Stuart Munden has been appointed as head of risk & credit at Saxon Trust.

Munden (pictured) previously spent over 35 years with Standard Chartered Bank in various credit and risk related roles, including over 10 years as regional head of country cross border risk for SE Asia and Latin America before becoming head of strategic investments risk for the bank.

From Standard Chartered, he joined Banyantree Bank to manage and restructure its profitable portfolio of bridging loans. Within this role he was also instrumental in developing a network of new introducers, sourcing and then structuring new property lending transactions.

In his new role Munden will be working closely with the Saxon Trust board and institutional funders managing the entire credit and risk function within the business. As originations grow across both development and especially short-term finance, additional hires are planned for 2022 and beyond. He will also be working closely with the new business team and co-founder and director, Andrew Gardiner.

Munden said: “Having enjoyed a long and successful career with a major blue-chip bank I’m excited to be joining a progressive specialist lender just as it’s entering a significant growth phase. The opportunity to use my experience, to help manage and subsequently shape the credit function is one that I’m looking really forward to.”

Gardiner added: “We are delighted Stuart has joined us in the business to manage the credit and risk function as we enter an exciting growth phase. Our new funding lines for short-term finance should lead to significantly increased volumes of business and Stuart’s decades of high-quality, institutional experience will be invaluable as we expand our credit function.”