Management

Oddbjørn Berentsen – CEO (Chief Executive Officer)

  • CEO of Lea Bank since inception in 2016. Mr. Berentsen has more than 15 years of leadership experience from various positions within consumer finance, digital banking, IT and telecom.
  • Selected previous positions include CEO BRAbank ASA , CEO Easybank ASA, Nordic Customer Deposits Director in Santander, Director Consumer Market in Microsoft, Sales and Marketing Director in yA Bank and Director & Head of Nordic Distribution in Telenor.
  • Executive Management Program, INSEAD - Executive MBA in Strategic Management, Norwegian School of Economics (NHH) - M.Sc. In Economics and Business Administration (Siviløkonom) specializing in finance, BI Norwegian Business School/HHB.

Gard Haugen – CFO (Chief Financial Officer)

  • Mr. Haugen has over 20 years of experience from finance functions whereof last 9 years as CFO within consumer finance banks. He also has international experience from large companies like Ernst & Young.
  • Selected positions include founder and CFO in Instabank, CFO in yA Bank, Partner in ABG Sundal Collier, Finance Director Central Europe South in Ernst & Young.
  • M. Sc. Business and Economics (Siviløkonom), Specializing in Accounting, Financial Management, and Taxation, BI Norwegian Business School.

Christian W. Svendsen – Chief Credit Risk Officer and Chief of Revenue Management

  • CCRO since inception in 2016. Mr. Svendsen has vast experience from the consumer finance industry, and has worked with both large international companies as well as Norwegian start-ups.
  • Selected positions include Nordic Business Development Director in Santander Consumer Bank, Credit Risk Director in Santander Consumer Bank, Head of Credit Risk Acquisition in EnterCard, Head of Credit and Analytics in yA Bank, Head of Marketing in yA Bank and Head of Consumer Finance in Komplett.no.
  • M. Sc. Economics and specialization in Quantitative Methods, Stockholm University. MBA, Heriot Watt University – Business School. Stanford Innovation and Entrepreneurship Certificate, Stanford University.

Andreas Andersson - CCO (Chief Commercial Officer)

  • Over 20 years of experience in various leading roles within Consumer & Retail Financing and in the e-commerce space.
  • Selected previous positions include Commercial Director Retail Finance, Payment Solutions Director and Country Manager (Norway) at Resurs Bank.
  • Executive Leadership Program, Stockholm School of Economics and a various number of business management courses within leadership and rapid growth.

Øystein Fjalestad - CTO (Chief Technology Officer)

  • Over 15 years of experience in IT, Project management and Credit risk management, primarily within the Consumer Finance space
  • Selected positions: Director IT and Business Development in Eika Kredittbank, Credit Risk Manager in Amibta and yA Bank and Credit Analyst in Lindorff
  • M.Sc. in Economics, University of Oslo

Geir Jørgensen - CRO (Chief Risk Officer)

  • CRO in Lea Bank since inception in 2016. Mr. Jørgensen has extensive experience from financing and banking with focus on start-ups, compliance, risk management, operations, business planning and management.
  • Selected positions include Founder & CEO of First Privatlease, CFO of Motorpool Handel, Consultant in Reaktor AS, Head of Credit and Customer service in BMW Financial Services and consultant in Volvo Finans Norge.
  • B. Sc. Business Administration, BI Norwegian Business School.