's chief finance officer, Amir Firdaus.

He said: "We are delighted to have Ben, Svetlana and Ginny on board. They bring a wealth of experience to their respective roles, arriving at an exciting time as Offa expands and gears up to new-Sharia compliant product launches.

Operations and compliance are vital components in the best-in-class customer service we are building at Offa. The trio are key in helping us to deliver robust, reliable and streamlined processes as part of a compliant framework that supports all our stakeholders, while staying true to our company ethos and ambitious business goals."

Ben returns to the finance world after working in packaging for the past three years. He had spent over 20 years at National Westminster (NatWest) Bank and its parent group, the Royal Bank of Scotland, in a variety of senior operational roles managing large-scale fulfilment systems across multiple brands in the buy-to -et, residential and extra borrowing markets.

Svetlana as head of compliance will be responsible for monitoring and implementing regulatory requirements, and ensuring Offa's internal processes, reporting and staff training adhere to these requirements. The highly qualified accountant and solicitor joins from Al Rayan Bank, where she was general counsel to the board.

Svetlana also holds an International Advanced Certificate in Regulatory Compliance from the International Compliance Association and Level 3 Certificates in Securities and UK Financial Regulation from the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment.

Ginny Wong (pictured) is a compliance and risk analyst with over 15 years' experience in financial services. As a certified public accountant, much of Ginny's career has focused on regulatory compliance, auditing, and accounting. She spent 11 years as a senior compliance monitoring manager with the Bank of Communications - the fifth largest bank in China.