New KfW chief brings expertise needed to tackle major tasks of the future

The Federal Ministry of Finance, serving as Chair of the Board of Supervisory Directors of Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW), and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy today presented to the Cabinet a joint proposal to appoint Mr Stefan Wintels as Chairman of the KfW Executive Board.

Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz said: “In recruiting Stefan Wintels, we have secured a top executive for KfW. He is a leader with an outstanding reputation and is very well connected internationally. He brings with him the right skills set and the national, European and international experience needed to successfully manage and position the bank in the future, especially when it comes to the pressing, forward-looking topics of the energy transition and climate change mitigation. I am convinced that with Stefan Wintels, KfW is in good hands."

Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Peter Altmaier said: "I am delighted that in Mr Stefan Wintels, we have been able to secure an experienced figure with an international profile to become Chair of the KfW Executive Board. In addition to KfW's current, comprehensive programmes to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the main task in the coming years will be to continue to position KfW as a promotional bank with a strong financial base, especially when it comes to promoting SMEs and to tackling the energy transition, climate change, digitisation and support for innovation."

In a selection process initiated by KfW's Presidial and Nominating Committee and conducted by an external personnel consultancy agency, Mr Wintels prevailed as the joint candidate of the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

After holding various senior positions, Mr Wintels spent six years as Chief Country Officer for Germany and Chairman of the Executive Board at Citigroup Global Markets Deutschland AG. For the past year, he has been Co-Head of the Global Financial Institutions Group, Banking, Capital Markets & Advisory Division of Citigroup. Mr Wintels is responsible for areas such as capital markets, human resources and legal affairs. The focus of his activities is the area of Financial Institutions, which is also of key importance for KfW. As Co-Head of an international institute, Mr Wintels is also familiar with various international markets. Through his previous activities, he has furthermore gained important expertise in development cooperation markets.