HSBC’s Willingham to become CREFC Europe chairman

Steve Willingham, HSBC’s head of EMEA real estate finance, has been announced as the next chairman of the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council (CREFC) Europe.

Willingham will succeed Lloyds Bank’s Madeleine McDougall in the role. Willingham’s one-year term as chairman will begin at CREFC Europe’s autumn conference on 14 November.

Other board appointments announced by CREFC Europe include Jane Hollinshead, principal at IJD Consulting and former head of real estate at Addleshaw Goddard, as well as Mike Shields, head of real estate finance for Western Europe, UK and USA at ING Real Estate Finance.

Willingham joined HSBC in 2014, prior to which he was at BlackRock, where he was responsible for the opportunistic investment programme for the firm’s European private equity real estate funds.

“I’m delighted to be succeeding Maddie in taking on the chairmanship of CREFC Europe,” said Willingham. “We’re at a pivotal time for the sector in terms of Europe’s economic position. In the face of this, there continues to be large regulatory and structural change happening across the banking sector, which will continue to have an impact on the way we do business. I look forward to working with Maddie and the rest of the CREFC Europe Board as part of the chairman team.”

“It’s a privilege to have Steve on board and it’s commendable that he, like many of our members, is able to contribute his expertise and time to shaping the future of our sector for all of those with an interest in real estate and the debt market that supports it,” added Peter Cosmetatos, chief executive of CREFC Europe.