Peter Knott is tied up by Green Investment Bank for top risk management role

THE GREEN Investment Bank (GIB) has appointed Peter Knott, former head of operational risk at banking giant Standard Chartered, as its chief risk officer.

Knott, who qualified as a chartered accountant with Deloitte in 1988 before joining Hong Kong-based investment bank Jardine Fleming, left Standard Chartered earlier this year to set up consultancy firm Elvaston Financial Services. He will be responsible for overseeing the GIB’s risk management framework, reporting to chief executive Shaun Kingsbury.

Initially based in London, Knott is expected to move to Edinburgh next year, when the bank – which has taken up temporary space at Edinburgh council’s headquarters – is due to relocate to a permanent base in the city.

Kingsbury said: “Peter will be crucial as we manage the growth of the bank.”

Knott is the latest key recruit for the GIB, which is backed with £3 billion of UK government money, aimed at boosting the economy by investing in areas such as offshore wind and waste energy.

Last month it appointed former Quayle Munro director Rob Cormie as group operations director in charge of HR, IT and communications.

The GIB is chaired by Lord Smith of Kelvin, who is also chairman of SSE and Weir Group, and officially launched last month. Its first deals included an £8 million investment in a plant in north-east England that will use anaerobic digestion to generate power from waste, and £5m to reduce energy consumption at facilities owned by manufacturing firm Kingspan.