Management Team

Henk Paardekooper has been the CEO of First Bank since 2019 and has led the successful transformation of the bank into a new retail and commercial bank, serving households and companies in Romania delivering high quality products and services focusing on digital with a human touch.

He has gained thirty-five years of international experience within global banking organizations, managing divisional and country businesses in various countries and international markets. 

Henk has acquired a successful track record in business transformation as well as complex change and integration programs.

Cosmin has over 20 years of experience as a professional in banking and financial services.

Before joining the First Bank team, Cosmin held top management positions with financial and banking entities, such as ProCredit Bank Romania and the social banking arm of Erste Group.

Cosmin has extensive experience in risk management and internal control, leading specialized structures in these areas for the last 16 years.

Cosmin graduated the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, School of Cybernetics, Statistics and Business Information Technology, and has a master’s degree in Management of Banking Systems awarded by the same University.

He also attended several training courses on banking management and financial risk, in Romania, Germany and Luxemburg.

Razvan Filcescu is Vice President of First Bank and former non-executive member of the Board of Directors of Bank Leumi Romania.

He currently coordinates Network Sales & Service Division, Retail & Micro Division, SME Division, Corporate Division, Product & Digital Innovation Hub Division, Marketing & Communication Division, as well as Sales & Performance Management Department.

Razvan Filcescu is a senior banking executive with almost 25 years of banking & financial experience. With extensive banking experience, gained in banks such as Procredit Bank and Credit Europe Bank, Razvan began his career as loan officer and constantly evolved into important management positions, deeply involved in the process of building a commercial bank.

Recently, his activity focused on the lending area of ​​companies, debt collection and workout activities, transformation programs, but he switched to coordinate First Bank sales and marketing activities for all segments (retail, SME and corporate) at the beginning of 2023.

Razvan graduated the Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, holding a B.Sc. in Banking and Stock Exchanges.

He also holds an MBA in Financial Management at City University of Seattle (2003-2004).

Nikolaos coordinates the recovery operations for Business and Retail segments, as well as the Real Estate Owned function of the Bank.

Nikolaos has extensive expertise in managing and restructuring non-performing loans, corporate banking and credit risk. With an international track record of over 30 years in recovery banking and active management sectors, Nikolaos has previously been Deputy General Manager of Piraeus Bank Romania, and held a number of key positions within Tirana Bank, Uniastrum Bank - Russia, Bank of Cyprus, Arab Bank PLC - Athens, Piraeus Bank, and Credit Lyonnais Greece.

Nikolaos holds a Master’s Degree in Business Management, with a major in Finance from the University of Toledo, Ohio, and has a Bachelor's Degree in Economic Sciences from the Slippery Rock University, Pennsylvania.

Anca Petcu is a member of the executive team, serving as the Vice President of First Bank and Chief Operations Officer (COO).

As COO, she coordinates strategically important projects for the bank, impacting business development and overseeing the entire area of Change Management. Thus, she leads the operations and IT divisions, logistics & procurement, back office treasury, project management, and IT security.

Anca has over 20 years of expertise in the financial services industry, banking, and leasing, in areas such as retail and corporate sales, risk management, restructuring, and digital transformation. Before joining First Bank, she held the role of Chief Transformation Officer at BCR, where she contributed to defining and implementing the bank's transformation initiatives, coordinating the Strategy, Project Management, and Processes and Regulations departments.

She graduated from the Academy of Economic Studies, pursued specialization courses at IESE Business School, and is an alumna of the London Business School.