The former CEO of HSBC Germany, Carola von Schmettow, has taken on a leadership role at ZEAL Network SE as the firm looks to consolidate its dominant position in the country.
Von Schmettow has been named Chair of the company’s Board of Directors, replacing Peter Stainer, who took the decision to step down from the leadership position at the firm’s recent Annual General Meeting.
The appointment is a promotion for von Schmettow, who has been on the firm’s Supervisory Board since November 2024. Her experience in the upper echelons of German banking may come in useful for the firm as it looks to further build up its profile.
Dr. Helmut Becker, the company’s CEO, said: “We would like to thank Peter Steiner for his many years of dedicated and responsible work as a member and Chairman of our Supervisory Board.
“During this time, he was not only a reliable companion and valuable source of inspiration for the Management Board – he was a strategic compass, an anchor of integrity and a person who accompanied ZEAL with foresight and passion.
“Under his leadership, the Supervisory Board has accompanied key developments such as ZEAL’s return to Germany and the strategic expansion of our business. On behalf of ZEAL, I would like to sincerely thank Peter Steiner for his valuable work and wish him all the best for the future.”
Looking at von Schmettow’s background, ZEAL’s new Chair is a maths graduate from the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf and as stated above has extensive experience in banking, having worked at HSBC Germany for 29 years.
She began her tenure at the multinational bank in 1992 in the firm’s Global Markets and Treasury department before being promoted five times on her way to becoming CEO of HSBC Germany in 2015.
In May 2020 she became Group General Manager at HSBC, holding this position concurrently with her position as Germany CEO. She stepped down from both roles in May 2021.
As noted above, her banking experience may prove valuable for HSBC – it may have already proven valuable given her position on the firm’s board for the past few months. ZEAL has been making substantial progress in Germany over the past couple of years, recording successive revenue growth.
This success has largely been attributed to the firm’s extensive marketing strategy, which has, as expected, led to expenditure rising. The firm has been performing well with balancing this increased exposure with securing strong revenue returns.
Von Schmettow, along with CEO Becker, will have their sights set on ensuring this balance between spend and revenue, and with it successive quarterly growth, continues under their leadership.