City of London Group plc announced the appointment of Simon Wainwright as the first non-executive director appointment for its subsidiary, Recognise Financial Services Ltd, which is, as previously announced, in the process of applying for a UK banking licence. Simon Wainwright is MD and COO for Europe, Middle East and Africa at global reinsurer RGA. Prior to this role, Simon held a number of very senior positions at HSBC including CEO, HSBC Ireland, Head of Business Banking, UK and COO, Corporate and Structured Finance. He is also a NED of National Counties Building Society. The appointment underpins the company's stated strategy to build a business to provide financial services to the UK small and medium-sized business market.