Board & Management

Isikeli (Keli) Taureka

Non-Executive Chairman

Chair of the Disclosure Committee

• Mr lsikeli Taureka was appointed as a Director of Kina in April 2016.
• As at 14 March 2022, Mr Taureka holds the position of Managing Director of Laba Holdings Limited which comprises shareholdings from four local areas supporting PNG LNG projects. Previously, he held the position of Managing Director of Kumul Consolidated Holdings which is the trustee and shareholder for the Government of PNG in major state-owned entities including Air Niugini, Water PNG, PNG Power Limited, Kumul Telikom Holdings, Ports PNG, Post PNG and Motor Vehicles Insurance Limited.
• lsikeli previously held several senior executive roles with Chevron Corporation. Before joining Chevron,he was the Managing Director of the PNG-owned Post and Telecommunication Corporation and held senior management positions in the Bank of South Pacific Limited. lsikeli provides extensive knowledge and networks across PNG and Fiji.
• He holds a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Papua New Guinea and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Greg Pawson

Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director

• Mr Greg Pawson was appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Kina in 2018. He joined the Group with an extensive knowledge of the financial services industry in Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
• Before his appointment, Greg was Regional Head of South Asia Pacific for the Westpac Group and held senior executive roles in retail banking, corporate financial services, financial planning, and funds management. His extensive banking experience includes more than 16 years at Westpac where he had accountability for Westpac's Country/Institutional, Retail and Commercial banking businesses operating in India, Singapore, Indonesia, PNG and Fiji, and the divestment of Westpac's retail businesses in the Cook Islands, Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. Prior to this role he was Westpac's General Manager Commercial Banking for three years leading the Australian Commercial banking customer segment with revenue in excess of $1.2 billion and responsible for 1,500 employees.
• Greg holds a Master of Business Administration from the Australian Institute of Management Adelaide and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Andrew Carriline

Non-Executive Director

Member of the Audit and Risk Committee,
Remuneration and Nomination Committee
and the Disclosure Committee

• Mr Andrew Carriline was appointed as a Director of Kina on 16 August 2018.
• Andrew is an experienced business executive, highly skilled at operating successfully in regulated environments. He was an executive at a major Australian bank, where until 2017 he was the Chief Risk Officer in the Institutional Bank, as well as Chairman of the bank's business in PNG. Since 2017 Andrew has accepted several non-executive roles in the 'for profit' and 'not-for-profit' sectors.
• Before his focus on purely risk roles, Andrew practised corporate law in the public and private sectors and has held several senior legal and operational roles.
• Andrew holds bachelor's degrees in law and commerce from UNSW and is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Paul Hutchinson

Non-Executive Director

Chair of the Risk Committee and Member of the Audit Committee

• Mr Paul Hutchinson was appointed as a Director of Kina on 16 August 2018.
• Paul is currently employed by the University of Adelaide in the capacity of Program Director, responsible for large scale organisation restructuring and major projects.
• Previously, Paul was the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Rural Bank (specialising in the provision of financial services to the agribusiness sector), Chief Operating Officer of New Zealand Post and held various other senior appointments with Westpac , National Australia Bank and Bank of New Zealand.
• Paul's extensive background in strategy, finance, sales and distribution, commercial operations and risk management has been honed over 30 years in the financial services sector.
• He is a Fellow of the Institute of Financial Services and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, having attended both the Company Directors Course and International Company Directors Course.

Karen Smith-Pomeroy

Non-Executive Director

Chair of the Audit Committee
Member of the Risk Committee and the Disclosure Committee

• Ms Karen Smith-Pomeroy was appointed as a Director of Kina on 12 September 2016.
• Karen is an experienced non-executive director, with involvement across numerous industry sectors. Karen has many years of experience in the financial services sector, including a period of five years as Chief Risk Officer for Sun corp Bank.
• Karen has specific expertise in risk and governance, deep expertise in credit risk and specialist knowledge of several industry sectors, including energy, property and agribusiness.
• Karen is currently a non-executive director of Queensland Treasury Corporation and Stanwell Corporation Limited and is Chair of the Regional Investment Corporation and National Affordable Housing.
• Karen holds accounting qualifications and is a Fellow of the Institute of Public Accountants, a Senior Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (FINSIA), a certificate member of the Governance Institute of Australia and a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Jane Thomason

Non-Executive Director

Chair of the Remuneration
and Nomination Committee

• Dr Jane Thomason was appointed as a Director of Kina on 27 April 2018.
• An entrepreneu r and innovator, Jane has worked in international development implementation in the Asia Pacific region fo r 30 years. Her international career has included work for governments and donors including the Asian Development Bank, WHO, World Bank, USAID and AusAID.
• Since 2017, she has focused on Fintech and Blockchain and is a thought leader in the app lications of blockchain technology to solve social problems. She is the Co-Founder of the British Blockchain and Frontier Technology Association, Chair, Kasei Holdings Blockchain Securities), Aquis Stock Exchange, London, and is on the Editorial Board of both Frontiers in Blockchain and Journal of Metaverse.
• Dr Thomason co-authored the books Blockchain Technologies for Global Social Change and Applied Ethics in a Digital Age. She is a Thinkers 360 in the Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Blockchain and Sustainability.

Richard Kimber

Non-Executive Director

Member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee

• Richard is a seasoned international financial services and technology executive and director with over 30 years of experience having worked in HK, USA and the UK. His other board positions currently include ING Bank Australia, (where he is Chairman of the Technology & Transformation Committee), Chairman of Stone & Chalk, Chairman of AustCyber and a Non-Executive Director of Daisee, an AI software company he founded in 2017.
• Richard’s prior executive roles include being CEO of ASX-listed OFX Group, a leading international payment company; Managing Director of Google in Southeast Asia (which included Australia and NZ); CEO of FirstDirect Bank plc in the UK; and several international roles with the HSBC Group, including as Global Head of Internet Marketing based in New York and the APAC leader for eCommerce based in Hong Kong.

Ian Clough

Non-Executive Director

• Ian Clough joined Kina Bank in July 2024 as a Non-Executive Director.
• Mr Clough brings to Kina Bank over 30 years of experience in retail having worked with retail giants such as Target Australia, Coles Supermarket, Coles Liquor and Kmart Australia holding senior management roles in those organisations.
• He also previous held various senior leadership roles with the Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry
• He is currently the Chairman of Papua New Guinea’s leading retail, wholesale and distribution firm, the Brian Bell Group, a director of the Sir Brian Bell Foundation, Vice President of the American Chamber Coral Sea (AmCham) and a Council Co-Vice Chair of St Johns’ Ambulance. Mr Clough is also the Honorary Consul General for Sweden, and Norway in PNG.

Rayeleene Elston

Executive General Manager Business Banking

• Rayeleene joined Kina in February 2023 as Executive General Manager for Business Banking and Prime. In her role, she is responsible for the distribution of retail and business lending.
• Prior to joining Kina Bank, Rayeleene had a 30-year career in Banking in Australia. Her career began in Retail Banking and she spent over 20 years as an Executive across Business Banking at National Australia Bank {NAB). Her last role at NAB was leading the Queensland central region Business Banking team that covered, Commercial, Corporate, SME and Agribusiness. Her previous role was General Manager for Community Branches at Heritage.
• Rayeleene brings a deep knowledge of Business and Corporate Banking across a multiple products, credit and customer experience. She will be leading a key strategic project to Business Banking expansion into regional PNG over the next three years.

Johnson Kalo

Chief Financial Officer & Company Secretary

• Johnson Kalo was appointed acting Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary in September 2022. He previously held the role of Chief Information Officer. Johnson has substantial industry experience in Papua New Guinea having previously held the positions of Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer for BSP.
• His previous roles also include independent Director of the Board of Credit Corporation and Executive Director of the Port Moresby Stock Exchange {PNGX). He is a fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia and an associate member of Certified Practising Accountants PNG. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Commerce from the University of Papua New Guinea and a Post Graduate Diploma in Applied Financial Investment from the Financial Services Institute of Australasia

Deepak Gupta

Executive General Manager Wealth Management & Corporate Advisory

• Deepak Gupta is Executive General Manager Business Partners and Wealth and is responsible for Wealth management and Corporate banking at Kina. He has held a variety of senior positions with Westpac, AMP and domestic New Zealand institutions.
• In addition, Deepak has strong governance experience having held non-executive director roles on the boards of NZX and ASX-listed companies. He brings substantial experience and a track record of success and innovation across various areas in financial services including successful development of New Zealand's first institutional private equity fund for retail investors.
• Deepak holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration from Victoria University, New Zealand, and an MBA from Massey University, New Zealand. He has a Certificate of Investment Analysis from the University of Otago, New Zealand and is a Fellow of the Institute of Finance Professionals New Zealand.

Philip Keller

Chief Risk Officer

• Philip joined Kina Securities Ltd in February 2024 as the Chief Risk Officer.
• He brings to Kina a wealth of experience in the banking and financial services sector, having worked across risk management, strategy, and finance. Philip has worked in Australia, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the UK, and USA with UBS and Capco, providing consulting services for HSBC on a global scale. Most recently, Philip held senior management roles at Westpac, based in Sydney, including Director, Wealth Strategy and Head of Customer Outcomes and Risk Excellence (CORE) Development.

Roppe Uyassi

Chief Operating Officer

• Roppe Uyassi joined Kina Securities Ltd in November 2023 to be Kina Bank PNG CEO.
• Prior to joining Kina, Roppe was the Country Manager for Twinza Oil Limited in PNG where he was the lead negotiator for the Pasca A Gas Agreement negotiations. Roppe’s prior experience includes 6 years at Deloitte as a key member of the leading corporate finance team in the South Pacific. He has also previously been a board member for a major finance company in PNG and has recently been appointed to the board of the Australian Government’s Incentive Fund.
• Roppe is a Certified Practicing Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Business (Economics with a co-major in Finance) from the Queensland University of Technology.

Ivan Vidovich

Chief Transformation Officer

• Ivan joined Kina Bank in 2019. In the role of Chief Transformation Officer Ivan is responsible for Group Strategy and Planning, People and Culture, Digital Channels, Innovation, Design, Product and Marketing.
• Ivan has 20 years senior leadership experience in Australia, Asia and Europe in the financial services and logistics industries with companies including Suncorp, TNT Express and DBS Bank, where he has managed large-scale sales and service operations, strategy, customer experience, innovation and multi­country integration and transformation programs.
• He brings significant experience in people and culture transformational change and is a strong advocate of diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
• Ivan holds a Bachelor of Arts from La Trobe University and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Nathaniel Wingti

Executive General Manager Treasury & Financial Markets

• Nathan joined Kina in February 2016 as GM Treasury and Financial Markets. Prior to joining Kina, he spent 15 years at ANZ Bank where his last role was Head of Global Markets PNG and Balance Sheet Manager for ANZ across the Pacific. Nathan has 20 years' experience in foreign exchange, money markets and balance sheet management across the Pacific region having worked in PNG, Fiji and Australia.
• Nathan holds a Bachelor of Business from the Queensland University of Technology. He has also completed the AFMA Dealer Accreditation Program and the PNG Institute of Directors Program.

Ann Steele

Executive General Manager People & Culture

• Ann Steele joined Kina in March 2024 as the Executive General Manager People & Culture.
• With more than 30 years of work experience as a Governance and Strategic Human Resources Executive, Ann has a diverse background in numerous sectors including finance, banking, investment, education, travel & tourism, manufacturing, properties, information technology, and most recently telecommunication.
• Ann holds a Masters of Management from the Southern Cross University of New South Wales. She also has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of South Pacific in Fiji, majoring in Political Science and a Teaching certificate from the Nasinu Teachers College in Fiji. She is a member of various professional institutions and has completed the Australian Institute of Company Director’s Program and currently sits on the Gaunavou Investments Board in Fiji, she has completed the Australian General Managers Program with the Australian Institute of Management and is a professionally trained mediator.
• Apart from her professional life she is heavily engaged in community groups and initiatives that help alleviate poverty and is keen in supporting organizations that restore Culture, Arts and Tradition and is currently the Chairperson for Friends of the Fiji Museum. She also provides professional coaching and mentoring for upcoming HR professionals.