The Board of Directors of CECA, meeting today, has appointed Antonio Romero as the new Managing Director of CECA. The decision, which was adopted unanimously, must still be ratified at the General Assembly, which will take place on 24 April.
Romero, who will take up his post on 30 April, will replace José María Méndez Álvarez-Cedrón, who had previously held the role since January 2011.
The Board of Directors valued Antonio Romero's extensive knowledge of financial regulations, his ability to liaise nationally and internationally with different public administrations, as well as more than 25 years of experience in the financial sector, the last two decades of which have been with CECA and Cecabank.
Antonio Romero holds a degree in Law and Economics and Business Studies from the Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE E-3), as well as a degree in Political Science and Sociology from UNED. He is a member of the Senior Body of Civil Service Administrators. In 2000, he joined the legal team of the Directorate-General for the Treasury and Financial Policy, where he specialised in international banking regulations as a result of sitting on numerous forums at the EU Council, the European Commission and the OECD.
In 2004, he began his career at CECA, where until now, he has held the position of Corporate Director of Associative Services and Resources. Romero is the Chair of the Coordination Committee of the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute (WSBI) and the European Savings and Retail Banking Group (ESBG) and a member of its Presidents Committee and Board of Directors. At a national level, he is an adviser to the Spanish Economic and Social Council, and Chair of its European Single Market, Regional Development and Development Cooperation Commission. He is also a member of the Advisory Committee of the Spanish National Securities Market Commission and a founding member of the Executive Committee of the Spanish Centre for Responsible and Sustainable Finance (FINRESP). Since 2012, he has been a member of the Management Committee at Cecabank, where has led areas such as regulation and research; communication, external relations and sustainability; talent, culture and general services; technological resources; strategic planning; and regulatory compliance.
The main challenges that he will take on under his mandate include adapting to a complex and volatile geopolitical environment, managing a new regulatory context that favours simplification, the competitiveness of the European economy and strengthening of the EU's strategic autonomy, as well as the completion of the Banking Union. Similarly, his priorities also include recognition for the role of the CECA sector through its foundations as the leading private social investor in Spain.